Jesus has supremacy – so what He says matters.

I have not looked at baptism for a while – baptism is the immersion of a believer to new life by faith.

 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.  We know that our old self^[a] was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  For one who has died has been set free^[b] from sin. – Romans 6:3-7  ESV

This is a passage for those who want to follow Jesus and happens soon after repentance and declaration of faith.

Repentance is simple turning away from sin. A declaration of faith is publicly confessing your decision to follow Jesus. We start separated from God, and we end up loving and being in awe of Him. We start loving the things He loves and moving away from the things that do not glorify Him. So I ask God to forgive me every day and I ask Him to refresh the filling of the Holy Spirit. What has transformed me internally is expressed through baptism – I am, in baptism, buried with Christ and raised to walk in life as a new person.

By virtue of His power and grace, and because He is the Sovereign and my Saviour, I  become a disciple of Jesus and I make other disciples because that is what He has asked me to do.

The cross becomes another important passage for me. It keeps me being a disciple of Jesus. The cross is my message that as Christ died for me, I must die to myself.

 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23  ESV

It is a strong message and I am also aware this is not a hard thing because the essential truth of the resurrection comes with the cross. As I die to myself, I am equipped through grace to serve others.