FoundationsSample

DAY 4: BAPTISM

You may have seen pictures and videos of people in churches around the world getting dunked into water and thought to yourself, what is that all about? This symbolic act called ‘baptism’ is more than a tradition or sacrament of the Christian faith - it is one of the key foundations in the discipleship journey of every believer.

The original use of the word ‘baptism’ strangely comes from a Greek poet and physician named Nicander who, in the year 200 BC, was developing a recipe for pickles. Nicander would take a cucumber and dip it into boiling water, then he would fully immerse the blanched cucumber into a vinegar solution and over time, the cucumber would transform into a pickle. This original Greek word that Nicander used for the full immersion of the cucumber was the word ‘baptizo’, which is where we get the word ‘baptism’ today.

Funnily enough, the pickling process is a great picture of what takes place when a believer is baptised. Once the cucumber is immersed, it completely transforms into something new. The taste is different, the feel is different, the entire cucumber is not what it used to be. Once a cucumber is pickled, it can never be 'unpickled'.

In the same way that a cucumber is transformed by the act of immersion, a believer is transformed by Baptism. It changes us completely from the inside out. We die to what we used to be, and we embrace the new. Over time we begin to sound different, act different and live different – this is the power of baptism.

For every believer, there are two kinds of baptism that we can experience in our walk with God: Water Baptism and The Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Water Baptism is a public declaration of an inward decision. The inward decision we make to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour is what Christians call ‘salvation’. It’s at this moment that we are saved from death, hell, and destruction. When we say ‘yes’ to Jesus in our hearts, we say ‘no’ to the world, and it is this internal conviction that drives us to live a life of faith. In fact, in Matthew 3, we see Jesus getting baptised in water as well, modeling for us the importance of this step in our journey. Water baptism is the bold declaration that we make in the presence of our family, our friends, our church, and our leaders to let them know that we are going public with our faith.

Water baptism is simply a symbol of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The picture of Jesus dying on a cross, being laid in a tomb, and being raised to life is the same picture we see when it comes to baptism. The idea of being fully immersed in water represents dying to our old self. It is a picture of how we are now dead to our sin, and dead to who we once were. And as we come out of the water, like Jesus we are raised into new life. A life with new purpose, new meaning, and new hope. The idea is that our old life, our sinful ways, and our broken past stays dead in the water, and we come out as a new creation. Dead to our sin, and alive in Christ.

In the same way that we can be baptised or immersed in water, we can also be baptised or immersed in the Spirit. If I was to take a cup of water and drink it, the water would be inside me, but if I was to jump into an ocean, it would be me inside the water. In the same way, it’s one thing for the Spirit to be in us, but it's another thing for us to be in the Spirit. We can live our lives fully immersed in the Spirit of God. When we are baptised in the Spirit, we receive the gifts of the Spirit that empower us to live out the call of God on our lives.

Baptism is an important step in our journey as believers. Going public with our faith and stepping into the powerful life that God has called us to live are keys to walking out the Christian life. So today, can I encourage you to take the next step, and make a decision to get baptised today.

PRAYER:
Dear God, thank You for the gift of Baptism. Help me to be a follower of Jesus who is bold in my faith. Today I say that I am unashamed of the gospel because it saved my life. Help me to live in a way, where people see that they need Jesus in the same way I did. Fill me with Your Spirit, and give me power to live out the life You have called me to live. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.