Isaiah 34-36 Colossians 2

“When you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and you were raised up with him through your faith in God’s power that was shown when he raised Christ from the dead.” (Colossians 2:12 NCV)

One of the common experiences of all Christians is some form of baptism. As Paul talked about the baptism that the Colossians participated in, he reminded them that, symbolically, their baptism meant that they were buried with Christ and then raised from the dead with Him. The symbolism is that they died to their old way of living. That which was acceptable to Colossian society was no longer acceptable for those who followed Christ. They died to that way of living and buried the old man. They rose from the dead and live each day for Jesus. No longer did they follow the rule of society, they walked with Jesus and lived righteously under His power.

Baptism is a symbolic act that new believers go through as a public witness of their faith. This is the outward symbol of faith that showed the world that the believer has renounced their old ways and has turned to Jesus Christ. It symbolizes the truth that we’ve buried our old sinful selves and that we’re living in the resurrection power of Jesus. To be sure, different denominations express this in different ways. Sadly, it’s a cause of contention between denominations since “my” denomination does it the right way, and “yours” does it the wrong way. We’d avoid all those arguments if we’d remember that baptism itself doesn’t bring salvation, it symbolizes what God’s already done in the life of a believer. As followers of Jesus, do we immerse ourselves in His grace as we prepare to go through the day? Do we live as if we’ve denounced the rules the world would have us follow and are walking with Jesus every day? When we live each day in the same power God showed when He raised Christ from the dead, we’ll be living examples of God’s love for all people wherever we go.

Lord, fill me with Your power and give me the strength to live each day for the glory of Your kingdom.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.