Romans 6:4. We were buried therefore with [Jesus] by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Do you hear anything strange in today’s verse?
Paul says that we were buried with Jesus. But none of us is old enough to have seen Jesus crucified and buried, much less to have been buried with him. But what Paul is talking about in this verse is being joined to Jesus spiritually, not physically. We call this joining to Jesus “union with Christ.”
Paul says that we have been baptized into Jesus’ death. Have you been baptized in water? If not that’s OK. Paul’s not talking about being baptized in water, he’s talking about being baptized in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who joins us to Jesus when we trust in him.
When we are joined to Jesus by the Spirit something amazing happens – everything that happened to Jesus is now something that also happened to us.
Jesus died on the cross – we died with him.
Jesus was buried in the grave – we were buried with him.
Jesus rose from the dead – we rose with him
But these things did not happen to us physically, they happened to us spiritually. So when Jesus died and rose from the grave, we also died to our old life and were raised to a new life with him. This is why Paul says that we walk in newness of life.
The good news of Jesus doesn’t end with all our sins being forgiven, it continues with us having a whole new life. His zoe life.
This is not just about learning to be good and behave. It’s about trusting that you have everything Jesus has – all the same love, and hope, and peace. If Jesus has it from the Father, then so do we when we trust in him to save us. This means we don’t have to live the way we used to, we can live from faith. Faith that we are just as loved as Jesus. Just as cared for, accepted, and respected as him.
This means that we don’t have to try to make ourselves look good anymore. We don’t have to blame others or make them look bad. We can live without getting even or arguing all the time. We don’t need to! When you have everything that Jesus does, no one can ever take that away from you.
When you have Jesus’ life inside of you, now you can live like him. You can love others and share all that you have. You can even give things up for others. You can sacrifice like Jesus did on the cross. And the more you do this, the easier it will become to keep doing it. Soon the new life of Jesus will simply be a part of who you are, because it is already all you are.
You: Can you tell the difference between an “old life” without Jesus and a “new life” with Jesus? How might these look different? How might they look the same, but BE different?
You with Jesus: What is an area of your life where you need to simply trust Jesus and what he has given you to keep you from sinning and trying to solve things your own way?
Prayer: Father, I know I have newness of life through Jesus, but I’m not always so great at trusting it instead of trusting my old way. Help me to really believe that you love me the most and always will, and help me to let your love cause me to be kind to others. Amen.
TLICfamily 