Daily Devotionals

Trouble Maker Week 2: Friday

 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Romans 6:4

Jesus’ baptism symbolized many things. It symbolized His humility. It symbolized that He was ready for His earthly ministry to begin. It symbolized His obedience to God the Father. But, of all the different things that His baptism symbolized and represented, one of the most important and significant things that it symbolized for us was Jesus’ mission. Jesus’ baptism represented the truth that He had come so that He could bring people from death to life through His death and resurrection. 

Paul explained that baptism is a picture of God’s power bringing people from death to life in Romans 6. In this chapter, He explained that God’s forgiveness and grace do not give us permission to keep sinning because “we have died to sin” if we have placed our faith in Him (verse 2). He explained further, “For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives” (verse 4). This new life is exactly what baptism represents and exactly what Jesus’ mission was. Baptism represents our death to sin. Christ came to earth, lived a perfect life, died a criminal’s death on a cross, rose from the grave, and overcame sin and death. When we place our faith in Him, Paul explains in Romans 6, we die to our old selves and sin, and are alive in Him. This is what Jesus came to do and what His baptism represents. 

My friend, if you have placed your faith in Jesus, you have life in Him. You are dead to sin and have the freedom to embrace the eternal life that He offers. This is the greatest gift we could ever be given, and giving us this new life was Jesus’ purpose and mission. When He asked John to baptize Him, He was showing everyone a picture of what He had come to do. His baptism was a picture that hope had come to a world in desperate need of hope.

Moving toward action

Do you know someone in need of the hope of Jesus today? Reach out to them. Give them a call or send a text. Better yet, invite them to lunch or dinner one day this week. As you have a chance to connect with them, tell them about what you read in your Bible study this week and the hope that Jesus brought through His death and resurrection. Tell them that hope is also available to them if they place their faith in Him.

Going Deeper

Romans 6:1-23 (NLT)

"Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.

5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. 8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. 9 We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10 When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. 11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.

12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.

15 Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! 16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. 17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. 18 Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.

19 Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.

20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."