^6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, to the end that we may serve sin no longer. [n. 478]
^6:7 For he that is dead is justified from sin. [n. 482]
^6:8 Now, if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall live also together with Christ. [n. 484]
^6:9 Knowing that Christ, rising again from the dead, dies now no more. Death shall no more have dominion over him. [n. 487]
^6:10 For in that he died to sin, he died once: but in that he lives, he lives unto God. [n. 489]
^6:11 So do you also reckon that you are dead to sin, but alive unto God, in Christ Jesus our Lord. [n. 491]

478. After showing that we should not continue to sin after baptism has made us dead to sin, the Apostle now shows that we have the means to do this.

Concerning this he does two things.

First, he indicates the benefit we have received;

second, the effect of this benefit, at for he that is dead.

Concerning the first he does two things.

First he sets out the benefit we obtain;

Second, the effect of this benefit, at that the body of sin.

479. First, therefore: we have said that the baptized should walk in newness of life, namely, by desisting from sin. To anyone who says that this is impossible he responds, knowing this, that our old man, i.e., the oldness caused by sin, is crucified, i.e., put to death by the cross of Christ, with him, namely, with Christ. For as was stated above, man’s oldness was brought about by sin—in the sense that the goodness of his nature was corrupted by sin—and is predominant as long as he continues in sin. But because what is predominant in a man characterizes the man himself, it follows that the oldness of sin in a man subject to sin is an apt description of the man himself. That is why he says the old self.

480. Now the oldness of sin can refer to the guilt of sin or to the stain of actual sins or even to the habit of sinning, which engenders a sort of compulsion to sin, or even to the fomes, or concupiscence, deriving from the sin of the first parent.

Thus, therefore, our old self is said to be crucified together with Christ, inasmuch as the aforesaid oldness is removed by the power of Christ; either because it has been entirely removed, as the guilt and stain of sin are entirely removed in baptism, or because its force has been diminished, i.e., the force of the fomes or even of the custom of sinning: having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross (Col 2:14).

481. Then when he says, that the body of sin, he mentions the twofold effect of this benefit, the first of which is the removal of previous sins. Hence he says: that the body of sin may be destroyed. The body of sin is the assemblage of evil deeds, just as the assemblage of members makes one natural body: his body is like molten shields (Job 41:6).

The second effect is that it makes us beware of future sins; hence, he adds: to the end that we may serve sin no longer. For a man is a slave of sin, when he obeys the concupiscence of sin by consenting to and doing the sin: everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin (John 8:34).

482. Then when he says, for he that is dead, he clarifies what he had said:

first, in regard to the first effect;

second, in regard to the second, at now, if we be dead.

483. In regard to the first it should be noted that the assemblage of sins is destroyed when a man has his sins remitted. So he clarifies how the body of sin is destroyed when he says, he that is dead to sin through baptism, in which we die together with Christ, is justified from sin, i.e., transferred to the state of justice: and such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified (1 Cor 6:11).

Therefore, because man dies to sin through the cross of Christ, he is freed from sin in such a way that the body of sin is destroyed.

484. Then when he says, now, if we be dead, he clarifies the second effect by showing how it conforms one to the life of Christ. The reasoning is this: one who dies with the dying Christ also lives with the rising Christ.

But Christ rose from the dead, in such a way that he will never die again. Therefore, one who has died to sin lives with the risen Christ in such a way that he has the faculty of never returning to sin.

485. In regard to this he does three things:

first, he shows the believer’s conformity to the risen Christ;

second, he gives a condition of this life, at knowing that Christ;

third, he draws the intended conclusion, at so do you also.

486. First, therefore, he says, now, if we be dead with Christ, i.e., if we are dead to sin by virtue of Christ’s death, we believe that we shall live also together with Christ, i.e., in the likeness of his life. We shall live, I say, the life of grace here and the life of glory in the future: when we were dead through sin, he made us alive together with Christ (Eph 2:5).

487. Then when he says, knowing, he describes the condition of life of the risen Christ:

first, he states it;

second, he proves it, at for in that he died.

488. First, therefore, he says: we believe this, I say, because we know that Christ, rising again from the dead, dies now no more, but will live an everlasting life: I died, and behold I am alive forevermore (Rev 1:18).

What is more, death shall no more have dominion over him, but it does over man: not only when his soul and body are separated when he dies, but also before he dies, when he is subject to sickness, hunger, thirst, and such things as lead to death. From all these things the life of the risen Christ is free. Consequently, he is not subject to the dominion of death; rather, he has dominion over death: I have the keys of death and Hades (Rev 1:18).

489. Then when he says, for in that he died to sin, he proves his statement, namely, that the risen Christ will not die again. And he proves this in two ways.

First he proves it with a reason based on the death he underwent, saying: for in that he died to sin, he died once.

This must not be taken to mean that he died to sin he committed or contracted, because sin had no place whatever in him: who did no sin (1 Pet 2:22). But he is said to have died to sin in two ways: in one way, because he died to take away sin: for our sake he made him who knew no sin to be sin (2 Cor 5:21), i.e., a victim for sin. In another way, because he died to the likeness of sinful flesh, i.e., to a suffering and mortal body: God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh (Rom 8:3).

In both ways it can be concluded that Christ died once, from the fact that he died to sin. In regard to the first it is clear that he wiped out all sins through one death: by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified (Heb 10:14). Therefore, he does not need to die again for sin: for Christ also died for sins once for all (1 Pet 3:18). In regard to the second the same can be concluded. For if Christ endured death in order that the likeness of death disappear from him, his death ought to have been like that of others, who wear the flesh of sin and die but once. Hence, it is said: just as it is appointed for men to die once, so Christ also was offered once to bear the sins of many (Heb 9:27).

490. Second, he shows the same thing by considering the condition of life he obtained by rising. Hence he says: but in that he lives, he lives unto God, i.e., conformed to God. For it is said: he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God (2 Cor 13:4).

Now the effect is conformed to the cause. Hence, the life which the rising Christ acquired is deiform. Therefore, just as God’s life is everlasting and without decay: who alone has immortality (1 Tim 6:16), so Christ’s life is immortal.

491. Then when he says, so do you also, he reaches the intended conclusion that we are conformed to the life of the risen Christ both with respect to its death to sin, i.e., to the mortal life which has the likeness of sin, never to return to it, and with respect to living conformed to God.

In regard to the first he says: so do you also reckon that you are dead to sin, i.e., as never to return to sin: let not the dead live (Isa 26:14).

In regard to the second he says: but alive unto God, i.e., to the honor and in the likeness of God, that we never die through sin: the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God (Gal 2:20).

So he adds, in Christ Jesus our Lord, i.e., through Jesus Christ, through whom we die to sin and live to God; or in Christ Jesus, i.e., as incorporated into Christ Jesus, that by his death we may die to sin and by his resurrection live to God: he made us alive together with Christ, by whose grace you have been saved through Christ (Eph 2:5).