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Be a Team Player
Romans 6:1-4
VS 1-4 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.
When someone joins a team, he
inherits the history of that team. Whether it be professional,
college, or amateur sports, the members of that team inherit the team’s
tradition and history, even if they weren’t there at the time. Tony
Romo can say he belongs to a team that won 5 Super Bowls, the Dallas
Cowboys. It doesn’t mean he won them, or that he had anything to do
with them. But when he puts on that helmet, he puts on all those
years of success of Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman. It’s pressure
to play for the Cowboys simply because you inherit that history.
The same thing happened when
we were baptized. We didn’t pay the penalty of sin with our
death. We weren’t buried and then resurrected from the
dead. But with the baptism we received, we were joined into
Christ. Christ’s death, burial and resurrection became ours.
We did nothing to deserve it. Christ did it all. We
didn’t even try to make the team. He graciously accepted us.
Knowing that we have
inherited this wonderful work of Christ for our sake, we have a reason to
live like Christ in this new life He has given us. Should we
continue to live in sin? No! That’s not the life we have
now. We are united with Christ. Our sinful self has
been put to death with Christ and we have a new life with Him. We
are on a new team. When you put on Christ, you remember all
that He has done for you, and with that, you live like you are a part of
Him – because you are.
Be a team player. Live
not in sin, but walk in the newness of life that Christ has given you.
PRAYER
Lord, by your grace you have joined me into you.
Your death, burial and resurrection became mine with You so that my sin
would be put to death. Teach me to walk in the newness of life,
that I may live a life worthy of being in you. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Baptism does not signify the death, burial and
resurrection of Christ. It unites us with Christ such that those
mighty works of His, and the benefits of those mighty works might become
ours with Him.
Rev.
Alex George Kolath, Immanuel MTC, Virginia
Christian Education Forum,
Diocese of NAE of the Mar Thoma Church
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