After hearing and being convicted by the Gospel message three thousand Jews asked what they must do to be saved. Peter told them to 1. Repent 2. Be baptized 3. Receive the Holy Spirit. To repent simply means to turn from your sins and trust God to forgive you through the blood of Jesus.

Those who come to Christ not only come for the forgiveness of their sins but are inviting Christ into their lives- to actually allow Christ to live His righteous life in them. Paul wrote in Galatians chapter 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up for me." This nothing short of a transference of ownership. Paul understood that he no longer belonged to himself.

Paul was "crucified with Christ" when he was baptized and became a new creature in Christ when he received the Holy Spirit. "Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin." Romans 6:3-7

Notice the strength of the expressions -"baptized into Christ" and "baptized into His death" and "buried with Him in baptism." Your baptism is your personal identification with the most significant act in human history-the death, burial and resurrection of the Son of God. Jesus not only gave His life to forgive you of your sins, but through the act of baptism God crucifies and buries the old self born of the fallen nature of Adam. Now, in Christ, through the Spirit, you become born again of the imperishable Seed of the Son of God. You now receive a new and divine nature - "He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust." 2 Peter 1:4

Jesus told Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews who was secretly following Jesus, "Unless you are born again you cannot see the Kingdom of God. . . That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" John 3:3,6

1. Baptism means that you have made a conscious decision to turn from your old life of sin to a new life in Jesus Christ-to walk obediently before Him.

 It means that you have counted the costs and found that the cost is total and have made a public vow to your Creator that you have chosen a life in Christ. It means you have considered a life in Christ, no matter how difficult it may be, to be of more value that all that is in the world. "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it." Matthew 13:44-46 Jesus once asked, "What will it profit a person to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul?" Mark 8:36

Through Baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit we are promised to Christ as a bride is promised to a husband, - "For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin." 2 Corinthians 11:2 And speaking forward to the time when Christ comes for His bride, we read, - "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." Revelation 19:7 So, the vow we make at baptism serves also as a marriage vow to fidelity. Fidelity means "faithfulness to a person, cause or belief demonstrated by continuing loyalty."

Most people today put little stock in vows. Someone vows to make payments on a automobile or a home, but when the going gets a little difficult they break the vow they once made to make the payments. The same can be said about marriage vows. God created and instituted marriage at the very beginning. He ordained marriage to be between a man and a woman, who would become "one flesh" until death. Jesus said "What God has joined, let no man tear apart." For millennia marriage vows contained the phrase, "until death do we part" and "for better and for worse"

But this isn’t what we typically see today. It’s more like, "until I become weary" or "until I am attracted to another" or "until we have financial problems or it just hasn’t worked out like I wanted." This is the reason so many fail to work through the difficulties of married life. If they viewed it as "until death do we part" there would be real incentive to try to make each other happy and endure the difficulties as they arise-to make it work. Why? Well, because you made a public vow before God that you would stick it out no matter what-"for better or for worse, until death do we part."

Baptism is a public declaration that you are laying down your will and submitting to the will of God. You are making a vow to be faithful to Him for better or for worse, until death takes you. God gave His only begotten Son to save you and draw you near. And Jesus willingly suffered and died that you may have eternal life in Him. He gave all for you. The cost for you is also total but the eternal reward is so great that nothing you surrender can be compared to what you will receive. Christianity is not meant to be comfortable, millions have been killed and tortured. You are either all in, or you are not in at all. Jesus said "he who is not with Me is against Me." To God there can be no halfway or straddling the fence. Your focus must be to obey and please God at the cost of all else. "For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it to turn away from the Holy Commandment handed on to them." 2 Peter 2:20-21

And finally, God has not called you to a lukewarm commitment. He hasn’t called you to a faith which is in compromise with the world. He has called you to a dynamic faith in which you must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. A faith in which you strive to keep His Commandments. A faith in which you constantly battle against the lusts and pulls of the flesh that war against the Spirit. But in Christ you will be more than a conqueror! You will struggle at times but will receive power from on High by the Spirit to win the war.

2. Baptism into Christ means joining the ranks of those who have gone before you. To become a member of the Church of the Living God who worships Him in Spirit and in truth. To become an individual member of the Body of Christ.

There are more than a billion people who claim to follow Christ but who don’t truly obey Him. When told His family were outside waiting to see Him, Jesus said, "Who is my mother, brothers and sisters? It is they who follow the will of My Father."

Most of us were once in the Sunday Churchianity crowd. But when God opened our eyes to see the truth we repented. We left that crowd behind because we could not fellowship (walk together) in the truth. We wanted to keep the Sabbath and have a Holy convocation before the Lord-but they insisted on profaning the Sabbath and meet on Sunday. We wanted to keep the Holy Day Feasts of the Lord while they made provisions for holidays from traditions of men. Jesus said "In vain do they worship Me-forsaking the Commandments of God to hold to the traditions of men." Matt. 15

. "Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?" 2 Corinthians 6:14-15

A life in Christ means that you have taken the narrow road to life. A road where the travelers are few. It can be a lonely journey at times, but the Lord promised, "I will never leave nor forsake you, but will be with you til the end."

Being baptized into Christ means you have a hope of eternal glory living forever in the presence of God. In his presence there is the fulness of joy. And in His right hand are pleasures forevermore.