The Godly Gazette (Water Baptism)

Water Baptism

Water Baptism

Water baptism is not necessarily a spiritual discipline, but it is an act of obedience. Jesus Himself commanded the disciples to baptize believers (Matthew 28:19-20). Water baptism identifies with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

Some of us might have been brought up in a denomination where we were baptized as a baby. But the Bible tells us to repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38), and as a baby just a few months old, we are not able to repent. The Bible teaches that we are to be baptized after we have repented and made Jesus the Lord of our life.

Romans 6:3-4 tells us what happens when we get baptized:

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. NIV

When you get saved, you become a new person on the inside. The old you, the person you used to be is past away (2 Corinthians 5:17). When you get water baptized, you are taking the “old you” and “burying” it in a watery grave. When you come up out of the water you leave behind any past sins, condemnation, and shame, and you come up to live a brand new life.

Colossians 2:11-12 explains it this way:

In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. NIV

God is saying that when you get water baptized, He will cut (circumcise) the hardness and bondage out of your heart, so that you come up out of the water with a brand new heart.

If you have not yet been water baptized, you should do so as soon as possible. When you get water baptized as an act of obedience, God will circumcise your heart, and you will experience a new level of freedom in your life.

Other Disciplines

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