What benefits does baptism give? It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare. Which are these words and promises of God? Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Mark, "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."
Romans 6:3-5--Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection.
Devotion--Paul paints a pretty graphic picture. When you were baptized, you died with Jesus, and since Jesus rose from the dead, you also rose from the dead. Now, for most of us, this death didn't really seem like death. We don't recall dying, nor coming back to life. That's because Paul isn't talking about what happens to our physical bodies in baptism, but our spiritual lives.
It's hard for us to think that our soul is eternally separated from God because of our sin. One of the pictures that the Bible paints is that we are dead to God when it comes to our sin. Sin is what causes that death, and therefore, in order to make us right with God, that sin has to die. But because our sin is so caught up in our soul and life, we also have to die to get rid of that sin.
From a spiritual standpoint, we died when we were baptized, and we were raised to new life. That means that we now have the benefits of forgiveness and eternal life. That's right, you have eternal life right now! That gift is yours, even though the body must die and be raised again in order to bring both body and soul into perfect alignment in God's enduring kingdom.
Everything that would separate you from God has died with you in your baptism. You now live a new life, and are a new creation! As you go about living your life today, what does it mean that you are a new creation? In what ways do you see that it matters that you are a new creation? What comfort do you receive from knowing that your sin and your sinful self has died?
Prayer--Lord Jesus, thank you for killing me and my sin in baptism, and for raising me to new life through Your resurrection. May my life today reflect that I have died to sin and been raised to Your righteousness. Amen.
Romans 6:3-5--Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection.
Devotion--Paul paints a pretty graphic picture. When you were baptized, you died with Jesus, and since Jesus rose from the dead, you also rose from the dead. Now, for most of us, this death didn't really seem like death. We don't recall dying, nor coming back to life. That's because Paul isn't talking about what happens to our physical bodies in baptism, but our spiritual lives.
It's hard for us to think that our soul is eternally separated from God because of our sin. One of the pictures that the Bible paints is that we are dead to God when it comes to our sin. Sin is what causes that death, and therefore, in order to make us right with God, that sin has to die. But because our sin is so caught up in our soul and life, we also have to die to get rid of that sin.
From a spiritual standpoint, we died when we were baptized, and we were raised to new life. That means that we now have the benefits of forgiveness and eternal life. That's right, you have eternal life right now! That gift is yours, even though the body must die and be raised again in order to bring both body and soul into perfect alignment in God's enduring kingdom.
Everything that would separate you from God has died with you in your baptism. You now live a new life, and are a new creation! As you go about living your life today, what does it mean that you are a new creation? In what ways do you see that it matters that you are a new creation? What comfort do you receive from knowing that your sin and your sinful self has died?
Prayer--Lord Jesus, thank you for killing me and my sin in baptism, and for raising me to new life through Your resurrection. May my life today reflect that I have died to sin and been raised to Your righteousness. Amen.
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