My daughter was baptized several years ago. She decided to follow Jesus in her elementary years and considered baptism for a long while until she entered middle school. The week prior, a pastor from our church sat in our kitchen to talk to her about the weight of this decision. She was choosing to publicly testify Christ as her Lord to her church family and subsequently, the watching world. This was a commitment to follow and serve Jesus no matter what, even when difficult.
The following Sunday, she wrote a letter to Jesus and pinned it to a wooden cross at the front of our sanctuary before taking her turn in the waters. As her daddy lowered her beneath the water, he said, “buried with Jesus in the likeness of His death and raised to walk in newness of life.”
Scripture says we joined Jesus in His death when we were baptized. Death no longer rules over Christ Jesus, nor does it rule over those who believe in Him. What’s more, when we died with Christ, we were set free from the power of sin. “For the death he died, he died to sin once for all time.” As believers in Christ Jesus, we are to “consider [ourselves] dead to sin and alive to God” (vv.9–11).
But if we’ve truly died to sin, why do we continue to live in it? The act of sharing in Christ’s death wouldn’t be a one-time thing any more than taking communion would be a one-time thing. In fact, we’re told to examine our hearts before we take the bread and the cup (1Corinthians 11:27–28). We ought to examine our hearts in everything and invite God to search our hearts, too (Psalm 139:23).
When we take a lackadaisical approach to our sin, we give it room to rule over and distract us. As those who have been crucified with Christ, sin is no longer our ruler. We are not under the law but under grace (Galatians 2:20; Romans 6:14).
This begs the question: What in my life needs to die each day? What has become an idol, security, a focus, or a prop that has pushed God aside? I never see sin enter my heart until I hear it roll off my tongue—a little sarcasm here, a critique there. Then envy soon follows before resentment settles in and camps out.
For starters, my pride needs to die. It needs to die a thousand deaths. It’s the temptation of the religious leader to get puffed up by our words, thinking the message is ours. But the truth is that God has planted His Word in our hearts (Hebrews 10:16). We are simply called to speak His Word when summoned.
There’s something else that needs to die for me: production. It’s time for me to get quiet after a long season of pouring out. Making room for the death of an idol opens wide the gates for a new beginning, a new imagination for what God will bring about in the days ahead. I’m living these days with an expectant heart, putting my ear to the ground and listening for a fresh refrain of reverence.
I wonder, is there something that needs to die for you today? When you are joined in Christ’s death through faith, you are also raised with Him in newness of life. Laying down your idols will open the floodgates for freedom to reign once more, making room for new life to spring forth again.
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42 thoughts on "The New Life in Christ"
This was so powerful. It hit me that even though it often feels like I’m bound and subjugated to my sin, I am not it’s slave. I’m a child of God, I have the authority to rule over my sin, to live in freedom. I live under grace.
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“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23 NLT
“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.”
Romans 6:19 NLT
“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.”
Romans 6:16 NLT
I really need prayers. Anger is so hard for me to let go of, righteous indignation. I happen to work in a field where I see so much wrong and I fail to make change because change doesn’t begin with anger. Love your enemies, man I struggle with this. My head is constantly at war with what I should be and who I am. This was a great week! I love this deep dive into Roman’s because I see where I need to grow but also the grace that I have been freely given.
I have some things to strike down in my life to concentrate all of my efforts on Christ. One of those things is fear. Particularly fear while driving. I got into a car accident last year and recently started driving again this year. I have fear of getting into another accident every time I get into the car. Moving forward I will concentrate on Christ before driving by praying & mediating on the promises in the Word.
This feels timely and powerful for me. I want to die to my comfort and my desire for constant security.
Love the vulnerability in the comments. I realized I skipped a day from staying up too late one day ! Thank you Mercy, Searching, Kelly (Neo) and others for the prayers. And thank you GramsieSue for the suggestion and prayers! What a wonderful community we have here. Have a blessed weekend!
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It’s hard for me to lay down my idols, especially when they are oftentimes “good” things, but the saying always comes into my head – putting away “good” things so we can focus on the “best” thing!!
Hello shes,
I love how the devotional taught us to question and ask the Lord to help examine us. Oftentimes we are blind to our own condition, unless the Spirit whispered to us the lists of idols we take comfort and validation from. Production is also something that needs to die for me that I never realized (thank you Rebekah!). Pride is also a sneaky thing, someone told me, if you refuse help, it’s an indication of pride (ha! Who knew). A note I wrote in my Bible, “Old things are passed away, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV). “Become” means a process. A process. A life long process. Dying to the old, becoming the new hurts! It must be done layer by layer, especially with the support from God’s grace and our fellow brothers and sisters. If it’s not a process (which is grace and mercy in itself), I don’t think us fragile beings can cope. Sometimes we take comfort and identity in our idols, and that can turn our world upside down. The tearing down must take place before the building up (Ecclesiastes 3:3),and God is merciful to give us time.
@MARI V: praying for your job interview on Monday, safe travels for you and your kids.
@HL: hope your boss meeting with you went well today.
@VICTORIA E: yay, you were first today on the list, I am a fellow night owl lol.
@CEE GEE: amen, until we hear the mean words of our mouth, we won’t know sin has crept in. Out of the heart the mouth speaks. Thank you for spelling it out for me!
@TERESA DONLEY: I agree that Jesus has forgiven us of ALL sin. So when we confess, it is not as much as saying I am sorry, which works great to prepare us for a humble and repentant posture, but there is another legal benefit/access to confessing, it is the divine cleansing that comes along. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Once the house is cleansed/swept, the new righteous order can be achieved. The forgiveness part was done once and for all from what I understand, and He also made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence (Ephesians 1:8 KJV) so we can outsmart the sin system by His given weapons of wisdom and prudence. Be cunning as a snake to outsmart the snake, and also harmless as doves. Sometimes I wonder how I can be both…I don’t know, but by God’s power nothing is impossible when we ask based on the commending of His word. Glory to Him who has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness, even the ability to be BOTH snake and dove :))
@CHELSEA SEXTON: I am glad you are here with us, it’s by God’s grace that any of us have returned after our pursuits of anything else but Him. I pray you are here to stay, to rest and be renewed/anchored in His love, in the Great I am. Hugs.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Be blessed dear sisters.
This was a powerful message today!
When I first read the passages, I focused on death – our death to sin, being baptized into Christ’s death, putting to death things of earthly nature and then right before I closed my journal, I noticed the title of the devotion is “The New Life in Christ.”
I went back through and saw what “new life” grants us: freed from sin, alive to God in Christ Jesus, we are under grace, we are a new creation, we have new purposes: ministry of reconciliation and being ambassadors for Christ, we become the righteousness of God, our lives are hidden with Christ in God, will appear with Him in glory, new self is being renewed in the image of the Creator! Christ is all and in all!
As I focus on the “new life” promised it makes whatever “deaths” I need to surrender to seem so worth it.
Praying I will keep my eyes on things above.
Beautifully written. I need to listen for a fresh refrain of reverence, also.
Thank you to all of you who prayed for me yesterday. Kristen, Kimberly Z, Donna Wolcott, Mercy, and all of you. That devotional hit me hard.
If we truly die to sin, why do we live in it? So true! I want to examine my heart in all things. To stop and think before I speak or act. Am I following what God would want? To recognize the idols in my life. God please bring these to light. I have found that I crave God. That I want to live for Him. To have a purpose. I’m so thankful that His grace is never ending.
Praying over all requests.
I pray He would show what I need removed…what needs to change.. That my heart would be soft to His words and I would become more like Jesus. Help me to be humble to You and to all of it!
Lord, Heavenly Father…search me, reveal my sin. I want to be clean, renewed, replenished. I want to live my life with purpose, for you. I want to grow closer and closer to you. I cry out to you with longing, to feel your peace and joy, and even though my body hurts and feels like it is failing me, Lord you never fail me. There is purpose in the pain and sorrow. Help me daily Lord, give me the manna to feed my soul. Take away and forgive me for my transgressions, wipe me clean, show me a better way. You care for each of your children, and I am a child of God. Thank you Lord, that you don’t just select a few, but you give the gift to all. Thank you Lord for choosing me, I come, I come. Just as I am, I come.
It’s powerful to think about what I’m my life I need to lay down – what I need to surrender to the Lord as rightfully His. A huge thing for me is the idea of output that was talked about a few days/devotional ago. I idolize output-productivity and efficiency and getting things done, when really sometimes the Lord is calling my mind, my heart, my body to rest. Super convicted this morning
Wow! What a great, convicting devo and comments!
He made he who was without sin, take on our sins. I just imagine that I am putting the weight of my sin on my Lord. Oh my, what a grace filled God we follow!!
So much here, so many of us walking together. Amazing!
Praying for the requests.
Love y’all!!
Appreciate everyone’s honesty, this morning.
It is refreshing to know that we don’t need to let sin “rule over us” – I think of Cain and Abel. We have the choice to invite God into our circumstances. Lord, forgive my selfish desire to hold onto my sin and help me have Your goodness in mind. Nothing is better than the love of God. No sin can produce what God is. God is perfectly loving. Perfectly gracious. Perfect in all of His ways. There is no darkness in Him. Lord, forgive us our trespasses and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Praying for all your requests! May the God of peace be with you all. Amen!
“ I never see sin enter my heart, until I hear it roll off my tongue”. Spoken truth about me today. Sometimes in my head, I’m hearing, “Don’t say it“ and it just rolls right off! Spoken truth here today. Confessing and being honest with everyone here today. Happy Friday everyone! My favorite day of the week. Prayers are appreciated as I travel to the Bay Area by myself. I’m going to visit a very sweet friend. Please pray that I would be calm as I drive. ALSO, please pray for my kids as they also will be traveling to a cousins gathering. And due to us being separated from their dad for the last six years, there might be some awkwardness as most of his family stopped speaking to us, with the exception of one sister-in-law, and her kids, please pray for the safety of my children as they travel. ONE last per request for today. And I will remind everybody on Monday. Please pray as I have an interview on Monday for an in-house position at the school I work at. My concern is my hours, if I get the job. Either way my hours are changing my main concern is getting my daughter to and from school as she right now does not drive. I know that God will work it out for me either way.
Wow! I’m overwhelmed by everyone’s vulnerability! What idols do we need to confess to God? I believe for me it starts with pride. I need to set my mind on things above and not on this earth! Help me to humble myself to you Lord! I can’t do this on my own. I need you Lord! Erica, I believe you hit the nail on the head when you said, “Jesus, help me ABIDE in you.”
My idols show up in more physical forms, such as scrolling through social media. I do it anytime I have emotions I don’t want to go through or or any time I don’t want to be productive (another idol). Those things themselves aren’t inherently bad, but when they’ve gotten to the point where they’re my escape rather than talking to God then anything at that point is bad.
Oh My! This devotion really struck hard!
“I never see sin enter my heart until I hear it roll off my tongue”
Sarcasm, angry words, criticism, judgement….all those ugly things I say.
Yes, how many years will it take for me to get this right?
Thank goodness God is loving and patient.
Searching – yes, take with food is a biggie!!
Prayers for all of you shes today!
Hugs and blessings to all ❤️
KELLY (NEO) and TERESA DONLEY – Same!!!
Being buried is a one-time thing; grace is a never-ending thing. Thank You, Lord!!!
“Making room for the death of an idol opens wide the gates for a new beginning, a new imagination for what God will bring about in the days ahead.”
This is such an invitation! Thinking of things that people are reluctant to “bury” because “that’s just the way I am” and what JOY is being “buried” in the refusal to bend to God’s grace. How many relationships could be redeemed to greater blessing if we could bury those idols. I hope that makes sense; I am not very good at putting my thoughts to text.
Living under GRACE – what a blessing! A daily reminder for me: Go forth and shine in His grace. I often thank God for His mercies that are new every morning, but I need to be more vigilant in making grace more evident in my daily life.
SEARCHING – ❤ That last line has always been my favorite, too, and I am thankful that our church still uses it! Sidenote: I am proud of you for meeting your goal with the prayer requests. Excellent job! Thanks for taking the time to list those!
Keeping each She, visible or not, in prayer. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
I hit Post by mistake. If Jesus died once for all sin (which, of course, he did), when I come to Him in faith for forgiveness of my sins, He forgives all my sin. I am a new creature in Him. So, why do I still feel that I so often have to ask Him to forgive new sins and to change me into the new creature who has “put off sin?”
KELLY (NEO) – In one sentence, you described me: “Honestly, I grow weary of asking God to change me.” Absolutely. And I usually follow that up with, “And I’m sure that God gets tired of me asking Him to change me, and once again forgive my sins. Yet Paul gives us the good news that “For the death he died, he died to sin once for all time.” (Romans 6:10. ) This is said several more times: Hebrews 9:26, 10:12, 7:27, 10:14, 1 Peter 3:18,
An AMEN Libby or a me too!
What needs to die in me today? My love for food…and the comfort I seek in it. God, please bring more awareness of this in my life. I enjoy this study so much. Thank you SHES for sharing this with me.
It’s me. Hi. I’m the problem. It’s me. Those lyrics play nonstop in my house thanks to my daughters, but after today’s devotional, they really ring true. This summer God has revealed an idol in my life. I’ve been a slave to my fitness, prideful in my physical ability, justifying it all with a joking “well there are worse things to be addicted to!” But the truth is, instead of centering my day around Jesus, I was centering it around when I would get my workout in. I’d tell people I run to relieve my anxiety but I also realize the pressure to do it all was causing anxiety. The death of this idol (via a long term injury) is hopefully going to make space for something new and better in my life. Today’s devotional gives me hope that blessings are coming as I reorient my perspective.
So many things need to die in my life. Thank you Lord that you mercies are new every morning!!!!!
Searching, thank you for your comments yesterday. One minute at a time crying help to Jesus! Dementia and Parkinson’s are a difficult road to walk. The life-changing decisions I’m having to make are overwhelming at time, strength draining, and emotionally tiring. Continuing prayers for all caregivers regardless of what disease God has allowed in our lives. Love to each of you she’s
EXACTLY…… so very much on point & exactly how I feel! Father help me to be an example of your love & character to others . Help me to consider my TRUE motives in all things being sure they are of the kingdom and your Glory ! I love and Praise you Father! ♥️
Father how I can forget my righteousness through the Bloodnof Jesus! Thank You for Grace and Mercy to always begin again in Your love. In Jesus name, Amen
I always love to hear that last line in a baptism, Raised to walk in the newness of Life! Our current church doesn’t use that phrase for some reason, but I say it under my breath every time. As far as idols, I definitely need to consider what I’ve elevated in my life other than the Lord.
THERESA – thank you for your testimony on Day 10.
Praying for:
KARRIE – relief from anxiety, forgiveness in your family, an overflowing of peace and joy ❤️
HL – meeting with boss today
MARI V – application for new position
DAWN HARSHBARGER – your dad’s health issues, and your family as you care for him
CHARLIE – your MIL, and your family as you say goodbye for now
HEIDI – for all that you have going on, and daughter’s adjustment to new school. I see that same pattern with the children of family members & a new school won’t be considered.
NORA LOWREY – winning over depression
B – continuing to pray ❤️
LYNNE FROM AL – wisdom in the reversal decision, a smooth and peaceful Friday and weekend
MERCY ❤️
TRACI GENDRON ❤️
RHONDA J ❤️
CEE GEE ❤️
GRAMSIESUE – just an aside, after I read your nighttime med suggestion to VICTORIA E on how timing might affect med reactions, I was reminded of the past several years (yes, years!) when I felt a little off or a bit queasy pretty much every day. A few months ago I randomly read the label for one of my otc vitamins, “take with food” … huh? Turns out all 3 said that! Made the change and feeling good now :)
Lord, show me my idols. Let me be willing to see them and let go of them. Pride and a judging spirit are “easy” to see, but please help me see the other idols I’ve made.
This one really spoke to my heart, as I’ve strayed far away from Christ. I pray that God can give me the strength to let go of my idols and live for Him.
For me, not asking God to reveal what sin needs to be ackowledged and confessed is the way I become lured into a false sense of righteousness, that feeds my pride.
Honestly I grow weary of asking God to change me. It’s like, “Come on, All-powerful One, can’t You just take _____ away so that I can be like I am supposed to be?”
This sanctification process is HARD.
HL – prayer for meeting with your boss today.
CHARLIE – agreeing with you in prayer for the peaceful transition to enternity for your M-I-L. And comfort for the family.
MARI V – praying the Lord will give you peace about the possible job change
Up late and it looks like I’m the first one to post maybe? I’m so excited to read this Scripture and the devotional by Rebekah Lyons! My idols I need to give up: perfectionism and other’s approval