Therefore, we are buried with Him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4
A man who had been recently saved was about to be baptized. This particular man had been heavily addicted to smoking before he was saved, and was particularly pleased that God gave him victory over that filthy habit after he was saved. As he prepared to enter the water to be baptized, the man who was going to perform the ceremony noticed a pack of cigarettes in the new convert’s shirt pocket. Curious, he decided to say nothing, and proceeded with the baptism. As the new Christian came up from beneath the water, he reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out the cigarettes, and flung them into the water. ‘There!’ he declared, ‘that’s where these belong.’ That man clearly understood the powerful message that baptism sends to others and to ourselves.
I often ask new Christians being interviewed for baptism whether they understand all about the subject. They are usually relieved when I tell them there is a great deal I don’t understand about baptism. In fact, I have seldom attended a baptism in which I have not learned something new. But there is one very powerful message and symbol that is critically important to grasp from this very important ordinance. That message is the newness of life that is pictured in the emerging from baptism’s waters. Although technically the only change brought about by baptism is the change of a dry person into a wet person, the baptism in symbol represents the greatest possible change that can possibly come into a person’s life. Before salvation, we were dead in trespasses and sins, helpless to live the life that God requires. After salvation, we are alive toward God, living a life provided by the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. It is this new life, and the power to live it, that is pictured by baptism.
The ability to live in newness of life is a wonderful blessing. So is the reality of being dead to the world that crucified our Saviour, the world that was dragging us down to destruction before we were saved. Ideally, Christians should live in the full power of the new life that we have been given, and we should die to the world that we have been saved from. But the ideal is not always the reality. We stumble and falter, and struggle with the wiles of the devil. The abundant life that is available is not enjoyed to its fullest, and our fickle minds tend to desire some of the things that we have left behind. But every time we view a baptism, indeed every time we read about baptism, we should remind ourselves about its great truths.
When we died with Christ, we lost our worldly walk. When we were raised by Christ, we gained a heavenly walk. -Jim MacIntosh