Repentance and Baptism
Repentance and Baptism
What would you think if I went out and bought a dog such as a Boxer or a Rottweiler and as is common with those breeds, I decided to get its tail docked (cut off)? Because tail docking is what is good and healthy for those particular dogs, you might not have qualms that I would do such a thing. Though, what if I told you that I feel bad for my dog because I know he has probably become quite attached to his tail (pardon the pun), so I have decided that instead of cutting his tail all the way off the first go around, I’m going to ease my dog into it and cut off his tail piece by piece, week after week until I slowly get the tail to its proper length? What would you think?
I hope you immediately see how terrible of an idea that would be, it would hurt my dog way more, and it would take way more time and effort on my part. It’s just a horrible idea!
What’s sad is often times in Christianity the crucifying and burying of the of the old man and coming into a new and sanctified life in Christ is often taught the same as the cutting off the dog’s tail. We believe that piece by piece we work to cut off our old sinful man, our old sinful nature and maybe just maybe if we keep working and cutting someday right before we die, we might be righteous.
Talk about miserable, what kind of an existence is that? Constantly working super hard not to sin but your nature is all the while desiring sin. You don’t really believe you can be free, therefore you haven’t received freedom through the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness (Romans 5:17) which comes to us through faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work. You have tried to manage your sin by your own strength, all while wrestling with a sinful nature, not knowing that Christ has made a way for you to truly be changed from the inside out! It almost seems too good to be true that we could receive a brand-new nature, a righteous nature in one moment. A righteous nature doesn’t mean you can’t sin, but it means you don’t have to. Sin is no longer a part of your nature, there is still sin and temptation in the world, but because you have been given a new righteous nature, you no longer want to sin. How do you come into this life where you are made righteous? It is received by faith. For us to place our faith in Jesus we have to turn from our sinful ways and turn towards God, this is called repentance, true repentance from our sinful ways and faith in Christ results in a new heart and mind. “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”-Ezekiel 36:26 That new heart and mind we receive is the life of Christ within, our old stone heart is removed, we are crucified, and now Christ lives in us! “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” -Galatians 2:20
Now what do we do with our old crucified dead body? We bury it!
If you don’t bury a dead body (your old sinful past life) that dead body is going to start to stink and decay and it’s going to affect your new righteous life, your sinful past life will constantly be in your face tempting you and bringing you guilt, shame, and condemnation. You need to get rid of that old dead sinful body, you need to bury your past. It needs to be buried in baptism!
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.” -Romans 6:1-7
From this place of burying the old man you can now say that you are in Christ, you fully died with Christ and rose to new life in Christ! “you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption”- 1 Corinthians 1:30
If your past tries to condemn you, remember that “you’re a new creation in Christ, the old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17
If sin tries to tempt you, don’t give it place and instead yield to Christ who is now your life, “consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” -Romans 6:11
Repentance and baptism are foundational to your walk with God, let’s get these right so that we can continue growing up into Christ in all things. Things such as Spirit baptism, good works, love, spiritual gifts, etc.. though let’s get the foundation right so we can run unhindered
“..Let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us!” -Hebrews 12:1
~Timothy Glasgo
MAY 5, 2021
What would you think if I went out and bought a dog such as a Boxer or a Rottweiler and as is common with those breeds, I decided to get its tail docked (cut off)? Because tail docking is what is good and healthy for those particular dogs, you might not have qualms that I would do such a thing. Though, what if I told you that I feel bad for my dog because I know he has probably become quite attached to his tail (pardon the pun), so I have decided that instead of cutting his tail all the way off the first go around, I’m going to ease my dog into it and cut off his tail piece by piece, week after week until I slowly get the tail to its proper length? What would you think?
I hope you immediately see how terrible of an idea that would be, it would hurt my dog way more, and it would take way more time and effort on my part. It’s just a horrible idea!
What’s sad is often times in Christianity the crucifying and burying of the of the old man and coming into a new and sanctified life in Christ is often taught the same as the cutting off the dog’s tail. We believe that piece by piece we work to cut off our old sinful man, our old sinful nature and maybe just maybe if we keep working and cutting someday right before we die, we might be righteous.
Talk about miserable, what kind of an existence is that? Constantly working super hard not to sin but your nature is all the while desiring sin. You don’t really believe you can be free, therefore you haven’t received freedom through the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness (Romans 5:17) which comes to us through faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work. You have tried to manage your sin by your own strength, all while wrestling with a sinful nature, not knowing that Christ has made a way for you to truly be changed from the inside out! It almost seems too good to be true that we could receive a brand-new nature, a righteous nature in one moment. A righteous nature doesn’t mean you can’t sin, but it means you don’t have to. Sin is no longer a part of your nature, there is still sin and temptation in the world, but because you have been given a new righteous nature, you no longer want to sin. How do you come into this life where you are made righteous? It is received by faith. For us to place our faith in Jesus we have to turn from our sinful ways and turn towards God, this is called repentance, true repentance from our sinful ways and faith in Christ results in a new heart and mind. “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”-Ezekiel 36:26 That new heart and mind we receive is the life of Christ within, our old stone heart is removed, we are crucified, and now Christ lives in us! “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” -Galatians 2:20
Now what do we do with our old crucified dead body? We bury it!
If you don’t bury a dead body (your old sinful past life) that dead body is going to start to stink and decay and it’s going to affect your new righteous life, your sinful past life will constantly be in your face tempting you and bringing you guilt, shame, and condemnation. You need to get rid of that old dead sinful body, you need to bury your past. It needs to be buried in baptism!
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.” -Romans 6:1-7
From this place of burying the old man you can now say that you are in Christ, you fully died with Christ and rose to new life in Christ! “you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption”- 1 Corinthians 1:30
If your past tries to condemn you, remember that “you’re a new creation in Christ, the old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17
If sin tries to tempt you, don’t give it place and instead yield to Christ who is now your life, “consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” -Romans 6:11
Repentance and baptism are foundational to your walk with God, let’s get these right so that we can continue growing up into Christ in all things. Things such as Spirit baptism, good works, love, spiritual gifts, etc.. though let’s get the foundation right so we can run unhindered
“..Let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us!” -Hebrews 12:1
~Timothy Glasgo
MAY 5, 2021
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