“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, “
This whole section is based on the assumption of our having been “raised with Christ”. If we attempt to follow the teaching of the proceeding verses outside of the resurrection power, we will be doing so out of our own strength and it will all be in vain.
The Apostle Paul teaches in Romans 6:4-6 that…
4We 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.
5If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin—
Through the crucifixion of Christ, we are invited into a new life. And we are empowered through the resurrection of Jesus to live this new life that is described in this section. The resurrection is the foundation, the linchpin, the hinge. It is a common temptation to try and live the Christian life out of our own strength, but the Bible teaches us that we are only able to live the new life out of the power of the resurrection of Jesus.
As the Apostle Peter proclaims in 1 Peter 1:3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
So, we must ask our self, what is the foundation of our spiritual life? Is it our own effort? Or is it the power of the resurrection and the truth that we have been raised with Christ? And we can be confident in this because Paul writes “YOU HAVE been raised with Christ” – it is a statement of a fact for those who are in Christ. Now, we just learn to live in that truth.
