As Paul the apostle
continues to persuade the church members in Galatia concerning the
grace and promise of God, he shows them the significance of their
being children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. In chapter three and
verse twenty-seven he turns their attention toward baptism in Christ
and the significance of doing so. He wrote:
For as many of you as
have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
A
meaningful change occurs in the person who submits him or herself to
Jesus Christ by faith. Not only do they become the children of God,
they “put on Christ.” Paul said, “For as many of you
as have been baptized into Christ” , which seems to allow for
some who have not, but for those who have been baptized into Christ
there is this denotation they have “put on Christ.” The
word used for baptized here is “baptizo” which means “to
dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge (of vessels sunk)”; to
cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water,
to wash one's self, bathe; to overwhelm.”
They who
have been totally submerged and overwhelmed into Jesus Christ have
been wrapped in His marvelous grace.
When a
person is baptized, they go down into the water like unto the death
and they are raise into new life that is like being robed in Jesus
Christ. Paul gave even clearer insight to what happens in baptism in
the book of Romans chapter six and verses three through nine where he
wrote:
Do you not know, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus
Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him
by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the
dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness
of his death, we shall be also [in the likeness] of [his]
resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him],
that the body of sin might be destroyed, that from here forward we
should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if
we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dies no more; death
hath no more dominion over him.
When
baptism occurs, the old person is put to death, and the new person
has “put on Christ.” Like those who were robed with regal
robes in the Roman society, the person who accepts God free gift of
grace by faith in Jesus Christ has been robed in Him. The idea is
that a person is now governed by the will of Jesus Christ, and
submission and conformity unto His way is the new way of life.
The
disciples baptized people who professed Jesus Christ as their Savior
as they were instructed by Jesus in Matthew chapter twenty-eight and
verse nineteen:
Go therefore, and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Throughout
the book of Acts there is incident after incident where people were
baptized into Jesus Christ, and when they were they “put
on Christ.” This act of
submission continues to be available today. May all who read these
words have ears to hear.
Next time we will
see how the walls and barriers between people groups fall when we are
in Christ, so read ahead, and let us join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look for
the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation
to Generation” in all major
bookstore
sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to
e-books, and find it
locally
at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
No comments:
Post a Comment