"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
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.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
For he that is dead is freed from sin."
Romans 6:3-7
I think a lot of us want kind of video game lives, where we have extra lives and we can just replay a level if we make a mistake. And, sadly, life doesn't work that way, but in God's mercy and grace, Christ has granted us the closest thing there is, and that is repentance and change.
Paul talks in these verses about the symbolism of baptism and repentance, the idea of dying freeing us from our old sins and our old selves, and then living again, and how that relates to the actual death and resurrection of Christ. Through him we can truly start again fresh... almost that dream where we get to retain our current knowledge, but live over again with a clean slate, but God's way is better in the end because honestly, who wants to go through all of that again? It isn't quite eternal youth, but in the resurrection we will get perfect bodies, which is pretty much what we wanted anyway, so no loss. :)
Sometimes it is hard to convince ourselves and others of our inherent newness, which is why the symbolism I think. Thinking of death and birth adds enough drama to the idea so that we are thinking of it as a permanent change, not just another unfinished project. God honestly and freely offers us complete forgiveness if we are willing to turn away from our sins and start over.
Even cooler, this *isn't* only confined to a one-time-offer at baptism. We learn in the Book of Mormon that if we look to Christ and live his gospel, maintaining our dedication to God and our relationship with him, we can retain that remission of sins throughout our lives (Mosiah 4:12, Alma 4:14). Repentance is always there, and if we honestly commit to God, he will be there for us, welcoming us back into his fold and helping us to find a way forward.
Today, let's turn to the Lord, letting go of lives we don't want and people we don't want to be. Let's let those things die, and be reborn in God, fully clean and committed to a glorious future. :)
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.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
For he that is dead is freed from sin."
Romans 6:3-7
I think a lot of us want kind of video game lives, where we have extra lives and we can just replay a level if we make a mistake. And, sadly, life doesn't work that way, but in God's mercy and grace, Christ has granted us the closest thing there is, and that is repentance and change.
Paul talks in these verses about the symbolism of baptism and repentance, the idea of dying freeing us from our old sins and our old selves, and then living again, and how that relates to the actual death and resurrection of Christ. Through him we can truly start again fresh... almost that dream where we get to retain our current knowledge, but live over again with a clean slate, but God's way is better in the end because honestly, who wants to go through all of that again? It isn't quite eternal youth, but in the resurrection we will get perfect bodies, which is pretty much what we wanted anyway, so no loss. :)
Sometimes it is hard to convince ourselves and others of our inherent newness, which is why the symbolism I think. Thinking of death and birth adds enough drama to the idea so that we are thinking of it as a permanent change, not just another unfinished project. God honestly and freely offers us complete forgiveness if we are willing to turn away from our sins and start over.
Even cooler, this *isn't* only confined to a one-time-offer at baptism. We learn in the Book of Mormon that if we look to Christ and live his gospel, maintaining our dedication to God and our relationship with him, we can retain that remission of sins throughout our lives (Mosiah 4:12, Alma 4:14). Repentance is always there, and if we honestly commit to God, he will be there for us, welcoming us back into his fold and helping us to find a way forward.
Today, let's turn to the Lord, letting go of lives we don't want and people we don't want to be. Let's let those things die, and be reborn in God, fully clean and committed to a glorious future. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment