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Colossians 2:12
"And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead."
Romans 6:4
"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 walk in newness of life."
Christians need to know much more than forgiveness of sins. God has also provided the remedy for the sinner. Before we are born again, we are like a "sin factory". We do not need to try to sin. Watch a two year old throw a tantrum and you will see the fallen nature as clear as day.
God's remedy is simple. It is death. Who now fears Adolf Hitler, Stalin or Ted Bundy? Those men are dead and cannot harm anyone. God includes us in the death of Christ so that we too are dead. We die to sin, self, Satan and the world system. We may not always experience this as we still have the ability to sin. But sin should no longer enslave us. If it does control us still, it is because we do not know that we are dead.
What do you do with a dead body? You bury it. And that is what God does in baptism. We should agree with God that our old man is worthy only of death and is beyond repair. Many struggle with this. Secretly, they hope that somehow something of worth can be found in the old. Like Abraham with Ishmael, they hope that God will accept the works of self. And they hope in vain.
The sooner the Christian accepts their hopeless and helpless condition, the better off he/she is. This must not lead to despair, however. Paul went through this stage as he records it in Romans 7. He saw his helpless condition. He also saw the answer. As in everything, the answer is Christ. We need to know that as an absolute, as surely as we know our own name.
Resurrection can only follow death. Christ is the Life of the born again believer. Let's not stop at forgiveness of sin. Let's go on to walk in the power of the resurrection.
"And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead."
Romans 6:4
"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 walk in newness of life."
Christians need to know much more than forgiveness of sins. God has also provided the remedy for the sinner. Before we are born again, we are like a "sin factory". We do not need to try to sin. Watch a two year old throw a tantrum and you will see the fallen nature as clear as day.
God's remedy is simple. It is death. Who now fears Adolf Hitler, Stalin or Ted Bundy? Those men are dead and cannot harm anyone. God includes us in the death of Christ so that we too are dead. We die to sin, self, Satan and the world system. We may not always experience this as we still have the ability to sin. But sin should no longer enslave us. If it does control us still, it is because we do not know that we are dead.
What do you do with a dead body? You bury it. And that is what God does in baptism. We should agree with God that our old man is worthy only of death and is beyond repair. Many struggle with this. Secretly, they hope that somehow something of worth can be found in the old. Like Abraham with Ishmael, they hope that God will accept the works of self. And they hope in vain.
The sooner the Christian accepts their hopeless and helpless condition, the better off he/she is. This must not lead to despair, however. Paul went through this stage as he records it in Romans 7. He saw his helpless condition. He also saw the answer. As in everything, the answer is Christ. We need to know that as an absolute, as surely as we know our own name.
Resurrection can only follow death. Christ is the Life of the born again believer. Let's not stop at forgiveness of sin. Let's go on to walk in the power of the resurrection.