The Daily Word

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We shall, God willing, shortly be holding a baptism service. This is the first important step for someone who has taken the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Whilst not wanting to go too deeply here into what baptism by immersion signifies, there is one symbolic element which I would want to emphasise, and it echoes one of the truths stated by Paul in Galatians 2 v 20. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I but Christ lives in me”.

To someone who has never accepted Jesus as their Saviour, this sounds like nonsense. How can someone die and yet live, but not live as him/her self but live as someone else? The truth of Paul’s statement is found in what actually happens when we first believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Firstly, and most importantly for a Christian to be able to live a life for God, the Holy Spirit immediately comes into a person’s heart. He is God and Jesus promised before He went back to His Father, the Comforter (the Holy Spirit) will teach the believer about Jesus. So the Holy Spirit, being God, is truly having Christ living in us.

But perhaps the most important symbol of baptism, going under the water, is that it symbolises being dead to the old life we used to live. Paul describes that as “being crucified with Christ”, and rising out of the water symbolises that we have received the new eternal life that we discussed yesterday in John 3 v 16. That life was given when we made the step of commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are looking forward this event because it marks a determination of a believer to live a life for His Lord, a step of obedience.

Article written by Brian Preston, Elder @SFGH Church 

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