Walking in Newness of Life

[Christsfreeservant]

“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? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 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. 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, 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; for he who has died is freed from sin.” (Romans 6:1-7 NASB1995)​

There are many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ who have this mistaken idea that once they profess to believe in Jesus, however that is done, that now all their sins are forgiven and heaven is secured for them when they die, but that nothing is required of them beyond that. And they have this mistaken idea that God’s grace is just forgiveness of all sins and a guarantee of heaven when they die, and so if they continue in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord that it is no big deal, for God’s grace covers it.

But the Scriptures teach the opposite of that. They say it is a big deal! “May it never be!,” they say. If truly we have died to sin, how then can we continue to live in sin? And I am not saying that not one of us will ever sin again, but that sin should no longer be what we obey, in practice. It should not be our habit. And we who believe in Jesus are to die to sin daily and to follow our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands (see Luke 9:23-26).

For, by God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ we are crucified with Christ in death to sin. We are baptized (absorbed, engaged, occupied, immersed) into Christ and into his death to sin. This is that baptism with fire that John the Baptist talked about when he said of himself that he baptized with water but that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire, which is a symbol of purification of the soul (Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16).

So this is not about water baptism, per se, but a baptism that cleanses us from sin. For water baptism, in and of itself, only washes the person on the outside, although it is certainly symbolic of what takes place when we believe in Jesus, in truth, and in righteousness. For it symbolizes us dying with him to sin and then being raised with him to walk now in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Water baptism, thus, should be a sign of our inward faith.

[Matthew 3:11-17; Matthew 10:11-12; John 1:29-34; Mark 10:37-39; Acts 9:15-18; Acts 10:44-48; Acts 18:7-8; Acts 22:12-16; Romans 6:1-7]

And if our faith in Jesus Christ is biblical faith, which is of God, and not of human flesh, and our purpose in believing in Jesus is that we might put to death our old lives of living in sin and for self, so that we can now follow our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands, then by faith in Christ Jesus our old self was crucified with him in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so we will no longer live as slaves to sin but as those who have been set free from our slavery (addiction) to sin. All glory to God!!

For the grace of God, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return. For Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (See Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:8-10)

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

My Sheep

Based off John 10:1-30 NIV
An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…

They know my voice, so they follow me.

Walking in Newness of Life
An Original Work / August 7, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love