Saturday 13 January 2024
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. (vs 3-4)
Background
One of the more engaging stories involving a well is told in 2 Samuel 17. Jonathan and Ahimaaz were on the run from the wrath of Absalom. They came to a house which had a well in the courtyard and they hid down it. The woman of the house covered the well and then spread grain on the cover, perhaps to entice some chickens – and the fugitives were not detected. They had, in effect, buried themselves in order that they might be saved.
Paul, writing to the Christians in Rome, was at pains to explain to them that, just as they had been baptised in new life in Jesus Christ, so they had been baptised into his death in order that they might rise again into new life. It was – and is – complicated. The thrust is that being baptised into Christ means new life: newness of life, a new lifestyle, a new outlook on life. This necessarily means the death of the old.
Paul was at pains to make clear that becoming a follower of Jesus Christ involved a whole new way of life – believers were not free to continue in sin because grace was free and ‘abounding’. This is a challenging reality for all followers of Jesus Christ in our relationships with each other. We are compelled to reject sin, but not the sinner; we are all made in the image of God even if some have yet to appreciate that. The saying, "Love God and do what you like", is not a licence to sin, but a challenge to have the mind of God within us so that we only do what is God's will.
To Ponder:
- Reflect on any changes you made in your lifestyle or attitudes as a result of following Jesus Christ. Where were you particularly challenged?
- What, in your experience, are the most difficult changes to make as you attempt to follow the way of Christ?
Prayer
Loving God, as I move forward through 2024, give me the strength to turn my New Year resolutions in faith into a new way of life. Amen.