4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
that just as Christ was raised [at one point in the past] from [out from] the dead
Here we have another as/so relationship. As Christ was raised out of the dead, so we should walk in newness of life. In contrast to our fallenness in Adam, we should walk in the new epoch of our status in Christ. The new epoch in Christ does not mean an end to the old epoch in Adam. The issue is not sinless conduct but accountable conduct in our new life that reflects newness of life in Christ.
Ro 8:11, But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Eph 2:6, and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus . . .
by the glory of the Father,
The Father effected the resurrection of Christ. The wonder and majesty—the manifested power—of the Father raised Jesus from the dead.
even so we also should [potential depending on choice] walk [conduct oneself] in newness of life.
The word “newness” carries the idea of something fresh. “Newness” refers to newness of quality or character, not newness in time. Jesus was not merely resuscitated from the dead like Lazarus; He took on a new quality or form of life. He rose never to die again. In the same way Christians have a new quality of life, a new spiritual life. We are now in the new epoch of Christ that transcends our life in Adam. This is the major point of chapter six to this point. Newness of the Christian life is grounded in the resurrection of Christ. Believers share more than the death of Christ; they share a new life with Him.
Newness of life here does not mean to have a new quality of experience or conduct. This is a new quality of life imparted by God to the believer.
Walking is ordering our behavior as a course of life in our new life in Christ. The word “walk” means to walk about, to walk around. This walk has to do with practical or day-by-day sanctification. God expects us to live the Christian life as a course or pattern of life. Christ shared His resurrection so that believers might order their behavior by the new life He provides. Not all Christians will choose to walk in newness of life; it is their choice whether they do so or not (subjunctive mood). The believer has the right to engage in this activity, but walking involves effort.
PRINCIPLE:
We die with Christ in order to live in fellowship through a new life with Him.
APPLICATION:
God’s work of salvation in giving the believer a new quality of life by Jesus’ resurrection is the operating foundation for the Holy Spirit’s work on the believer in sanctification.
Believers enter an entirely new sphere of existence when they become Christians. It is a new quality of spiritual life. Christians can experience progressive sanctification under the principles of the positional truths of death and resurrection with Christ.
Jn 10:10, I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
As human life was imputed at physical birth, so God imputed eternal life at the second birth. We can put a ribbon on a hog, scrub it clean, put perfume on it—but it will go back to the mud. If we put religion on a non-Christian, it will make no difference. However, a lamb will not lie in the mud; there is something about its nature that makes it get out of the mud.
