What was isn't now

After Romans 6:1-14

The old is gone, not

merely cast aside,

but taken,

a violent act, and

nailed to a tree

of all things, and

there to die

in the only way

it could, With

it gone now, 

the new remains,

a sprouting seed,

set free to grow,

set free from the old,

the old left lifeless,

powerless, forgotten,

absolved.

Photograph by Dietmar Becker via Unsplash, Used with permission.

Contradiction

After Romans 6:1-14

Dead to one thing,

live to its opposite,

how can both happen

simultaneously?

Short answer:

They can’t.

Which suggests

the contradiction

exists in our minds,

in our behaviors,

because we still

confront the one thing

while living the other.

Sin’s a powerful

thing.

Photograph by Pawel Czerwinski via Unsplash, Used with permission.

To release the chains

After Romans 6:1-14

To release the chains

required a death like

his death, with a promise

of release from death

and I told myself

this seems circular

not linear, this

death-life-death

death is spiritual

death is physical

sometimes

dead to this life

alive to next life

the chains fall

from wrists

from ankles

the chains drop

death is dead

I see you through

God’s eyeglasses

Photograph by George Hodan via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.