The Eternal Identity : Christ Jesus You Are All Children Of God Through Faith

Rituals and ceremonies are the practical aspects of Christianity, which involve customary acts of special, deliberate and repeatable patterns of behaviour through the use of words, actions and symbols (Coleman, 2006). Rituals and ceremonies solidify the relationship between Christians and God as they present a practical, symbolic and comprehensible expression of their underlying beliefs (Morrissey, 2010). Baptism is the ritual of initiation into Christianity, which in essence, is initiation into a life of positive living modelled on Christ. Baptism is held within a congregation of the body of Christ where they vow to spiritually nurture the child or adult being baptised (RCA, 2012). The symbology of the water in baptism encompasses the cleansing of an individual, and it is a practical element of the ritual, which underpins a broader idea of initiating a living adherent into the religion. Another ritual present in all Christian denominations is prayer, which the baptised

When it comes to baptism, what automatically comes to mind is bathing of holy water and immersing into a life of God. Well that isn’t the same for literature. Typically in literature, a character’s “baptism” is when a character’s belief, perspective or motivation is changed throughout the novel. A great example of a symbolic baptism is in the novel Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, dealing with the character Noah.

Ultimately, when an individual responds to their baptismal call, a community of Christian believers are united under the goal of guiding the initiated. Thus, this attained unity allows the faith to prosper like a living religion. Furthermore, re-birth from sin is intrinsically connected to the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is a fundamental belief throughout Christianity, though it is practiced differently. “Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word.” (CCC, 1213). Regardless of the denomination, all baptism rituals symbolise beliefs in the Christian faith, all involves water. Some denominations, like Lutheran practice the sprinkling of water over the head of an initiate, while Pentecostals, practice immersing the head of the initiate in the water. Thus a reminder that, “Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”, for individuals who have been initiated that they made a commitment to the teachings, practices and life of of the community. The baptised should live a life of faith as modelled on the example of Jesus, who forgave their sin. The last belief derived from Baptism, is the believed in the Trinity. Through the guidance and support of the Holy Spirit, an individual's is able to carry out God’s word, and evangelise and spread the message of Jesus. “One will come more powerful that I, and he

For Orthodox Christians the significance of the sacrament of baptism is in the entry into the church as members of body of Christ. It is the ‘new birth ‘by which we die to the world, and are raised with Christ to external life. It is through baptism

Connection: The biblical story, Jonah and the Whale, is an example of Baptism. God gave Jonah a job, but he set off in another direction. Suddenly, there was a storm. The boat was tossing in the middle of the sea. No one on the boat knew what to do. Jonah knew that the storm was because of him. God was with him. Everyone prayed for forgiveness and they threw Johan into the water. The storm immediately stopped. God heard Jonah’s prayers and sent a fish to rescue him. Jonah lived in the fish’s stomach for three days. He prayed to God for help. When it was safe, the fish spit Jonah out onto the land. Jonah was cleansed when he returned back to the land. Being tossed into the water was symbolic. He was reborn after the incident.

To fully understand Romans 8:1-4, we need to establish a basic concept of the book of Romans. All the way back as far as 57 A.D, the book of Romans is speculated to be written by Tertious, a secretary of the apostle Paul. This is shown in Romans 16:22. Paul intended to write the book, the book of Romans, to help create faith in the Romans. It is speculated that the apostle Paul, with the help of his secretary, wrote the book of Romans in the city of Corinth in Greece.The book of Romans consists of how to believe in God and that we are not saved through our own sin but through Christ Jesus who paid the ultimate price for our sins. In Romans 8:1-4, it talks about how we are not condemned to death because we are saved through Christ Jesus from him dying on the cross.

moment they saw Jesus as he really was the Son of God talking with two

     The details of Jesus’ childhood were skipped by Matthew, most likely to show how significant his years of ministry were. The next important moment in the life of Jesus was his baptism. He went to the Jordan River where he met his cousin, John the Baptist, who was a prominent preacher of the time. John knew that Jesus was the Son of God, so he found it difficult to baptize him. He felt that Jesus should be the one baptizing him, but Jesus made it clear that it was his Father’s will that it should be done. As Jesus was baptized, the presence of God was felt among Jesus and the crowd. Matthew 3:16 tells of the heavens being opened up and the spirit of God descending upon him in the form of a dove. In Matthew 3:17, God said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” To anyone who is unfamiliar with Jesus, this is strong evidence of his powerful presence in the world to do the work of God.

Often held as a rite of passage and entrance into the Christian church, baptism is much more than just symbolic ritual. Baptism was commanded by Jesus Christ in the Great Commission recounted in the book of Matthew. Even though we are simplistically called to be obedient by being baptized the Christian church has long debated the aspects of this ordinance. Denominations are divided on the basic meaning, types and modes of baptism even two thousand years after the founding of the Christian church. Just as the other ordinance, the Lord’s Supper, congregations find themselves at odd with tradition, biblical interpretation and even individual understanding. However, the simple message of this awe inspiring act can be explained out of the

In a contemporary Christian environment one of the most prominent practices to have a significant contribution to Christianity as a living religious tradition is Baptism. Baptism is of utmost importance for most Christian denominations. It has profound significance for the individual who is baptised and is also important for the Christian community as a whole. As a sacrament of initiation, Baptism calls its adherents to become missionary Disciples of Christ. It is through baptism that one’s faith journey begins and Christians are called to follow and live their lives in the light of Christ.

Baptism is the sacramental rite that admits an adherent into the Christian Church community. It has origins with of John the Baptist as described in the Gospels, available through the recounts from Paul.

All Christians know about the Great Commission, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20, English Standard Version). In that command, Jesus tells us to baptize in the name of the Trinity. What does the word “baptism” mean? Baptimsa and sometimes baptismos, the Greek word origin of “baptism”, can translate to “immersion” or “bathing” without any religious implications (McGowan, 2014). Nearly every Christian church practices baptism with a religious implication; however, they do not agree on God’s activity in, the qualifications for admitting a person to, and methods of administering baptism. For instance, many churches do not baptize people until they become adults and make a profession of faith, while others encourage baptizing an infant soon after they are born. The practices and philosophy for baptism changed throughout its use in the New Testament, the Early Church, and the Medieval era.

The recognition of the identity as a Christian took for a long time. The disciples, apostles, and other followers of Jesus gradually formed the Christian identity with the growth of faith and the changes in the social, religious environment. In Mark, the disciples and the followers of Jesus believed in Jesus, but their faith was too weak to become Christians. Jesus’s resurrection confirmed Jesus as the Son of Men to the unfaithful followers and strengthened their faith. In Acts, the apostles and the followers of Jesus formed an organized Christian community though they had not had a clear concept of Christians. But the later persecutions and the martyrdom facilitated and confirmed their Christian identity.

The Logos doctrine, through Justin’s formation, used certain key phrases such as: “Son of God” and “Christ,” which was used to differentiate a mediatorial figure that Justin insisted was “another God.” Looking back one can see this as the spark that lighted trinitarianism, however in the early church’s mindset, they saw this as Justin introducing a second God. Logos will still be expounded upon, however a movement against this new doctrine was formed and was entitled monarchianism. Coming from monarchia, which means roughly “uniqueness of the first principle.” This doctrine was strictly monotheistic.

We believe that we can take the names of those who we led to Christ. They can be family, friends, co-workers or complete strangers. One day we’ll stand before God and so will those who accepted Christ because of our obedience to His command. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Christ is compelling us to talk openly about what He did for us at the cross. The gospel is simple. Jesus Christ died on a cross so mankind could spend eternity in heaven with a loving God. The other John said, “For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” There is one thing certain in this life and that is physical death, but what happens after death? No one alive can answer that question, but God’s Word tells us. If you were to ask people what happens after we die, what answers would you expect? Most people would not know what to expect. Many would think “that’s it”! What happens with our mind and our soul? John the Baptist’s life is an example to us of the seriousness with which we are to approach the Christian life and our call to ministry, whatever that may be. We can pattern our lives after John’s by first examining ourselves to be sure we are truly in the faith and then to put that faith to work. John the Baptist was both secured in Christ and secured, of his position in this world. Are