36. I DIED WITH CHRIST

In meditation 35 we saw why our identification with Christ’s crucifixion is so important for God and for us. As the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 6:6: “Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin” (Romans 6:6).

Yet, Paul continues to develop ‘a pattern of identification’ with Jesus Christ [the Messiah]. Not only does he speak of our rebellious hearts being crucified with Christ when we accept him as our Saviour, the apostle goes on to explain that our ‘sinful selves’ die with Christ.

The apostle Paul reminds the followers of Jesus in Colossae (modern Turkey): “You died when Christ died...” (Colossians 3:3).

As dying causes a complete break with one’s former way of life and all that it embraced, Paul shows that ‘dying with Christ’ has liberating consequences:

a) Having died with Christ = having died to our old rebellious and sinful life style:

Paul writes to the followers of Jesus in Corinth: “Since we believe that Christ died for everyone, we also believe that we have all died to the old life we used to live” (2 Corinthians 5:14).

To the Christians in Rome the apostle states: “When we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin” (Romans 6:7).

Earlier in the same letter, Paul underlines: “Should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more kindness and forgiveness? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?” (Romans 6:1).

The apostle Peter also speaks in his first letter about our identification with Christ’s death: “[Jesus] who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness...” (1 Peter 2:24).

b) Having died with Christ = having died to the Mosaic Law:

The letter to the Hebrews speaks of God’s inauguration of a new Messianic Covenant [New Testament] with all those who believe in the sacrificial death of his Son Jesus Christ.

This new and eternal Covenant led to the termination of the first, temporary covenant [Sinai Covenant] God made with Israel after delivering them from their bondage in Egypt:
“When God speaks of a new covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and ready to be put aside” (Hebrews 8:13).

(For more on God’s covenants with Abraham, Israel and the Gentiles/non-Jews see meditation 33)

Especially to the (Jewish) followers of Jesus in Galatia (modern Turkey), the apostle Paul explained that the expiration of the Sinai Covenant led automatically to the invalidation of the original function of the Mosaic Law:
“Why was the [Mosaic] Law given? It was given to show people how guilty they are.
But this system of Law was to last only until the coming of the child to whom God's promise was made [Jesus the Messiah].....
Well then, is there a conflict between God's Law and God's promises?
Absolutely not! If the [Mosaic] Law could have given us new life, we could have been made right with God by obeying it.
But the Scriptures have declared that we are all prisoners of sin, so the only way to receive God's promise is to believe in Jesus Christ.
Until faith in Christ was shown to us as the way of becoming right with God, we were guarded by the [Mosaic] Law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until we could put our faith in the coming Savior.
Let me put it another way. The [Mosaic] Law was our guardian and teacher to lead us until Christ came.
So now, through faith in Christ, we are made right with God. But now that faith in Christ has come, we no longer need the [Mosaic] Law as our guardian” (Galatians 3:19-25).

It is especially because of this annulment of the ‘guardian function’ of the Mosaic Law that Paul writes to the (Jewish) followers of Jesus in Rome: “So this is the point: The [Mosaic] Law no longer holds you in its power, because you died to its power when you died with Christ on the cross. ...
When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the [Mosaic] Law aroused these evil desires that produced sinful deeds, resulting in death.
But now we have been released from the [Mosaic] Law, for we died with Christ, and we are no longer captive to its power.”
(Romans 7:4a and 6a)

To the followers of Jesus in Galatia the apostle Paul testifies: “When I tried to keep the [Mosaic] Law, I realized I could never earn God's approval. So I died [with Christ] to the Law...” (Galatians 2:19)

c) Having died with Christ = having died to the basic teachings of human philosophies and religious traditions:

The (non-Jewish) Christians in Colossae had grown up in a Hellenistic culture of syncretism in religion and philosophy. They were familiar with all kinds of human ways of salvation and ascetic practices.

The apostle Paul warned them not to hold on to those teachings:
“Why do you keep on following rules of the world, such as, “Don't handle, don't eat, don't touch.”
Such rules are mere human teaching about things that are gone as soon as we use them.
These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, humility, and severe bodily discipline.
But they have no effect when it comes to conquering a person's evil thoughts and desires” (Colossians 2:20b-23).

Earlier in the same letter Paul exposes the origin of those so called ‘pathways to life’:
“Don't let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ.”
(Colossians 2:8)

The apostle reminds the Christians in Colossae: “You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the evil powers of this world” (Colossians 2:20).

The apostle Paul reminds the followers of Jesus in Rome of the meaning of their baptism:
“Have you forgotten that when we became Christians and were baptized to become one with Christ Jesus, we died with him? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism.....
Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.
For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin” (Romans 6:3-4a and 6).

The Bible makes it clear that when we accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we die with him to our sinful selves, to the control of the [Mosaic] Law and to the deception of human philosophies and religious traditions.

This liberating fact necessarily raises the following question: how then should I live as a follower of Jesus?


The Bible verse of 1 Peter 2:24 is a quote from the New King James Version. All other texts are quotes of the New Living Translation.