Lord’s Day 16
Q42. Since Christ has died for us, why do we still have to die?
Our death does not pay for our sins. Rather, it puts an end to our sinning and is our entrance into eternal life.
Scripture Proofs — King James Version
John 5:24
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
Philippians 1:21–23
“For to me to live Christ, and to die gain. But if I live in the flesh, this the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:”
Romans 7:24–25
“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
Commentary — Zacharias Ursinus (1616)
This answer is an explanation to the objection which we frequently hear made in the following form: He for whom another has died ought not himself to die, else God would seem to demand a double satisfaction for one offence. Christ now has died for us. Therefore, we ought not to die.
Answer. It is conceded that we ought not to die for the sake of making satisfaction; but there are other causes why it becomes necessary for us to die. We do not die for the purpose of satisfying the justice of God, but that we may truly receive the benefits purchased by the death of another, that sin may be abolished, and a passage or transition be made unto eternal life. Our temporal death is then not a satisfaction for sin; but it is, 1. An admonition of the remains of sin in us.
2. An admonition of the greatness of the evil of sin.