What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. ~ Romans 6:1-4
There's some heady theology here from Paul.
But push it away and what do you have?
Under all the talk of dying to sin and being baptized into Christ's death - which admittedly are worthy of some deeper digging into - what are we left with? Where is it all taking us? What is it Paul is really wanting us to see?
Newness of life.
Your life.
Made new.
That's it.
That's what God wants for us.
For us to live in a new way. For us to see with new eyes. For us to hear with new ears.
To love with a new heart.
For us not to stand in place - stagnant in a life that is turned in on itself (as we might say a "sinful" life is) - and instead walk forward. Living into newness and hope.
Not staying in place.
Not pushing away the change in us as it bubbles up.
Reaching out to others who are also finding their way on this new path.
My hunch is that there is a new life God is calling you to. It might be subtly, and it might not now seem obvious to you.
But peek below the surface of dogma, theology, and even the day to day grind, and it's there, waiting for you to discern it.
Waiting for you to walk in it.
God of new life, open my eyes to your possibilities. Amen.