Two young boys who were baptized yesterday, came to me on the Sunday after their orientation class, having processed the things we talked over and they asked me in all earnestness - “So when we are baptized does that mean we are then disciples of Jesus?” I assured them that it did, for it is true!
Baptism is a rite that identifies us a Christian. We join Jesus in His death and Resurrection, as Paul said. "Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection." (Romans 6:3-5, NIV) That is why we immerse those who have made a profession of faith.
Baptism of the faith-filled is a doorway into a whole
new way of life, a moment when the Spirit is invited to live in us. Peter
preached to the crowd who gathered in Jerusalem at the birth of the Church on
Pentecost and urged them to “Repent
and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit.” (Acts 2) The big word we
use is regeneration - to be new - the opposite of sin’s degeneration to death.
Baptism also invites us into unity, a oneness of heart that grows out of a that new identity found in Jesus that is more important that any other label we may wear. "For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:26-28, NLT) Whatever divided us in the past is set aside as we become ‘brothers and sisters’ in the family of God.
I pray that those 6 who took that step of faithful obedience
will always remember that day when they said “yes” to Christ Jesus in a
public and humble way - plunged into the water of baptism. It is a moment of resolution that marks us
for life. My own baptism now more than a
half century past is etched in my memory, a moment when I declared to God, to the
world around me, and to myself - “Hey, I’m a Believer!” Everything changed - life now and for eternity
- when the amazing, irrevocable life of the Spirit took hold of me.
Remember the day of your baptism with joy, renewing your commitment to faith and discipleship. Let me ask you - have you been baptized since you believed? If not, why not? Take the step of obedience to Christ, with full faith. Invite the Spirit to turn that act of obedience into a moment of empowerment, filling you with the Resurrection Life of Christ.
Here is a word from the Word. “Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” Romans 6:3-8, NIV
Oh Hallelujah, what a Savior!
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(Video of this
blog at this link)
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Spirit of God, Descend upon my Heart
Spirit of God, descend upon my heart,
wean it from earth, through all its pulses move.
Stoop to my weakness mighty as Thou art,
and make me love Thee as I ought to love.
Hast Thou not bid us love Thee, God and King?
All, all Thine own --soul, heart, and strength and mind.
I see Thy cross --there teach my heart to cling,
O let me seek Thee and O let me find.
Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh,
Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear ---
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh:
Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.
Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love,
Only holy passion filling all my frame.
The baptism of the heave'n descended Dove,
My heart an altar, and Thy love - the flame.
George Croly© Public Domain
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