April 24, 2018

Walking in the Newness of Life

Romans 6:3–4

Lindsay Loucks
Tuesday's Devo

April 24, 2018

Tuesday's Devo

April 24, 2018

Central Truth

When we trust in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins, we walk in new ways. We take off and bury the old self and put on the new. Everything in us is affected.

Romans 6:3–4

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Dive Deeper | Romans 6:3–4

The other day, I picked up our kiddos from school, and our oldest said, "Momma, today my music teacher said she likes 'second-grade Tanner' better than 'first-grade Tanner.'" I took a deep breath, gripped the steering wheel of my mom-van, and almost let my tongue go. I felt myself bowing up and wanting to jump straight to defending him. But the Holy Spirit prompted me to wait and listen. I inquired, "Well, what did you think about that?" He responded in a way I didn't see coming. He said, "I understand why she thinks that. The 'old Tanner' in first grade hadn't trusted in Jesus as his Savior and Lord of his life. But 'second-grade Tanner' has. There are a lot of things different about me now." All I could do was nod. Isn't that just as it should be? Everything is affected by our decision to trust Jesus. 

Baptism is a sign declaring a decision that has already been made. Just as Jesus died on the cross and was buried, when we trust Him for our salvation, we choose the death of our old selves. We bury our old guilty-as-charged selves (our self-will,  attitudes, repeated sins, prejudices, and plans); and we are resurrected like Jesus to walk in a new kind of life. This new life shows outwardly what we Christ-followers believe inwardly. 

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

This new life includes the Holy Spirit who now lives in us once we accept the free gift of salvation. The Holy Spirit empowers us to turn FROM our sin and TO life. Sin no longer controls us. This new life is worth celebrating!

 

This month's memory verse

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

– Romans 5:3–5

Discussion Questions

1. Have you trusted in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection for the forgiveness of your sins? Do you trust that ALL of your sin was buried with Jesus? If not, what next step could you take to find out more about this?

2. If you have trusted in Jesus for salvation, who can you tell about Him today? How can you use today's Join The Journey devotional to strike up a conversation with a stranger? A co-worker? A family member?

3. What does walking in the newness of life look like in your own life? How have you seen it in the lives of others? When people recognize good "newness of life" in you, are you tempted to take that glory or quick to give Him the credit? (It is my prayer that by the time you are reading this, our family has been faithful to explain to oldest child's teacher why there's been such a change in his life from one grade to another.)

4. Are there areas of your life that still resemble your old self? What areas need some attention and surrender?