Day 10 – Walking in the New Life
In an earlier lesson, we finished off with Romans 6:4-5, which is a key verse in understanding our salvation. But this verse doesn’t just tell us what has happened to us to get us saved; it also tells us what should happen because we are saved: “just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (v 4).
Walk in newness of life. What does that exactly mean? While there is no one answer that covers all aspects of life, the essence is this:
Before we were saved, we were spiritually dead, disconnected from God. And our lives demonstrated this. We paid little or no attention to the things of God, we didn’t try to find out if certain things please Him or displease Him, and we just did what we thought was OK. That may be a bit simplistic, but basically that’s the way most non-Christians live. It doesn’t necessarily mean your life was a shambles and you were on the verge of physical, mental and emotional breakdown. It just means you had little or no place for God.
Now that you’re a Christian, God has a very important place in your life. It’s much like a marriage: He really becomes a major focus for you, you want to spend time with Him, and you want to find out what makes Him happy – what pleases Him.
This will show up in a number of ways. Some of these will come naturally, and some may take some discipline (kind of like a marriage). It’s important to develop a personal walk with God through prayer and Bible reading, and it’s also important to develop relationships with other Christians. There are millions of people who, just like you, have given their lives to God, and connecting with some of them in a local church is important for your own growth.
When you read the New Testament you will find in some places that it talks about certain behaviours, and these are guidelines that are important to consider (for example Eph 4:21-32). While these can’t be forced, it’s good to open your heart to see why these things are in the Bible. What you’ll find is that basically they boil down to one thing: we need to treat one another well. Remember God created us originally to have a harmonious relationship with Him and with one another. He hasn’t changed His mind.
One time, someone asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was. He replied with two: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and most important command. And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’”
Do these and you’ll be walking in newness of life!