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.

Death in Christ is a singularity; life in Christ is an eternality. They are as opposite as zero and infinity. Zero, mathematically speaking, is a complete discontinuity; it is a number that does not exist. Well known is the fact that while all other numbers can be a divisor, one cannot divide anything by the number zero. Yet zero holds down a place on the number sequence between one and minus one. Infinity, on the other hand, is simply a description of that which is without limit or end. Death is an abnormality; life is limitless. Spiritual death is unnatural; spiritual life is completely “natural.”

So Christ died once for all, a theme carried extensively in the book of Hebrews (see Heb 7:27, 9:12, 10:10, 14, 29). But His life is an ongoing, eternal thing. That is what the image bearing is all about, and that is what baptism signifies. We have become united spiritually with Christ in both His death (we have been buried with Him) and His new life (we have been raised with Him).

Now just as we must believe in order to be justified, we also must believe this truth in our sanctification for the practical outworking of our identifying with Christ. This is what Paul meant when he said in another place, “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Col 2:6). Our baptism was the first step of faith, publically proclaiming that we believe we died and have been raised with Christ. That faith continues on as we therefore reorder how we think about things based on this “new set of facts.” Our thinking and behavior are very connected to what we think to be true. If I think a chair will hold me up, then I will not hesitate to sit on it. If I believe that a rickety old walking bridge spanning a deep chasm will not hold me up, then I will not attempt to cross it. Likewise with spiritual truth. If I believe that what God says is true, that I am dead to sin, and I have given testimony to being united with Christ in His death, then I should take the next growth-step of faith and consider myself “dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Christians, unfortunately, can on the one hand believe they are dead to sin, but when it comes down to it, they can’t help giving in to a specific temptation. The Scripture says it begins with a rugged faith, not just an intellectual or spiritualized faith. That is why the walk of faith begins with a tangible, outwardly very physical action—to make us realize at the onset that faith has to do with life where we live it. Faith is acting on God’s facts, His truth.

Lord, help me believe with a rugged, tangible faith where I live my daily life.