Reflections on “Connecting to Christ” (Romans 6:1-11) January 8th, 2012

I was at LAX recently and was the focus two Christian evangelists (one on the bottom floor and another on the top floor) who when they saw me with my clerical collar made a b-line to get to me! They had tracks to pass out to people and it was — rather obviously — clear that I needed one of these tracks! The track was entitled, “Born Again!” and expounded on six signs that one is truly filled with the Holy Spirit. The first evangelist gave me a track with a big smile on his face. Then as I waited with my son in the airport, I read the track and memorized the six points within the track. Here they are in summary:

1. Avoid active deliberate sinning.

2. Seek active righteousness by doing righteous deeds as much as possible.

3. Keep yourself pure by avoiding bad influences that would compromise your sanctification.

4. Trust in the Lord by ensuring that you have a true commitment towards Jesus and not mere head knowledge.

5. Love the brethren as Scripture commands us to love all, but especially fellow-Christians.

6. Resist worldly influences that would otherwise hurt your walk with God (this is similar to point 3 above).

Walking out of the airport, the second evangelist came up to me with a big smile on his face. This time I put my hand up and said, “Wait, let me tell you what the six points are!” I recited the points and the evangelist of course was thrilled (and perhaps didn’t quite anticipate this scenario)!

The points in and of themselves aren’t bad. For example, Psalm 19:13 states, “Keep you servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.”

Scripture clearly teaches us to avoid active, deliberate sinning!

On the other hand, context is everything, and we are to keep all biblical teaching in the overall context of Scripture. These points on sanctification must be properly presented in the context of the rest of the story. We had better not isolate the points and reduce our sanctification, our being born-again, to merely these points.

Romans 6 won’t permit it.

Our new lives are first of all defined not as our work, not what we do, but what God does. How does this new life begin? Did it begin with your resolve? Did it begin with your conviction? Did it begin with your commitment? No, absolutely not. It all began with God connecting you to His Son, Jesus Christ. Our justification AND our sanctification is bound to the work of God: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” (Romans 6:3-6)

It is dangerous to put our sanctification on ourselves. God doesn’t do that. The above text from Romans 6 shows just how passive we are in sanctification:

1. [We have] been baptized into his death.

2. We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death.

3. We have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

4. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing.

Notice in all of these descriptors you aren’t doing anything. God is the worker. You are the receiver.

If we forget this fact, then our attempts to be “good Christians” will leave us in guilt and defeat; or we might become delusional and actually think that we really are better than other people thank you very much (and in this way take on Pharisaical pride).

The six points for “born again” are insufficient. These must be empowered, embedded, and created through the work of God through the Word and the Sacraments of Jesus Christ. Context is everything. Your sanctification, your being born-again, has a context. It is in Christ.

Dr. Espinosa

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