“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” – Romans 6:4
LIGHT FOR NOW: Union with Christ is not only identification with His death; it is also participation in His resurrection life. We were not united with Christ to remain in the grave; we were raised to walk in newness of life.
Romans 6 reveal another dimension of our union with Christ: burial and resurrection. Paul says, “We are buried with him by baptism into death”. This means the believer’s relationship with Christ involves more than receiving forgiveness. Through faith, we have been identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. The Greek expression “buried with” comes from sunthapto, meaning “to bury together with.” Paul is showing that Christ’s death was not merely something we observe; through union with Him, we participate in its spiritual reality.
But Paul does not stop at the grave. He says, “That like as Christ was raised up from the dead… even so we also should walk in newness of life”. This is the purpose of resurrection: newness of life.
The Christian is not simply someone whose past has been forgiven. He is someone who has received a new life from the risen Christ. This is why Christianity cannot be reduced to moral improvement. Moral improvement says, “Try harder to become better”. The gospel says, “You have received new life in Christ; now learn to walk in it”.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature”. Notice again the phrase “in Christ”. The resurrection life is connected to our union with Him. Jesus did not rise merely to prove that death could not hold Him. His resurrection became the foundation of the believer’s new life. This is why Paul could say, “For to me to live is Christ”. His life had found a new source. The believer therefore does not have to return continually to the identity that belonged to the old life. There is a new way to think, a new way to live, and a new source from which to draw strength.
Romans 6:5 say, “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection”. The resurrection is therefore not merely something we celebrate annually. It is a reality that should shape our daily walk. When Christ rose, He rose into a new order of life. And because we are united with Him, we have been called to walk in the reality of that new life. This means your Christian life should not continually be governed by your former patterns.
You have been raised to walk differently. Your thoughts should increasingly reflect Christ. Your words should increasingly reflect Christ. Your relationships should increasingly reflect Christ. Your decisions should increasingly reflect Christ. The resurrection is not merely about what happens after death. It has implications for how we live now. You have been buried with Christ. You have been raised with Christ. Therefore, walk in newness of life. Glory!
INSTRUCTION: Identify one old pattern that does not agree with your new life in Christ, and consciously choose today to respond from the reality of your new life.
CONFESSION: I have been buried and raised with Christ. I am not a prisoner of my former life. I walk in the newness of resurrection life, and the character of Christ is increasingly expressed through me, in Jesus Name. Amen!
FOR MORE LIGHT, get the message ‘Understanding Salvation’ by Prophet Dr John Linus.
QUOTE: Union with Christ does not leave us in the grave of the old life; His resurrection calls us into the newness of His life.
DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: ROMANS CHAPTER 6; EVENING: 2CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 5
