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"For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might
be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin--because anyone who
has died has been freed from sin" (N.I.V.).
It is important to note that the aorist tense is used here "was crucified" not "is
crucified" of the A.V. It is looking backward to the time when it occurred and this must
be the same moment when the believer died with Christ. This again cannot be water
baptism for the context goes back to the crucifixion of Christ. Those who are united by
faith to Christ are reckoned as having been crucified with Him when He was crucified.
The Apostle describes this in his own experience in Gal. 2: 20:
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life
I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God Who loved me and gave Himself for
me" (N.I.V.).
Paul knew that this was all the work of God, going back to the crucifixion of the Lord
and certainly not commencing with his being baptized in water. The "dying with" and
"being crucified with", must refer to the same event and the same time, that is the
crucifixion and this rules out any work of man.
In Rom. 6: 6 the A.V. renders katargeo "destroyed". This is too strong; it is neither
true to fact nor experience. The N.I.V. "rendered powerless" or "put out of action"
(F.F.Bruce) is nearer the mark. The believer carries the sinful old nature to the grave or
the moment that his hope is realized in translation or resurrection, but this "crucifixion"
by God delivers him from its domination here and now. He need never be a slave to it if
he does what this context commands, and reckons what God has done for him in
identification with Christ to be absolutely true. In this position the believer is "dead" to
sin and a dead man is no longer answerable for it, "He that is dead is freed from sin"
(verse 7).
"Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more
dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once; but in that He liveth, He
liveth unto God" (verses 9, 10).
"Once" here is ephapax, "once for all", a word that is used repeatedly in the epistle to
the Hebrews to express the finality and completeness of the sacrifice of Christ.
But death is only one side of the story. It leads to resurrection life and the practical
conclusion is:
"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus"
(verse 11, N.I.V.).
The word "count" is the same as is translated "reckon" and "impute" in connection
with Abraham in chapter 4: The way that gives deliverance from the power of sin in
the believer is for him to count on what God has said about his unity with Christ's death
and resurrection as being true of himself here and now. This is God's way of holiness
and the only one that really works. Holiness conferences may bring all sorts of ideas and