Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

Reflect

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3-4)

Meditate

We have just participated in the most important week of the liturgical year, during which we celebrated the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. When in John 19:30, Jesus says Tetelestai (in Greek, meaning-It is finished), the price of our sin is paid, we have been redeemed, the gate of Heaven has been opened to all. Death couldn't hold Jesus back and he rose again in the glory of the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit on Easter Sunday, gaining us victory over sin and death and giving us new life.

St Paul writing to the Romans is asking us a question, "Do you know what is happening in Baptism?". In our Baptism, we are immersed into the passion and death of our Lord and when Christ rose on Easter Sunday we rose in Him, while our sins remained buried in the grave. Romans 6:6-7 says, "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, because anyone who has died has been set free from sin". This is the good news for us, our old sinful self with all its lust, anger, sloth, selfishness, pride, etc and all other habitual sins we struggle with have been crucified with Christ and buried with Him in the grave. St Paul goes on to add in Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

But the question is do we know? Do we believe? If we do, we will see the glory of God, we will experience salvation in every area of our life. In every Eucharist we are in fact celebrating our own baptism, the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord through which our old self has been crucified and each one of us is made new in Christ. Every Good Friday is a commemoration of my death, and every Easter Sunday is a remembrance of my rising as a new person in Christ. – "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come." (2Cor5:17). God has through his son given us the gift of Himself through the Eucharist – the biggest miracle, and we are blessed to have access to it daily. The next time we are at Mass and when the priest lifts the consecrated host and says the words, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world", instead of bowing down, Look reverently at the body of Christ and say the words of Romans 6:6 – Lord I believe that I am dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. The more we believe and ruminate on these words of scripture the more we will experience salvation from sin.

Act

• Read and reflect on Romans chapter 6 and memorize the scripture verses 1 Peter 2:24 and Romans 6:11
• Whenever you are tempted, attack the thought by the words, "I am dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus"
• Next time you are at a baptism, be attentive, and become aware of the power of baptism in your lives