“[v.27] For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. [v.28] There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:27-28)
A. Baptism not only publicly identifies us with the Lord Jesus, but it also provides a clear and distinct mark of initiating a Christian lifestyle. We see this in the phrase “put on Christ.” The idea is that in Baptism we are outwardly “taking off” the old, worn-out, and filthy garments of the previous life without Christ, which is indeed a life not worth living. When a believer is baptized (i.e. Scripturally baptized by immersion, upon the profession of faith in Christ, under the authority of the church) he is putting on Christ, which means he is assuming new habits, new attitudes, and a new behavior that is in obedience to Christ.
B. Baptism is an outward badge of unity among the church. Although baptism, in our day and age, is not looked upon as an essential or fundamental doctrine within Evangelicalism and historic Fundamentalism, we can see that baptism is in fact an essential doctrine for unity within a church, and a basis for ministry work according to the passage above and others as well including 1 Cor. 12:13, and Eph. 4:5. The point is, baptism matters. Soteriology is not an end-all doctrine. While Baptism doesn’t forgive sin, nor can it regenerate a man, it should be viewed as a corollary to a believer’s profession of faith in Christ. Baptism is an outward sign of the inward grace of Salvation. In the New Testament, Christians never endeavored to do ministry work without first submitting themselves to baptism (see Acts 2:41; 8:12; 9:17-20; 16:30-33; 18:8).
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