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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 live a new life.
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January 21
Raised to Life
There is a lot of debate about the proper way to
baptize and unfortunately many churches have
split over this issue. Romans 6 gives us a
depiction of baptism by immersion and tells us
exactly what it symbolizes when it is performed.
As a person is lowered into the water, it
depicts Christ being placed into the tomb.
As they come up out of the water, it depicts
Christ being raised from the grave.
Baptism is more than just a symbolic
representation of Jesus' death and resurrection
however. It is a symbolic representation
of the death of our old life. Our old,
sinful ways are buried at the moment of our
salvation.
When Jesus rose from the dead, He didn't return
in exactly the same form. He returned with
a new, glorified resurrected body. We too
are changed at our salvation. Not only
does our sinful self die, it is replaced with a
new self, one that is made to glorify God
properly.
1 Corinthians 15 tells us all about a time when
we will be physically resurrected and given a
new body like Jesus. In the meantime, we
have a new spiritual life. Our sinful
nature has been replaced with a righteous one.
It doesn't mean that we'll be sinless but with
the help of the Holy Spirit we are better
equipped to live the holy life that God has
called us to live. |
