“having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,”
What defines your identity?
There are moments in life that change everything.
After those moments, you are no longer who you were before. Your identity has changed, and with it comes a new way of living.
The Bible speaks of Baptism that way.
Sometimes Christians think of Baptism primarily as something they did for God—a public declaration of faith or a promise to live differently. But Paul describes it from an entirely different perspective.
He writes that you have been “buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God.”
Notice who is doing the work.
God is.
Baptism is not about your promise to God. It is about God’s promise to you. It is one of the ways He delivers the saving work of Christ into your life, joining you to Jesus’ death and resurrection.
That is why Paul can say that you were buried with Christ.
The old life under the guilt and condemnation of sin has come to an end. The person who stood condemned before God has died with Christ.
But that is only half the story.
Paul immediately adds that you have also been raised with Him.
Christ’s resurrection is not simply an event you celebrate each Easter. It is the beginning of your new life. The same Savior who walked out of the tomb has joined you to Himself, so that His victory over sin and death has become your victory.
Then Paul reminds us what our condition was before God acted.
“You, who were dead in your trespasses… God made alive together with him.”
You were dead! Again, salvation is entirely God’s work. Dead people do not make themselves alive. God does.
That truth is wonderfully comforting because it means your confidence does not rest on the strength of your faith or the quality of your commitment. It rests on the God who acts.
On the contrary, when baptism is something you do, it can leave you without confidence. When I was in college, I had several friends who got baptized multiple times. For one, they had “backslid”, as they called it, and felt like they must not have really meant it at their first baptism or they wouldn’t have done the sins they did. For others, they grew in their faith and now felt like they didn’t really understand what they were saying when they were baptized previously.
When it depends on you, whether your works or your commitment, there’s always a reason to doubt. When your salvation rests on the God who acts through His Word and through baptism, you can be confident because God always does what He says.
Baptism doesn’t kill your old condemned self and raise you to new life because the water itself is somehow magical, but because God attached His Word, His promise, to it. There He united you with Christ. There He forgave your sins. There He claimed you as His own.
Martin Luther was known to remind himself, “I am baptized.” I do this myself. It’s a good practice I’d recommend to anyone.
Those are not merely words about something that happened years ago. They are words about a reality that continues today. “I AM baptized.”
You have been buried with Christ.
You have been raised with Christ.
And because you belong to Him, death will never have the final word.
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for Your saving work in Holy Baptism. Thank You for joining me to the death and resurrection of Your Son, forgiving my sins, and making me alive in Christ.
When I doubt, remind me of Your promises. When I fall into sin, lead me again to the forgiveness You have given. When I resist sin and faithfully follow You, remind me that my hope isn’t in my faithfulness. It’s in Yours. Help me to live each day in the new life that is already mine through Jesus.
Keep me faithful until the day I share fully in the resurrection You have promised.
Through Jesus Christ, my Lord.
Amen.
As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:
After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
