Baptised into the resurrection / Philippians Bible Study (Part 10) Chapter 3:6-10

David Hathaway

We are baptised into the death and resurrection of Christ. We are saved by faith that God has accepted the sacrificial death of His Son, on the cross. He died in our place, for our sin. This makes everything else not just valueless, but totally invalid. The desire of Paul’s heart now is that he might KNOW CHRIST! Remember, when Jesus was alive on earth, Paul didn’t know Him in any personal sense. His only knowledge or consciousness of Him was his own religious hostility to Him. Now his whole desire is to sweep away all this religiousness – whether Jewish Law, or today our traditions and customs, our religious churchianity, whatever denomination we are – all of that is worthless – so that we might KNOW HIM! Paul’s desire is to KNOW CHRIST and the POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION. To know Him and the Power of His Resurrection means that we ourselves, by faith in Christ, have passed from death to life! That’s why Scripture says we must be born again, from above. The old life – DEAD! That’s the symbolism of water baptism: we have died with Christ, we’re buried in the water – and we rise up to new life. By faith. That’s why baptising infants is pointless.