Day 3

The gospel is not just a question of what Christ did for us, but of what happened to us in the reckoning of God by our union with Christ.

“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.”  —ROMANS 6:4

To be united with Christ is to be united with Him in His death, burial and resurrection. The gospel is not just a question of what Christ did for us, but of what happened to us in the reckoning of God by our union with Christ.  

 First, we are ‘crucified with Christ’. That is, we stand before God having paid in full the consequences of our sin by being identified with His death as our substitute. If someone pays a debt on my behalf, I am legally deemed to have paid the debt. So it is with sin.

Secondly, we are ‘buried with Christ’. It is as important to know that we are buried with Christ as it is to know we have been crucified with Christ. The time between a death and burial can be awkward and difficult. We often speak of the deceased in the present tense, but once they are buried we speak in the past tense. The reality of their death has been confirmed by their burial. We need to be sure, not only that we have died with Christ, but that we have been buried with Him. Our sins really have gone!

Part of our difficulty is that we know we don’t deserve this, so we keep the sense of guilt in the back of our minds, and stoically refuse to allow ourselves to enter into the joy of knowing that not only are we forgiven, but our sin is gone, buried, over with, and never to be reconciled to us again. It is a liberating truth! 

Be encouraged by what David said in Psalm 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Paul triumphantly tells us that “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8.1) 

Thirdly, we are ‘raised with Christ’. Liberation from our sin and old lives makes us free to enjoy the resurrection life of Christ, imparted to us, as our means of living a new life.