Word of life - Rom 6:4

Word of life: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Rom 6:4 NKJ /New King James Version 1982/)

1) What is emphasized in this verse? Walking in newness of life. A means to this end is our burial through baptism into Christ’s death and at the same time into the power of His resurrection. This new life is the life of the risen Christ. Rom 8:11 reads: “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” So it is emphasized here that the Holy Spirit who raised Christ from the dead lives in us. And further, that He will also give life to our mortal bodies. The expression give life implies a spiritual process in time. The Apostle does not use the word raise because this is associated with the Second Coming of Christ.

In other words, the risen Christ is to live in us. How? Through the Holy Spirit. That the Holy Spirit may give life to our mortal bodies in particular situations, we have to allow Him to reign in us. How? Through repentance – by coming out of our self and entering God’s light where we call a sin a sin and the truth the truth. Through repentance the Holy Spirit works in fullness and we break with the system of sin which is in us. To walk in newness of life means to live by faith which unites us to Christ. This is, in other words, the obedience of faith, which is mentioned e.g. in verse 16. The obedience of faith means the putting of God’s Word into practice. This is what Jesus was speaking about when He called upon the people to do God’s Word, to embody it. Those who do so are wise. They do not build their life on the sand but on the rock (Mt 7:24).

2) The connection with other verses

An association between death, life and resurrection is in verses 5, 8, 9, 10, 11.

Practical application:

The giver of the new life is the Holy Spirit and not the spirit of the world. By the power of the Holy Spirit the living Christ becomes incarnate in us through our obedience of faith and repentance. Repentance – meta,noia (metanoia) – is a change of mind. This is a process. In particular situations my mind reacts automatically: self-pityingly, critically, angrily, impurely... It proceeds from the old nature of man. The process of a change of mind is repentance. Sorrow for sins instead of self-pity, self-criticism instead of criticism, meekness instead of anger, chastity instead of impurity.