Walk in Newness of Life
ICS Daily Devotions
Romans 6:4b-6 (NKJV) even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
When Christians speak of being crucified with Christ, we are referring to our identity in Christ. We are dead to self but alive in Christ; the old man—including our sinful habits—is dead, and our past is buried with Christ!
Our lives are identified with Christ. We are identified with Him in our baptism, which is a beautiful symbol of His death and resurrection. We publicly declare to the world that we have died with Christ, are buried with Him, as we go into the water through immersion and are raised with Him as we emerge from the water during the process of baptism.
Identification refers to our complete union with Christ in His sacrificial substitution. Those who are in Christ were united with Him at the cross by God’s sovereign, inscrutable act; they were crucified with Christ and buried with Him, so that their history is now ended before God.
Your old man, or the old nature, is dead. The truths below reiterate what it means to be crucified with Christ:
• We were crucified with Christ. (Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:6)
• We have died with Christ. (Romans 6:1-11)
• We were buried with Christ. (Romans 6:3-4, Colossians 2:12)
• We were made alive together with Christ. (Colossians 2:13, Ephesians 2:4-5)
• We were justified with Him. (Romans 4:24-25)
• We were born again by the Father. (Ephesians 2:10)
• We were resurrected together with Him. (Colossians 2:12, 3:1, Ephesians 2:6)
• We were made to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ. (Ephesians 2:5-6)
Jesus promised us an abundant life, and this life begins the moment we receive Christ. What does it look like in marriage? In our old man’s thinking, marriage was all about the big “I”, rather than seeing ourselves as one flesh. When both husband and wife think this way, a broken marriage is inevitable. But when we have been crucified with Christ, we will die to individualism and begin to walk in love and forgiveness. Because our old self is dead, we will begin to live for Christ and for our spouse, so that our home will be filled with warmth and love.
Reflection: Do you consider your old self dead and buried, and that you have risen to new life in Christ? How might this truth change the way you respond to your old sinful habits or in your relationships with your loved ones?
Sermon Series – Legalism or Life in Christ
