July 20
2 Chronicles 1:1-3:17; Romans 6:1-23; Psalm 16:1-11; Proverbs 19:20-21
In Romans 6 Paul uses baptism to illustrate the radical change that has occurred in our lives through faith in Jesus. Baptism is a picture of two deaths and two resurrections. It is a picture of the Savior’s death and resurrection. But it is also a picture of our death and resurrection. We died to a life outside of Christ. We were given a new life—a new identity—in the Lord Jesus.
And Paul’s argument in this chapter is that our new identity must define how we live. Notice verse 13a: We are not to offer the parts of our bodies to sin: my eyes for lust, my lips for slander, my hands to steal, my feet to carry me to places where I simply should not be. Our behavior can be incredibly self-destructive (see v. 19b, “ever-increasing wickedness”). In positive terms (v. 13b), I can offer my body for that which is righteous: I can see the world—and needs—through Christ’s eyes, I can speak the language of peace and healing that Jesus speaks, I can use my hands to serve, I can use my feet to walk across a room or street and build a relationship with someone who needs the Savior.
We who know the Savior have been adopted into a new family—we left one world and entered another. We were given a new identity. And that new identity is to drive our decisions and profoundly define our lives.
Father, thank you for the new identity I have in your Son. Please give me eyes, lips, hands, and feet that serve and obey you—a life that reflects the death and resurrection I have experienced. In Jesus’ name.
Question: What one central difference do you see in your pre-Christian and post-Christian lives? (And if you have not yet been baptized, plan to be as soon as possible as a statement of your new life in Christ.)
In Romans 6 Paul uses baptism to illustrate the radical change that has occurred in our lives through faith in Jesus. Baptism is a picture of two deaths and two resurrections. It is a picture of the Savior’s death and resurrection. But it is also a picture of our death and resurrection. We died to a life outside of Christ. We were given a new life—a new identity—in the Lord Jesus.
And Paul’s argument in this chapter is that our new identity must define how we live. Notice verse 13a: We are not to offer the parts of our bodies to sin: my eyes for lust, my lips for slander, my hands to steal, my feet to carry me to places where I simply should not be. Our behavior can be incredibly self-destructive (see v. 19b, “ever-increasing wickedness”). In positive terms (v. 13b), I can offer my body for that which is righteous: I can see the world—and needs—through Christ’s eyes, I can speak the language of peace and healing that Jesus speaks, I can use my hands to serve, I can use my feet to walk across a room or street and build a relationship with someone who needs the Savior.
We who know the Savior have been adopted into a new family—we left one world and entered another. We were given a new identity. And that new identity is to drive our decisions and profoundly define our lives.
Father, thank you for the new identity I have in your Son. Please give me eyes, lips, hands, and feet that serve and obey you—a life that reflects the death and resurrection I have experienced. In Jesus’ name.
Question: What one central difference do you see in your pre-Christian and post-Christian lives? (And if you have not yet been baptized, plan to be as soon as possible as a statement of your new life in Christ.)
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