Baptism, Where Have You Gone?

 Somewhere along the line, baptism which was always tied to salvation in the proclamation of the gospel in the entire time after Jesus, got lost.  

Something in our presentation of the gospel is not the same as it was in those days.  We seem to be missing the message that our bodies are bodies of death and that baptism is needed to seal the transformation that our words invite.  The physical act of baptism is a very real act in the spirit realm.  Romans 6 makes this clear and other passages back it up.  

Presenting the gospel as a get out of hell free card, points to all the benefits for us, but does not make us aware of the death that is inherent in our fleshly nature.  Our presentation of the gospel should include the need for the death of the fleshly nature and then maybe more people would say with the Etheopian eunuch, "There is water what prevents me being baptized?"  The fact that people do not say this when we present the gospel means that we have fundamentally changed the message.

We should repent and reexamine this.  Oh Lord heal, Oh Lord forgive.