Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Baptism is far more than getting wet or checking off another thing on our obedience to-do list. What saves us is God's grace working through our faith that Jesus died, was buried, and was raised on the third day for us (
1 Corinthians 15:1-5). God gave us the incredible grace (
Romans 6:1,
14,
15) of being able to share in Jesus' saving work through faith and experience it in baptism (
Galatians 3:26-27). We die to the old way of life and bury it in the past. Those past - now dead - deeds no longer hold us. Our death to the past with Jesus is what matters most. Raised to a new life, our life is now joined to Christ, and his future becomes our own future (
Colossians 3:1-4). The life we now live is to glorify God, and our destination is to live with him forever. That means the Gospel is not just something preached; it is something we experience by grace because of our faith in what Jesus has done for us!
Thank you, Father, for raising me from death to your new life for me in Jesus. Thank you for your grace in sending Jesus. Thank you for making Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection something I not only believe but have experienced. May my life reflect your powerful grace given to me in the saving events of Christ's Passion. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
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