“sin doesn’t have power over dead people… Christ died… never to die again… we died with Christ… you must think of yourselves as dead to the power of sin” (Paul, (1st century AD), letter to Romans ch. 6). Paul really had a profound grasp on how Christ’s death affected all of us. He is basically [...]
“sin doesn’t have power over dead people… Christ died… never to die again… we died with Christ… you must think of yourselves as dead to the power of sin” (Paul, (1st century AD), letter to Romans ch. 6). Paul really had a profound grasp on how Christ’s death affected all of us. He is basically stating that people’s struggle against the temptation to sin is a battle already won, won by Christ’s win over death.
Paul states that after Christ was revived from being dead, that death had definitely been defeated, and that ONE win over death was a ONCE off thing. There would be no repeating the death and resurrection. The struggle of Christ to defeat death was a final victory, with death the loser and further uprisings just pointless. Paul states that people are able to claim that one victory also as their own, so they also are considered to have died.
And if people have died then sin has no power over them anymore. It is as though sin were charging all over town knocking on people’s doors demanding they pay what they owe. If sin came to an empty house, whose occupants had recently passed away, then it would move on, having nothing to do with those occupants anymore. Sin has no use for dead people. What Paul is saying is that Christ died, people died with him, so sin is no longer that unavoidable force compelling and driving our lives, but rather sin must move on to easier prey.
Once we know that sin has moved on, we can get down to the business of embracing our new life… the one we now owe to Christ. I often feel that there are remnants of the life gone by, that try to convince me that sin is still a force to be reckoned with, and which I should fear. Yet it IS a life gone by, and so we can forget the shadows and lies, and focus on our new life. The remnants will remain, flickering like a flame trying to scare us, but Christ stands tall and sure, the one who holds us safe, the kind champion warrior who put an end to our failure… sin, and gives us a new world to grow up in.. his home.
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Here is something interesting to chew on – “If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?” (1 Corinthians 15:29). ????
I had a look… just for interest…
In interpreting verse 29 of 1 Corinthians chapter 15, I think it is important to remember the context of the preceding verses which state the link that binds people to Christ and therefore their own resurrection; faith (i.e. trust in Christ). The text states (v 23b) that “those who are his” will be raised, and that they “have faith” (vv. 14 & 17). So for those who are still alive, ‘trust’ (in Christ) is what matters.
A brief look at the greek text of verse 29 reveals that “those who are being baptised” and “those who are dead” are connected by the word ‘huper’ which when used with the genitive case is usually translated “on behalf of” or “for.”
At the time this text was written Christ was a fresh piece of news, and people would have been feeling sad for those who had died before the news arrived, so perhaps this idea of being baptised on behalf of someone who missed out would have been a great wonder. Perhaps we would love the opportunity to bless those who had missed out…
Think about today… there are those who trust their lives to Christ… those who have heard the news but can’t trust him… and those who haven’t heard the news (of course it’s not always this black and white). The text doesn’t specify which dead people the believers are wanting to assist… perhaps it is both those who couldn’t trust, and those who hadn’t heard… perhaps their (the believers’) act of considering the future of even dead people, was simply an overflow of love for them… can’t love extend beyond death, and into a future when God will embrace EVERYONE who trusts in Jesus, even if some trust him at the last and final second? That would be wonderful.