Homilies on Romans — Homily 11

St. John Chrysostom

1. 0. Greeting

Rom. VI. 5

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.

What I had before occasion to remark, that I mention here too, that he continually digresses into exhortation, without making any twofold division as he does in the other Epistles, and setting apart the former portion for doctrines, and the latter for the care of moral instruction. Here then he does not do so, but blends the latter with the subject throughout, so as to gain it an easy admission. Here then he says there are two mortifyings, and two deaths, and that one is done by Christ in Baptism, and the other it is our duty to effect by earnestness afterwards. For that our former sins were buried, came of His gift. But the remaining dead to sin after baptism must be the work of our own earnestness, however much we find God here also giving us large help. For this is not the only thing Baptism has the power to do, to obliterate our former transgressions; for it also secures against subsequent ones. As then in the case of the former, your contribution was faith that they might be obliterated, so also in those subsequent to this, show forth the change in your aims, that you may not defile yourself again. For it is this and the like that he is counselling you when he says, for if we have been planted together in the likeness of His Death, we shall be also in the likeness of His Resurrection. Do you observe, how he rouses the hearer by leading him straightway up to his Master, and taking great pains to show the strong likeness? This is why he does not say in death, lest you should gainsay it, but, in the likeness of His Death. For our essence itself has not died, but the man of sins, that is, wickedness. And he does not say, for if we have been partakers of the likeness of His Death; but what? If we have been planted together, so, by the mention of planting, giving a hint of the fruit resulting to us from it. For as His Body, by being buried in the earth, brought forth as the fruit of it the salvation of the world; thus ours also, being buried in baptism, bore as fruit righteousness, sanctification, adoption, countless blessings. And it will bear also hereafter the gift of the resurrection. Since then we were buried in water, He in earth, and we in regard to sin, He in regard to His Body, this is why he did not say, we were planted together in His Death, but in the likeness of His Death. For both the one and the other is death, but not that of the same subject. If then he says, we have been planted together in His Death, we shall be in that of His Resurrection, speaking here of the Resurrection which (Gr. be of His Resurrection) is to come. For since when he was upon the subject of the Death before, and said, Do you not know, brethren, that so many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into His Death? he had not made any clear statement about the Resurrection, but only about the way of life after baptism, b