Romans – A Treatise
Chapter Six
RECKONED DEAD
Scripture Reading: verses 6-11
KNOWING THIS, THAT OUR OLD MAN IS CRUCIFIED WITH HIM, THAT THE BODY OF SIN MIGHT BE DESTROYED, THAT HENCEFORTH WE SHOULD NOT SERVE SIN. FOR HE THAT IS DEAD IS FREED FROM SIN. NOW IF WE BE DEAD WITH CHRIST, WE BELIEVE THAT WE SHALL ALSO LIVE WITH HIM: KNOWING THAT CHRIST BEING RAISED FROM THE DEAD DIETH NO MORE; DEATH HATH NO MORE DOMINION OVER HIM. FOR IN THAT HE DIED, HE DIED UNTO SIN ONCE: BUT IN THAT HE LIVETH, HE LIVETH UNTO GOD. LIKEWISE RECKON YE ALSO YOURSELVES TO BE DEAD INDEED UNTO SIN, BUT ALIVE UNTO GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.
The criminal who, in these early chapters of Romans, is arraigned before the bar of God’s justice is found doubly guilty. There are two aspects to his guilt: (1) First, he is guilty by way of offences. On the part of the Jew, he is transgressor of the Law. On the part of the Gentile, he is a rebel because of refusing the witness of God in creatorial power. That is the first part of man’s guilt – transgressions, offences, and sins. (2) But the second item of his guilt is that he is himself corrupt. What is called here “our old man” refers to sinful flesh, or what man is with an evil nature inherited from Adam.
Previously, Paul dealt with the question of our offences and the answer is this: we are justified by grace through the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross – our offences are pardoned, our sins are forgiven, and we are set free from the charges against us because of transgressions.
The question before the court now is the second one – our inherent sinful nature, “our old man.” Paul, the defense attorney, is indicating that what we are by nature has been nailed to the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our old man is crucified with Him. In all the natural propensities and tendencies toward sin, self has been brought to an end in Christ crucified. And why? So the body of sin might be destroyed or annulled. Henceforth, we should not serve sin. Sin is looked upon as a taskmaster who has unquestioned sway over us in our unregenerate state. Only the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the Cross can liberate us from the power of sin.
The analogy in verse 7: he that is dead is freed from sin. Going to a funeral and looking within the coffin we see a corpse and can truthfully say the person whose dead body we look upon is freed from sin. In other words, this person will never commit another sin, because life after the old order is gone. Spiritually, this is the position of every true child of God. A Christian is literally reckoned dead, and freed from the power of sin. Of course, while on this earth a Christian is very much alive; not yet a physical corpse. But by way of identity, a true believer has confessed that under God’s condemnation the place to be is the place of death – through Christ the power of sin is broken in his life.
Unless this is put in practical terms, it becomes merely a matter of terminology. From a practical point of view, how do we reckon ourselves dead in life? It is “our old man” that is dead, that entity we call “the sinful self.”
One or two exemplary ways this works in life
Consider one who, while living as a non-believer, was stubborn and self-willed. Then Jesus Christ enters the heart. As a follower of the Lord Jesus this person becomes aware that condemnation of sin was brought to an end at the Cross; thus allowing that truth to be applied to practical everyday experiences. When a situation arises, there is now an option to pursue one course or another – gratifying natural self-serving desire no matter who may be affected, or, as it were, dying, surrendering stubborn will and doing what is well-pleasing to the Lord Jesus Christ. To follow the former course would be to serve sin as a dominant principle, gratifying self, reviving the old man. To do the second is to reckon himself dead, pleasing the One in whom he lives according to his new life.
The same illustration might be drawn from our lives in many ways. Perhaps one individual is characterized by a lust for pleasure, another by a bad temper, another by gluttony, another enslaved by drink, another by a proud intellect. How shall deliverance from all these things be obtained? It is not a matter of doing the best we can. It is a matter of reckoning ourselves dead unto sin, but alive unto God. It is not simply a final conclusion arrived at once for all. It is a continuous process. When these lusts assert themselves we must immediately start reckoning. To give in to self is reckoning the old man alive; to subjugate the desires of the flesh is to reckon him dead.
Someone may suggest, if we lead a life of such self-abnegation, our practical experience will be exceedingly uninteresting. But the Christian life is not always a matter of denial. It is a denial of self, but an entire new vista of activity along positive lines.
So the eleventh verse says, “Likewise reckon . . . yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Instead of indulging self and the flesh and our own gratification, we seek to pursue the Christian pathway in helpfulness to others. We seek to do those things the Lord Himself has told us to do; showing loving-kindness, manifesting grace, temperate in all things, giving of our substance to enrich others, and, above all things, showing forth the grace of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.
This grand truth of death and resurrection has its definite practical bearing upon each one of our lives. May the Lord help us to continually reckon ourselves dead that we may truly be alive unto God.
