Now that We’re Enrolled Our Appearance will Start to Change
What shall we say then? Are we to remain in sin so that grace may increase? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life.
There is some level at which the behavior is permissible and understandable. You know what I’m talking about. That freshman at USI walking around campus with the IU hat. IU is good and all, and plenty of people, no matter their college affiliation, are fans of IU basketball.
But the dude is walking around the USI campus with an IU hat on while USI is playing in the championships!
Just because the guy is a full-time student at USI doesn’t mean he gets it yet. Once he makes friends with half the basketball team, goes to a few USI games, etc. he will SURELY quit wearing that IU had during the championship game.
We need to extend that same kind of grace to our Christian brothers and sisters. In Christ, we are free from sin. We no longer have to walk in it. Jesus was so free from the Law that it was controversial. Religious leaders broke out into arguments (even amongst themselves) in trying to figure out the truth bombs that Jesus was dropping all over the place.
He ate with sinners. He visited the homes of the biggest religious hypocrites and the homes of some sexually unclean people. In all of that, the Bible doesn’t speak of Jesus experiencing or receiving grace as much as He showed grace.
Since we’ve been enrolled full-time in God’s grace, we don’t want to remain in our old sinful ways. We want to live in Christ and in the life that He is living among us right now. We were buried with Him, spiritually in that tomb, symbolically in our baptism, and really in our measure of life.
We were raised with Him, spiritually on Easter morning, symbolically when we came up out of the baptism water, and really in the newness of our new life in Christ.
We can now live a new life. He gives us the freedom to sin again if we want to, but He also gives us the power to resist that sin and grow in our Christ-life. His life is in us to lead and guide and show off. His life in us is bigger than a logo on a hat, but if that’s all we show of Him, He’ll be patient with that.
We have received our enrollment. Every day we grow into it more and more.
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