What a great response to our message last Sunday, “You are set free in Christ to live for Him!” I love how God sets us free that we are no longer under law, but under grace (Rom. 6:14), which makes us want to love the Lord with all our heart. It motivates us to want to live for Him rather than for self! It makes us want to press to the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, rather than the sinful ways of the world. You are free to please Him, not the requirements of the law. You get to live for Him, not something in the world. And you’ll see that love, by who is getting the attention in your life!

One of the topics in the message was the subject of baptism. Paul wrote that we are “buried with Him in baptism” and we looked briefly at baptisms in Scripture. I mentioned there are real and ritual baptisms. The three ritual baptisms are :
1) the baptism of John (Matt. 3:1-11)
2) the baptism of Jesus (Matt. 3:13-17)
3) the believer’s baptism (1 Cor. 1:13-17).

A ritual baptism involves immersion and identifies the person with another subject, as in:
1) the kingdom
2) Christ’s public ministry on earth under the Father’s authority
3) identification with Christ’s burial and resurrection unto life, respectively.

By contrast, a real baptism is an actual identification with the object mentioned. For example:
1) the Baptism of Moses (1 Cor. 10:1-2) is Israel’s actual identification with Moses going through the Red Sea
2) the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13) is the actual identification of the believer with the body of Christ
3) the Baptism of Fire (Matt. 3:11) is an actual identification of the unbeliever into Fire at the end of the Tribulation and Great White Throne judgment
4) the Baptism of the Cup (cross) (Mark 10:38-39) is Christ’s actual identification with the cross
5) the Baptism of Noah (1 Pet. 3:18-19) is an actual identification of the seven souls with Noah.

Let’s bring it back to you – you were buried with Christ, so you are free in Christ to live for Him. You are not under the law or requirements, so you are free to pursue with all your life to live in holiness and truth! By the way, Justin’s youth paintball expedition went fantastic! Great charge on the opposing forces! Too bad they nailed you so well! Only minor battle wounds and the old guys still have what it takes to whoop up on the younger soldiers! It was a great day of bonding!