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quickened together with Christ, we have been raised up together, and made to sit together
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2: 5, 6). We quote a few verses also from
Romans 6::
"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized
into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as
Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His
death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection: knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should
not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin" (Rom. 6: 3-7).
If we continue to read this chapter, we come across the sentence, "Likewise reckon ye
also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin", and we might pause to consider the word
"reckon". It is the translation of the Greek logizomai which is translated in various ways,
such as impute, reckon, count, (see The Berean Expositor, Vol. LI, p.201). For example,
Rom. 4: 3 states that Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for
righteousness. Rom. 4: 8 quotes Psa. 32: "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord
will not impute sin". After writing about Abraham, Paul says:
"Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also,
to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the
dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification"
(Rom. 4: 23-25).
Thus, as Abraham believed God and it was counted for righteousness, so our faith can
be counted for righteousness. We reckon that we died with Christ and are dead unto sin
(Rom. 6: 11). We enjoy a new life in Christ. The flesh (or the old man or old nature) is
counted as dead, and we live in the Spirit, or put on the new man, or enjoy a new nature.
But while we believe we have been completely changed, we are conscious that we
sometimes exhibit characteristics of the flesh or old nature. Paul admits that the flesh and
the spirit are contrary to each other, as we find in Rom. 7: 14-25. For example he
writes:
"For I know that in en (that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing: for to will is
present with me: but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I
would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do" (Rom. 7: 18, 19).
Paul exclaims "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of
this death?" He replies, "I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord" (24, 25).
So we read in Rom. 8:, about life in the Spirit. As a result of the life and sacrifice
of our Lord, we are free from the law of sin and death. If we mind the things of the
Spirit, we are spiritually minded and have life and peace. We are "in Christ", but
Romans 8: 10, 11 speaks of Christ being in me, and His Spirit dwelling in me. Above
all, in Rom. 8: 35-39 Paul confirms that nothing can separate us from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus.