You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Galatians 3:26-27Galatians 3:26-27
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
26 All of you are God's children because of your faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And when you were baptized, it was as though you had put on Christ in the same way you put on new clothes.
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On Sunday we had the wonderful pleasure of celebrating the baptism of several people at The Mount. It was such a time of joy as we witnessed their public profession of faith in Jesus Christ. While we do not believe that baptism is the point of salvation (because that takes place prior to baptism when an individual invites Christ into their hearts and begins a personal relationship with Him), we do believe that it symbolizes the spiritual cleansing that Christ provided for all mankind through the shedding of His blood on the cross. Through Jesus’ sacrifice, all those who give their lives to Him through repentance of their sins can be forgiven and united with all fellow believers into the family of God.
Baptism is a beautiful representation of that cleansing as those who have recently given their lives to Christ step into the water and are immersed in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As each person is dipped below the water, it is a portrait of Jesus’ death and burial, and as they are pulled back out of the water, it is a picture of Jesus’ resurrection. All who pass through the baptismal waters are united in their public declaration of what God has done for them in making them a new creation.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:172 Corinthians 5:17
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
17 Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new.
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Though I do not remember the specific date, I do recall the day I accepted Jesus as my Savior in 1977. I was listening intently to the lesson being shared in children’s church and after it was over the teacher asked if anyone would like to invite Jesus into their hearts. I had attended children’s church for many months and heard many stories about Jesus during that time. But this particular day, I felt a tugging on my heart and a need to make sure that I did invite Jesus to come and live in my heart. I remember stepping into a side room with a few other people and saying a prayer to ask Jesus to forgive me for the sins I had committed up to that point in my life. I remember people sharing what my decision meant and how Jesus now had a home inside my heart. The memory of that day has lingered with me ever since.
Shortly after that our church held a baptism service at the home of one of the congregations members. They had an in-ground swimming pool. I remember being nervous as I entered the water, but there were other people there with me, so it wasn’t too bad. That was over 32 years ago now, but that day in that swimming pool in the backyard of a home in North Central Ohio represents the day I gave my first sermon. For, it was the day I was baptized in the same manner as my Savior, when I publicly declared in front of all who were there that I had accepted Jesus into my life and that I had entered into the joy of being in relationship with Him and everyone else who was a member of His family. It was one of the greatest days of my life, and I am so thankful for the peace and strength having a relationship with Jesus has provided me over the years. I cannot imagine life without Him and without my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
If you haven’t entered into a personal relationship with Jesus yet, what are you waiting for? He wants to welcome you into the family and expose you to the joy that comes from being forgiven! In fact, Jesus even prayed for your unity…
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
John 17:20-23John 17:20-23
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
20 I am not praying just for these followers. I am also praying for everyone else who will have faith because of what my followers will say about me. 21 I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me. 22 I have honored my followers in the same way that you honored me, in order that they may be one with each other, just as we are one. 23 I am one with them, and you are one with me, so that they may become completely one. Then this world's people will know that you sent me. They will know that you love my followers as much as you love me.
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Regardless of any man-made denominational labels we may wear in modern society, whether we call ourselves Baptist, or Presbyterian, or Methodist, or Lutheran, etc. If you believe in Jesus Christ and that He is the only way to heaven, then you can enjoy the unity that God has provided for all mankind to have with Him. Jesus paved the way for all of humanity to be united…through His death and resurrection, and all of us who accept Him as Savior live in that unity. And baptism simply punctuates that we have entered into that unity.
