E 1.5.6 : Through Adult Christian Immersion Water Baptism, the Believer enters into a New Spiritual Dimension
Baptism is an outward expression of the inward change that takes place in the Inner Man
(Soul & Spirit)
1. Death 2. Burial 3. Resurrection 4. Commitment to obey towards the righteousness of God
5. Making a decision to enter into the Kingdom of Light
1. DIES TO SIN
Baptised into His (Christ’s) death :
Jesus Christ died for me. Our Old Man is crucified with Jesus
Do you not know, that as many of us as were baptized into Christ (Jesus Christ) were baptized into His death? Romans 6:3
Death to sin (Being dead to sin)
For he that is dead is freed from sin. Romans 6:7
And that He (Christ) was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures (1 Cor. 15:4) , I die to sin
Getting immersed ( submerged ) into water is an outward symbolic act of getting baptized into Christ Jesus and dying to sin.
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Romans 6:6
Present your members as instruments of righteousness to God
And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Romans 6:13
Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are under grace
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under law, but under grace. Romans 6:14
2.BURYING OF THE OLD CARNAL-NATURED MAN
Christ was buried for me (1 Cor. 15:3-5)
I die to my old lifestyle, that was lived without Christ
Being immersed into water is symbolic of being buried with Jesus Christ through Baptism and bringing to death, the carnal nature of our Old man.
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 6:4
Buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. Col. 2:12
3. RESURRECTING TO A NEW LIFE IN JESUS CHRIST
He (Jesus Christ) rose again on the third day according to the scriptures for me (1 Cor. 15:3-5)
Rising out of water is symbolic of resurrection – Identifying oneself with His resurrection; by resurrection to a new life in Christ by grace.
Jesus was seen by Cephas (Peter), then by the twelve (disciples), after His resurrection. Likewise, Jesus has also appeared to me; He has revealed Himself to me through the Holy Spirit.
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection: Romans 6:5
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him: Romans 6:8
Likewise you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:11
4. MAKING A COMMITMENT TO OBEY AND THEREBY LEADING TOWARDS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD
Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness ? Romans 6:16
Earlier you were slaves of sin
But God be thanked, that though you were the slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. Romans 6:17
When you were slaves of sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. NIV – Romans 6:20
Now you are slaves of righteousness
And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. Romans 6:18
I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh: For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. Romans 6:19
What fruit did you have then ?
What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed ? For the end of those things is death. Romans 6:21
But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. Romans 6:22
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
5. MAKING A DECISION TO ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF LIGHT
The two Kingdoms
1. The Kingdom of God – The Kingdom of Light
2. The kingdom of Satan – The kingdom of darkness
We have to understand and follow the ways and provisions of God in order to be freed / delivered from the influence, control & bondage of the Kingdom of Satan and also to come under the rulership, authority and blessings of the Kingdom of God.
Inheriting the Kingdom of Light
Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light Col. 1:12
He has delivered us from the power of darkness, and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, Col. 1:13
He who sins is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8
The Old Man is born as a slave to the kingdom of darkness. The Bible teaches that the Old Man has to die, if one has to enter the Kingdom of Light. By becoming Born-again, the renewed Spiritual Man becomes a partner and citizen of the Kingdom of Light.
You have to be Born-again : All those who have taken Adult Christian Immersion Water Baptism, should also have the assurance of having become born-again to enter into the Kingdom of God.
Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3
We become born-again by : Death (dying to the Old self), and through New birth (by becoming a New Creation – This happens through the washing of regeneration and the renewal by the Holy Spirit with the Word of God; by grace through faith; that is, being born of the WATER {Word} and the SPIRIT), we get delivered from the kingdom of darkness and are brought into the Kingdom of Light.