The challenge we face today is that Church Membership & Baptism has become a mere formality for most people and therefore they miss out the accountability & responsibility related to Church
Membership & Baptism. Christ sees the Church as His bride. Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:25-27). As believers we are now part of this Church where we are now given the Spiritual Gifts to serve each other, love each other so that the Church is edified (1 Corinthians 1:7-28, 14:12). This Church is not just a building but it’s referred as God’s Household having being built on the foundations of Apostles & Prophets where Christ is the Corner Stone according to Ephesians 2:19-20.
It is this household, family & gathering of people who have believed in the glorious Gospel and now it is here that they practice accountability & responsibility. This is the Local Church and the role of being part of the Local Church can be found in passages Galatians 6:2, Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:19, 1 Peter 4:10. Today people like to practice these virtues outside the Local Church through social service and NGOs and totally neglect practicing these virtues inside the Local Church.
Now when we talk about Baptism, it's never an individual, private & isolated act. It's an outward display of the regeneration & transformation that has taken place in our heart (Romans 6:3-6), but this outward display is done in the midst of people/in the gathering of people especially the Local Church. By doing so this person submits himself to the Church, makes himself accountable to the Church so that he is now nurtured, cared for, guided, encouraged, rebuked, disciplined, chastised in his spiritual walk as he submits himself to the public & individual teaching & preaching from the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
This is hard and so people always look for excuses to live an isolated, unaccountable Christian life
because they can now do whatever they want and get away by quoting 1 John 1:9. For such people,
being under submission, being accountable & being under authority are un-biblical words because for them N.T is all about grace & love.
Therefore, we must understand that Baptism is not just a random act, it’s not an individual act, it’s not a formality, it’s not fulfilling a criteria to become a Christian. It’s a decision we make/take by understanding the significance of the death & resurrection of Jesus Christ and also by understanding the importance to willingly submit to the authority of the Local Church whose head is Christ as well as willingly submitting ourselves to the household of God in order to be equipped for the work of service in the Body of Christ.
amen
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