❖ The Gospel Series ❖

A N E W L I F E W I T H C H R I S T

BaptismCleansing

of Sins

TABLE OF CONTENTSA New Life Made Possible 2

Blood and Water 4

Water, Blood, and the Holy Spirit 6

Total Cleansing 8

A New Life Begins 10

New Life in Christ 12

New Life in the Church 14

Dead to Sin, Alive to Christ 16

Why Let Your Savior Wait? 18

If you would like to understand baptism in greater depth afterreading this booklet, additional free literature is available. Pleasesee the contact information on the opposite page.

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A New Life Made PossibleWe were created to be God’s children, but we havedisowned our Father by rejecting his authority anddisobeying his words. We try to find happiness apart fromGod, only to experience disappointment and emptiness.The only way to find meaning and happiness in life is tomend our broken relationship with God. Only with God inour lives can we have joy, peace, comfort, and security.

Our Heavenly Father, in his infinite mercy, promises toreceive us when we believe Jesus as our Savior, repent ofall our sins, and determine to return to God. He offers tochange our lives and give us the hope of an eternal life.

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But to restore his relationship with us without denying hisjustice, God himself had to pay the price for our sins.Therefore, he came to the world as a human being—JesusChrist, and paid the ransom for our sins by giving his lifeon the cross.

Jesus’ blood, which was shed on the cross, cancels thedebt of our sins, delivers us from the dreadful eternalconsequence of hell, and reunites us with God. In order tobecome God’s children again and receive a new life, wemust believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior and let hisblood remove our sins.

God has already offered a way of reconciliation throughthe death and resurrection of Jesus. We just need to returnto God by accepting the cleansing in Jesus’ blood.

Blood and WaterHow does the blood of Christ wash away our sins? How dowe accept the cleansing that God requires? How is itpossible for us to be actually washed and cleansed by theblood of Christ today? To find the answer, we must go backto the cross.

After Jesus died on the cross, “one of the soldiers pierced[Jesus’] side with a spear, and at once there came outblood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—histestimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth—that you also may believe” (John 19:34,35).

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John, a disciple of Jesus, witnessed a miracle below thecross— a flow of blood and water! It is amazing thatwater and blood could flow from someone who has diedand be abundant enough to be seen distinctly from adistance. So John had to stress that his account was true.

This miracle is significant because Christ poured out hisblood along with water, and so he opened a fountain ofcleansing. This historical event is the basis of the cleansingeffect of baptism, which involves water. The blood thatflowed from the cross two thousand years ago still washesaway sins today during baptism.

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Water, Blood, and the Holy SpiritJohn, who witnessed the miracle of blood and waterexplained the meaning of what he saw. “This is he whocame by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the wateronly but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is thewitness, because the Spirit is the truth. There are threewitnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and thesethree agree” (1 John 5:6-8).

Baptism is where water and blood come together, underthe eternal Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is the witness whoenables this union, which transcends space and time. Sowhen a sinner is baptized in water, he is actually baptized inthe blood of Christ!

God’s Spirit

Past Present

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The presence of Christ’s blood in baptism accounts for themany visions and miracles that have occurred duringbaptisms.

God often opens the eyes of people, including passers-byand people who observe the baptism, to see visions ofblood in the water. Some see the Lord Jesus on the cross,his blood flowing down to the baptismal area. And somereceive instant healing when they are baptized. Thesemiracles confirm that baptism is truly a saving act of God.

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Total CleansingBaptism is not invented by man. It is an act of God whichhe commands us to receive. Jesus promises that “he whobelieves and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16).There is saving effect in the cleansing power of baptism.

The outward action of baptism, which Jesus and his disci-ples demonstrated, involves going into natural flowingwater, head bowed, and being totally immersed in thewater. Baptism must also be performed in the name of theLord Jesus Christ.

The inward effect of baptism is the cleansing of the soul bythe blood of Christ. Baptism is that key moment in yourconversion when Jesus’ blood will take effect on you andrestore your relationship with God, making you his childonce again.

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No sin is too great to be forgiven. God is ready to pardoneveryone who turns back to him and seeks cleansing. Butyou must first accept Jesus Christ and his gospel of salva-tion, confess your sins before God, and determine tofollow his words.

It is during baptism that you come before your Savior withyour heavy burden of sin. As you are immersed in water inthe name of the Lord Jesus Christ, his blood, which wasshed on the cross, will cover all your sins. There, onaccount of Jesus’ sacrifice, God will pardon every sin thatyou’ve ever committed in your life.

Therefore, baptism, along with faith and repentance, isnecessary for the forgiveness of sins. For this reason,Peter, a disciple of Jesus, commanded the believers to bebaptized. “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in thename of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts2:38).

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A New Life BeginsThe Bible calls baptism “the washing of rebirth” becauseit is a spiritual rebirth and the beginning of a new life (seeTitus 3:5 and John 3:5). This new life is possible becauseChrist has overcome the power of sin by his resurrection.

As your sins are forgiven during baptism, a spiritual trans-formation occurs—the death and burial of the sinfulbeing and the rebirth of a spiritual, eternal life. The bloodof the Lord Jesus brings your spiritual being back to life.

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“And you were buried with [Christ] in baptism, in whichyou were also raised with him through faith in the workingof God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who weredead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh,God made alive together with him, having forgiven us allour trespasses” (Colossians 2:12,13).

The moment you come up out of thewater, you become a new being whohas escaped the punishment ofsin and possess the hope ofeternal life.

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New Life in Christ

During baptism, we exchange our sinful beings with thelife of Christ. So every believer who is baptized now livesin Christ. The Bible speaks of such exchange as “puttingon Christ.” Our Lord Jesus takes off our filthy clothes andputs on us a robe of righteousness, a righteousness as theresult of his perfect, sinless life.

This robe covers the shame of our sins and shields usfrom God’s righteous wrath. Whenever we ask for forgive-ness for failing to keep God’s commandments, God willforgive us because of Jesus’ sacrifice. How great is Christ’slove, that his blood continues to wash our sins away untilwe reach heaven!

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Along with the new life in Christ are God’s blessings andgracious promises. His love and guidance lead us daily,even through the deepest sorrows. His peace and joy fillour hearts always, even when we suffer pain andheartache.

Life becomes fulfilling because we have assurance ofheaven and our lives have a clear purpose. We can lookbeyond the grave to a blissful, eternal home.

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New Life in the Church

The blood of Christ not only brings us to God. It alsounites all believers. When we are baptized, we becomepart of God’s household, which consists of all God’s chil-dren. The Bible calls this household the body of Christ, orthe church.

“For just as the body is one and has many members, andall the members of the body, though many, are one body,so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptizedinto one body…” (1 Corinthians 12:12,13).

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We are to live out the new life in God’s family. We are toshare all our happiness and sadness, blessings andsuffering with other members of the family. God wants usto live in a spiritual community to learn to serve and give.

When we come together to worship God and encourageeach other, we allow Christ’s life to flow through thiscommunity and out into the world.

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Dead to Sin, Alive to Christ

The change of identity that occurs during baptism mustalso lead to a change in attitude and lifestyle. Paul, anapostle of Jesus, reminds us that the free grace of Godshould not be a license to remain in sin.

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin thatgrace may abound? By no means! How can we who died tosin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who havebeen baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into hisdeath? We were buried therefore with him by baptism intodeath, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by theglory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life”(Romans 6:1–4).

Baptism teaches us to say no to sin and yes to God’s will.

SinEternal Life

Grace

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We used to be rebellious children and went our own ways.But the life that we live after baptism is no longer ours, butChrist’s. We ought to live as obedient children and deter-mine to become as perfect as our Heavenly Father.

Even so, it is not by our efforts that we can live out God’sperfect nature. With God’s grace in our lives, we can havepower over our own weaknesses. The salvation of our LordJesus Christ is a life-long gift. As long as we determine to beobedient to God, he will continue to transform our lives. Bybuilding and keeping a trusting relationship with the LordJesus Christ after baptism, we can witness how Godcontinues to work wonders in our lives.

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Why Let Your Savior Wait?As much as God loves you, and as wonderful as Christ’ssalvation is, this love and salvation can come to you only ifyou are willing to repent of your sins, accept Jesus Christas Lord and Savior, and are baptized into Christ.

When the time comes for you to leave this world and faceGod’s judgment, whether or not your sins have been paidfor will be all that matters.

Since we do not know when that time will come, we mustheed this urgent calling:

“Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon himwhile he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and theunrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD,that he may have mercy on him, and to our God, for hewill abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:6,7).

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True faith means actingon what you believeonce you understandGod’s word. Indecisionis just unbelief indisguise.

Christ has done everything. You don’t need to wait until youare good enough for God, because no one can ever be goodenough for God without the help of Christ.

God is ready to accept youas you are, with allyour brokenness,despair, and misery.You just have tomake the choice ofaccepting him and hisfree gift of eternal life.

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Our loving Father is waiting patiently for you to come backto him. Why remain in the fleeting and deadly pleasure ofsin when your loving Father is waiting with open arms,ready to welcome you into to the freedom and blessings inhis house? Do not reject him any longer. Come back toGod and start a new life with him today.

“And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, andwash away your sins, calling on his name” (Acts 22:16).

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