«　WEEK 5　DAY 1　»

　　Rom. 6:4 We have been buried therefore with Him through baptism into His death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead…, so also we might walk in newness of life.

　　5:17 … Much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

　　We were buried with Christ into His death, and now we have been resurrected as He was. Hence, we should walk in newness of life. This newness of life is very much related to the life-giving Spirit, who is Christ Himself in His resurrection. The way to walk in newness of life is the Spirit. When we are immersed in the water, we enter into death, but when we come out of the water, we enter into resurrection. We all need to have such a wonderful realization and understanding of baptism. After baptism we become a new person in resurrection. Resurrection is not only a future state; it is also a present process. To walk in newness of life means to live today in the realm of resurrection and to reign in life. This kind of living deals with all that is of Adam in us until we are fully transformed and conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3052)

　　The newness of life mentioned in Romans 6:4 is the likeness of His resurrection mentioned in verse 5. We all should walk in this newness of life. We must see that we have grown together with Christ in the likeness of His death, that is, in baptism, and that we will grow together with Him in the likeness of His resurrection, that is, in the newness of His resurrected life. This means that we must see that we have died with Him and that we are now growing with Him. We were buried with Him in baptism, and we are now growing with Him in His resurrection, in His divine life. We must walk according to this vision; that is, we must walk in newness of life. In our daily life and our meetings, we need to live, behave, act, work, and do everything in newness of life. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3052-3053)

　　Being saved in the life of Christ in Romans 5:10 corresponds with walking in newness of life in 6:4. If we are being saved in His life, then we are walking in newness of life. Sometimes a husband may give his wife an unpleasant look. In this situation the sister should simply walk in newness of life. This is to be saved in the life of Christ. However, if she returns the unpleasant look, she is not walking in the newness of Christ’s life. Rather, she is in the oldness of Adam’s death.

　　Husbands and wives who have exulting faces are living in the life of Christ. The expression of this life is resurrection. The resurrection of Christ is the expression of something new. Therefore, to live in the life of Christ is to live in the newness of life…. If we desire to be saved daily and constantly, we must realize that we are persons who are dead and buried. But we are no longer in the tomb; we are now in resurrection.

　　To display an unpleasant face to our spouse is to revive the buried old man…. If we allow the old man to return, we are not living in newness of life. Rather, we are in the oldness of death. We must live a life in resurrection, and this life is based upon the all-inclusive death of Christ. The Christian story is a wonderful story. There is the historical side of the story, which consists of the facts, and there is also the experiential side, the side of our daily life. According to history, the old man was buried, but in our daily life, the old man is still lodging with us. A house is a lodging place for living persons, but a tomb is for dead persons. In a sense, our body is a tomb for the old creation. We have to tell the old man, “I am not your house for you to live in. I am your tomb for you to be buried in.” (CWWL, 1989, vol. 3, “The Experience and Growth in Life,” pp. 98-100)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 299-300, 358; CWWL, 1989, vol. 3, “The Experience and Growth in Life,” ch. 16