“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 New Living
Translation
In Paul’s day the church baptized by
immersion, being completely ‘buried’ in the water. That is symbolism showing us
dying to our old self, our old nature and rising up to new life in Christ.
Although it says in many places in scripture that we only need to believe in
Christ and that God raised him from the dead and we shall be saved, there is to
be a change in our behavior. From the point of our conversion we are to make a
conscious choice to follow Jesus. It is incumbent upon us to allow the Spirit of
God to make the necessary changes in that behavior.
Sin is a driving force in the world and in
our lives if we allow it to be. It is something believers must resist. Going
thru life armed only with your belief in God is like facing the enemy alone
with nothing more than a pocketknife. It doesn’t have to be that way.
We mustn’t cherry pick verses from scripture
that we can accept and live by. We must take scripture in its entirety so that
we have the complete picture. To not do that is like considering a partially
done puzzle complete without any intention of finishing it. That is the lazy man’s religion. True
believers in God are not religious at all, but rather have entered into a
personal relationship with the Lord. It behooves us to not let the relationship
grow cold or become one sided. Until next time, walk with the King and be a
blessing!
Resources: The Life Application Study Bible;
The Reformation Study Bible.
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