By Fred Trokie
Romans 6:3-7 says:
3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
7 for he who has died is freed from sin.
Positionally we died 2000 years ago on the cross with Christ. That is how God sees every believer in Jesus Christ. To be baptized means to be identified with that which one is being baptized into. We have been baptized into Christ’s death, and therefore, we are now identified with it. Not only that, we are also identified with Christ’s burial and resurrection. When we died with Christ, we were buried with Him, and on the third day, we rose together with Him. That is our spiritual position in Christ, and that is how God sees us.
Because we have died to sin (vs 7), the power of sin no longer holds a grip on us.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says:
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
The old things spoken of here are things that pertain to the Old Testament Law. It has passed away, and it no longer holds any power over us. We have been spiritually baptized in Christ, and we now have the Holy Spirit living in us (see Rom 8:9, 1 Cor 3:16, 1 Cor 6:19, Eph 1:13-14) .
Galatians 5:18 says:
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
God has provided every resource needed for us to live godly lives. Through His grace we are no longer under the power and control of the Law. And through His grace, we can now have fellowship with God and do the good works which He has prepared for us to walk in, before the foundation of the world (see Eph 2:10).
2 Corinthians 9:8 says:
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
As new creations in Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we now have the ability to be transformed into Christ-likeness, as we live under the power of God’s grace. Romans 12:2 makes it clear that this is God’s will for us.
Romans 12:2 says:
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.God Bless – Fred
