Baptized LIFE

Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 

Romans 6:4 

Baptism? 

Yes, baptism.  

Have you been baptized?  

How does your baptism impact your joy today? It should positively impact your joy in profound ways.  

In fact, the implication of baptism on the quality and abundance of your LIFE in this moment can be massive. Baptism is not a throw in, might-as-well do something, religious exercise devoid of power. NO. And, no, no, no, no. Baptism can certainly become that – a lifeless, meaningless “thing” we did at some point in our lives (The same robbing of significance can happen to prayer, reading the Bible, communion, or any other activity done in the faith.). BUT Jesus’s intent in baptism is far richer and more meaningful.   

The Apostle Paul captures the power of baptism in the Romans 6:4 quote above. Biblical baptism signifies the death-to-LIFE transaction that happens at salvation. By being submerged under the water, the individual is identifying with the death of Jesus. Who that person was before salvation, the old person, must die. We who have given our lives to Jesus, who have been baptized, have been buried with Christ in death.  

There is, by necessity, a death.  

Then, only by the wonder working power of God our Father through the person of the Holy Spirit, we are born again! We are re-created to a NEW LIFE!!!!!  

Death, first. 

Then, LIFE.  

We saw this same pattern in the last podblog through 2 Corinthians 5:17. Now we see the same death-to-life, old-to-new in baptism. The sequence is biblically everywhere and undeniable.  

So why do so many of us not experience LIFE? Why can our lives in Christ be so limp, so powerless, so LIFEless? Could the reason, or a major reason, be that we have not yet died? We have not completely yielded. We hold on with tight fisted determination to our old selves – thought patterns, beliefs, dreams, passions, wounds, and more.  

Hey, the TOTALITY of that person DIED.  

DEAD. 

Onto what, or who, are you holding?  

God our Father is doing something NEW. Like a fresh vine growing in the fertility of Spring, what our Father wants to do in you is HEALTHY and ALIVE. His LIFE in you can be strong, resilient, hope-filled, whole, and free.  

But you must die.  

Quit resurrecting the old person. Quit focusing on her/him. Quit identifying with what was done to that person or what that person has done.  

Hey, we just celebrated the RESURRECTION OF JESUS! Baptism DECLARES and SHOUTS that as Jesus was resurrected so too we have been. And what kind of resurrection have we experienced? To death?  

Were you resurrected from death to death?  

NO.  

Absurd. 

You were resurrected from death to LIFE! And a LIFE that is not yours to generate or produce. Your leadership, you going first, the pressure, the weariness ALL DIED. This NEW LIFE is Spirit-generated…every day!  

So, die.  

Take an enormously deep breath and relax back into your baptized LIFE. LIFE waits for you right now. In this moment and in every future moment.  

Instead of a cross around your neck or on your wall, maybe you should get a baptistry charm to remind you that just as Christ died and was resurrected, so too have you!  

Does James Avery sell baptism charms??? HAHAHAHA!  

Go, brothers and sisters, and live your BAPTIZED LIFE.