The Cross -- Part 3

In my last article I discussed the fact that Christ’s death for us was substitutionary. That means He took our place on the cross. Because He took our sin and its penalty there, we are able to receive the forgiveness of God and actually have imputed to us the righteousness of Christ.

There is an important scriptural truth that we need to study in order to fully lay hold of the victory Christ won for us on the cross. In Romans 6:3 it says, “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

I Corinthians 12:13 says, “For  by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.”

When we trust Christ and receive Him, the Holy Spirit places us into the body of Christ. We are joined to Him. So Paul wrote in Romans 6 that those who were baptized into Christ Jesus were also baptized into His death. He tells us in verse 6 that our “old man” was crucified with Christ. In Galatians 2:20 Paul says it this way, “I have been crucified with Christ….”

Because of the fact that we have been placed into Christ, we were present in Him when He died on the cross.

The Bible not only teaches that we died with Christ, but that we were buried, risen and ascended with Him as well. Consider the following Scriptures:

Colossians 2:12-13 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,

Colossians 3:1-3 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Ephesians 2:4-7 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in  His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Notice the tense of the verbs in the Ephesians passage. They are all past tense. God made (past tense) us alive together with Christ. He raised (past tense) us up together, and made (past tense) us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We need to believe these statements as the truth whether it feels true or not. We are to reckon them as being the reality in which we live and the true condition of our lives before God. Next time we’ll look at how we are to use the truth of these statements to help us live lives that are pleasing to God.