Dead then Raised

Today’s reading: Romans 6

 “For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.” - Romans 6:4 NLT

Some in the Roman church were viewing God’s grace as a license to sin. “Since God is doing the heavy lifting, I can go back to my way of doing things!”

Paul pulls them into the reality of becoming a Christian. When you decide to follow Jesus, you cross over from an admiration of Jesus’ death and resurrection to a participation. We were not saved to sit in the stands. Instead, Jesus pulls us into the game, empowering us by his death and resurrection.

We weren't created by God to let sin control us. We were created to let righteousness captivate and command every move of our bodies.

Jack Cottrell brilliantly says, “...we must conclude that “into death” means something else, namely, our own death to sin.”

It seems like at first we’ve lost everything, but we have, in fact, just started to truly live.