Baptism

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. We certainly did at the Ross'.

Yesterday, my incredible son-in-law David came over and helped me put up Christmas yard decorations. Jenny and Malaya helped Beverly put up the inside decorations. David came even though he was not feeling well. He does such a great job!

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Last night a few of us gathered for a baptism at Craig and Deena Jordan's hot tub. It was a beautiful occasion as Tera Davis was immersed into Christ.

What made it all the more special is that yesterday marked Beverly's spiritual birthday. 39 years ago she put on her Lord in baptism.

While I believe that Scripture teaches that baptism is when we are joined with Christ, the meaning of baptism has taken on deeper significance for me through the years. I see it as serving the same purpose that a wedding does for a marriage. It is a marker. It is a reminder of vows / commitments once made.

I certainly think this is what the New Testament writers (mainly Paul) had in mind when they discussed baptism. After all, they were writing to the community of believers -- people who had already been baptized (that is a given, by the way). And they are not writing so much to give them a doctrinal discourse on baptism as they are to point back to it. "Don't forget your baptism." "How can you think of living in sin? Remember: You were baptized!" (Romans 6: 1-4). "Don't you remember that you were once an alien to God -- living in wickedness? But now you have been washed and sanctified." (Titus 3: 3-7). "How can you treat people as if they are 2nd class citizens? Don't you realize that when you were baptized, you were clothed with Christ? If we are all clothed with Christ, then there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. We are all one in Him." (Galatians 3: 26-28).

Much as a marriage counselor might tell a couple, "Remember your wedding vows?" -- these verses are saying, "Remember your baptism?" What a beautiful marker it is!