The Doctrine of Identification (part 1)

This will be the first installment of a three part series on The Doctrine of Identification. Most of the time when the word doctrine is mentioned ears automatically shut off. They asked a little Sunday school boy what doctrine was. He said, "That's what you need when you get sick." In simple terms doctrine means truth.

In Romans 6:1-11 Paul focuses on the truth or doctrine of a Christian's identification with Christ. He teaches that we are identified with Christ in His death. When Christ died we died. Christ died for you. That is substitution. You died with Christ. That is identification. That's what these next three articles are about, the Christians death with Christ.

Dr. R. G. Lee on his first trip to the Holy Land went to the place called Calvary. He was asked by a man giving a lecture, "Have you ever been here before?" Dr Lee said, "Yes, 2,000 years ago." And he was right. The truth every Christian needs to learn is that when Christ died they died. As far as God is concerned we died with Christ. This means at least two things. First, sin should never be able to evoke a response from us at all. "How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" (Roman 6:2). We are to see ourselves as dead to sin. Think about this. If a Christian is dead to sin (and they are) then what kind of response should sin get from them? Nothing can be more unresponsive than a person who is dead. A dead person can be commanded to get up, kicked and told to get up but no response will come.

In a certain church there was a member who sat in judgment on all who did not see things his way. Well, a young preacher came to the church. He was full of new ideas, vision, charm, and had an unusual grasp of scripture. God seemed to bless the ministry of this pastor. But inevitably some of his views did not agree with this certain church member and so this church member did all in his power to discourage, oppose, and criticize the young pastor.

One day another member asked the preacher how he managed to put up with this and the preacher said, "Why, I died to him five years ago!" He had grasped the secret of the believer's death with Christ. You see, "How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?" Sin should never be able to evoke a response from us at all.

A second truth is also important. By dying to sin we are now in a vital new union with Christ. In verses 3-4 Paul says that we have been baptized into Christ and into his death. The meaning of baptized in this verse is the act of God whereby he introduces a believing sinner into vital union with Jesus Christ. We are brought into a new environment. In verse 5 Paul gives another illustration. He says "we have been united with Him in likeness of His death," (Romans 6:5). The King James Version uses the word planted. The word planted has the idea of united by growth together. My granddaddy was able to graft one tree into another tree. I remember his showing me where he had grafted one branch into another entirely different tree. They had grown together to become one.

Paul shows by these illustrations that Christ's death was our death, his burial was our burial, his resurrection was our resurrection. He not only died for me He died as me. Therefore as far as God is concerned the Christian is dead to sin. This means that sin should never be able to evoke a response from us at all. And by dying to sin we are now in a vital new union with Christ. But there is more and we will look at it next week. Until then, remember that God loves you and so does First Baptist Church