In being baptized, they become partakers in Christ’s death and
thus become “dead” to sin. Paul tells them that they must live a new life — a
life free from sin. Paul concludes in Rm 6:7 that one who has “died” [died with
Christ in baptism] has been justified from sin. One of the more curious
aspects of this verse is that Paul could have used two other words in place of justified
that would have given the same meaning he intended. He uses them elsewhere
in this context. One appears in Rm 6:18, where Paul says, “you have been set free
("Freed" in Rm. 6:18, 20, 22 is the Greek ελευθερωθεντες, literally
meaning "to be free") from sin and become slaves to God.”
Romans 6:20, 22 uses the same phrasing. In all three cases Paul is using the
“free/slave” metaphors for illustration. The other word Paul could have used is
“sanctified” (i.e., “anyone who has died has been sanctified from sin”).
Since “sanctified” carries the meaning of “set apart from” or “separated from”
it would have been an appropriate term to show the Christian’s separation from
sin. In fact, “sanctified” may have been a better word to use since it
specifically denotes cleansing and holiness. Its noun cognate is used in Rm
6:19 (“leading to holiness”) and Rm 6:22 (“leads to holiness”). (The noun forms
are usually translated as sanctification [e.g., 1Co 1:30; 1Th
4:3, 4, 7; 2Th 2.13; 1Pet 1:2]) Yet Paul chose to use the word “justified” in
Romans 6:7, the same word he used singularly in reference to God “justifying the
ungodly” in Rm 4:5, for example. In other words, in Rm 6:7 Paul understands and
is using the term “justification” as a synonym for sanctification. Now we can
understand even more why the latter usage does not refer to a forensic
justification but can and must refer to a transformational justification. The
justification involves a separation or cleansing from sin. The ungodly become
justified because sin has been washed from their soul and they have become renewed.
Further evidence regarding the transformational aspect of justification
in Rm 6:7 is the emphasis beginning in Rm 6:5-6 in which Paul states: “If we
have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also
be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was
crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with...” We will
recall that Paul spoke of the same occurrence in Ph 3:10: “I want to know the
power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings,
becoming like [conformed to] him in his death...” In the former verse, Rm 6:5, Paul
is connecting “being united with Christ in his death through baptism” with the
death of the old self and renunciation of the sinful life. In the latter verse,
Paul speaks of becoming like Christ in his death by going through the
“fellowship of his sufferings.” Both are speaking about the sanctified
Christian life and both anticipate its completion in the resurrection of the
body.
We will also recall that Paul used a particular word in Ph 3:10 that
was used in Rm 8:29 — the word conformed. (The Greek συμμορφομαι or its
noun συμμορφος, appearing in Rm. 8:29; Ph 3:10, 21) In Ph 3:10, Paul indicates
that he is “conformed to the death of Christ” in anticipation of the resurrection,
whereas in Rm 8:29 he is “being conformed to the image of the Son” in
anticipation of his glorification, i.e., the resurrection. In Rm 6:1-6
it is baptism that initiates the conforming to the Son in his death. According
to 1Co 6:11, it is the “washing,” i.e., baptism, that initiates the
justification and sanctification to make one righteous and pure, conformed to
the image of Christ. What all of this points to is that when Paul says in Rm
8:33, “It is God who justifies, who is he that condemns,” the justification to
which he is referring encompasses the entire life of the Christian. The
sanctification of the Christian is subsumed under the term justification in Rm
8:33 just as it is in Rm 8:30. It is the process by which sin is eradicated
from the life of the individual so that he may be conformed to the image of
Christ presently in his soul and finally in his body at the physical resurrection
of the last day. (Robert A. Sungenis, Not By Faith Alone: The Biblical
Evidence for the Catholic Doctrine of Justification [2d ed.; State Line,
Pa.: Catholic Apologetics International Publishing Inc., 2009], 320-21)
