Author: newmanforchrist

“Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” Romans 6:3

   When Jesus Christ gave His Great Commission, He commanded all new disciples to be water baptized. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).” Water baptism outwardly expresses the divine transformation that occurred in a believer when they were born again of the Spirit. Through baptism, new believers declare their union with Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection. Thus water baptism is the betrothal or commitment ceremony of new members of the bride of Christ to Jesus, their Bridegroom.  Our actual marriage ceremony to the Lamb of God will take place at the end of this age.  Whenever anyone was saved in the early church, they were normally water baptized the same day.  This was God’s way for new disciples to be taught that their old sinful nature had died and they were now a new creation in Christ.  Knowing you have died with Christ is crucial if you want to become Christ’s disciple and overcoming bride. This is the spiritual lesson that God wants every Christian to learn from water baptism.

   The Greek word for baptize is baptizo, which means to immerse.  When you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, the Bible says you are spiritually immersed into Christ’s death so that you might have His new resurrection life (Romans 6:3-5).  Therefore, in water baptism, there are two stages that express this truth of the gospel.  First there is a burial and then there is a resurrection. Whenever anyone was baptized in the early church, they were immersed under water, which represented the burial of their old man.  “We have been buried with Him through baptism into death (Romans 6:4; see also Colossians 2:12).”  This burial in water baptism confirms that when we were born again, our old sin nature died.  Burial also signifies that God has removed that old man of sin from us.  Therefore, our sinful nature not only died; it can never come back to haunt us since God has taken it away.  “For we know our old man was crucified with Him in order that our sinful nature might be done away with so that we would no longer be slaves to sin (Romans 6:6).”

   In this way, water baptism reveals the heart of the New Covenant.  God knew we needed forgiveness for our sins; He also knew we needed deliverance from our sin nature.  Otherwise, we would remain captives to sin.  Therefore, when Jesus Christ died, He bore not only our sins on the cross; He also bore our sin nature on the cross with Him.  “God made Christ who had no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).”  Since our bondage to sin came when we were born sinners; our deliverance from sin came  when God included us in Christ’s death.  “We are convinced that one died for all, therefore all died (2 Corinthians 5:14).”  “Because anyone who has died has been freed from sin (Romans 6:7).”

   In the next phase of water baptism, we are raised in new resurrection life out of the watery grave. This demonstrates that Jesus Christ now lives in us (2 Corinthians 13:5; Romans 6:4-5).  But we must always remember our old man of sin had to be buried before we could be raised up a new man in Christ.  Before God could make us a new creation, He had to first deal with the old creation.  God had to take care of not only its fruit (our sins); He had to remove its very root (our sinful nature). “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17)!” Thus water baptism demonstrates how God replaced our sinful nature with His holy nature by including us in the death, burial and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. We might consider this new birth a divine heart transplant by which God exchanged our terminally sin-sick heart with His Son’s divine heart to save us from the power of sin and certain doom.

   This divine exchange is not a future promise reserved for us when we go to heaven; it is God’s present reality that He wants us to experience now if we will receive it by faith.  The intent of Christ’s crucifixion was to produce this total transformation within our inner being so we would no longer be defeated by sin but live daily in Christ’s resurrection power.  Since water baptism is for new disciples, we can mistakenly think teaching on water baptism is elementary and not for older Christians.  However, we cannot grow into Christian maturity unless we abide by faith in God’s truth that we have died with Christ and Christ is now our life (Colossians 3:3-4).  In fact, God knows it is impossible for us to live the Christian life and follow Christ in truly devoted discipleship if we do not know our old sinful nature is dead and gone.

   Therefore, we cannot realize we are dead to sin (Romans 6:11), if we do not truly know we were crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6).  This is the way faith works.  The Bible says Jesus Christ died for the whole world but if you do not know He died for you, you cannot be saved.  In the same way, the Bible says Christians have been freed from sin but if you do not know you have died with Christ, you cannot overcome sin.  This is why instruction on the spiritual meaning of water baptism is so essential.  Each time God adds new believers to the church, they act out through baptism their inclusion in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.  In this way, water baptism always reminds the church of this great provision of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross.

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God.” Galatians 2:20

“We speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”1 Corinthians 2:7-8  “God has chosen to make known… the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27

   Jesus Christ lives in us!  This is God’s glorious mystery, hidden for ages and now revealed to His church through the New Covenant.  Imagine what God’s people of the Old Covenant would have thought if they had known the Messiah would live in them.  This is why the Bible calls the New Covenant a better covenant. To understand this divine mystery, which the apostle Paul called the mystery of the gospel (Ephesians 6:19), requires divine revelation. Unless we receive divine revelation that Jesus is the Christ, we cannot be born again.  In the same way, without divine revelation we cannot understand the mystery of how Jesus Christ can live in us.  “For beyond question, great is the mystery of godliness (1 Timothy 3:16).”  

   The cross is at the heart of this mystery.  The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is the triumph of the ages.  God’s eternal purpose was for His Son to live in fullness in His church, which is His body (Ephesians 1:22-23). Jesus fulfilled His Father’s desire by willingly coming to earth to die on the cross for us.  Jesus Christ not only gave His life to forgive us from the penalty of sin (Romans 5:8-9); He also gave His life to free us from the power of sin (Romans 6:6-8).  Since we were born into sin, God freed us from Satan’s dominion and sin’s captivity by including us in His Son’s death. To do this, God spiritually immersed everyone who is born of the Spirit into Christ’s death (Romans 6:3).  Thus the mystery of the gospel is also the mystery of the cross.  Like two sides of a precious coin, there are two divine facts that compose the mystery of the whole gospel.  The first divine fact is “we died in Christ” and the second is “Christ lives in us.”  These are the undivided facts of Christ’s completed work on the cross.  Without the first divine fact, there would be no second.  Before God’s Holy Son could inhabit us, God had to first remove our unholy nature.  Thus God used the death of His only Son to perform a divine heart transplant.  When Christ died on the cross, God replaced our sinful heart with His Son’s divine heart (Romans 6:1-11; Colossians 2:11-3:4).  God then raised Jesus Christ from the dead and exalted Him as the eternal King of glory.  Thus God incorporated us into His Son’s death so that His resurrected Son might live in us (Romans 6:5; Colossians 1:27).  Therefore, the whole gospel can be stated as “Christ died for us and included us in His death so He might live in us.” Paul personally expressed it this way, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God (Galatians 2:20).”

   In another sense, these two divine facts of the gospel form the two sides to the door of salvation.  Jesus said, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved (John 10:9).”  The front of this divine door is “we died in Christ.”  The other side of the door is “Christ lives in us.”  Of course, these two spiritual transactions occurred simultaneously at our new birth when by faith we entered into Jesus Christ, who is our door of salvation.  The Bible says when we were born again of the Spirit we were spiritually united with Christ in both His death and resurrection (Romans 6:5).  Although we may not comprehend this mystery of the gospel when we are initially saved, we must embrace both these divine facts by faith to walk in the gospel of Christ after we are saved.  In order to overcome the world and inherit the kingdom of God, we must abide by faith in Christ’s death and resurrection.  First, we must believe when Christ died we died with Him.  Next, we must believe Christ now lives in us.  Our glorious redemption in Christ is only limited by our unbelief.  For example, what if we believe we died in Christ but we do not believe Christ lives in us?  Then Christ’s ability to sovereignly overcome in us is limited by our unbelief.  Or, what if we believe Christ lives in us but we do not believe our sinful nature has died with Christ?  Then Christ’s ability to live His overcoming life in us is still limited by our unbelief.  For as long as we continue to believe that sin still has power over us, God will not overrule our free will and unbelief.

   We cannot just mentally consent to the facts of the gospel that Christ died and rose again and then expect to be saved.  The eyes of our heart must first be enlightened by divine revelation and then we must receive the Son of God as our Lord (Romans 10:9).  This is true faith that saves us.    In the same way, we cannot just mentally agree with the facts of the gospel that we have died in Christ and then expect the Son of God to live His overcoming life in us.  Unless we know in our hearts by divine revelation that our sinful nature has died, we will be stuck in Romans 7:24 crying, “What a wretched man I am!  Who will set me free from this sinful nature?”  If we don’t believe in our spirit that we have died in Christ, we will try to live as though Christ is our life by our natural ability.  We will mistake our positive attitude, passionate energy, and personal attributes for Christ’s life.  This is tragic and grievous since only the Holy Spirit gives life; our natural soul-life has no spiritual power (John 6:63).

   Therefore, walking in the power of Christ’s resurrection life requires two stepping-stones of faith.  We cannot just lightly skip over the first (we died in Christ) and hope to stand firm on the second (Christ lives in us).  We cannot count ourselves to be alive in Christ (Romans 6:11) unless we first believe and act on the truth that we have died in Christ (Romans 6:6).  This is the mystery and power of the gospel of Christ.

“For you have died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”  Colossians 3:3-4

The Mystery and Majesty of God

   The Holy Spirit has commissioned the church to serve God’s eternal purpose by revealing the mystery and majesty of Christ’s crucifixion.  The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is the most momentous event in history and the triumph of the ages.  God the Father planned this epoch event from before the beginning of time.  In Christ’s crucifixion is hidden God’s perfect wisdom and power.  God’s eternal purpose was for His Son Jesus Christ to be revealed in glory to all heaven and earth through His church, which is His body.  Christ’s death on the cross is the door into God’s heavenly realm and eternal purpose.  Salvation is just the beginning not the end of God’s divine plan.  God predetermined to use His Son’s death on the cross to redeem the body of Christ from this fallen world.  God also predestined to use His Son’s death to prepare the bride of Christ for eternal union and co-rulership with His risen Son in the age to come. If Satan and his forces of darkness had understood God’s glorious purpose in His Son’s death, they never would have incited fallen mankind to crucify Jesus.

   Through His death on the cross, Jesus Christ provided us with not only forgiveness from the penalty of our sins but also deliverance from the power of sin.  On the cross, Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath for our sin so we might drink His cup of salvation.  God used the sacrificial death of His only Son to perform a divine heart transplant and save us from the power of sin and certain doom.  When Jesus died on the cross, God exchanged our terminally sin-sick heart with His Son’s divine holy heart.  God then raised Jesus Christ from the dead and exalted Him as the eternal King of glory.  Thus God included us in His Son’s death so that His resurrected Son might now sovereignly live in us.  This divine heart transplant is the promise of the New Covenant, the purpose of Christ’s Atonement and the power of Christ’s gospel.  We have been born of the Spirit through faith in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and we now live by the Spirit through faith in Christ’s victory on the cross.  From His Son’s death and resurrection, God has created a new man in His Son’s image – the church, the body and bride of Christ, who is destined to triumph over Satan and fulfill God’s eternal purpose.  

   At the end of this age – at the marriage supper of the Lamb, God the Father will present the overcoming body of Christ as a glorious bride for His Son.  This bride will then become the Son’s eternal companion and sit with Him on His throne to rule the universe.  Having brought many sons and daughters to glory by His death and resurrection, the Son of God will present this heavenly family to His Holy Father so that God might be all in all.  Since God is the Lord of history, this is the glorious consummation and purpose of history (“His story”).  “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them…  And there will be no more night.  They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.  And they will reign forever and ever (Revelation 21:3; 22:5).  To this end we preach Christ crucified.