Resurrected to the Newness of Life; Rom. 6:3-4

Delivered during the Sunday Morning Worship Service, 3/31/2024. In this Easter Sunday morning message, on a day when we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, we will delight in a study of Paul's masterful dissertation on how Christians share in His death, burial and Resurrection. When Paul speaks of the true believer's union with Christ he speaks in absolutes: we die to sin even as Jesus died to sin; we are buried with Him to loudly proclaim the end of our relationship to the "reign and realm" of sin; and we are resurrected with Him by the same glorious power that raised Jesus from the dead-- as new creations in Christ. We will realize that Paul is not discussing something that should or will happen to Christians as part of their sanctification-- but rather something that necessarily HAS happened as a result of their justification. Inherent in this teaching is Paul's refutation of "antinomianism" and the more modern ideas of "carnal Christianity" and "easy believism". Ultimately we will celebrate the immutability of our own union with Christ and what it means to be resurrected in Him to the newness of life!