Buried With Christ, Raised for His Glory by stella ashworth
Dear Beloved in Christ,
No one encounters Jesus and remains the same. To be born again is not a slogan, it is a life altered by the power of God.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Yet why do we keep returning to the person we once were, as if the Cross did not finish its work? Scripture declares that we were buried with Christ, raised with Christ, and made alive through Christ.
“We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead… we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
The message of the Cross is not self-improvement; it is transformation. The life we now live is no longer for ourselves, but for Him who died and rose again (2 Corinthians 5:15).
So why do we cling to the old man that Paul commanded us to put to death?
“Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life… and put on the new self” (Ephesians 4:22–24).
Why do we stand with one foot in the past and one foot in the future, divided in heart and purpose?
“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).
Why do we dilute the Gospel, softening its truth to draw attention to ourselves, when all glory belongs to Christ alone?
“For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord” (2 Corinthians 4:5).
Do we so desire the praise of men and the pleasure of this world? “If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).
Do we sell the Gospel with our lips, yet fail to live out its truth with our lives? “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22).
The Gospel was never about preserving who we were. It is about proclaiming who He is, Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23), Christ risen (1 Corinthians 15:20), Christ reigning (Revelation 19:16), and Christ living in us (Galatians 2:20).
Let us lay down the old life completely and walk boldly in the new. “Set your minds on things above, not on things on the earth… Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:2–3, 11).
For when Christ is our focus, transformation is not optional.... it is inevitable.
Written by Stella Ashworth - Bay Talk