6:5
So far Paul’s emphasis has been on our being united with Christ in His death, now he puts more emphasis on our being united with Him in His resurrection life. The phrase “united with him” can be looked at as being “grafted in” in the sense in which one plant can be grafted onto another. We were not naturally part of Christ, but through faith have been grafted onto Him. Through faith we become a part of Him, we are “in Christ”. This means we are united with Him in His death, and united with Him in His life. Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father, He has now been raised from the dead. So we share in a life of obedience, and a life that is being set free from sin, death and the devil. In such a scenario seeing sin as a viable option is a nonsense.
6:6
“old self” has connotations of a worn out old self. Our old self has proved itself to be defective, useless. Our old-self was crucified with Christ. This does not mean that we will never struggle with sin, for the following sections, along with every book in the New Testament, give us instruction on how to overcome sin, and on seeking forgiveness and forgiving others. It does mean we have consigned the old-self to the scrapheap. And the purpose of this was that we be set free from slavery to sin. To be a sinner is not actually a desirable state. There may be short-term pleasures, but the result is always the same. The sin enslaves and brings destruction. But the purpose of the cross is that we are set free from sin, that we are no longer slaves. Any other view of the gospel is seriously warped and mistaken.
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