New Life in Christ: Romans 6:1-18

“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” (Rom. 6:4, NASB).

The Christian Religion is based on the belief of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The hope of Christians is that their faith in Jesus will result in eternal life with the Father and the Son in the kingdom of God. Christian hope is that the promises of God have not fully been revealed, but they are certain because of God’s power to speak things into existence. For example, we read in Genesis, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light. Christians believe in eternal life because they believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Since Jesus speaks only that which He receives from the Father, we can be sure that what Jesus says is the truth come from the Father. When Jesus says to Martha, “‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die’” (Jn. 11:25-26), He establishes hope of resurrection to eternal life. What does it mean to have eternal life? What does it mean to be resurrected from the dead?

Many of us think of resurrection and eternal life as some future event that takes place after we die. While this is true, eternal life and resurrection for us are not reserved for a future event. In reality they are the state of our existence now because we believe in the promises of God. We have already stated that when God speaks His words are true even though they may not yet been revealed to us. Eternal life is not limited to life based on time alone. Rather, eternal life is also a quality of life. Eternal life is of God. God is holy and those that receive eternal life are holy. If we receive Jesus as our Savior we are transformed. We have new life in Christ. We no longer live according to the old man controlled by sin. Instead, we live according to the new man made righteous by the life giving Spirit of God that now lives in us. How does resurrection fit into this?

Resurrection is the recovery of life. It means to live again after death; that death precedes resurrection. Resurrection from the dead like eternal life is a quality of life given to us by the Spirit of God. Resurrection is moral recovery of spiritual truth. Resurrection to new life in Christ means that the new life begins immediately when one believes in Jesus. In Adam who sinned we are born spiritually dead in sin which binds us to eternal condemnation. Sin separates us from God with no hope of being free to live with God. The only way that we can live with God is that the old man of sin dies. The person that is resurrected from the dead is not the old man. Rather he/she is born a new person free from sin. They are born of the Spirit. The author of the Gospel of John records the words of Jesus as he talks with Nicodemus a teacher of Israel. “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you unless one is born of the water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God’” (Jn 3:5, NASB). “‘That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit’” (v. 6).

Resurrection means new life in Christ. Paul argues this in his letter to the Romans. He begins by saying that all people, both Jews and Gentiles are sinners. God has provided a way of escape from bondage to sin that separates us from God. God has provided a way for us to have new life with Him. Paul begins by saying that Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. Jesus dies on the cross taking away our sins. He not only takes away our sins, Jesus dies so that we can be redeemed to God. Jesus is the atonement; the sacrifice required by God’s just demand for our cleansing of sin and restoring of relationship with God. This is what God has done for us through His Son Jesus. What do we have to do?

We can do nothing. Sin renders us powerless to do anything worthy of salvation. Thus, God cannot justify us based on anything that we can do. Jesus came into the world preaching the gospel of peace with God. The gospel is preached. It is not up for discussion and debate. One either believes or they do not believe. Those that believe are justified by their faith in Jesus—the words that He speaks.

In his letter to the Romans Paul uses the imagery of baptism to illustrate what takes place when we believe in Jesus, and we are justified by faith. Jesus died on the cross. He was resurrected from the dead. In like manner, we too are buried with Christ in His death. The old man born of flesh dies and is buried. After Jesus dies, He is resurrected from the dead. He dies one time, and He lives forevermore. We are raised from the grave—the water. We have new life in Christ, and we are to walk in this new life.

Since we have new life in Jesus we no longer live according to the flesh. We are no longer in bondage to sin. Rather, we have been set free from sin. We now live by the Spirit. The new man is a man with a new nature. The new nature lived by the Spirit no longer desires the sins of the flesh. Rather, the life lived by the Spirit desires the things of the Spirit.

The resurrection of Jesus demonstrates to us that we too can have eternal life. It is not something that we earn. Paul writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9, NASB). We are saved by grace, but grace is not permission to sin. “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it” (Rom. 6:1-2, NASB)? We are saved by grace through faith. Those that believe in Jesus have been buried with Him. They have been resurrected to new life in Christ. The new life is eternal life. It is life forever with God beginning when one believes and continues forevermore. Resurrection means stating now we have new life in Christ.