Article: Being Alive in Christ Jesus – Gilbert Kimeng

What a worthwhile exercise it was for me as I spent time sharing with a young man who wants to make Jesus the Lord of his life. Discerning his need for reassurance, I got talking to him about the role of the indwelling Spirit received at baptism (Acts-38).

In the process of sharing, I once again realized my deep love and appreciation for the book of Romans as Paul lays out what actually happens at baptism and the life that follows – experiencing death to the sinful nature and a resurrected life through the Spirit (Romans 6). His use of expressions like – “count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus”(Rom 6:11) and “put to death the misdeeds of the flesh (by the Spirit)” (Rom. 8:13) helps drive his message home.

In paraphrasing Paul’s distinction between living a life based on the sinful nature and life based on the Spirit, I was reminded of the fundamental shift that takes place when we transit from the old to the new life in Christ. There’s a change in heart – like a spiritual transplant. The sin that primarily attracted us before our decision to make a U-turn from the sinful way of life and get baptized, suddenly becomes repulsive. The sin we previously indulged in suddenly becomes ugly, and our new and divine nature just can’t stand it.

It became evident to me that it would take an extra effort for a person in whom the Spirit dwells to indulge in sin, because the new nature received at baptism repels sin much like certain parts of a magnet repel each other. Our relationship with sin changes from one of attraction to one of repulsion, once our minds are set on living by the Spirit and no more to gratify the sinful nature (Romans 8:5-8)

I genuinely look forward to a Spirit-filled and Spirit-led week. Don’t you?