As Christians we are taught to receive water baptism, which contains tremendous symbolism. Being put down into the water symbolizes being immersed into Christ’s death on the cross. Being raised up out of the water symbolizes that we are then raised in His resurrection. We must recognize, however, that baptism is not merely symbolic. Being baptized into Christ means that we truly put to death the Adamic nature that desires our own human will in idolatry. We are then raised up to live the new life of Christ that desires only the will of God.

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Show Notes:

Baptism is not just a sacrament or some type of expression of faith. There is a power in baptism that we need to experience as believers. In baptism we experience the death of Christ in which He won the war over His will. We then experience the power of resurrection that gives us newness of life. This new life is a life free from the internal war that we continually lose as we battle our Adamic nature and the worship of our own will, which amounts to idolatry.

This war is over in Christ. Our baptism into the death and resurrection of Christ means that we are dead to sin and made alive to God. This is more than saying we have grace now so we can be forgiven every time we sin. It is putting to death the old life of idolatry, the serving of two masters, the human will set against doing the will of God because it serves itself. It means that now, today in our daily lives, we live to serve His will. Rather than thinking of baptism as a symbolic act, experience being immersed with Him in His death on the cross as He wins the war over the human will and breaks the power of sin once and for all. And when you come out of the water, experience being raised up with Him in newness of life, freed from slavery to sin and now a slave to righteousness in the resurrected life that has crucified the will of the flesh and lives in the will of God.

Key Verses:

• Romans 6:1-23. “Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
• Romans 10:9. “If you confess with your mouth… and believe in your heart … you will be saved.”
• Luke 24:49 (KJV). “Tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
• Matthew 6:24. “No one can serve two masters.”
• Colossians 3:1-6. “If you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is.”

Quotes:

• “We are slaves in obedience to God. Man, does your human will hate that kind of terminology! That is like fingernails on the blackboard of your will. It does not like this idea of being enslaved to God to do the will of God, because it refuses anything but its own will and its own ascendancy to the throne.”
• “You don’t know what you’re talking about if you’re saying, ‘We can sin now that we have grace, because anytime we make a mistake, we simply go take communion again and again and again and say we’re sorry for our sins.’ No, that’s not the point of Christ. The point of Christ is the ultimate defeat of us serving our will.”
• “If you have never been baptized, I encourage you to study these verses to have a real revelation of what baptism is all about and the power of baptism in your life. Again, it’s not a sacrament. It’s not a show. There’s a power to be experienced through this baptism of water.”

Takeaways:

1. Whether we call sin immorality, impurity, evil passion, or greed, it all amounts to idolatry. It is your will in ascendancy over the will of God. Is idolatry because it worships something other than the true God and is obedient to and serves something other than the true God.
2. Our baptism into the death and resurrection of Christ means that we die to this idolatrous sin and are made alive to God. We are reconciled to God. We are able to serve His will because this Adamic nature, this will of the flesh, has been crucified with Christ.
3. As Christ’s human will was defeated at the cross, so our will is to be crucified in baptism. We reckon our Adamic nature dead through Christ, and we live a new life in obedience to God.