When someone chooses to live with reckless abandon, we might say they have chosen to walk on the wild side of life. The Bible challenges us to walk on the high side.
In Romans 6:4 Paul refers to the act of baptism to demonstrate why believers are now capable of walking “in newness of life.” When we accepted Christ, the old nature was crucified with Christ and we were given the new nature of Christ. Our new walk is made possible because we have died to sin and thus we no longer have to say “yes” to temptation and sin.
Before we became Christians we were often powerless to say “no” to the passions and desires that led us away from God. Our new birth means that we died to sin (6:2) and therefore we are no longer enslaved by sin’s power. Resurrection life is not something simply waiting for us in the future, unavailable until life is over. It is a present reality. We are a new creation, empowered to live a life that is pleasing to God.
If we are going to walk on the high side, we must refuse to present the members of our body again to sin, but we must present them to God as instruments of righteousness (6:13). We gain victory over sin as we daily make ourselves fully available to God.
Prayer: Thank you for giving me new life. I present myself to you today to serve as an instrument of your righteousness. Amen.