Romans 6:1b-11
1b Should we continue in sin in order that grace may increase? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For whoever has died is freed from sin. 8 But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
4 Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.
This section of Romans 6 is used in Lutheran funeral prayers because it’s a clear statement of the sure and certain promise of the Resurrection – because Jesus lives, we will live in Him forever.
That promise of eternal life through the death and Resurrection of Jesus brings tremendous comfort and peace during funerals, but it’s only part of the message. The important part for our daily life is that, from the moment of our Baptism into his death and Resurrection, we have been citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. We just retain dual citizenship while we are alive in this world. That is why St. Paul includes, so we also might walk in newness of life.
Every morning, we wake up in the Kingdom of God. We live every minute of the day in that same Kingdom. At night, we rest securely in the presence of God. We don’t think about this very often because the Kingdom of God is as much a part of our existence as the water that a fish swims in is to it. But, it does make a difference.
According to St. Paul, we walk in newness of life because our lives are inextricably connected with Jesus’. How would our lives, and the lives of everyone around us, be different if we kept that reality in the front of our minds all the time?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, my life is complete in you. Help me see how that makes a difference today. AMEN