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We read in Luke 3:21-22 that Jesus was baptized. To be a disciple of Christ, we must follow Jesus’ example to be ready to overcome that which opposes us and ultimately join Him in His ministry.
Jesus was not “born again” – He was already born of the Spirit to begin with. We do need to be born again or ‘saved’ by receiving Him into our hearts as Lord and Savior because we are naturally born “in Adam” (of the flesh, not of the Spirit).
John 3:3-8 explains this passage when Jesus explains to Nicodemus that “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God”. Just as Jesus did not need to be born again, he did not need to be water baptized, but chose to as a man to demonstrate our need to do so.
Water baptism is a powerful symbol of our complete identification with Christ in His death and His resurrection.
Water baptism is a powerful symbol of our complete identification with Christ in His death and His resurrection. It is an external event which usually only happens once in a person’s life. When we comprehend its spiritual significance and appropriate its benefits into our lives, we can begin living as disciples of Jesus Christ.
When we are born again by the Spirit, our immersion in water identifies us totally with Jesus Christ. In non-Christian religious cultures, baptism is an extremely serious matter. It symbolizes a renunciation of a former belief system and an identification with Jesus Christ and can be a cause for ostracism or even death. Believers of other cultures must sever themselves from their former beliefs as they identify completely with Jesus Christ and embrace faith in Him. When we are baptized and identify with Jesus death, by being ‘buried’ under the water and being ‘raised’ to new life in Christ, it symbolizes dying to our old sin nature and former way of life, and walking in the victory of Christ’s resurrection by nullifying the power of the enemy (devil) over us. We are no longer slaves of sin but are slaves of righteousness.
Paul tells us in Romans 6:3, 6 “Or do you know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?… knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”
Water baptism is a powerful symbol of our complete identification with Christ – in His death and in His resurrection. It is through this single event in a person’s life that we come to comprehend the spiritual significance and identification of a life fully surrendered and empowered by Christ.
If you’ve not been baptized, or if you were baptized at an early age, pray and ask the Father to guide you in this holy ceremony. This is a great step on your journey of being a follower of Christ.
What has your baptism journey looked like?
