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Today in Mass, something struck me in this passage from Romans that never hit me before. Up to now, I was focused on the crucified and resurrected part, and not what came afterwards.
Brothers and sisters:
Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death?
We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death,
so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father,
we too might live in newness of life.
If, then, we have died with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him.
We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more;
death no longer has power over him.
As to his death, he died to sin once and for all;
as to his life, he lives for God.
Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as dead to sin
and living for God in Christ Jesus.
When you read this along with 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.” you will see that a life with Christ, and within Christ carries meaning.
There is a ton happening in this, and I don’t want to gloss over any of it, but as I heard it in church this morning, a new part of this passage struck me, so that’s where I’m going to focus here. Before that, I have to remember that a life with Christ calls for being crucified with him. Crucifixion is painful. It can’t not be. There can be no easy crucifixion. Christ hung alone on the Cross. However, I am crucified WITH Christ. Not near Him or at the same time as Him - WITH Him. I am on HIS cross. I am IN His wounds. I am pained and in real suffering and the fully God Christ our Lord is with me. And with crucifixion comes resurrection.
My crucifixion is painful, yet I am never suffering alone or abandoned. And with crucifixion comes resurrection, and with resurrection, glorification. I suffer momentarily in the scope of Eternity. Even a suffering that lasts my lifetime is a spot on the timeline of Eternity. If you are in the midst of that, know that long-suffering is a virtue that carries with it special consolation from our Lord when we offer it back to Him. When we practice loving Him for His own sake rather than what He does for us, we grow more and more in holiness. We participate in the redemption of humanity. We aren’t responsible for it, but as we accompany Christ in His crucifixion, we participate in it. For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with Him in the resurrection. - Romans 6:5
Romans 6:12-14 says Therefore, sin must not reign over your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires. And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin as weapons for wickedness, but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life and the parts of your bodies to God as weapons for righteousness. For sin is not to have any power over you, since you are not under the law but under grace.
In our Baptism, we are united with Christ both in his crucifixion as well as in his resurrection. We are in him and one with him. We abide in the shelter of his arms and with the purity of his glorified wounds. When Thomas sees Christ after the resurrection, he puts his hands in the Side of Christ. Jesus draws him close and rather than gently brushing a hand across his side, he brings Thomas inside his body. Even after his Resurrection, Jesus’ wounds are still there. They are glorified and purified, perhaps even magnified as the home for those who believe. He has taken us into himself. Christ’s suffering and death, which were meant for the demise of humanity, rather became our gateway to Eternity.
Because of this, who we are after an encounter with Christ has to be different. We cannot remain the same. Either we encounter Christ and reject him, turning back to our broken and earthly ways, or we accept him, and enter into his suffering, death, and resurrection. That becomes our identity. That choice can be many things, but it simply cannot be something that is said once and has no greater impact on our lives. The “Yes” to Christ isn’t words we say. It’s actions, internal postures, direction of thoughts, and movement in our lives. A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. - Luke 6:43-44
If then, our lives are changed, our fruit, meaning the evidence of our inner life, is changed, our identity has also changed. This is the part of the original reading from Romans struck me anew today.
Romans 6:8-11
If, then, we have died with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him.
We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more;
death no longer has power over him.
As to his death, he died to sin once and for all;
as to his life, he lives for God.
Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as dead to sin
and living for God in Christ Jesus.
Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.
After your conversion to a follower of Christ, you have a new identity. You must think of yourself as dead to sin.
Of course All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God - Romans 3:23, yet remember, you are now one with Christ. His divinity and perfection cover you, so long as you stay with his wounds.
Yes, you can walk away from that unity and choose sin. You can choose that separation, and because of his respect for your free will, God will allow that, even though he knows what it means and his heart breaks every time it happens. He will never hold us against our will, but let us walk away if we choose. To that end, it’s not God who keeps us out of Heaven, it’s us who walk away from union with God, and he respects our choice.
The heart of this line of Scripture that hit me today is how we look at ourselves after our conversion. Do we see ourselves as sinners who have been forgiven, but are likely to sin again? Or do we, as directed, see ourselves as dead to sin and living for God? Is Redeemed our identity? Do we see ourselves as one who doesn’t choose sin and separation?
In that light, even when we fail, it’s not an inevitable from which we must recover, but an action against our very identity. It happened, but it should irritate us as much as a grain of sand in our eye would. We simply cannot go on until it is removed. Every thought in our minds and action in our bodies is focused on removing that grain of sand and tending to the irritation left in its wake.
Our comfort and peace are in living out our unity with Christ, his protection and guidance, even just gazing upon his face. Nothing is lacking or incomplete. If we do stumble, we cannot again find peace until we address it, confess it, atone and offer ourselves again to God.
As a child of God and follower of Christ, we are Christians. Nothing exists outside of this Truth. We see ourselves as dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.
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