“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ,” says in Galatians 3:26, NIV
We belong to Jesus by grace alone. Our belongingness to Jesus and the fellowship of Christ’s followers is a gift from God. Receiving this gift of grace by faith in Christ Jesus ushers us into the beloved community of God. Our membership in the Christian faith community is not nor was ever because of what we know or don’t know nor what we have or don’t have. Frankly, it does not matter either how good or bad we are. We enter and belong to the fellowship of the disciples of Jesus because of God’s grace and grace alone.
Our Christian baptism teaches us this truth. Apostle Paul declares, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26-29, NIV). It is a good reminder to remember always our baptism as a symbol of belongingness to Christ and the “body of Christ.” What would it look like if you religiously remembered your baptism each day, all throughout the day?
Early in my childhood, my family and I belonged to the Roman Catholic church. I remember going to the Mass (worship service) and always sitting at the back pews in the church. Without fully understanding some of the practices or rituals in the church, I followed what my mother and others did every time we entered the church. We dipped our fingers in the baptismal fonts standing at the back of the sanctuary or near the entrance door to the church. We touched the water with our fingers and made the sign of the cross. Honestly, I had no idea what that was all about then. Later, I learned that dipping your fingers in the baptismal fonts is a recollection of your identity as a child of God. It is a reminder that your entry into the house of God and your act of worship are acts of affirmation that you are loved, saved, and sanctified by God’s grace through the life and works of Jesus.
Tish Harrison Warren writes, “We are marked from our first waking moment by an identity that is given to us by grace: an identity that is deeper and more real than any other identity we will don that day” (Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life, Inter Varsity Press, 2016). We are marked as Jesus’ disciples. Remembering our baptism leads us to action. We commit our life as a witness to the grace of God. As witnesses, we point ourselves and others to the good news that God so loved the world and gave Jesus to all creation to give life and bless it with abundant life.
Prayer Song:
Who am I by Casting Crowns
Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name, would care to feel my hurt?
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way for my ever wandering heart?
Not because of who I am, but because of what You’ve done
Not because of what I’ve done, but because of who You are
Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again?
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain and calm the storm in me?
I am Yours, I am Yours, oh
Whom shall I fear? Whom shall I fear?
‘Cause I am Yours, I am Yours. Amen.
Such a powerful reminder of my baptism.
Thank you