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As believers, one of the first acts we do after accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior is to be baptized. E.W. Kenyon, one of the early fathers of the Word of Faith movement, wrote a booklet I read recently that shed a spotlight on the importance of what baptism really means.
Paul tells us in Romans 6:4, “Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” So, according to this verse, we can see a three-fold significance.
- First – it is the death and burial of the past
- Second – it is a resurrection into a new relationship
- Third – it is a union with the one in whose Name we have been baptized
This means we die to all previous relationships – that from now on our life is dependent on Him. For example, if a Muslim is baptized it is a point of no return, meaning that they no longer belong to that culture. They have left one community for another. All family relationships, work relationships, social relationships are cut off as if they are literally dead. Likewise, we are cut off from the old ways of thinking and acting and become new in Christ. That is what baptism is – a cutting off the past in exchange for all that is in Christ.
His wisdom is to take the place of my ignorance; His strength is to take the place of my weakness; His goodness is to take the place of my failures, because I am so identified and so completely one with Him, that it can no longer be I who live but that He lives His life in me.
When a believer is baptized, by submersion, into Christ – we inherit the rights and privileges of Christ. We are baptized into the protection and care and fellowship of the God of the universe as our Father. We have the standing of the Son, the privilege of the Son, and the responsibilities of the Son.
When a believer is baptized, by submersion, into Christ – we inherit the rights and privileges of Christ. We are baptized into the protection and care and fellowship of the God of the universe as our Father. We have the standing of the Son, the privilege of the Son, and the responsibilities of the Son.
Because we have become (by that baptism) a joint heir with Jesus, and an heir of God, we’ve entered into the wealth of an inheritance, and receive the power of the Holy Spirit to become God’s representatives on earth.
So, when we are baptized into Christ, ALL that is in heaven is ours; all the mighty victories that Jesus won in His death and resurrection are ours.
Baptism represents a renouncing of our worldly identity, so that we identify with Christ, as we are seated in Him. Galatians 3:27 tells us that as we are baptized into Christ we have ‘put-on’ Christ. Let’s look at it this way. It is like a ship in the ocean, that sinks. That ship can never be reclaimed, because it is in the water and the water is in the ship. It cannot be undone.
Another story we learn from Bible history is that when new believers were baptized, they would wear old clothes into the water as they were submersed. And after they were baptized, they would take the old clothes off and let them wash away down the river, never to be seen again. As they came out of the water, they were given a robe to wear. That is the perfect picture of allowing our past to be washed away and to be robed in the righteousness of Christ.
If you have never been baptized as a public profession of your faith and identification in Christ, I encourage you to do so. If you were baptized, I hope you will take a moment to reflect on what that decision means to you. Many times, believers don’t appropriate the full reality of it means to die to our old man.
Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, thank you for saving us from a life apart from you, because of your Son, Jesus. Thank you that as we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we agree with the cutting away of the old man and put on the new man in Christ. Thank you that the Holy Spirit empowers us to walk in the fullness of the victory that was paid for by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Fill me today with a fresh baptism of your Holy Spirit that I may go and advance your Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven. Amen.