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"We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." (Romans 6:4)

Living a new life, that is the point of being a Christian. Once saved we are bound for

heaven, but in the meantime what are we to do? Do we adhere to endless rules, measuring ourselves against each other and ourselves? Or maybe there is something deeper.

I believe there is something deeper. One of the greatest problems in evangelical

Christianity is legalism, which is the following of rules and using that as a basis for

righteousness. But as Paul implies here, the new life we live in Christ is not based on our mgoodness, but on the work Christ completed on the cross. It is all about HIS goodness, our goodness is as filthy rags.

Paul says here in Romans 6, (and it is the focus of much of his writing) that we have died with Christ on the Cross, and risen from the dead with him to live a new life. That new life is one led by the spirit.

As believers we have been lost by Satan forever. He can still harass us though, and one of his biggest aims is to make us ineffective as believers, and to make us lose hope. His name means deceiver, and even as Christians we can be deceived. That deception can be extremely subtle.

The most common form is to make us think we are righteous because we are good people, or to make us think we have lost our salvation because we are not so

good people.

But as Jesus said, "the truth shall set you free." As new creatures in Christ we have Christ inside us, and therefore there is the desire to do good, the desire to please God in all things. This is not because following rules will make us righteous, but it is because our very nature as human beings has changed.

In a sense then, in our spiritual nature that Christ has given us, we really don’t want to sin, but as Romans 7 points out, that evil nature is still there too. A point of Chapter six is that on the spiritual level that sinful nature of ours is crucified with Christ and we don’t have to obey it at all.

When we do it is part of Satan’s deception.

Now it is true I still have evil in my heart and mind, and run to it at times. This is what

Paul addresses in Chapter 7 of Romans. in Chapter 6 he gives us the theology, and in chapter 7 he explains how it works out.

Potentially we are free from sin and could live above it, but we are weak in our natural

selves, and we have the world, the flesh and the devil opposing us. In Christ we are more than conquerors. The victory is ours in Christ, but at times we give way to our evil desires. Romans 6:16 says we are slaves to the one we obey, which implies that we do have choice.

But herein lies a danger. That danger is legalism.

I’m sure we have all heard people say they are Christians because they do this or that or don’t do this or that. That implies somehow that we are able to save ourselves, which is not possible. (see Galatians.)

Here in Romans 6 Paul speaks of the new life we have in Christ, a life led by the spirit. If we are slaves to the spirit of righteousness we will be righteous because of who we are in Christ. The difference is one of "being" over one of "doing."

I tend to lean towards doing righteous things not because that will make me somehow more spiritual. Rather, I do those things because of who Christ is. Christ himself, through the Holy Spirit, is able to move on me to influence my actions.

But the point is not how righteous can we be as believers. The point is how strong and righteous can Christ be inside of us. If I do a righteous deed it is not because I am righteous, but because Christ has risen from the dead to live in my heart, and He is able to accomplish His purpose in me.

In my spiritual life everything is dependent upon Christ, who Christ is and what He does inside of me.

Romans 6:10 says, "the life he lives he lives to God," speaking of how Christ lives now after the resurrection. He goes on to say that we should count ourselves dead to sin and alive to righteousness in the same way. This is the point of being Led by the Holy Spirit and living the new life.

If we realize our position in Christ, that we have died and been raised again with Him by faith, then our lives should take on a different flavor. We should have different priorities and indeed a different reality.

As it is written in Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me, The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me."