Monday Meditation-Do you experience victory over sin?

Baptism is one of my favorite things in ministry. Having the privilege of baptizing believers as a testimony of their faith in Jesus is a true joy. From baptizing my son to baptizing in a frigid baptistery in South Africa, I’ve had some truly memorable baptism experiences. But what I love most about baptism is what it illustrates. In Romans 6, Paul describes our salvation experience using baptism. We were “baptized” with Christ in his death. Jesus took our sins on the cross. When he died, our sins died with him. When he was buried, we were buried with him. When he rose, we rose with him. The observance of baptism, being buried under the water and raised out of the water is an outward illustration of an inward reality. Baptism pictures outwardly the victory received inwardly through our faith in Christ’s death and resurrection. Our salvation then is an identity change. We are no longer mastered by sin’s power. Rather, we’ve received the new life, the life of the resurrected Christ. Paul’s point in this text is that we have victory over sin precisely because Christ won the victory over sin. Because we identify with him, we experience victory with him. Paul challenged his readers to consider themselves dead to sin and to present themselves to Christ for righteousness. We consider ourselves dead to sin and walk in righteousness not to earn our salvation, but rather because we have been saved. Our identity is now found in Jesus. Our sin died with Jesus on the cross. Our old life was buried with Christ in the tomb. Our new life is now the resurrected life of Jesus. Our daily challenge is to live in the victory of our present position in Christ rather than live in the defeat of the sins of our past. This post was originally published as a Sunday School lesson for the Biblical Recorder here.

Monday Meditation–Do you have hope?

This post was originally published as a Sunday School lesson for the Biblical Recorder here.

In Matthew 8:5-13, we see a beautiful story of faith and hope. Do you hope for more? I hope for many more years to spend with my wife and children. I’m sure you’ve used the word hope in this same way. In the sense we so often use the word hope we mean something akin to wishful thinking. We would like something to be true. But the biblical use of the word hope is something far more certain. When the Bible speaks of hope it means something assured that we simply wait for. The biblical key to unlocking hope in this sense is faith. In this story we find a glorious example of faith. A Roman centurion sought out Jesus to heal his servant. Instead of asking Jesus to come to his house, the centurion observed, “Lord, I’m not worthy to have you come under my roof. Speak the word and my servant will be healed. I too am a man with authority. When I tell my servant to do something, he does it.” The centurion modeled great faith—so great that Jesus observed he had not found such faith in Israel. Here we see biblical hope unlocked. The centurion knew Jesus could heal. He displayed his hope with humble faith. He acknowledged his unworthiness—a picture of a sinner humbling himself before the only One who can save. He expressed his faith, “Only speak the word, and I know my servant will be healed.” Then the centurion experienced victorious hope. Jesus healed his servant. Did you know you were in this story? After Jesus’ complimented the man’s faith he said, “Many will come from east and west to recline at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus asserted that if you’ve humbled yourself and trusted in Jesus, “You will be in the kingdom.” It doesn’t get more certain than Jesus’ declaration. So have hope. Look forward to the certain victory you will experience with Jesus in his kingdom.