Devotional: Baptism into Jesus.....A Command

If you are wondering what it means to be baptized in the Christian faith, these verses (just a few of what is available in the Scriptures) should point you in the right direction and help you understand what it means to be baptized. Baptism teaches the necessity of dying to sin, and being as it were buried from all ungodly and unholy pursuits, and of rising to walk with God in newness of life. 

The gift of God is eternal life. And this gift is through Jesus Christ our Lord and we clothe ourselves with Christ in baptism. (Galatians 3:27 - “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”) Christ purchased it, prepared it, prepares us for it, preserves us to it; he is the All in all in our salvation. Baptism is not a work, but rather God working us through and lifting us out of the water. (Colossians 2:12 - “Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Jesus through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.”) 

God rises us up from our sins through the watery grave of baptism just as He raised Jesus from the grave. We rise-up with an indwelling of His Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38 - “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”)

Matthew 3:13-17

The Baptism of Jesus

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

What a beautiful image! Jesus’ ministry began after He was baptized. As He rose from the water, He receives the gift of the Holy Spirit and He hears His Father express His love and His pleasure in what Jesus had just done.

I can imagine that is also true for each of us as we rise from baptism, receiving the Holy Spirit....God, our Father, looking down saying...”I love YOU, well done!”

Jesus tells us to do the same in the last words He expresses on this Earth:

Matthew 28:19-20
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Romans 6:1-18
Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 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. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”