ROMANS 6:1-44 – “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.”

THEME OF THE DAY: NEWNESS OF LIFE.  Romans 6 is one of the most important chapters in describing the practical application of the Gospel for daily living.  The late Jerry Bridges wrote a classic book on Christian living titled The Pursuit of Holiness.  Please add it to your stack of books to read and move it to the top.  Bridges expounds Romans 6 through a large section of the book instructing us how to apply the Gospel by faith toward a holy life. This holy life may be explained by the phrase the Apostle Paul uses in today’s scripture – newness of life.

This is what makes Christianity unique.  It is not a life of adherence to religious rules.  Nor a life defined exclusively as moral.  Yes, Christianity does produce the highest degree of morality, but it is not morality alone.  Christianity is life in union with the living Godman, Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection.  When a person experiences new birth by faith in the life and work of the Lord Jesus, he or she is called a new creature.  So new because everything of the old life is past . . .

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Everything changes in the spiritually newborn.  As a new creation, there are new inclinations, desires, and pursuits away from the world and sin to the spiritual world and holiness.  And these are not self-generated. They are given by God’s Spirit when conversion occurs.  The Prophet Jeremiah details for us this work of God in the human heart, the new human heart . . .

“And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul” (Jeremiah 32:38-41).

The newness of life is the life of God in the soul of man. It includes Him placing His fear in our hearts giving us the proper understanding of His holiness and instilling a strong deterrent against sin out of loving reverence for Him and His Word. And this newness of life is eternal.  It was given to us and shall never depart us.

Another truth about the Christian’s newness of life is that it is a form assurance of salvation.  We see the contrast of what we were and what we are, and begin to marvel what God’s grace has done for us – given us newness of life.  This wonderful newness becomes not only a position but a practice each day of our lives.

PRAYER:  Father, I praise You for making me a new creature in Your Son. Help me walk as this new creature.

REFLECTION:  Newness of life and its corresponding conduct is a life that reflects the Author of this newness – Jesus.