9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.
10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
V. 9 - “death no longer is master over Him.” - He is Risen! (Response: “He is Risen, Indeed.”) Christ is re-born to eternal life.
We, too, in Him are re-born. Eternal life means death has been defeated, it holds no sway any longer.
This is the strong message of the New Covenant. (See the following: Matt. 16:21, 28:6; Mk. 16:6; John 21:14; Acts 2:32, 13:30; 1 Cor. 15:4; 2 Cor. 4:14; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; 2 Tim. 2:8; 1 Pet. 1:21)
At the end of time, when Christ returns and all is judged, death will be banished forever. Death has been defeated. (See: Rev. 20:6, 14; 21:4)
V. 10 - “He died to sin once for all” - Past, present, and future; All men, every woman; all creatures great and small - Christ’s sacrifice paid in full for it all. This is a radical concept. Most cultures have transcendent beings they worship, whether pagan deities or the Lord God of Judeo-Christian faith. Most religious practices involve repetitive attempts to appease the gods, so harm won’t come upon the believers. A common belief is that bad things happen to you because the gods are angry. Another facet is to appease the gods so they will do something good for you.
Repeated offerings and sacrifices are part of the Jewish practice - look through the book of Leviticus. These religious practices were not quite the same as the pagan worship of pagan gods. God had told the Israelites - repeatedly - He loves them. If they would remain faithful to Him, and show that faithfulness through the worship, He would continue to bless them. The Jews did not earn His love - He decided long before they became a nation, a people. The Lord God, the Holy God of Israel, is not capricious - a God who must be mollified.
That being said: God gave the Law to make them better people! The Ten Commandments are in opposition to the way of life of those nations around them (and the one from which they escaped - Egypt). (See: Exo. 20:3-17) The first four Laws concern human-God relationships. The next six Laws concern human-human relationships.
The sacrifices were not to merely appease God so that He would be good to them. The sacrifices were to help the Israelites to know the penalty for their sins had been paid. There was nothing they could do to work their way into God’s favor. But they could sacrifice a totally innocent animal. God would accept that innocent animal as sufficient to not give them the punishment they deserved.
He is a loving and compassionate God who blesses those who believe in Him. He has provided salvation for us, even though we don’t deserve, nor can we earn it. He has given a gift to all through His Son.
“the life that He lives, He lives to God” - Jesus was tempted as we are, yet was without sin. His resurrection to eternal life with the Father is the guarantee of our salvation. He died to pay for our sin - one perfect life for all imperfect humans. His life is empowered by God, and is lived in His presence. There is no other power or being, physical or spiritual, that can separate Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
V. 11 - “Even so “ That being said - Christ’s death defeated the power of sin and His resurrection to eternal life proves it - you no longer need to be beset and harassed by sin! Based on that knowledge, you now can live in the power of His resurrection.
“Consider yourselves” - This is a ‘command’ (I would not be adamant that this is a command like “You shall love the Lord with all your heart...”). Since you are Christ’s own, you can now start to make life decisions based on Christ’s guidance.
A new paradigm! If you are Christ’s own, and believe you are His, you can live you life by His power and through guidance from the Holy Spirit. You are His: so live like it is so! This does not mean be an ‘actor’, putting on a mask, hiding your true self. You are a new person, live as that new person.
There is a word used often in relation to immigrants - “assimilate”. If you migrate to a country, and want to become a citizen then you must learn and accept the new country’s laws and customs. For example, we want immigrants from Mexico or Honduras to become Americans, as in United-States-of-America-Americans. They may have come from Mexico, that is their former culture and history, but we want them to become Americans, not Mexicans-living-in-America. It is fine to celebrate your heritage; it helps you remember your family origins. Learn our language, learn our laws, learn how our political system works (it is different than 90% of other countries), how our government functions. That is assimilation.
Assimilation is what is expected of us when we accept Christ as Lord and Savior. We are now citizens of His heavenly kingdom.
“Dead to sin, but alive to God”- you get to make the decision, or decisions each day. Whether you decide to follow Jesus’s guidelines, or decide not, you make the decision. Even if you just slide through life, making no overt decisions, you are making decisions. Do you want to continue on the way you have, or do you want to make a change for the better - for the way Jesus Christ would have you live?
There are only two choices - live according to Jesus, or not.
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