Romans 6 Devotional

United to a Risen Lord

“We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.”Romans 6:4 (BSB)

If grace grows wherever sin grows, should we keep sinning to get more grace? Paul's answer is no (6:1-2). Those who belong to Christ have been joined to him. In baptism they were buried with him into his death, so that just as he was raised, they too would walk in a new kind of life (6:3-4).

The order matters. Paul does not tell believers to defeat sin so that they can be joined to Christ. He tells them they have been joined to Christ, so they should reckon their old life with sin finished and their life toward God begun (6:11). Only then come the commands: do not let sin rule your body, and offer yourselves to God as people who have already been given life (6:12-13). Sin pays its wages in death, but God gives eternal life as a free gift in Christ (6:23). Obedience is not the price of that life. It is what life with a risen Lord begins to look like.

To think about: What temptation would look different today if you faced it as someone already joined to the risen Christ?