I sent an email to some friends about the significance of baptism. I just wanted to share this with you all seeing how baptism is a wonderful sacrament 
God bless!
-Jason
Here it is:
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Subject: Keep your clothes on!!
<DIV>Hi guys,
I really hope what I'm about to share is encouraging to all of you. Of course my emails may be long and boring, but for those who read on, I think it'll be edifying.
I was reading Genesis and I thought I'd share what I came across. Anyone remember what happened when Adam and Eve sinned? They decided to make fig leaves to cover up their shame. But then God rebuked them and gave them some 'better clothes':
The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them (Gen 3:21)
Can you imagine that!? The two of them must've been frantically going nuts about covering themselves. And then we find out that God made clothes FOR THEM! It looks like a picture of God's grace
Now with this in mind, when I read Galatians, I stumbled upon this verse:
for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Gal 3:27)
So to be baptized is to clothe oneself with Christ. Actually I get some strong impression that not everyone agrees with me here. But I just wanted to point out the significance of baptism in general.
Until recently, I never really thought that baptism was so important in the Christian life. Some denominations think it's completely useless, others say it's required for salvation. And there's hundreds of opinions in between. At the very least, I think it's an incredible blessing and a wonderful sacrament. I don't remember if I mentioned this earlier but sacrament basically means an oath.
Thus when I mean 'sacrament' I'm referring to our covenant relationship with God. And so I look at baptism as a sacramental act where the believer says to God, "I will follow you all the days of my life".
So for the Christian, to be buried with Christ in baptism (Rom 6:3-8, Col 2:12) means:
1) Dying to oneself (being immersed underwater) and...
2) Living in Christ (being raised out of the water)
Keep in mind that the 1st century Christians knew that having faith in God and being baptized were linked, not separated. In every instance of someone coming to Christ in the book of Acts, believers would immediately get baptized.
So, they understood, that by getting baptized, the believer is proclaiming to God sacramentally (i.e. making an oath to God) that he or she is making the decision to put off the old self and put on Christ!
That's what baptism is about: dying to oneself, and thus living in Christ!
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Cor 5:17)
This is essentially what the emphasis of baptism is about: living the new life we have in Christ, since the 'old' is gone. And if there's one thing I want everyone to get out of this, it's this:
"Remember your baptism!"
Or if it doesn't make sense to you, look at it this way: Remember the decision you made to allow Christ to be the center! And if that doesn't make sense, I hope God's words will convey this truth:
Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed." (Rev 16:15)
We've been clothed with Christ, but we need to remember to continually clothes ourselves so we won't return back to our old lifestyle! (Rom 13:14).
In other words, keep your clothes on!
God bless!
-Jason</DIV>
God bless!
-Jason
Here it is:
-------------------------------------
Subject: Keep your clothes on!!
<DIV>Hi guys,
I really hope what I'm about to share is encouraging to all of you. Of course my emails may be long and boring, but for those who read on, I think it'll be edifying.
I was reading Genesis and I thought I'd share what I came across. Anyone remember what happened when Adam and Eve sinned? They decided to make fig leaves to cover up their shame. But then God rebuked them and gave them some 'better clothes':
The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them (Gen 3:21)
Can you imagine that!? The two of them must've been frantically going nuts about covering themselves. And then we find out that God made clothes FOR THEM! It looks like a picture of God's grace
Now with this in mind, when I read Galatians, I stumbled upon this verse:
for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Gal 3:27)
So to be baptized is to clothe oneself with Christ. Actually I get some strong impression that not everyone agrees with me here. But I just wanted to point out the significance of baptism in general.
Until recently, I never really thought that baptism was so important in the Christian life. Some denominations think it's completely useless, others say it's required for salvation. And there's hundreds of opinions in between. At the very least, I think it's an incredible blessing and a wonderful sacrament. I don't remember if I mentioned this earlier but sacrament basically means an oath.
Thus when I mean 'sacrament' I'm referring to our covenant relationship with God. And so I look at baptism as a sacramental act where the believer says to God, "I will follow you all the days of my life".
So for the Christian, to be buried with Christ in baptism (Rom 6:3-8, Col 2:12) means:
1) Dying to oneself (being immersed underwater) and...
2) Living in Christ (being raised out of the water)
Keep in mind that the 1st century Christians knew that having faith in God and being baptized were linked, not separated. In every instance of someone coming to Christ in the book of Acts, believers would immediately get baptized.
So, they understood, that by getting baptized, the believer is proclaiming to God sacramentally (i.e. making an oath to God) that he or she is making the decision to put off the old self and put on Christ!
That's what baptism is about: dying to oneself, and thus living in Christ!
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Cor 5:17)
This is essentially what the emphasis of baptism is about: living the new life we have in Christ, since the 'old' is gone. And if there's one thing I want everyone to get out of this, it's this:
"Remember your baptism!"
Or if it doesn't make sense to you, look at it this way: Remember the decision you made to allow Christ to be the center! And if that doesn't make sense, I hope God's words will convey this truth:
Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed." (Rev 16:15)
We've been clothed with Christ, but we need to remember to continually clothes ourselves so we won't return back to our old lifestyle! (Rom 13:14).
In other words, keep your clothes on!
God bless!
-Jason</DIV>
