Faithful to God are baptised

février 27, 2024février 22, 2024 par Marcus Ampe, publié dans Almighty God, Faith, Thought for today

trekking -pilgrimage - looking over the lake in the mountain - walking — Foto door Robert Forever Ago op Pexels.com

There must be no Jew at all to be faithful to the God of Israel. That God of Abraham does not expect the goyim or non-Jews to comply with all Jewish laws to show their allegiance to Him.

Pure worship is something Almighty God desires. That pure and true worship will manifest itself from the actions of the believer.

The Book of Ezekiel teaches us that pure worship revolves around more than formal acts of worship. It requires us

(1) Giving Jehovah full devotion, (2) remaining united in pure worship and (3) showing love for others.

From the clues we receive in the Holy Scriptures about true worship, we learn that it first and foremost requires a certain attitude from the worshipper. Whoever wishes to address God, the Heavenly Father, must do so in all honesty. By the way, God knows and tests the heart, and so no one can pretend to God otherwise than that person actually is.

“But Jehovah, the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not rely on his appearance and his tall figure. I rejected him. It is not about what man sees: man looks at appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’” (1Sa 16:7)

“A man always chooses the right path in his own eyes, Jehovah tests what moves him internally.” (Spr 21:2)

“It is I, Jehovah the Lord, who understandeth the heart, who testeth kidneys, who rewardeth every man according to his walk of life, and giveeth unto every man what he earneth.” (Jer 17:10)

If we love God we will also be willing to give ourselves fully to Him. Baptism gives a sign to God that one wants to be purified from past sins and that one wants to enter a new life in which one wants to maintain loyalty to God.

Even though we as a people have countless religious, social and ethnic backgrounds, we realise that we must maintain the unity by which we can be recognised as God’s people, and with immersion in the water we indicate that we want to be purified or laundered from sins and want to be included in the community of baptised people.

Believing in Jesus Christ, with our immersion we also indicate that we want to bow down humbly and enter that world of Christ. Jesus prayed whether his true followers should be ‘one’, working together in unity towards the same goal, just as he and his Father are ‘one’ through their cooperation and unity of thought.

“I have caused them to share in the greatness which you have given me, that they may be one as we are:” (John 17:22)

Being one is an important fact for us. Jesus we want to follow wishes that we will be one, just as God the Father is in union with him and he is also in union with Jehovah.

“Brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I call you to be all united, to avoid divisions, to be completely one in your thinking and your conviction.” (1Co 1:10)

“So we are one body together in Christ and we are, each separately, each other’s body parts.” (Ro 12:5)

“There are no more Jews or Greeks, slaves or freemen, men or women-you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Go 3:28)

Going under in the water we are purified and all differences are washed away. A baptism is not about sprinkling with some water, but about « going under ». We also think of immersing ourselves in Jesus’ blood, so that our conscience can be cleansed from dead works.

“how much more will not the blood of Christ, who thanks to the eternal Spirit has been able to offer himself as a sacrifice without blemish, cleanse our conscience from deeds that lead to death, and sanctify it for the service of the living God?” (Heb 9:14)

“let us then approach God with a sincere heart and firm faith, now that our hearts have been cleansed, we have been freed from a bad conscience and our bodies have been washed with pure water.” (Heb 10:22)

Preceding