Pertanyaan: 169. Apa Artinya Meninggal Bersama Kristus?
Paul telah menggambarkan dirinya sebagai telah disalib bersama Kristus (Gal. 2:20). Ia mati bagi dunia melalui kematian Kristus, mati bagi dosa, bagi ambisi duniawi, dan bagi semua prinsip dan motif duniawi. Tetapi mungkin dia ditanya, Apakah dia benar-benar mati? dan, dalam Kol. 3:1, dia menjawab bahwa, seperti Kristus, dia telah menerima kehidupan baru, setelah dibangkitkan bersama-Nya, seperti yang telah disalibkan bersama-Nya. Ini adalah kehidupan kebangkitan yang membuatnya berubah, dan menjadi makhluk baru dalam Kristus Yesus. Inilah yang dimaksud oleh Augustine ketika dia disapa oleh seorang teman bejat masa mudanya, yang dia lewati di jalan tanpa pengenalan. August, aku ini, tidak mengenaliku? Dia menjawab: Aku bukan lagi August. Setelah menjadi seorang Kristen (bangkit bersama Kristus), dia telah meninggalkan seluruh kehidupan lamanya beserta teman-teman dan asosiasinya.
Question: 169. What Is It to Be "Risen with Christ"?
Paul had described himself as having been crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20). He was dead to the world through the death of Christ, dead to sin, to worldly ambition, and to all the worldly principles and motives. But he might have been asked, "Was he really dead?*' and, in Col. 3:1, he answers that, like Christ, he had received a new life, having been raised with him, as he had been crucified with him. This was the resurrection life by which he had become transformed, and was a new creature in Christ Jesus. It was this that Augustine meant when he was greeted by a dissolute companion of his youth, whom he had passed on the street without recognition. "August, it is I, do you not know me?" He replied: "I am August no longer." Having become a Christian (risen with Christ) he had abandoned all his old life with its companions and associations.
