What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 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.
In July of 2023, by the Lord’s leading, my family and I moved from the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas to San Diego, California. Truthfully, at the time that I write this devotional, we have only been here a few, long months. Jumping into the waters of a new culture, we are slowly taking note of the differences between the culture we left and the culture that God has asked us to live in. Some aspects of our new culture are easy to discern. We make choices about how to respond to these new elements of this new culture depending upon how they suit us. Other aspects, however, require a discernment that we lack. There are some elements of our present culture that lie undetected. Over time, we will respond to them unknowingly, and they may shape us.
In this passage, Paul speaks of the new believer who immerses into a new realm of existence.* This new believer begins a process of changing old habits and behaviors to fit the new way of life that they have chosen.* Furthermore, the new believer changes citizenship and joins the commonwealth of heaven.*
In moving to California, we had to change our residency from Texas to California. New license plates on our cars, new driver’s licenses, and a new home address were evidence of our change. Our change, while close to new citizenship, falls short for two reasons: 1) we are still citizens of the United States of America, and 2) our transition was not definite.
The language Paul uses for baptism when he says that those who believe were, “baptized into Christ Jesus [and thus] were baptized into his death” means immersed, but it means much more than that.
The word Paul uses in the Hebrew involves being violently immersed.* It’s the same word that would be used in describing people being drowned or of ships being sunk.* There is a violent finality to it.
When we are immersed into Christ, there is no going back. It is final. It is fatal. And because the fatal blow is dealt in regard to our relationship with sin, we are able to walk in newness of life as Christ was resurrected!*
The new life we walk in is both future and present.* It is a future hope of life in eternity, and it is a present hope that we can live life no longer tethered to sin.*
In the words of Douglas J. Moo,
God gives us hope for the future, but he also wants to transform the way we live until we attain that hope.*
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to remember that though you are being transformed, you are a citizen of heaven. Perhaps God wants you to remember that life lies ahead and life is available today. Maybe God wants you to walk in newness of life today in ways that you haven’t before.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a water break… we all get thirsty.
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*Kruse, C. G. (2012). Paul’s Letter to the Romans (D. A. Carson, Ed.; p. 259–260). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.
Osborne, G. R. (2004). Romans (pp. 147). InterVarsity Press;
Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 246–247). W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.
Moo, D. J. (2000). Romans (p. 195). Zondervan Publishing House.