Responsibilities in Baptism as in Marriage

In this exhortation, Gila Milner discusses the meaning of baptism by comparing it to a wedding. Baptism is a symbol of our commitment to Christ and a declaration of our love for Him. It signifies a new life of union with Christ and a breaking away from our old way of life. Just as a married couple are always together, a true Christian is always in fellowship with Jesus. Baptism also represents the pledge of the Holy Spirit, who is with us always. Baptism is not a wedding, but both are covenants of union. It is a significant spiritual step and carries privileges and responsibilities. Welcome to our weekly exhortation. Thank you for joining me. Thank you for your precious time. My name is Gila Milner, Servant of God, Servant of Jesus. Today we are going to look more deeply into the meaning of baptism by comparing the union in a wedding with the union with Christ in baptism. I would like to share with you the true essence of baptism even if I know the topic is not unknown to you. We will proceed by comparing the union in wedding with the union with Christ in baptism. The goal is so that we understand what are our privileges and our responsibilities in baptism. Praise the Lord. In fact, I will start by reminding us that baptism is a covenant of union but it is only the symbol that we are beginning a new life of union with Christ as our Lord and Savior. Baptism is the objective sign to show that we have decided to follow Jesus in his death and in his resurrection. First of all, just like in a wedding in which two persons commit themselves to one another because of their mutual love, so in baptism we commit ourselves to Christ because of his love to us and we want to express our love to him. Now, you don't marry somebody that you just happen to like. You must really love this person to the extent that you are prepared to share your life with that person. And so are the Christians too in relation to Jesus. We don't commit ourselves to Jesus just because we happen to like him but because we want to share our life with him forever. Also, like in a wedding, baptism is a proclamation. It is a declaration. I show to everybody by this action that I love this person. I declare before all the people who are present at my baptism and before heaven and earth that I am entering into a covenant of union with Christ. Before all these people and all these spiritual powers, I declare this day that I love Jesus and that I have committed myself to him, praise the Lord. It also means that because I have declared my commitment to him, I am also prepared to retire of my old way of life. That is true of an ordinary marriage. When you get married, your life is no more the same as it used to be. You are now entering into a new kind of life. It is a life of intimate partnership with someone else. This implies that your spouse has a say in whatever you do and decide. And so, when I am baptized, I am saying that I have now completely broken with the old way of life of sin. I am breaking my ties with the self-centered life that I used to have. I am now entering into a new life of communion with Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! You know, although married, some couples live as if they were still single. Sometimes, the woman leaves home for many hours only to return when she wants, while The husband's world is busy, carefree, and without any true responsibilities. The most important elements in his life are his friends. They do not spend enough time together. Furthermore, in a marriage, when there is true love between the two people, you can see that one puts the interest of the other person first in front of his or her own interest. That is where there is true love. And so we, as Christians, we say in baptism, from now on, the interests of the Lord Jesus are in front of my own interest. He is the one whose interest is central to my heart. Friend, again, just like in a wedding, because the two have now become united, one doesn't just go there and the other goes here. From now on, where one is, the other will be. They will go together wherever they are. They will share their interests together. Listen for you. What kind of marriage is this if the couple is never together? One person stays here and the other person stays there. Praise the Lord. You want to be together. That's the ideal. You want to have fellowship together. You seek to help one another through faith and through faith, through hardship and through joy. And so it is the same thing for the Christian. The true Christian is one who is always in fellowship with the Lord Jesus. He delights to commune with the Lord Jesus in prayer. In baptism, as in marriage, we say, for better and for worse, I will follow you, Lord Jesus. For richer or for poorer, Lord, I will be with you. Hallelujah. Then, in a wedding, we have a ring, right? What does it mean? What does the ring symbolize in a marriage? Well, a ring is a pledge. It is the symbol of the pledge by which we say, I will always be with you. In fact, when we are baptized, the Lord Jesus gives us a present too. He gives us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God's pledge to us. When the Lord gives us the Holy Spirit, He is saying to us, I will never leave you nor forsake you. We find this word of God both in the Old and in the New Testament. As I said earlier, the Holy Spirit does not necessarily come on the exact day of baptism. In fact, the experience of regeneration should normally precede baptism. You know, baptism represents the whole process by which the gospel comes to the person and that person accepts it by faith. The commitment to following Jesus begins in the heart and baptism is the outward expression of what has already taken place inside of you. Pray the Lord. In addition, contrary to marriage in which a couple is not considered as husband and wife until the very day they get married, baptism doesn't cause you to be united with Christ. However, we need to understand that baptism is not a wedding. Remember, we will just compare baptism to the wedding, but we don't want to conclude without mentioning the fact that baptism is not a wedding. The parallel lies in the fact that they are both covenants of union. But our union with Christ is far more complicated than the union between two people. There is a major difference that we need to be aware of. You will notice that when you go to a baptism, the actual sign is different. You see a person being immersed in the water and being lifted out of the water again. You don't have that in a wedding, do you? In conclusion, we will say that we have gone very simply through this message on the meaning of baptism. First, we say that baptism is not just any kind of ceremony. It is not just a feeling, but also a definite committal, a covenant with Christ. It is a symbol that we are beginning a new life of union with Christ as our Lord and Savior. We hope it is clear enough for everyone to understand what it means. We should understand that baptism is a big spiritual step just as the union of a wedding is a major step in the life of any person. Friends, for those of us who now belong to Christ, let us always remember what this means. Let us remember what are our privileges and our responsibilities in baptism. We have come to the end of this message. I hope you enjoyed it. And God wills, we will be together next week. Abundant blessings. Shalom.