“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.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”
There is a way of thinking about the Christian life that sounds right at first, but slowly wears a person down.
It goes something like this: you know you’re forgiven, but now the real work is up to you. Try harder. Do better. Make progress. If you stumble, get back up and keep improving.
At first, that can feel motivating. Over time, though, it becomes exhausting. Because no matter how sincere the effort is, the old patterns are still there. Familiar temptations return. The same sins resurface or new ones show up. And it begins to feel like you are stuck fighting a battle you can never quite win.
In Romans 6, Paul doesn’t begin with what you should do. He begins with what has already happened to you.
“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”
That is not a metaphor meant to inspire you. It is a reality meant to ground you.
In Baptism, you were joined to Christ. His death was not just something done for you, but something you were brought into. Your old self—the one bound to sin, defined by it and unable to escape it and it’s consequences—was crucified with Him.
This means the struggle you feel is not the whole story.
Yes, sin is still present and the fight is real. But you are not who you once were. You are not trying to become a new person through effort. You have already been made new through Christ.
Let me say that again. You have been made new through Christ!
Paul goes on to say that just as Christ was raised from the dead, you too walk in newness of life. That life is not something you are slowly building. It has already begun.
This changes how you see the daily struggle.
You are not fighting as someone still enslaved, hoping to one day be free. You are fighting as someone who has already been set free, learning to live in that freedom.
You are not dragging your old self toward improvement. That old self has been put to death in Christ. And you have been raised with Christ.
So when you find yourself discouraged by the same sins and weaknesses or that every time you think you’ve beaten one sin another replaces it, remember where Paul points you, not first to your effort, but to your Baptism—Not to what you need to accomplish, but to what God has already done.
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for joining me to Your Son in Baptism. When I feel stuck in old patterns and discouraged by my sin, remind me that my old self has been crucified with Christ.
Teach me to live each day in the new life You have already given. Strengthen me in the struggle, not by my effort alone, but by the reality that I belong to You.
Help me to trust what You have done and to walk in that newness of life.
Amen.
As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:
After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
Meeting Address:
27221 Foamflower Blvd.
Wesley Chapel, FL 33544
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