#DailyDevotion Sin Is No Longer Our Master In Baptism
Rom. 6:6-11 6We know our old self was nailed with Him to the cross to stop our sinful body and keep us from serving sin any longer. 7When we’re dead, we’re free from sin. 8But if we died with Christ, we believe we’ll also live with Him know that Christ, risen from the dead, will not die again. Death has no hold on Him any more. 10When He died, He died to sin once, never to die again, and the life He lives He lives for God. 11So you, too, because you are in Christ Jesus, think of yourselves as dead to sin and living for God.
When was our old self, our flesh, Adam, nailed to the cross? As the previous verses noted, when we were baptized into Christ. Now our old self is nailed with Christ to the cross to stop our sinful body and keeping us from serving sin any longer. This is part of our redemption. Paul elsewhere makes a comparison to us to us and marriage and us to the Law. Our husband or lord was over us until our husband dies. When one person in the marriage dies, we are no longer in that relationship and are free to marry another. So with with sin.
If you die, you no longer have a prison sentence. You are free. If you are a slave and you die, you are free from your master. In baptism you have died with Christ. He died being united to your flesh by being baptized into a baptism of repentance of sins by John. John was a priest, a Levite. The Father through John’s hands laid our sins upon Jesus like the priest did to the scapegoat and the sacrifices. His being led out of the city and his death on the cross became our separation and death. We are joined with Christ to the cross in baptism. Therefore we are free from sin. We don’t have to do what it says any more. We are not only free from its accusation and penalties. We are free to not obey it any longer. While chapter seven of Romans will tell us how our flesh is still sold to sin, because we are no longer condemned by it in Romans 8 and walk by this Gospel, this Spirit, we are not bound to obey its callings any longer.
We died with Christ and we we will also live with Christ. Christ is risen from the dead never to die again. He died to sin once, never to die again and he lives for God. You are in Christ Jesus. Therefore think of yourselves dead to sins and living for God. It is your reality. We often forget we are no longer under the taskmaster of sin and the flesh tries to deceive us into believing that we are. To overcome sin in our lives we need to think about this Gospel, this Good News, Jesus has died to sin and risen from the dead. He is one with us. In baptism, we have been joined with Christ. We died with him to sin to live a life for God. Christ has purchased us with his blood and made us his own. We are free to listen to him now. We don’t have to listen to temptation, sin, our flesh, the world or the devil. They don’t own us. They’d like to own us again. Do not give yourselves over to them any longer. You are already Christ Jesus’ through faith in baptism. So, whether or not Luther actually said it or not, as we wash our face or wash our hands during the course of the day, remember you belong to Christ. You were made one with him in your baptism. You have been freed from sin. You have died to sin. You have been freed to live for God in Christ.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for sending Jesus to die to sin for us and to live for you for us. Continually give us your Spirit so we may remember this and daily die sin and live for you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.