Christ Lives In Me
baptism • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Welcome to Lighthouse’s baptism service.
Opening Worship:
Egypt
The Way The Truth The Life
Firm Foundation
Grace Greater Than My Sin
“For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
There are 4 Propositions and 2 Purposes that Paul brings up in these few verses that really outline the essence of salvation and our relationship to the Law.
We’ll look briefly at each proposition and how it ties into baptism and what we are doing this morning.
Through the Law I died to the Law
I have to die to the Law because the Law can’t save.
It can guide and direct.
It can condemn.
But it can’t save.
No set of rules, manmade or otherwise, can bring about the salvation of our souls.
In fact, as Paul elaborates later in Galatians and in Romans, the primary purposes of the Law were:
It was never intended to impart life.
It was given to reveal that there is a standard of righteousness that we are to follow and to show that we are unable to perfectly live by that standard. (Galatians 3:19; Romans 3, 7)
In breaking God’s standard (sinning), the law brings a curse and now we are standing in opposition to God, and are slaves to sin. (Galatians 3:10)
The Law was a tutor to lead us to Jesus, who would take the curse of the Law onto Himself and crucify it and its regulations with Him, thus redeeming us, reconciling us, forgiving us, clothing us in His righteousness and restoring our relationship to God the Father. (Galatians 3:24).
It’s this point in particular that allows Paul to say that through the Law he has died to the Law.
The Law led him to the very one who would kill the Law for him.
Now I am dead to the Law.
Union with Christ, means I have been divorced from the Law.
All relationship to the Law has been cut off.
I am under new management.
Instead of living to follow the Law, now I live to follow Christ.
In the baptism ceremony when we walk into the water we are demonstrating leaving our old life behind.
In this case specifically any reliance on the Law for salvation.
But in general we are leaving all our worldly ties behind and walking down the aisle, so to speak, to join Jesus in a covenantal relationship.
We are showing that we are transferring our relationship to Jesus.
When we turn around in the water, it is a symbol of repentance, in that, we are turning 180 degrees from the world to Jesus to join Him.
And sure enough just like the bride and groom stand before the minister to be married, so we too, now stand with Jesus before the minister and we make our vows to Jesus.
I Have Been Crucified With Christ
The believers incorporation into the work of Christ.
Union with Christ by faith includes one’s being united with him in his experience of death to the old order, to the law.
Baptism first and foremost reveals our spiritual identification with Christ.
We are associating and appropriating all that Jesus has done for us, while God infuses it into our souls.
When I am crucified with Christ, I die.
Union with Christ means I die as Christ died.
I die to my sins
no longer hold me in debt and slavery
knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
no longer held by guilt and shame
free from the penalty
I die to my self
no longer have to be self-seeking, self-serving, self-centered.
free to be selfless and love others.
After saying our vows to Jesus, we then are immersed in the water
This is symbolic of dying with Christ.
We are burying our sins with Christ.
And as we come up out of the water it is a symbol of being raised with Christ.
As the water pours off our head over our body it is a symbol of rebirth and cleansing.
A symbol of becoming a new person.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
It Is No Longer I Who Live, But Christ Lives In Me.
This is about union with Christ, motivationally.
This is the connecting point between salvation and morality.
We die to the law for salvation purposes, but the moral code of the Law still stands.
For example even after salvation, it’s still wrong to lie, steal, covet, or use the Lord’s name in vain.
And it’s still right to honor marriage, worship God with others one day a week, and honor your parents.
Because dying to the Law does not mean I get to do whatever I want.
The difference, though, is that what constrains us to live rightly is not the Law perse, but love.
It is Christ living in me. It is love living in me.
When we love God, we won’t take His name in vain or worship other idols.
When we love others, we won’t want to lie, steal, or hurt others by our actions.
So from that mindset, we have died to the Law, because we don’t do what’s right because the Law says so, but because love compels us to do so.
For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
In addition, our new life with Christ includes the giving and sealing of the Holy Spirit.
By virtue of our incorporation with the crucified Christ, we are by nature connected with the resurrection life in Christ.
His resurrection power lives in me (Holy Spirit) and the Holy Spirit is what empowers me to live the Jesus way.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
Just as sin was the operative power of my former life, now it is Christ who lives in me.
So as we rise up out of the water of baptism, we are reminded that at Jesus’ baptism the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove.
And God gives us the Holy Spirit at salvation to put a seal on us that guarantees our inheritance and empowers us for godly living.
So the water flowing off of us is also a symbol of the Holy Spirit indwelling us.
The Life I Now Live In The Flesh, I Live By Faith In The Son Of God.
This is a life lived in union with Christ, practically.
It is a commitment to live our lives for Him.
We take Jesus with us wherever we go.
It is a commitment to love as He loved me and to forgive as He forgave.
In this life, I must live by faith.
“Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.
Living a life of Humility and Letting Go and Letting God.
Humility
Life is not about me.
Life does not revolve around me.
Faith, trusting Jesus with the direction of my life.
He is on the throne of my heart.
Carry Underwood
Jesus, Take the wheel.
As I walk out of the waters of baptism and back into the world, I have a new master, a new mission, and new motivation.
New Master
Jesus empowers me
Helps me.
Heals me.
Provides for me.
Guides me.
Sanctifies me.
Satisfies me.
Protects me.
The Good Shepherd has come to take up residence in my soul.
New Mission
I trust Him with my life, provisions, possessions, positions,
I go to tell others about His love for me.
I go and serve others with the grace He’s given me.
I go and set an example of who Jesus is by the way I live my life.
New Motivation
Love God and love others.
2 Purposes: Why did He save me?
God’s Grace Is Amazing!
God Loved Me And Sacrificed Himself For Me.
Oh How He Loves You And Me.
Transition: As people come forward for baptism
Gratitude
Testimonies
Baptisms
Closing Song:
Doxology
