United with Christ: Rom 6:5

Of baptism, Paul writes, “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). To this, Paul adds the promise, “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection” (Romans 6:5). I have always understood this verse to mean that, if we have been baptized in Christ, then we have been united with him in his death and shall also be united with him in his resurrection. However, the Greek word used here for “united with” means to be planted together and to grow along with. Reading this verse this way, the promise becomes, “If we have been planted together with Christ and are growing beside him in his death, the so will we also be in his resurrection” (my translation). Being united with Christ in his death is not a one-time act, but a process which we must embrace daily in our lives.

This understanding of this verse is further supported in the surrounding context. First, in verse 5, the verb “have become” in the Greek is in the perfect tense, which indicates an action that happened in the past and whose effect is still felt today. Our baptism put us in the state of being united with Christ in his death, and we are to continue in that state even today. Secondly, in verse 11, where Paul says “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11), the verb to “consider yourselves” is in the present tense which, in the Greek, represents an ongoing action. We are to daily consider ourselves as dead to sin and alive to Christ. Furthermore, in writing to the Corinthians, Paul testifies, “I die daily” (1 Cor. 15:31).

In many ways, the Christian life is not a life of one-time events. Instead, it is a life that is to be lived in continual relationship with Christ. The Christian life is a life that daily embraces the process of death and resurrection by which we become more like Christ. Paul calls us to daily remember that we have been “crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20) and to learn to live, not according to our old way of life, but acceding to our new life in Christ. We are daily to experience the reality of the promise that, having died with Christ, we have been “freed from sin” (Rom. 6:7). As we live such a life, we will grow alongside Christ in both his death and his resurrection, and we will experiencing the freedom from sin and the power of that newness of life which his death, burial, and resurrection bring to us.