Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Wednesday, 23 July 2014 "Walking 'in newness of life'"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Wednesday, 23 July 2014 "Walking 'in newness of life'"
Daily Scripture:  Romans 6: When Death Becomes Life
1-3 So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn’t you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land!
3-5 That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we’re going in our new grace-sovereign country.
6-11 Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin’s every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.
Reflection Questions:
The apostle Paul taught a truth we often overlook. He said that, although God's will not fully rule over all creation until Christ's return, God already fully counts us as citizens of God's Kingdom in Christ. Even with our ongoing struggles, in Christ we can consider ourselves "dead to sin" and live in a status Paul called "newness of life." We do not grow toward something we hope to be someday, but toward living out the life of who we already are in Christ.
Paul's rhetorical question in Romans 6:1 was not imaginary. People have asked it through the centuries. For instance, the Russian monk Rasputin defended his immoral lifestyle by claiming that God's grace needed to have something to forgive. If God is gracious and forgiving, then why should God or I care how I live? For what reasons would you choose a life free from "sin" (i.e. attitudes and actions that ruin your relationship with God, others and even yourself) over a life of slavery to sin?
Some Christians read Paul's teaching as meaning that if you were a REAL Christian, you wouldn't have any more moral struggles or flaws—so if you have any you must not be a REAL Christian. But, as Romans 7:21-25 makes plain, the apostle was describing the direction our status in Christ gives our lives, not every act we do as human beings who need grace. If God gives me "newness of life," why do I still need grace and forgiveness? How can I still have flaws and struggles without being in "slavery" to sin?
Today's Prayer:
Lord, I often wish you would just "flip a switch" and wipe out all the inner flaws I struggle with. Give me persistence to walk with you each day, growing the kind of character no flip of a switch could give me. Amen.
Insight from Steven Blair
Rev. Steven Blair is the Congregational Care Pastor of Live Forward and Live Well Emotional Wellness Ministry. www.cor.org/liveforward
Christianity is about something that happened. In Jesus’ Death and Resurrection, death itself has been conquered along with the death-giving power of Sin. Jesus’ Death and Resurrection are also significant for being more than chronological events in Jesus’ life. They also provide the rhythm of the Christian Spiritual Life. Following Jesus is an ongoing pattern of dying to our own selfish demands so that Jesus can resurrect something new in us.
The author Paul describes the Christian life with Baptismal language. “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 live a new life (Romans 6:4).” Churches allow for different forms of Baptism. The Methodist Church believes that the amount of water used at Baptism is as relevant as how big a piece of bread a person takes at Communion.
However, the act of immersion holds the clearest Baptismal meaning. We are buried under the water, and we come out of the water born again.
If we are to be Christian disciples, we are called to ‘come and die.’ Die to the very sin that holds us from God. This can be immorality or can be seeking to be righteous based on our morality. Whatever it is, we follow Jesus’ example and allow this part of us to be crucified so that we can experience that personal Easter we are looking for.
Paul challenges us to pattern our lives after the Crucified and Resurrected Messiah. If we do, we will find new life.
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