Romans 6:3

Romans 6:3

2 Corinthians 5:17-21

It's not uncommon for someone to express the opinion that people are basically good inside. I don't think that's true at all. There are a lot of reasons to love others and to give others the benefit of the doubt, but not because we're all basically good and only circumstances cause us to choose to do evil against one another. The reality is that sin is so prevalent in my life and in my natural inclinations that Christ died to redeem me and I needed to die also through baptism in order to receive His new life and be capable of rejecting the impulse to sin. There is still a struggle within me but it is the choice to join with Christ is His death that opens the possibility of joining with Him in His life. My old self needs to die, as thoroughly as an old tree stump in a dry desert. Holding onto it will never bring me new life and new inclinations to choose for what is good.