Have You Died?

By Thomas Masela

Just recently at a meeting with the youth of the Umtata church, I was asked a somewhat disturbing question by one of their members.

"Why do some baptised members of the church behave worse than unbelievers? We have been taught that when a person is baptised, he becomes a new person. Why don't we see that in some of the older baptised members?"

A significant question, and one that demands an answer. The answer lies in the question, "have we died?" Have we truly repented of the works of the flesh as enumerated in Galatians 5:19-21? We can almost recite them by heart: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, etc.

Repentance is a willingness to to be completely transformed in the mind, thus destroying these works of the flesh as God nails them to the cross of Christ.

It is a process of dying to the flesh and living in the Spirit. Repentance is death before baptism. A person dies to the world before baptism, not while in the water. Jesus died on the cross, not in the grave. Our sins are nailed to the cross before baptism, which means we get rid of sin as we repent. Repentance is 180 degree turn-around.

When we are ready to be buried in the baptismal grave, it means we have died to the world and the works of the flesh. The real you or me is ready to be clothed with the life of Jesus Christ. But this is not a battle we can fight alone - it is by God's grace that we succeed. What is required is that we humble ourselves as He strips us (circumcises our hearts) of all these behavioural patterns. This is the point of death. Then we must respond to God's admonition by ceasing to do our own will, and deciding to do as God commands.

Is sin now completely removed from our lives? No! How is the spirit in man, the natural you or me, cleansed? By baptism which follows repentance. Imagine someone who has lived in a rubbish dump for years without ever washing his clothes or body. Now after he has been taught about his dire condition, he decides to get rid of the dirty clothes, and burns them.The stench is still with him, the body still covered with dirt. The next step is for him to be washed clean. The dirty clothes symbolise the works of the flesh which are removed and nailed to the cross. The still unclean, smelling body symbolises the spirit in man, the natural you and me. What happens in this baptismal watery grave? The spiritual dirt is washed away, we emerge cleansed and purified, ready to begin a new life in Christ.

To seal this union with Jesus Christ, God reserves His authority to imbue a person with His Holy Spirit. The Spirit opens our minds to know the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:10), enables us to know the will of God (Romans 2:12), teaches us and reminds us of everything Jesus taught His disciples. Just as we cannot bear fruit without the Holy Spirit, so we cannot be joined to Jesus Christ without true and complete repentance. Abiding in Christ enables us to mature as God's children, growing and being continually renewed (Colossians 3:9,10). Without dying to the world, we cannot cross over to holiness.

The answer to the original question is, have we died? What kind of clothes are we wearing?  It's a question worth asking!

Thomas Masela is pastor of the church at Umtata, Eastern Cape, South Africa

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