Catechism--Baptism part 4
Romans 6:3-4--Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him 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.
Devotion--It's very likely that many of us who read these devotions have things in the past that we are ashamed of, but our past is really not all that bad of a journey. If you are anything like me, the trials and tribulations that you have gone through in life pale in comparison to what others have gone through.
I don't write this with the intention of starting a comparison game. Rather, what I want to convey is that many of us may not really understand the depth of the "newness of life" that Paul is talking about in the verses above. Sure, we have things that we'd rather not be part of our past, but to say that we would want an entirely different life might not be at the forefront of our mind.
And yet, Paul is writing to every single one of us. The thing that can be so challenging for all of us to remember is that, by our nature, even before we performed a single sinful action, we were already condemned in God's eyes. The new self that was put on us in Baptism changed our eternal destination from God's perspective.
That's the situation for all of us who have been baptized, who have been put to death with Jesus and raised to life with Him. We are a new creation, and Paul calls for us to put on the new self. This new self looks to do the things that God wills for His people to do, caring for others, speaking the truth in love to one another even when it's difficult to do. That's the new self that God has created in us at Baptism, which Paul exhorts us to put on.
So how can you aid one of your fellow Christians in the putting on of that new self? Is there someone that you know that seems to rest almost too securely in their gifts of God's grace, and therefore don't seem to take God's continued will seriously? That can be the very person who needs the encouragement to put on the new self, who is created in the image of Jesus Himself.
May we strengthen one another in putting on the new self, who seeks to do what God wills in our lives.
Romans 6:3-4--Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him 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.
Devotion--It's very likely that many of us who read these devotions have things in the past that we are ashamed of, but our past is really not all that bad of a journey. If you are anything like me, the trials and tribulations that you have gone through in life pale in comparison to what others have gone through.
I don't write this with the intention of starting a comparison game. Rather, what I want to convey is that many of us may not really understand the depth of the "newness of life" that Paul is talking about in the verses above. Sure, we have things that we'd rather not be part of our past, but to say that we would want an entirely different life might not be at the forefront of our mind.
And yet, Paul is writing to every single one of us. The thing that can be so challenging for all of us to remember is that, by our nature, even before we performed a single sinful action, we were already condemned in God's eyes. The new self that was put on us in Baptism changed our eternal destination from God's perspective.
That's the situation for all of us who have been baptized, who have been put to death with Jesus and raised to life with Him. We are a new creation, and Paul calls for us to put on the new self. This new self looks to do the things that God wills for His people to do, caring for others, speaking the truth in love to one another even when it's difficult to do. That's the new self that God has created in us at Baptism, which Paul exhorts us to put on.
So how can you aid one of your fellow Christians in the putting on of that new self? Is there someone that you know that seems to rest almost too securely in their gifts of God's grace, and therefore don't seem to take God's continued will seriously? That can be the very person who needs the encouragement to put on the new self, who is created in the image of Jesus Himself.
May we strengthen one another in putting on the new self, who seeks to do what God wills in our lives.
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