Recently Martin and I attended a Baptism Service for some of my students in Morrinsville. It gave me time to reflect on the importance of baptism in a Christian’s life. Baptism is an exciting and meaningful milestone in the life of a believer. It is an act of faith and obedience to the commands of Christ.

Being baptised is more than simply making an outward declaration that we are going to follow Jesus. A transformation takes place in our spirit, our inner being.

Baptism also connects us to the ‘body of Christ’, his people on earth. In baptism there is a real sense of being joined with other believers, not just participating in an individual act of our own spiritual journey.

Many people are held back in life as they remember past mistakes and failures. Baptism brings us into a new freedom to obey God as it cuts away the power of sinful nature. Baptism is God’s way of wiping the slate clean in our lives and giving us a fresh start.

Even after being baptised we fall back, if we confess our sins and repent, God is a good God who forgives us and gives us a chance to start again. Jesus told his disciples:

“I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the  very end of the age.”                                                                      (Matthew 28: 18-20)

Esther Gwengo