Few Christians would deny that we have a lot more room to grow in our spiritual lives, but even fewer know what to do about it. Many suggest solutions like longer prayers, more Bible reading, greater service and giving, bolder witnessing, or some ecstatic experience which will bring our spiritual walks to a higher plane. While these are all good things, each of them assumes that a change in our behavior will bring the needed improvement. But this places the blame in the wrong place. We need to learn that our behavior merely flows out of our identity. What we do is determined by who we are, not vice versa. Devoting our attention to outward behavior is a technique we learned from the world, not from God. We must learn to see ourselves in a new way before the things God says of us will make any sense.

No one tackles this subject head-on like Paul does in chapters 5-8 of his letter to the Christians in Rome. What he says there has the power to change your life forever. As you read these four chapters, you will not find some new gimmick, which "works" for some people but not others. On the contrary, you will find an explanation of Christ's accomplishment on the cross which Paul carried with him wherever he went. He contended in his first letter to the Corinthians that he could provide all the spiritual nourishment that they needed while limiting his spoken ministry to the topic of "Christ and Him crucified"(1 Cor.2:2). That boggles the mind when one considers that he ministered there in Corinth for 18 months (Acts 18:11)! How could he spend a year-and-a-half teaching on nothing except Christ and the cross? Obviously the death and resurrection of Christ signify a great deal more than just forgiveness of sins.

Therein lies our biggest problem. Today our understanding of Christ and his cross has dwindled to include justification, and little else. A brief glance through our hymnals verifies this statement, because forgiveness of sins and access into heaven take center stage in the songs that we sing. Although you may occasionally find an exception, we make it our habit to sing the songs which speak of being washed from our sins, or of being taken to heaven one day. This is all that we know about what Christ accomplished on the cross. Paul would add quite a bit more to that. You may not know it, but the cross changed everything for you.

As we plunge into chapter five of the letter to the Romans, keep in mind that Paul wants to reorient the way you think about who you are. You have been taught to look to your actions to see who or what you are, when the truth of your identity lies elsewhere. Where does it lie? Let us begin with Romans 5:12 . . .