Water

This Sunday we will be doing baptisms at Faith Community. Baptism is an outward visible statement to the church that one has committed their life to Christ, and that they are a new creation through Christ. Being immersed into water, and then coming up out of the water represents Christ dying for our sins and then being resurrected on the third day. This also represents our future resurrection. As N.T. Wright would say, life after life after death.
I grew up in the Friends tradition where baptism was not practiced regularly. In the Friends tradition baptism happens through the Holy Spirit. In Mathew 28:18-19 Jesus says "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit..." In 1 Corinthians 12:13 "For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-weather Jews nor Greeks, slaves or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink." Scripture seems to point us in a direction that baptism has nothing to do with water but has everything do with the Holy Spirit living in us and through us.
So why baptize with water? I think it is important that as believers our lives be a testamony for what Christ has done. Water baptism is a great outward sign and is a very physical visual way of showing the community ones commitment to Christ, however ultimately our testament to our baptism is what the Holy Spirit does through us and living free from bondage and death. Our testimony is not that we are baptized with water, but that through Christ we are set free.