The Once-for-All Death to Sin and Life in Christ

He endured death to sin in a single, definitive act; and he, having died to sin, now lives in communion with Christ. Indeed, the one who walks in newness of life walks with Christ. For the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who was given to us. This occurred precisely when we were still powerless: Christ died at the appointed moment for the ungodly. It is rare for someone to lay down their life for a righteous person—perhaps only for a genuinely good person might one find the courage to die. Yet God reveals his own love toward us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Consequently, since we have now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved through him from the wrath of God. When the text speaks of the weak or sinners, it names them and draws them into communion; but when it refers to the ungodly, it does not name them. Perhaps this distinction reflects the condition of those who live under the law: they strive by their own strength, and thus remain weak and sinful, yet they are not labeled 'ungodly' in the ordinary scriptural sense—because those under the law who transgress against God are called sinners, not ungodly. The truly ungodly are those who, though they claim to live under the law and possess its knowledge, have abandoned the God of their ancestors and turned to the gods of the nations. Before we turned to God in reverence, love had not taken root within us, for we all loved something more than God. But in that very condition—while we were still such—Christ died for us, and only then was the love of God established and made firm within us, after every obstacle to its presence had been removed by the death of Jesus. From this we must therefore listen to the ongoing establishment and confirmation of God’s love within us, a love that belongs properly to none other than God himself. As we do not merely await immortal life, but even now, as those who have become acquainted with God, are exalted in our contemplation of the Lord Christ—who, having become our mediator, brought about peace—we are called to this awareness. Therefore, if we have truly been united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall most certainly also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection. He planted a name, having come to know a certain plant—namely, the death of Jesus—which bears fruit that destroys sin. To this plant, the word tills among those who have received instruction through Christ, making them one with him in the likeness of his death. While human nature can assume a certain likeness of that death, it cannot take on his actual death, lest it fall into sin or even come to know sin. But having died—not to cleanse sin in himself, but to cleanse sin in us—no one who has sinned can die in that same way. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, yet are justified freely, and the rest follows. In other passages, he says: God raised him up and seated him with himself in the heavenly realms in Christ; and if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above. How, then, does he say here that we too shall be in the resurrection? Let it be understood that the apostle speaks of the resurrection in two ways: first, the resurrection in which the holy one has already risen with Christ and, having risen with him, now seeks the things above; second, the resurrection that will occur when the perfect comes—of which Daniel the prophet prophesied, saying that many who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Thus, the saints affirm concerning the first resurrection that they have already risen with Christ; but concerning the second, they declare that they shall rise again. If we have died with Christ, we believe we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, no longer dies; death no longer holds dominion over him. For what he died to, he died to sin once for all; and what he lives for, he lives to God. So too, you should regard yourselves as truly dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. He boldly affirms that death no longer rules over him—an idea that seems disgraceful to many, who claim he did not die to escape death’s rule, but willingly surrendered his soul for his sheep, or for his friends. For the Savior himself declares: No one takes my life from me; I lay it down of my own accord. Then someone might object, saying that death is now called the middle and indifferent state, as the common saying goes, that he died at that time, just as Paul says he died according to the Scriptures. But how can this be reconciled with the narrative that we died with Christ, and that what he died for, he died to sin once for all?