For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
He died to sin once, once for all, and the life He now lives is lived devoted to God. That once-for-all death and Godward life is both the ground and the pattern for those baptized into His death to walk in newness of life. His living to God is priestly ministry within the veil, and by dying continually to sin He keeps Calvary immortal, so that if anyone sins there is an Advocate with the Father.
Through faith believers are buried with Him by baptism, openly renouncing sin before many witnesses and showing their deadness to its reigning power. Coming up out of the water is the symbol of the resurrection, so that they experience in their own persons the same divine power that raised Christ from the dead and live to God. Baptism is thus a semblance of death to the world, to its fashions and its customs and its evil practices. The baptized are to be dead to the world but alive to God, in whom there is for them the power of life.
Those baptized into His death share His pattern by reckoning themselves dead indeed to sin and alive to God. They walk in newness of life by refusing to let sin reign in the mortal body. They yield themselves to God as instruments of righteousness, living under grace rather than under condemnation. Dying to sin means the natural, unsanctified desires are subdued by grace. Then divine love fills the heart and the understanding is sanctified, fitting a person to enjoy heaven and the company of holy angels.
Those who cling to Him receive power to overcome sin. They are to live a life of purity and holiness that shows their souls have been sanctified. Abiding in Christ is being crucified with Him, dead to the world and alive to Christ. Those who abide become partakers with Him of His resurrection life, and He is glorified in them. This is individual work for the Master that no one else can do, and wearing the crown of life requires Christ formed within as the hope of glory.
He died to sin once, once for all, and the life He now lives is lived devoted to God. That once-for-all death and Godward life is both the ground and the pattern for those baptized into His death to walk in newness of life. His living to God is priestly ministry within the veil, and by dying continually to sin He keeps Calvary immortal, so that if anyone sins there is an Advocate with the Father.
Through faith believers are buried with Him by baptism, openly renouncing sin before many witnesses and showing their deadness to its reigning power. Coming up out of the water is the symbol of the resurrection, so that they experience in their own persons the same divine power that raised Christ from the dead and live to God. Baptism is thus a semblance of death to the world, to its fashions and its customs and its evil practices. The baptized are to be dead to the world but alive to God, in whom there is for them the power of life.
Those baptized into His death share His pattern by reckoning themselves dead indeed to sin and alive to God. They walk in newness of life by refusing to let sin reign in the mortal body. They yield themselves to God as instruments of righteousness, living under grace rather than under condemnation. Dying to sin means the natural, unsanctified desires are subdued by grace. Then divine love fills the heart and the understanding is sanctified, fitting a person to enjoy heaven and the company of holy angels.
Those who cling to Him receive power to overcome sin. They are to live a life of purity and holiness that shows their souls have been sanctified. Abiding in Christ is being crucified with Him, dead to the world and alive to Christ. Those who abide become partakers with Him of His resurrection life, and He is glorified in them. This is individual work for the Master that no one else can do, and wearing the crown of life requires Christ formed within as the hope of glory.