What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin — because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. – Romans 6:1-7
I was recently having lunch and overheard the banter from a few guys sitting at the table across from me. The topic was American football, and each of them followed different teams. They were obviously diehards, trying to one-up each other with all sorts of trivial statistics. “Well, we won the Super Bowl back in ’82, ’85, ’89, ’90, and ’95. How many have you all won?” The table went silent with the one guy obviously basking in the moment. “That’s what I thought!” he shouted joyfully, as everyone within earshot turned to look at him.
The young fella couldn’t have been any older than his early 20’s, which meant that he hadn’t even been born when “we” won all of those Super Bowl titles. But I was no less amused, though having not even existed yet, he was so eager to consider his team’s victories as his own.
And yet, isn’t this what Paul was basically getting at in Romans 6? That our death to sin – which we ordinarily believe happened the day we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior – actually occurred that day some 2000 years ago when Jesus was crucified, buried, and arose from the tomb three days later? Is that not the day in which the debt for our sin was paid?
Each and every generation since has every right to celebrate that victorious day! We can claim that victory as our own. In fact, the Bible tells us that we must claim this victory for ourselves if we are to be made right with God and have eternal life.
We would do well to be just as enthusiastic and fantastical about Christ’s victory over the cross as the young man was about his favorite football team’s past success.
For there has never been a team more victorious than Team Jesus, and there never will be. He is our Champion forever.
Former Blackout Artist 