Make Disciples 2

Galatians 3:26-29

I remember as a child witnessing an initiation into a club. I was with my brother on an errand and we parked behind some buildings in the city, and there in the alley was a small group of men. They were dumping flour and eggs and something blue on top of one of the men. I asked what was going on and my brother pointed out that it was an initiation into a club – the Eagles or Elks or some other group, I wasn’t sure. If the candidate endured the process then that person was welcomed as a member of that organization.

As Christian believers we are also welcomed into a group – the group of children of God. Our initiation rite does not involve disgusting things being dumped on our heads. It involves faith and baptism.

In his letter to the believers in Galatia Paul offers some encouragement. Who are we? How did we become these people? What does all that mean to us?

The moment we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior we are relieved of our sins. All that we have done in the past is wiped away and we are ready to begin a new journey of faith. We are ready to grow in holiness with God.

We remember our forgiveness and declare it publicly through the act of baptism. When we have water poured over our heads, or when we are immersed in water in baptism, we are being initiated into the family of God.

As Paul points out we become sons (and daughters) of God. We are heirs of Christ. That means we will inherit – receive – the eternal life in glory that God has promised.

Our differences are wiped away. We are no longer this person or that person. We are not Americans or Germans or French. We are not from this county or that town. We are simply children of God, wrapped in the joy and love of our heavenly Father.

The act of baptism clothes us in God’s grace. We become like one another in holiness.

Now we must share this baptism with others. We must tell others of the love of God and the salvation of Jesus. And then we can invite them into a baptism, a time of making themselves new in the power of Christ.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What can you do to remember that you are a child of God?