Romans 6:1-11
Sometimes Christians focus too much on one particular way of talking about our relationship with God. We, Lutherans, tend to focus on doctrine as if the whole of Christian life can be summed up in a checklist of things we’re supposed to memorize. Others focus on feelings, that the Christian life is mostly about how close you feel to God at any given moment.
St. Paul turns us away from both to focus on story. The story of Jesus and our story through him. He tells us that the two stories are united by baptism.
So, Jesus’ story becomes our story. Jesus became sin for us. He died on the cross. He rose from the dead. He lives a new life. He did it all for us, both the suffering and exaltation, so we can follow in his footsteps.
Through baptism, we are united with Christ, so his story becomes ours. Jesus was faithful in life, so we receive his faithfulness in baptism. Jesus died a righteous death, so we receive his righteousness death in baptism. Jesus rose from the dead, and so we rise from the dead, too. Jesus lives a new life free from the power of death, and we live that same life, too.
These things are not a future reality. They are present. In baptism, we die and rise with Christ now. In baptism, we live eternal life with Christ now.
Listen to the sermon to find out what it means for us to live this way.