Explanations of Good News in Romans 6:1-11
By Jonathan Mitchell
In Romans chapter 5, Paul presents God's plan which involves humanity, presenting an overview beginning from the incident with Adam (and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), which brought death to humanity (5:12), showing us the effects of one man's disobedience, and then he contrasts that to the Obedience of One Man, Jesus Christ, and the effects of His Act (which, incidentally, ended the old age and inaugurated the new age of the new creation - 2 Cor. 5:17) which brought Life and Peace (a Joining) to all of humanity.
In that chapter, he explains how the Acts of each man affects the entirety of all of humanity, which he termed, "THE MANY." Adam ushered in the "reign of Death." Christ ushered in the "reign of Grace" through eschatological deliverance, placing folks into the Way pointed out (rightwising them) into the midst of "eonian Life (Life of, and from, the Age of the Messiah), through Jesus Christ, our Lord." In chapter 6, Paul offers us explanations which begin to fill in the picture of the overview given in chapter 5, this latter painting in broad, corporate strokes. We suggest that chapter 6 is concerned with the same subject as chapter 5: THE MANY. Our interpretation will be based upon this understanding of the context of chapter 5, which we see as continuing on here, in chapter 6. With these thoughts in mind, we will begin a verse-by-verse observation of Rom. 6:1-11.
1. What, then (or: consequently), shall we continue saying (or: proceed declaring)? Should we continue prolonging our remaining (or: May we stay longer, remain on, or constantly abide [as a guest in a home]; = habitually persist in dependence, or keep on yielding and sustaining friendly relationship - K.S. Wuest; [other MSS: Do we continue staying on]) in the sphere of the Sin (or: with that failure; by the missing of the target; centered in the error; in relation to this deviation from the goal), to the end that the Grace and Favor may increase or would abound to be more than enough?
The rhetorical questions flow directly from Rom. 5:20-21, where, in vs. 20, Paul instructs us: "But where the Sin increases (or: was augmented and abounded to be more than enough; or: becomes more intense) THE GRACE at once super-exceeds," and this now makes sense to what he ironically poses here, in 6:1, and then gives the answer in vs. 2, below.
To committed followers of the Messiah, these rhetorical questions must have almost sounded ridiculous. His suggestion sounds logical, on a certain level. But I suggest that this is a rhetorical defense against potential critics of the implications of what he has just said in chapter 5, which to Jew and Gentile, alike, might sound difficult to accept. And so, in anticipation of this, he continues his arguments. J.R. Daniel Kirk sees this rhetorical question as "set[ting] the topic of discussion for the remainder of the chapter" (Unlocking Romans, Resurrection and the Justification of God (p 107). Dodd stresses the need to keep in mind that Christ is the "inclusive Representative" of "redeemed humanity, which constitutes in union with Him a sort of corporate personality..." (in chapter 5) in order to follow the argument in this present chapter (The Epistle to the Romans p 86).
Ben Witherington III sees the opening phrase of vs. 1, "What, then...," as a look, "back to what has preceded. On the basis of what he has said in chapter 5, Paul will set in motion a discussion punctuated by a series of rhetorical questions (1:1-3, 15, 16, 21; 7:1, 13, 24) that will not be over until the end of chapter 7" (Paul's Letter to the Romans p 154-5).
From Campbell's apocalyptic reading of Romans, we can potentially hear the potentially accusing voice of the Judaizer in this question, to which Paul answers in the negative in the next verse.
2. Certainly not (May it not come to be; May it not happen)! We, the very ones who once died off and AWAY - and thus, separated - by the Sin (or: died away, with a view to that Sin; died off, in that deviation; died away from the Sin with reference to that missing of the target; died TO this Failure; died in that Error), how shall those such as we [with other MSS: how could we [possibly] still (or: yet) continue living within it, centered in it, in union with it, or in the sphere of it? [cf Rom. 7:4; Jn. 15:1-11]
So he sets his listeners at ease, and his opponents at bay: this is in no way what he is suggesting. Then he asks another rhetorical question in order to build a strong position against anyone misunderstanding what he has said. The ethical/theological question presents us with more questions since Paul's secretary did not use a preposition in front of the words the Sin when writing down what Paul was saying. All we have is the article and the noun in the dative case, which has multiple grammatical functions. Did we die by the Sin? Well, yes, that is the narrative that Paul just explained in rehearsing the Garden story about Adam's sin.
Also, we can see that we "died with the Sin" - that makes sense. And since we were in Adam (following Paul's reasoning of what has been called seeing Adam as the "federal head" of humanity, thus representing the whole), we died with Him "in the Sin." So this describes the human condition, before the cross and resurrection of Jesus. We died "in error."
But there is another important view when reading this noun as a 'dative of reference': we died TO, or, with reference to, failure and the missing of the target (that of being God's image bearer, through obedience to His arrangement). We are thus "dead to the old creation; dead to the old humanity; dead to living out of covenant and going our own way; dead to the Sin (personified, as we also see it in Rom. 7).
Yet another insight involves Rom. 5:20. Since the Law makes the Sin increase, and is in fact the strength of Sin (1 Cor. 15:56), is Paul also intimating here that we are dead to the old arrangement that was inserted alongside - i.e., the Law? Recall that Paul said,
"the original things (the beginning [situations]; the archaic and primitive [arrangements]) passed by (or: went to the side). Consider! New things have come into existence (have been birthed; or: It has become new things; or: He has been birthed and now exists being ones of a different kind, character and quality)" (2 Cor. 5:17).
This would speak to both the Jewish Christians in the community, and to the Gentiles with their old patterns of living with the "us and them" paradigms of Roman social stratifications. The ramifications of Paul's question reach into all areas of life - both then and now.
3. Or are you continuing to be ignorant (are you remaining without experiential knowledge; do you continue not knowing or having insight) that as many as are immersed, and thus placed (or: were at one point baptized: dipped into and enveloped by; = introduced into this new sphere and different environment and condition, which is union and identification - K.S. Wuest, i.e.,) into the midst of Christ Jesus are immersed and placed (or: were baptized to the point of enveloped saturation; were dipped) into His death? [cf Lev. 4:6]
Now here, he presents a whole different thought: we not only just died by, with, in and to the Sin (vs. 2), but, also, we "were and are (the aorist tense: the fact) immersed into His death." Standing for all humanity as the representative of the first Adam, He died with all humanity placed in Him, and thus dying with Him. Paul makes this very point in 2 Cor. 5:14,
"[We are] deciding (discerning; judging) this: that [some MSS add: since] One Person (or: Man) died over [the situation of] all mankind (or: for the sake of all); consequently, all people died (or: accordingly, then, all humanity died)."
On the smaller representative scale, as the Messiah He took all of Israel into the grave. That is why he said in Col. 3:11,
"there is no Greek [figure of the multitudes who are non-Jews, and of those who are cultured and civilized] and Jew [figure of a covenant people of God], circumcision and uncircumcision [figure for religious in-groups and out-groups; there is no longer a covenant people versus non-covenant people], barbarian [foreigner who speaks a different language], Scythian [figure or example of wild, uncivilized groups], slave, freeman, but to the contrary, Christ [is] all, and within all (or: Christ [is] all humanity, and within all mankind; or: Christ [is] everything or all things, and within everything and all things; [note: the Greek is plural, and is either masculine, signifying 'mankind,' or neuter, signifying 'all creation in these phrases])."
[Point of history on Pauline exegesis: "Gnostic theologians.... claim that psychic [= soulish] believers fail to see that Paul is not speaking here literally of a future bodily resurrection: instead, he is speaking symbolically of the process of receiving gnosis. Irenaeus says that 'they maintain that the resurrection from the dead is knowing the truth that they proclaim.' The teacher of Rheginos alludes to such passages as Rom. 6:3-11 and Col. 3:4 as he explains the meaning of resurrection:
'The savior has swallowed up death.... we suffered with him, and we arose with him, and we went to heaven with him.'
For, he continues, the resurrection is 'the revelation of that which is the change of things, and the transformation into newness' (cf 6:4).... Theodotus cites this passage as he explains that 'baptism is called death, and an end of the old life'..." - Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Paul, Gnostic Exegesis of the Pauline Letters p 29, brackets mine]
Here in vs. 3 we have a qualifying clause: "that as many are immersed (or: were at one point baptized)..." Is Paul referring to the traditional ritual of water baptism, or is he speaking in existential terms about those whose "class or division, effect of place or appointed position or result of the ordered succession" has arrived (1 Cor. 15:22, 23)? Or is he, in referring to individuals, speaking corporately? And is Christ the water into which folks are immersed, or is Christ the Spirit?
"For we, ourselves - within the midst of one Spirit (or: in union with one Breath-effect and Attitude) - are all submerged into one body (or: were all immersed into, so as to be enveloped by, one body) - whether Jews or Greeks (or: Hellenists), whether slaves or free folks - and we all are (or: were) made (or: caused) to drink one Spirit (or: spirit; Breath-effect; Attitude)" - 1 Cor. 12:13.
And then in Eph. 4 we are instructed:
4. [being] one body and one spirit (attitude and effect of the Breath), according as you folks were (or: are) also called within the midst of one expectation (or: in union with one expectant hope) of your calling (or: invitation),
5. [with] one Lord (or: Owner), one faith (or: loyalty, confidence, assurance, and trust; or: "one belief" - Bultmann), one submersion and envelopment which brings absorption and permeation to the point of saturation (or: baptism),
6. one God and Father of all humans - the One upon all people and moving through all people, and within the midst of all humanity and in union with all people and all things.
One baptism (Eph. 4:5). Water, or Spirit? In Eph. 4:6, 'panton' is taken as masculine, and thus indicates people, not things, since God is spoken of here as being their Father. The final phrase seems so inclusive that I also offer the rendering "all things."
Paul speaks of corporate baptism as he draws on Israel's exodus story in 1 Cor. 10:
1. So, I am not intending (or: willing; wanting) you folks to continue being ignorant, brothers, that our fathers (= ancestors) were all continually existing under the cloud, and everyone passed completely through the midst of the sea,
2. and so they all immersed themselves into Moses (or: got themselves baptized [other MSS: were baptized] unto Moses), within the cloud and within the sea.
Here we see the whole nation being figuratively placed into Moses. This was a type of humanity being placed into Christ - it was all the work of God. They passed through the opened passage through the sea, but did not get wet. They followed the cloud when it moved, but they did not physically enter into it. It seems to me that Paul sees the spiritual reality as the significant thing, rather than the physical ritual.
"I am continually thankful [other MSS: I constantly thank {others add: my} God] that I baptized (immersed) not one of you folks, except Crispus and Gaius....
For you see, Christ did not send me off with a commission to be constantly baptizing (immersing)..." (1 Cor. 1:14, 17).
Whether one views being immersed (or: baptized) into Christ as a sacrament that believers perform on individuals (as with Philip and the Ethiopian - Acts 8:36-39), or that Paul was speaking here of the larger picture which was inherent in the death of Christ, may simply remain a point of view.
Paul's discussion of our being immersed into Christ's death is one of the passages that has led Sanders to see Christ's death not as substitution, but rather as being a death in which humanity participates, and sees Rom. 8:3f, 2 Cor. 5:21 and Gal. 3:16 as "primarily participationist" (Paul and Palestinian Judaism p 466-468; he also cites D.E.H. Whiteley as being of a similar view: a "salvation through participation" - Theology of St Paul, p 136).
However we view the immersion - and note the definite article here, as with the Sin and the Death, above (is Paul personifying the immersion here?) - it is directly tied to the death of Christ, which was a historical, one-time event. So the immersion can thus also be seen as a historical, one-time event that happened corporately (inclusive of all humanity) through the death of Jesus as the death of the first Adam. Because of this, when an individual is awakened into this new reality (the Truth/Reality which Christ is) he or she can walk around -- i.e., live one's life, conduct herself/himself, order one's behavior - within newness of life. He is speaking of the here and now, not some future event. Our life in God's kingdom is "in union with life characterized by being new in kind and quality (Greek: 'kainos'), and different from that which was former," and this refers to behavior of the covenant community as it shines forth this newness of life to the world of darkness (ignorance, death) that surrounds it.
The language of roused and raised forth from out of the midst of dead folks speaks of His resurrection, and His newness of life that is associated with the glory of the Father. We should thus connect our new life in Christ as "resurrection life." He IS the resurrection, as He told Martha in John 11:25.
If we understand the meaning of the word glory in this context as "the glorious manifestation of splendor which calls forth praise," we can perceive this as a description of the Father's work in raising Christ from the dead. Or, since this word and concept historically referred to God's presence (cf Ex. 40:34, 35 - when the glory filled the tabernacle), Paul can simply be saying that the Father's immediate presence resurrected Him. Another meaning of glory (Greek: doxa) is "imagination." Imagination is a function of the mind, and is associated with "thought" - Logos, Word. God's creative imagination is capable of anything, including raising Jesus from the dead.
Kirk considers vss. 3-4 as "form[ing] the first argumentative unit of chapter 6..." (ibid p 108). He further states that, "baptism into Christ's death is correlative with baptism into Christ himself.... 'walking in newness of life' is the goal of this phase of Paul's argument" (ibid 108-109).
5. You see, since (or: It follows that in view of the fact that; or: For if) we have been birthed (have come to be) folks engrafted and produced together (or: have become planted and made to grow together; or: have been brought forth into being, together, and are now congenital) in, by, to, and with, the result of the likeness of (or: the effect of the similar manner from) His death, then certainly we will also continue being [in, and with the effects of the likeness] of The Resurrection (or: but, as well, we will keep on existing - which is the resurrection; or: but more, also, we will constantly live from that resurrection, with its qualities),
The perfect tense of the verb adds weight to Paul's argument of a past action that continues in its effect of a past "completed" action on into the future: we have been birthed, or have come to be, or have become people that are engrafted and produced together (a very picturesque agricultural image for our union with Him - calling to mind the Vine metaphor of John 15) in the RESULT of the likeness of His death. In Gal. 2:20, Paul informed us that,
"I was crucified together with Christ [= the Messiah], and thus it remains (or: I have been jointly put on the execution stake in [the] Anointed One, and continue in this state), yet I continue living!"
That is another way of saying what he says here. He used the perfect tense here, as well. This is a spiritual identification with a historical event that was also a spiritual event. This is why all of humanity can say the same thing that Paul said - as soon as they realize it or become aware of it (through the proclaiming of the message!). We are called to tell this to the world: you were crucified with Christ, and you were buried with Him. We are to tell them,
"Let the sleeper (the person continuously down and being fast asleep) be waking up, continue rousing, and then stand up (arise) from out of the midst of the dead ones, and the Christ will continue shining upon you (enlightening you)!" (Eph. 5:14).
The durative aspect of the future tense informs us that we shall also CONTINUE existing with and in the effects and results of the likeness of the Resurrection. We are in this state now, and we have the expectation of continuing in this state on into the future. Christ is the Resurrection of the Second Humanity (1 Cor. 15:47) - the humanity that is "from out of the midst of heaven," or, from the Spirit.
The old, former humanity of the first Adam was simultaneously and jointly impaled and put to death on the cross, with Jesus. Paul is restating his point made in vss. 3-4, above, where he spoke of it as immersion into His death. Now he speaks of the purpose for our being included in His death: to the end that (this introduces the following purpose clause) the body of the Sin could and would be rendered useless and inoperative. So, what is this "body of the Sin"?
Through the alternate functions of the genitive case of the noun, Sin, on offer in the parenthetical expansion, we have three possible explanations which will shed light on Paul's phrase:
a) the body belonging to (the genitive of possession) the failure
b) the corporal manifestation (= the body) that pertains to the deviation
c) the group of people (metaphorical use of the term "body" - which I suggest is "Adam" as the figure and representative of all of humanity) who missed the target.
Taken together, I suggest that these three present a fuller view of Paul's thought here. This can, of course, be applied individually (for the corporate body is made up of individuals), but I think that Paul's argument has the corporate view in mind. His "us" is first of all an inclusive us. He is speaking of the new reality, the new creation in Christ which involves the entire cosmos (John 4:42). Eph. 5:23 instructs us about the body being a corporate entity,
"as also (or: even as) the Christ [is] Head (or: Source) of the called-out community (the ecclesia; the summoned-out assembly); He Himself is (continually exists being) [the] Savior (Deliverer; Rescuer; Restorer to health and wholeness) of the Body."
In regard to death, we find insights from the 9th chapter of Hebrews:
27. And now, according to as much as it continues lying-away (or: laid away; reserved-off; stored) in (or: with; for; to) mankind (or: people) to die-away once, but after this a process of evaluating (a separating and making a distinction to be a judging and determining; a deciding),
28. so also, the Christ - being once borne (or: carried) close into THE MANY (or: being offered once unto and for the many) to carry failures (errors; sins mistakes; deviations; misses of the target) back up again - will continue being made visible (or: will be progressively seen) forth from out of the midst of the second [place (cf 9:3, 7 & 10:9; {comment: = the holy of holies})] - apart from failure (apart from sin; apart from a sin offering; apart from error in attempting to hit the target) - in those (or: by those; to those; for those) habitually receiving (or: progressively taking) from out of the midst of Him, [progressing] into a deliverance (or: [leading] into a rescue; with a view to health and wholeness; into the midst of salvation).
[note: the Greek word translated "receiving from out of the midst of" is 'apekdechomai,' which is' dechomai,' which means "to take and receive with the hands," with the preposition apek, a contraction of 'apo,' "from," and 'ek,' "out of the midst of" added as a prefix. This verb should not be translated "looking for," or "awaiting"]
For a discussion which I have given on these verses in Heb. 9, see John, Judah, Paul and ?, Harper Brown Publishing, 2013.Paul will further develop his argument on being a slave to the Sin in Rom. 6:16, 17 and 20. His argument of the movement from the first Adam to the last Adam, and from the former age and covenant to the present age and covenant, is on offer in Gal. 4:1-7.
"In 6:6, Paul asserts a death to the old aeon, the world-order brought about in Adam, through participation in the event on which the change of the aeons hinged - the crucifixion of Christ" (Kirk, ibid p 111).
7. for you see, the One at one point dying (or: the person at some point experiencing death) has been eschatologically released and rightwised away from the Sin (or: set in the Way pointed out, away from the Failure; turned in the right direction, away from the deviation and missing of the target; placed into equity and right relationships, away from error; = has been delivered and moved away from The Sin, and has been brought into participation in covenant relationship). [cf Rom. 6:18]
The last clause calls to mind 1 Cor. 6:11, which follows one of Paul's lists of vices,
"But now you folks bathed yourselves off (took a bath to cleanse things away). But further, you were set apart (made holy; sanctified). But also you were eschatologically delivered, rightwised and placed in the Way pointed out (turned in the right direction, made fair and equitable, and then joined in right relationship with God and mankind; = put in covenant) in union with, and within the midst of, the Name of our Lord, Jesus Christ - even in union with and within the midst of the Spirit of (or: Breath-effect and Attitude which is) our God!"
As we pointed out above, 2 Cor. 5:14 instructs us that since the One died, then all were dead in Him. The death was for the purpose of our being eschatologically released and rightwised away from the Sin. He entered into our death so that we would be resurrected into His Way that He pointed out: Christ, our Path of rightwisedness (cf Rom. 4:25). Sanders points out, "In Rom. 6 the general context of participation is Christ's death so the one may participate in life determines the meaning of 'dikaoumai' [to be placed in Christ and turned in the right direction of the Way pointed out]" (ibid p 503; bracketed definition mine), further noting that here in this verse this verb is "the equivalent of 'set free' from the power of sin by participation in Christ's death..." (ibid p 506). My paraphrase, in the final portion of the parenthetical expansion, shows how the redemption by Christ moved us from the slavery to sin that was inherent in the Death, and then placed us back into full sonship of the Father's house (cf the story of the prodigal, in Lu. 15:11ff).
Sanders suggests that, "[T]he main conviction was that the real transfer was from death to life, from the lordship of sin to the lordship of Christ" (ibid p 500).He also noted that, "All of this can take place without reference to Christians becoming convinced of their transgressions, repenting of them and being forgiven for them.... Repentance, no matter how fervent, will not result in a change of lordship. Man's transgressions... do not constitute the problem. Man's problem is not being under Christ's lordship. [So]... the traditional language of repentance and forgiveness is almost entirely missing..." (ibid; brackets mine).
Sanders affirms that both Bultmann (Theology, Vol. 1, p 287) and Bornkamm (Paul, p 151) take similar views: "forgiveness is not used because of Paul's conception of sin as power" (ibid p 501). He further suggests that this was no accident and cites Mary E. Andrews, ("Paul and Repentance," Journal of Biblical Literature, 54, 1934, p 125):
"When he made possession of the Spirit the 'sine qua non' [the essential element] of salvation as well as of a worthy ethical life, repentance was excluded by the simple expedient of being replaced by something more effective" (ibid; brackets mine).
In regard to the transformation depicted in this verse, Witherington cites the Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 151a as a parallel thought from Judaism, "When one dies one is freed from the obligation of the Law and its precepts" (ibid p 161). The connection between freedom from the Law and freedom from sin (the Law being the power and ability of sin - 1 Cor. 15:56) is instructive.
"Christ does not act as a private person but as a representative. Those who participate in his action do so not simply as individuals confronted by another individual, but as members of a 'world order' that Paul elsewhere refers to as new creation ('kaine ktisis', 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15)" - Kirk, ibid p 114.
David H. Stern points to Isa. 22:14 as an OT basis for Paul statement here, "Surely there shall be no propitiatory-covering (kaphar) put over this iniquity for you, until you [folks] die, says My Lord, Yahweh of Hosts" (Rotherham; brackets mine), and says, "in union with the Messiah's death we died, and that atones for our sin" (Jewish NT Commentary p 373).
Campbell stresses the sense of "release" in the verb 'dikaioo' (rightwised, etc.), which Paul uses in this verse, and says, "The presence of 'apo' [away from] here is an especially strong indicator of Paul's fundamentally liberative meaning..." (The Deliverance of God, An Apocalyptic Reading of Justification in Paul p 663; brackets mine).
8. Now since, and in view of the fact that, we died-off (or: So if, as is the case, we died-away) together with Christ, we are continuously believing (relying; trusting) that we will also continue living together in Him (by Him; for Him; to Him; with Him), [cf Jn. 11:25-26]
Building upon the fact that he established in 3-5, above - that we (humanity) died together with Christ - he now affirms our expectation for continued life in the Age of the Messiah (eonian life): we shall also continue living together in Him. Our new identity is Christ. What is true of Him is now true of us. We do not need to wait until some future event to be living together in Him. This is all of humanity's present condition - although most have not yet been given the experience of life in Him and so are not yet aware of Christ being All in all, for,
But we shall also continue living by Him, as the Source of our life; and for Him, in the faithful allegiance of doing what we see Him doing to, and for, others; and to Him, with Him being the focus of our whole being and actions; and with Him as our Brother, Friend, Companion and Guide in the Way pointed out.
"Paul insists that we are now 'in the Messiah,' so that what is true of him is true of us.... And what is true of the Messiah... is that he is alive again..." (N.T. Wright, Romans for Everyone p 104).
9. having seen, and thus knowing and perceiving, that Christ, being aroused and raised forth from out of the midst of dead folks, is no longer dying-away. His death is no longer exercising ownership (or: Death is no longer being lord of, or exerting mastery pertaining to, Him; or: From Him, Death is no longer functioning as a lord, owner or master),
"In solidarity with Him we have died and risen again" (Dodd, ibid p 88).
Barth here calls to mind 1 Pet. 3:18,"because even Christ (or: considering that Messiah also) died, once for all, concerning and in relation to failures to hit the target (about errors and mistakes; around and encompassing sins) - a Just One (a rightwised One; One in accord with the Way pointed out; a fair and equitable individual) over [the situation of] (or: for the sake of) unjust ones (capsized folks; those out of accord with the Way pointed out; unfair and inequitable people) - to the end that He at once may bring (or: can lead; would conduct) you folks [other MSS: us] to (or: toward) God. [He], on the one hand, being put to death in flesh (= a physical body), yet on the other hand, being made alive in spirit (or: indeed, being put to death by flesh {or: = the estranged human condition}, yet, being engendered a living one by Breath-effect {or: [the] Spirit})," and he comments,
"The conception of resurrection emerges with the conception of death... The bodily resurrection of Christ stands over against His bodily crucifixion. Only in so far as He has been put to death in the flesh is He quickened in the spirit (1 Pet. 3:18), revealed and perceived under a new heaven and a new earth as the new man" (ibid p 205).
And since we are in Him, what applies to Him applies to us. His resurrection meant that He is no longer in the form of a servant, nor in the state of existence as the first Adam. The personal pronoun in the second sentence, which I first render as a possessive, His, is in the genitive case. In this understanding, Paul is referring to Jesus: His resurrection; His death. Now most translators render it as though it was in the accusative case - as the direct object of the verb "to own; to be a master over; to lord over" but it is a genitive or an ablative. The idea of Him being the object of death's lordship can be seen in rendering the pronoun as a genitive of association, "pertaining to Him."
In the last translation of the second sentence, I rendered Him as an ablative. In this construction, the phrase, "from Him," serves as the cause of "death no longer ruling as in the role of an owner, master or lord." From His being resurrected, death was dethroned. From His taking the throne, after being aroused and raised, the King took the throne over the kingdoms of the aggregate of humanity and all of the systems of this world. We see this proclaimed in Rev. 11:15b,
"The reign of the ordered System (of the world of religion, culture, government and economy; or: of the realm of the religious and secular) suddenly came to belong to our Lord [= Yahweh or Christ] and to the anointed of Him (or: The kingdom of the arranged system at once became our Lord's and His Christ's; The rule as king which pertains to the world, was birthed to be the possession of [Yahweh], as well as of His Anointed), and so He will continue reigning (ruling as King) on into the ages (or: indefinite time periods) of the ages."
So, the situation which Christ's sent-forth folks proclaimed was, and is, "Jesus Christ is Lord!"
10. for it follows that what He died-off [from] (or: [the death] which He died), He died-away for the Sin (or: by the Failure; in this Deviation; to the Derangement) at-once-and-for-all [time; people] (or: just-once, in and for completion); yet what He lives (or: But [the life] which He continues living), He continues living in God (for God; to God; by God; with God).
The bold rendering, "for it follows that what," is literal. The parenthetical option fills the ellipsis in the Greek with the bracketed "[the death]." The second clause has the Sin in the dative and, once again, with no expressed preposition. So, we have the multiple functions which all make sense:
a) for the Sin
b) by the Failure
c) in the deviation
d) to the Sin
e) with the Error.
The presence of the definite article, "the," suggests that Paul is referencing Adam's story, and his arguments of chapter 5. Christ died the death of the cross as the first Adam, and it was for Adam's sin, in order to be the death OF sin. It was, with Adam as the representative Human, a death by the Failure (of humanity, in Adam) which brought all humanity into death. It was a death "in the deviation" of humanity, into which Christ entered, taking on the form of a slave. It was a death "to the Sin," meaning that humanity would no longer have a relationship to Adam's sin. It was a death with the Error, for He buried the Error along with His own burial.
11. Thus also, you folks be constantly logically-considering (reasonably calculating, accounting and concluding) yourselves to exist being dead ones, on the one hand, by the Failure to hit the target (or: in the Sin; or: to the Deviation; with the Derangement), yet, on the other hand, folks continuously Living by God (in God; for God; to God; with God), within Christ Jesus, our Owner (or: in union with, and in the sphere of, Anointed Jesus, our Lord).
This is the fifteenth occurrence of the verb logically consider so far in this letter. Paul last used it in chapter 4, where he used it 11 times. The idea of reckoning, accounting and concluding, and logically considering a situation takes an important role in Paul's arguments (a total of 19 times in the entire letter). As God considered the faithfulness which His promise engendered in Abraham to be an expression of the Way of covenant, so we are admonished to consider [our]selves as being dead people in relation to the old existence of the old creation - and for the Jews, to the situation of the old covenant. In Adam, we were dead by [His] failure to hit the target (of obedience to God); dead in the Sin [because of the death spreading throughout into all of humanity, Rom. 5:12]; and dead to the deviation - the deviation, sin and failure no longer exist to us. To us, God is working everything into good (Rom. 8:28). To us, the old creation is dead; the old covenant is dead; the old humanity is dead.
And so now, we are to be "logically considering" that we are people "continuously Living (in, and with, eonian Life) by God, in God, for God, to God and WITH God" (functions of the dative case: given when the text has no expressed preposition, and the functions fit the context). This is to be our attitude, our outlook, our horizon, our paradigm, our reality. Like the ancient Navajo prayer (as best as I can remember it), "With beauty [God] before me I walk, with beauty behind me I walk; with beauty above me I walk; with beauty below me I walk." Our whole existence is now "within Christ Jesus, our Owner" and King - or, in union with the Anointed Jesus, our Lord and Master. It can't get any better than this. This is how we should be considering our present life, here and now!
Paul put it this way, in Gal. 2:
20. I have been crucified together with Christ [= the Messiah], and thus it remains (or: I have been jointly put on the execution stake in [the] Anointed One, and continue in this state) ... yet I continue living! [It is] no longer I myself, but it is Christ continuously living and alive within me! And now (at the present moment), that which I continue living within flesh (= in the sphere of a physical body and the natural realm), I am constantly living within [His] Faithfulness - in and by that [Faithfulness] which is the Son of God (or: in union with a trust and confidence that is from God's Son; [with other MSS: in this faith and fidelity belonging to God and Christ]), the One loving and accepting me, and giving Himself over to another for the sake of me (or: even transmitting Himself, over my [situation and condition]; or: also passing Himself along for me; committing and transferring Himself over me). [cf Lu. 22:21-22, JMNT]
With vs. 11, here, Paul (as he often does in his letters) moves from the "indicatives" (the factual statements about the present reality in Christ) to the "imperatives," his admonitions. He continues in this vein in vss. 12 and 13, then returns to another indicative in vs. 14. In a long presentation, the speaker (rhetor) would often give the audience a break by bringing a change in the form or direction of the oration. Paul may be employing this rhetorical device here, for his arguments have been quite intense.
Jonathan
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