Paul explains in Colossians 2:12 that baptism symbolizes a burial. The �old man� is symbolically put to death. We emerge a new creature. Arising from the watery grave of baptism pictures our faith in the resurrection, which is our ultimate hope to become a new creature.
In Romans 6:4�5 we read: �Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.� Baptism is not an empty ritual or a magical rite. It is, however, a very important symbol and is not something into which we should enter lightly.
Predicated upon faith and repentance, baptism is an outward sign of our commitment. It represents a new beginning. The old person with all of his sinful past is symbolically buried and a new creature comes forth. The waters of baptism symbolize the fact that we are washed clean inwardly through the Holy Spirit. Christ�s sac�rifice has paid for our sins and we come forth from baptism clean in God�s sight. This represents not the end, however, but the beginning of the real conversion process!
We must be baptized in a "watery grave" as an outward acknowledgment of both the death penalty We have brought on ourself by disobeying the law of our Creator and our willingness to let the old self die.
God�s Word tells us: "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:3�4).
A Covenant with Our Creator
So when We are called or drawn to become a true Christian, We need to be willing to "bury" the old selfish self in baptism. Frankly, only God can grant the real repentance we need to fulfill His will (Acts 11:18). But if He is, in fact, opening our mind to grasp what true Christianity is all about�and calling us to be in the first resurrection�then we must utterly surrender our will to the Creator. We must sincerely and bitterly repent of having carelessly gone our own way all these years�and repent of continually breaking and smashing God�s Holy law in both our thoughts and our actions. Real repentance means to be profoundly sorry�so sorry that we turn around and go the other way! We must, then, make a covenant with our Creator not only to stop breaking the Ten Commandments but�with the power of God�s promised Holy Spirit�to start keeping them as a way of life.
We must determine that, with God�s help, we will never let any desires or vanities or other "gods"{Other gods can also be our own stubborn human nature} that come between us and the true God. That we will remember to keep holy His Sabbath day. That we will truly honor your parents. That we will not only refrain from committing murder, but will carefully guard our mind against even entertaining murderous thoughts of hatred or violence against our neighbor. That we will not only refrain from ever committing adultery, but we will not even let our mind dwell on lust (Matthew 5:27�28). We must also determine that we will constantly ask God for the strength not to steal, not to lie and not to covet. It is the power of Christ in you which enables you to keep the Ten Commandments as a way of life. As nothing is impossable with God! Luke 1:37, After real repentance from rebelling against God and a heartfelt disavowal of our own carnal ways and desires, We should be baptized�signifying our acceptance of, and faith in, Christ�s shed blood as payment for our past sins. After baptism, we are promised the "gift" of God�s Holy Spirit. Then, through His Spirit, Christ places His nature within us�His love, His faith, His strength to overcome our weaknesses and the temptations of Satan and this world.
The love we receive through God�s Spirit is not mere human love but Divine love,
It is the very love of God, "because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." (Romans 5:5).
Now how does this love operate? Let God�s Word give the true answer! "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3). Through God�s love placed in us by His Spirit, we are able to keep His commandments!
It is not through our mental strength, but through God�s spiritual power�which His Holy Spirit imparts�that we can follow the perfect example of Jesus Christ! We can yield to let Jesus live the same kind of life in us that He did live almost 2,000 years ago�keeping the same laws of God, worshiping on the same Holy Days that God ordained, remaining separate from this world�s society, politics and wars.And if we slip and fail at times God will continue to forgive as long as we sincerly desire to follow Christ, And�through earnest prayer, constant Bible study, occasional fasting and consistent spiritual overcoming and growth�we can yield to let God fashion us in His image, to be resurrected as His Spirit-born child�possessed of His very nature!
This is, in fact, the very purpose of our existence! Why we were created!
Baptism is final confirmation in the Transformation Process. Like a old man told me once, if you read just the red text in the bible you can't go wrong! In our walk with Christ, we all strive to be more Christ Like and since Jesus did it, we should follow in his steps. :applause:
You hit the nail smack dab on the head ; Baptism does not save, rather it is a act of obedience every true follower of Jesus should undertake if given the opprotunity.
