Saturday, June 16, 2012

"Dying to Live Again"

I recently read a book by Tom Riley on the subject of baptism, called "Dying to Live Again." While the book didn't fully live up to what I was expecting, it was very helpful in allowing me to use Paul's letter to the Romans to understand a little better just what role baptism plays in a Christian's life. I would certainly encourage anyone to read the book. It's a fairly quick/easy read. My only critique of the book in regards to what I feel it to be lacking, is that I wish Tom had gone into more detail and listed out the various views of baptism that various Christian denominations hold and the major differences between them. I know that would be more commonly found in a theology or a doctrine textbook, but I'm the type of person that likes to look at what certain groups believe and how they come to believe (what Scriptures support their position, interpretations, etc). I think after reading Romans a little more closely and intensely, the idea of baptism is that it is the point at which a person fully becomes Christ's. It's a way for a person to die, with out physically dying. Looking at Paul's words surrounding this section of Romans, he references, as examples, the fact that in a marriage, the only way for the covenant to be broken, is for someone/something to die. Either that's the husband/wife dying, releasing the other from the covenant, or a person breaks the covenant and kills the relationship (adultery/unfaithfulness). Likewise Paul also uses the illustration of a slave and how after a slave dies, his/her master no longer has any say over him/her. In the same way, until we accept Christ, we are still subject to sin and are considered to be slaves to sin. Through the act of baptism, we identify with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, meaning that we die and then are 'raised to a newness of life' (a new life). After our 'death' we are no longer slaves to sin and sin can no longer keep us from pursuing an intimate relationship Jesus. That's not to say a person who has accepted and been baptized into Christ won't struggle with sin. However a Christian who has given his/her life over to Christ and has been united with Him in baptism, has the greatest advocate that anyone could ever have on his/her side, and if any of us who have this status find ourselves in a particular sin, Jesus will continue to wash us clean and forgive us if we turn to him and confess/repent. The entire book of 1 John really captures this concept as well as the life of a new Christian (any Christian for that matter), but I'll end with quoting three specific verses.

"8If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts."         - 1 John 1.8-10 (NLT)

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