The Basics
Day 4: Salvation & Baptism
Let’s continue our discussion about sin and the grace that God has given us through his son Jesus Christ. When Adam and Eve brought sin into this world by disobeying God, this was known as the “fall of man.” We broke our covenant with God and were no longer allowed to be in perfect community with Him because of our impure hearts. God is a perfect God. He cannot be around sin. It is impossible for Him. Yet he desired a relationship with us and our sinful hearts, so he had a plan. He planned that if Adam sinned and caused a separation between God and man, then He would send his one and only son, the second Adam, to live a perfect, sinless life and die as a sacrifice for our sins. When Jesus died on the cross, God was able to take out all of his wrath and our deserving punishment on his son so that we wouldn’t have to receive the same punishment of death. But Jesus rose from the grave three days later and beat death. The Bible says if we believe and receive that, then we will be forgiven.
We are in need of a savior. The most important thing we can do in our life is to recognize our need for a savior. Not just once, but daily. We need God’s grace. We can’t do it without his grace. Sometimes screwing up is the best thing that can happen to us because it gives us an opportunity to be reminded that we aren’t perfect, so we need to be forgiven. Salvation is when we recognize our need for a savior and believe that Jesus is that savior. Baptism is a public profession of that inward decision. Baptism is important for us because it does three things:
- Baptism solidifies our decision publicly. There is something powerful about saying what we believe out loud. Baptism is symbolically proclaiming our faith our loud.
- Baptism allows for accountability by proclaiming our faith out loud. We are telling our church family that we have committed to surrender our life to Jesus. That allows our family to help when we’re struggling and gently remind us of the decision we have made.
- Baptism is an opportunity to celebrate! Our church family wants to celebrate with us, and we should be celebrated. When we are baptized, it’s an opportunity for our loved ones to encourage us and be excited for our step of faith.
When two people marry, they put on a wedding ring. They’re still married without the ring, but the ring symbolizes to everyone else that they have made a covenant with their spouse. That is exactly like baptism. When we surrender our life to Jesus, we get baptized. We are saved without baptism, but baptism symbolizes to everyone else that we have made a covenant with God.
Scripture of the Day
“And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
– Acts 2:38