NOTES for Rom 6:2

When we meet with Paul's words that we, as Christians, are dead to sin, various associations appear, and the closest is often connected to a certain particularly rigorous asceticism, with a merciless fight, with a readiness to resist one’s own fallen humanity, at least to death. Perhaps such is the case in the fallen world, especially that the apostle himself in some of his messages says that we can remain faithful to the Torah, observe it till the end only at the cost of our own life: because as long as the sinful man lives, he continues to sin, such is the property of his fallen human nature.

And if Christianity was another new religion, probably, it could then be limited to this: because the fallen man is really not in the state to do more. But Christianity is not a new religion, but a new life, a life in this Kingdom, which the Savior brought on earth, saying that it is "closed". And this life is completely incompatible with sin. If only we want to live the life of the Kingdom, sin has to disappear from our life. But indeed, for that, it is necessary a complete transformation of the human nature, otherwise we shall not know how to speak about the deliverance from sin! On one hand, it is exactly so.

But, on the other hand, the transformation process of the individual in the Kingdom is inseparable from the history of the Kingdom in our world being transformed, but not yet transformed till the end. It is in a sense, two sides of the same process: as long as the Kingdom will not reveal itself in all its entirety, none of us, looking for the Kingdom or living in it, will gain all the fullness of his life, and thus, our own spiritual biography is closely linked to the history of the Kingdom in our world and is defined by this one. However, as long as our human nature will not totally be transformed, we shall not get rid of sin! Then what: the perspective of a sinless life is postponed until the day of the return of Christ and of the definitive triumph of the Kingdom?

And yes, and no. Yes because it is only then that we are definitively going to get rid of sin. No, because we can get rid of the power of sin right before, than we get rid definitively and for ever of sin. Such an assertion can seem strange, if we do not consider the fact that the Kingdom "is close" already, it is here, and we can join its life already today. Of course, in our period of transition, the period of the Kingdom to come, we are most likely going to live simultaneously in two worlds: in the former not transformed world and in the Kingdom.

And in such position, only from our spiritual state depends which of both components of our, as the philosophers say, existence, will be decisive. Ideally, our lives must be exceptionally defined by that of its components, which belongs to the Kingdom. Well then we shall be death to sin: it will exist in our life, as something outside with regard to it, without defining its quality, perhaps only sometimes making attempts to invade where it will still have no path. Probably, it is the maximum of what we can achieve in our period of transition, in the period, when the Kingdom is already here, but not yet revealed till the end.