💧 Start Here: Going Public with Your Faith

Romans 6:1–4

Every one of us wants to be known for something that matters. We wear team colors, share our last names with pride, and post about the things that define us.

When you come to Jesus, you receive a brand-new identity that isn’t earned, inherited, or achieved. It is a gift of grace. ✝️

Baptism is the moment that identity goes public.

It is how you say to the world, “I belong to Jesus.”

In Romans 6:1–4, the Apostle Paul reminds us what that declaration really means. It is not just a ceremony. It is a confession that the old life is gone and the new life has begun. 🙌

🕊️ Grace Isn’t Permission, It’s Power

When Paul wrote Romans, he had just said something shocking:

“Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” (Romans 5:20)

Some took that to mean, “If grace covers sin, maybe more sin means more grace.”

Paul’s answer was simple and strong: “God forbid!”

Grace doesn’t excuse sin. Grace ends sin’s rule. 🔥

It unites us to Jesus, to His death, His burial, and His resurrection.

Baptism is the visible way we declare that union to the world.

⚰️ 1. Baptism Declares Our Death with Christ — Sin No Longer Defines Us

When Paul asks, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” he exposes a lie that still lingers in our thinking, the idea that grace lets us stay the same.

When you trusted Christ, your old self, the one controlled by sin, died. 💀

Paul doesn’t say you are dying to sin. He says you are dead to it. Sin no longer owns you.

That is what baptism announces: “My old life is over. I belong to a new Master.”

“How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:2)

💬 Reflection:

If your baptism declares that your old self is dead, what habits or attitudes are still hanging around like ghosts from your old life?

✅ This Week:

• Confess one sin you’ve been excusing under “grace.”
• Replace it with one visible act of obedience.
• Let someone close to you see that change as proof that sin no longer defines you.

⚰️➡️🌱 2. Baptism Identifies Us with Christ’s Burial — The Old Life Is Behind Us

Burial means it is finished. You don’t bury what still lives.

When Paul writes, “We are buried with Him by baptism into death,” he describes total identification and total surrender.

That is why we baptize by immersion 💧. Being completely lowered under the water shows complete identification with Jesus in His death. It is not a ritual but a powerful representation of spiritual reality. The old you is gone.

Baptism also connects us to a community. 💒

In the early church, believers were “baptized and added” (Acts 2:41). To be buried with Him also meant being buried with them, the church family united in faith and purpose.

💬 Reflection:

If baptism means your old life is buried, are there still “graves” you keep visiting, people, places, or patterns that keep calling you back?

✅ This Week:

• Identify one tie to your past that still pulls your heart.
• Take one bold step to break it.
• If you haven’t been baptized or joined the church, set up a time this week to talk about it.

🌅 3. Baptism Proclaims Our Resurrection with Christ — New Life Now Defines Us

Paul writes that “as Christ was raised up from the dead… we also should walk in newness of life.”

That is resurrection life. ✝️

The same power that raised Jesus from the grave is working in you right now. Resurrection life is not just your future hope. It is your present reality.

This is where our church’s practice of rebaptism fits beautifully.

When someone joins Collinsville Baptist Tabernacle and chooses to be baptized here, they are not rejecting what God did before. They are reaffirming their identity in unity with this church’s doctrine and mission. ❤️

We don’t see it as repeating a ritual. We see it as reaffirming a relationship with Christ and His people.

Baptism says, “I stand with Jesus, and I stand with those who teach and follow His Word.”

💬 Reflection:

If you’ve been raised with Christ, what visible difference does that make in your daily routine, your priorities, and your relationships?

✅ This Week:

• Add one spiritual rhythm that reflects new life, such as prayer, serving someone, or sharing your faith.
• Take a step toward baptism or membership if you haven’t yet.

🌊 Live the Story Your Baptism Tells

Baptism tells the full story of our faith. We have died with Christ, buried the old life, and been raised to walk in newness of life.

That story is not meant to stay in the water. It is meant to be lived every day.

When believers live like that, grace stops being an idea and becomes a lifestyle.

Homes grow kinder 🏡.

Temptations lose power.

The church becomes a place where new life is visible, unity is strong, and Christ is clearly seen. 🙌

💬 A Closing Challenge and Invitation

So let’s live what our baptism proclaims.

Die to sin, bury the past, and walk in the power of new life, openly identified with Jesus and His people.

If you have never trusted Christ as Savior, everything baptism represents is what He offers you today.

Jesus died for your sins, was buried, and rose again so you could be forgiven and made new. 💧

He is not asking you to clean yourself up. He is inviting you to receive His life.

You can turn to Him right now in faith, believing His death was for you and His resurrection gives you life.

And if you are already a believer, maybe today is the day to take your stand through baptism or through a renewed commitment to live the life your baptism declared.

The water is not the change, it is the witness.

Grace makes the change possible.

And the same Jesus who died and rose again is ready to make you new. ❤️

💌 Want to Talk About Baptism or Salvation?

We would love to walk with you as you take your next step of faith.

Send us a message or come see us this Sunday, and we will help you “start here” with Jesus.

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