We welcome you to another wonderful edition of our devotionals. We have worked on another theme called “Baptism” in which different topics are discussed to make you understand it better. We believe that this will bless you richly.

Body Building for Baptised Believers

Read 1 Corinthians 12:13. S. “Lewis once wrote an essay describing church membership and reminding us that the word membership is of Christian origin, but it has been taken over by the world and emptied of all its original meaning.|

Today, most people associate the term membership with paying dues, meaningless rituals, silly rules, handshakes, and having your name on some dusty roll. Paul, however, insists that being a member of the Church meant becoming a vital organ of a living body and baptism is an important symbolic representation of such.

A church is a place to belong where you are connected to other believers. Your place in the body of Christ is very significant and God wants you to maximize your place in it. A church family provides you with a platform for growth and a place to learn how to get along with other believers.

That is why Paul admonishes that each of us should strive to be filled with God’s Word so that we can encourage other believers from the overflow of God’s resources in us (Colossian 3:16). Are you maximising your place in the body of Christ?

Do you value other members of the body of Christ? Let today mark the beginning of a fresh commitment to your local church.

Lydia and Household Baptised

Read Acts 16:14. As the body of Christ, we concluded that each of us is formed to belong to God’s family. In school, you were part of a student body. Elected political leaders form legislative bodies. Now, you are a part of a significant part of God’s body.

When God calls the Church “the body of Christ, “He has a human body in mind where every part is interconnected and interdependent. In today’s passage, we see Lydia and her household incorporated into the body of Christ through baptism after responding to the message of salvation preached by Paul (Acts 16:14). This means that those to be baptised must have first experienced a new birth.

It is also noteworthy that Lydia immediately showed hospitality. She persuaded Paul and the team members to consider staying in her house (Acts 16:15). She showed an example of how believers should serve the body of Christ.

Every Christian needs to know that in heaven, we are going to serve by practising it on earth. Have you experienced a genuine body of Christ? Is your home open for use by the Lord? Think on these things today and make a fresh commitment, comfort  Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins” Isaiah 513

Jailer and Household Baptised

Read Acts 16:33. The gospel remains the power of God for the salvation of mankind according to Romans 1:16. Today they are deterred by the chains on their hands and legs from sharing the gospel in the dark dungeon of the prison.

Through this singular act, God’s message of salvation came to the jailer. Seeing the miraculous intervention of God in breaking loose the shackles on Paul’s legs and hands, he requested, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Paul gave him the condition for salvation: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). The jailer did not only believe, he brought his entire household to salvation and they were all baptised.

Baptism is the open declaration of the internal experience of salvation; it is a way of declaring to the public that we are no longer serving the world; and that we have shifted allegiance to a new Master, Jesus Christ. Several people have yet to identify with Jesus through the process of baptism.

The church must give opportunity for such people to do that. We must visit prisons, hotels and hospitals to share the gospel of peace. This is one of the ways of helping people to share the joy of salvation as the jailer did (Acts 16:34).

The Ordinance of Water Baptism

Read Matthew 3:15. A young Christian sister was counselled to enrol on a baptismal class in preparation for water baptism. She told her disciple that she wasn’t ready, “I know that after going through water baptism, my life should be lived for the glory of God but at the moment, I am still dealing with some issues in my life.”

Later, she voluntarily enrolled, got baptised and faithfully followed Christ. John preached and invited those who repented to be baptized in water. You can read the similar posts on our devotional page of the site.