“Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” Colossians 2:12
John the Baptist required fruits meet for repentance and personal faith in the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, before he would consider one as a candidate for baptism.
Peter preached to the house of Israel (Acts 2:38) that repentance unto faith in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, were essential requirements for baptism.
Baptism is a pictorial ordinance, demonstrating that in Christ’s substitutionary death, the believer has died to sin, “That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.” (1 Peter 4:2) Likewise, in order to live for God, the dead-to-sin believer is convicted, “that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4) It takes the power of God enabling the believer to do God’s will, who is subjected to God’s purpose and will, by self-denial and mortification of their own will.
Thus, the saved person finds success in both excluding sin and including God’s service, through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. One’s personal faith in Christ secures their soul’s salvation (Romans 1:16, John 1:12) and the believer’s obedience to God’s command to be buried with Christ in baptism, includes their life in the operation of God as a member of the Body of Christ here on earth and a part of the Bride of Christ in heaven.
For the believer to live for Christ, who has baptism sanction by heaven, it is a matter of yielding to do the will of God by the aid of the power of God – Romans 6:12-13. The strength and means to commit sin is in the flesh, if you yield to the flesh. Likewise, the strength to serve God exists with those who have been resurrected to walk with Christ in newness of life, as they yield unto the Holy Spirit.
Christianity not only functions on different principles than the flesh, but also on different strengths. The difference is in the strength of the flesh being buried in death with Christ, unto receiving the strength of God to walk with Him, that comes by His power in raising us up to do so. The religions of men emphasize the strength of the flesh through reformation, self-improvement, and self-assertion. But Christianity functions on having no confidence in the flesh unto seeking the power of Christ’s resurrection – Philippians 3:3-10. Before Paul was saved he was a religious zealot. But after he was saved, that strength was useless to serve God. After Paul was baptized, with the working of God’s power, he chose to engulf his whole life into the work of the Lord. Being buried and rising to walk with Christ through scriptural baptism is important!
SHARING
