Easter for the Christian rules as the best holiday of the year. Why? Because we celebrate Christ and the Resurrection. The Resurrection makes Christianity different than all other religions. Christianity is based upon a living Savior.
The Implication of the Resurrection
The Apostle Paul provides us clear instruction on how he expects Christ-followers to live as a result of the Resurrection. His words are provided below:
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace (Romans 6:1-14).
Asking the Same Question Today
Because of the Resurrection, we walk in newness of life. What does this mean? It simply means that the relationship we have with Jesus should impact the way we live. We should live in light of who Jesus is and what he provides for us every day as believers.
Paul wants you and me to understand that we no longer must be slaves to sin. Although we still sin and want to sin, Paul expects us to recognize the power of sin is broken.
Furthermore, spiritually as a new person in Christ, since the power of sin to reign over us is broken, we no longer must live according to our desires. We must not passively live with sin in our lives. Instead, we must specifically seek to live in holy and righteous ways consistent with who we are in Christ and who’s we are.
By grace we have been saved and now enjoy both a new identity in Christ and relationship with Christ. By Grace also we can now live in ways that honor God through Christ.
(Confession: Today’s was 2 minutes not 1 minute if you read the 14 verses. Sorry!)
