New Life in Jesus

Dorothy Leeu Nultae once wrote this contemplation on childhood. Children

will learn what they live. If a child lives with criticism,

he learns to condemn. If a child lives with hostility,

he learns to fight. If a child lives with ridicule,

he learns to be shy. If a child lives with shame,

he learns to feel guilty. If a child lives with tolerance,

he learns to be patient. If a child lives with encouragement,

he learns confidence. If a child lives with praise, he

learns to appreciate. If a child lives with fairness, he

learns justice. If a child lives with security, he learns

to have faith. If a child lives with approval, he

learns to like himself. If a child lives with acceptance

in friendship, he learns to find love in the world. Now,

our Bible teaches us plainly that we are saved by

a gospel, the Good News Gospel of Gas that is

the Gospel of God that comes from God, who is God,

our Father, Father, Abba Father God in Jesus Christ. God

has called us personally to walk in the spirit, to

have a new life as a son or daughter of God.

That's what baptism means, not a life based on fear.

God does want to scare anybody under the water. It's

the kindness of God that leads us to repentance. We

aren't saved because we're good people, dear hearts. We are

saved by a good God, a loving God, an eternally

consistent and dependable God. And we see God in Christ

on Calvary's Cross. And the God we know in Jesus

is not just God and the Lord's prayer Christ at

our Father who art in heaven. He is Father God,

Abba Father God. And so Paul will call the Gospel

in Romans the Gospel of God at the heart of

the book Abba Father God. In Jesus, we come to

know God as our father, not just as his father.

And how does God treat the new baby believer, or

any believer for that matter, who truly puts their faith

in Jesus Christ as their personal savior. Romans eight one

tells us how he treats them. In fact, you should

take this verse and just underlight in your Bible abbey

with that big marker of yours Romans eight one. There

is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in

Christ Jesus and the oldest Greek manucipt scripts have nothing

more than that, no condemnation. Now let this verse seek

into your heart and mind for the rest of your life.

Is the good news of the Gospel of God in Jesus.

Christ in Jesus. Say it with me. I am not

condemned in Jesus. I am not condemned in Jesus. It

does not matter what other people think of me. God

thinks well of me in Jesus. The fact that any

and everyone can say whatever they want to about me,

but I can raise my head high as a son

or daughter of God because I was baptized into Jesus

huge in Christ Jesus. I'm not condemned anymore now or

any day of my life, or in the judgment day

Romans eight two. For the law of the spirit of

life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the

law of sin and death. For God has done with

the law. Weakened by the flesh, could not do sending

his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and

for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh. Why, in

order that the just requirement of the law might be

fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh,

but according to the spirit. Friend. God does not save

us by setting aside as holy law and ignoring our

sin to look nice. He didn't come into this world

to reveal a love that does not engage the law

of God. God is his law. If in the planet

of salvation itself, the Gospel engages our sin, it deals

with it with mercy, but it upholds God's law at

the same time, demonstrating the justice of God. We are

not saved by a lawless God or a lawless Gospel.

Paul speaks of two laws here in Romans eight number one,

the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

Number two, the law of sin and death. And you

might think, well, why are there two laws. Well, really,

it's the same law seen from two different perspectives. In

verse three, the two laws are observed from the two

perspectives of the Gospel, and verse three Paul simply calls

them both the law. The law of sin and death

is what it is, the law we see at the cross,

because the Bible says the wages of sin and death.

We see Jesus dying for our sins. The most important

truth of the Gospel because we broke the ten Commandment

law of God from Adam. Not a single human being

has lived without breaking God's law. The law of God

does not forgive us. It does not forgive us at

the cross either, because the law can never forgive. The

Law of God intrinsically is a standard, and if broken,

it condemns us at the cross. We have all sin,

We've all fallen short of the glory of God, and

the Law of God requires that a law breaker die

at the cross. Jesus died for me, Jesus died for you,

and in a mysterious way we die in him at

the cross and one Corinthians fifteen fifty six and fifty seven.

Paul tells us that the power of sin to bring

death is found in the law, because the law condemns

First Corinthians fifteen fifty six and fifty seven. The sting

of death is sin. The power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God who gives us the victory

through a Lord Jesus Christ. Paul tells us that the

law is right, righteous and Romans three. There's nothing wrong

with it, but the law cannot provide our righteousness to

make up for the broken law. So the righteousness of

God that engages the law, engages our failures comes through

the gift of Jesus Christ, the revealing, the unfolding of Christ,

who took our place, who absorbed our sin, who became

the sin bearer from Adam to the end, so that

not one jot or tittle from the law would be forgotten.

As God forgave the human race in Christ and appelled

his law at the cross, Jesus took our place because

the holy law of God condemns us. Friends, Jesus died

in my place, your place, our place as a lawbreaker,

the sin bearer, even though he never broke the law.

Even once he took the role away from us, he

took the outcome away from us. Christ took our place

on Calvary's Cross to die for our sins. The law

the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. The second aspect

of the law, is the most important dimension of God's law.

Why because the same ten commandment law of God that

requires the death of the sinner, you and me, requires

that a righteous man or a righteous woman live. The

law will not allow a sinless person to be condemned.

And yet Christ, a sinless person, was condemned paradox and

one Peter three eighteen. Peter tells us that a great

exchange occurs in the Gospel that benefits the unrighteous for

all eternity. He says, for Christ also died for sins.

Paul says, for our sins once for all. Why the

righteous for the What does the Bible say the righteous

for the unrighteous? He's righteous, We're unrighteous. Being put to

death in the flesh and made alive in the spirit.

That's what baptism is about. On the cross, the righteous man,

Jesus Christ died for every righteous, unrighteous son and daughter

of Adam from Adam to the end. He didn't leave

anyone out. And when Christ cried out, it is finished.

At the cross he breathed his last breath. He had

endured an agony worse than the lake of fire. For

all the host of evil, the devil, and his angels too.

We will have no clue what he went through. From

gaseimone the cross, he absorbed the human race into himself,

and he redeemed us. The law requires unrighteous sinners die

to never live again. And yet Jesus was not a sinner.

Jesus died for the unrighteous on Bad Friday at the Cross,

not Good Friday, Bad Friday at the Cross. The judge's

gabble fell hard on sin, and every sinner placed inside

of Jesus died with Jesus in a union that is

a mystery. The lamb of God, who takes away the

sins of the world, absorbed our death into him. Jesus

rested in the tomb on Sabbath. Early Sunday morning, the

judgment reconvened, and it was revealed that for the first

time in the history of our dark world, a son

of Adam had lived a perfect life. There was a

righteous man online, and yet paradoxically he was executed for

being a sinner, and the holy law of God that

requires the death of the sinner had to readdress the problem.

How can you leave a righteous man under the power

of death when he never sinned? So early Sunday morning

is that judgment rened? The angels and the law and

God were reckoned With this God swore an oath. It's

recording the Book of Hebrews by he says, you are

my son, you are a priest forever. After the order

of Melchzedek, and in Psalms two seven, the same oath says,

you know. He says that basically, you're the Lord has sworn.

He says, I have today, I have begotten you from

the womb of the tomb. Jesus came to life because

he was justified in the resurrection as a righteous man.

Now here's what baptism does. When we have Christ, we

experience the condemnation of our sins. We accept God's judgment.

We're broken by sin, but we're in Christ. He takes

us through the tomb where sin is separated, and then

he comes to the resurrection. When God justified his son,

he declared him not guilty. And as the person comes

out of the waters of baptism, the same occurs in

their life, not guilty. Roman sixty seven says in baptism

they are justified by faith from sin, which means they

cannot be prosecuted in the judgment day. That is justification

by faith. That sister White says, that is the third

Angel's message. In verity, God exhausted his righteous judgment against

sin inside of Jesus because God was in Christ. Paul says,

not counting men's sins against them, Hallelujah, Praise God for

my sake and yours. On Sunday morning, God raised Jesus

from the dead because God's law demanded that Jesus live

the law of the spirit of life in Christ. Jesus

has set me free from the law of sin and death.

Would a man or woman is baptized into Jesus, that

man or woman makes the journey by faith from condemnation

at the cross for sin, to removal of sins, to justification,

acceptance in the resurrection from sins as they rise to

a new life, as Jesus did on resurrection morning. If

God treats us that way, what does it mean? The

Bible says, he basically treats us as if we had

never sinned. Think of the worst thing you've ever done,

but don't say it? Are you thinking?

Not too long? Okay?

In Christ, forgiven, in Christ, justified not to sin, but

sin to walk with Him. This is not cheap grace.

It's grace that gets the job done, that causes the

life to be born again to a new life, that

brings the life into submission and brokenness, so that we

surrender and we live for others instead of trying to

look good. Fake religion is trying to look good. True

religion is not trying to look good. It's letting God

do his work in us through the Holy Spirit the

New life. The believer who plants his or her faith

firmly in Jesus has a right now righteousness, good enough

for every day of their life and good enough for

the judgment day also, And in this atmosphere of acceptance,

Paul says, God has lavished his grace upon us. In

this atmosphere of acceptance, we grow without a stick over

our head. We're not living because of fear. We're living

because of love. And it is a powerful compelling force

through the Holy Spirit to keep all of God's law,

but to really keep it, not to keep it like

you aren't but you aren't, but to keep it because

you're loving other people. The principles of the law worked

out in the life the New Covenant experience. And in

this atmosphere of acceptance lavished on us by our father God,

we learn to obey God because he's our daddy. We

learn to grow and know God better from the heart.

Because we're accepted. We have the new life that is free,

not free to go back to the old stuff, free

to go forward in the love of God and obey

Romans eighty five. For those who live according to the

flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh.

But those who live according the Spirit set their minds

on the same things of the Spirit. To set the

mind on the flesh, what does it say, It's death,

So you don't want to go back to the old life,

you want to go forward. But to set the mind

on the spirit, what does it say, It's life and peace.

So when we're moving forward, asking God, what can I

do and how can I live? For you that we're

in the spirit, we have peace and we obey. He

goes on to say, for the mind that is said

on the flesh is hostile to God. It does not

submit to God's law. Indeed it cannot. And those who

are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are

not in the flesh. You are in the spirit. If

in fact, the Spirit of God dwells in you, and

anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does

not belong to him. So what happens at baptism is

that the Holy Spirit is given to the believer. That's

why we're going to have a prayer for our baptismal

candidates who have been baptized, for the outpoint of the

Holy Spirit, for the new life, for the fruits of

the spirit. As baby believers. God gives us the Holy

Spirit so we can grow and overcome and know God

in the new life. Now, God doesn't do things to

us to discourage us. Satan is out there. There are

spiritual forces he would love to demoralize you and your

baptism experience. You know what you got to remind when

you have that first mistake after baptism and you feel

like you let the Lord down. Remind yourself that you

were baptized into Christ. That Christ doesn't kick his children

out of the family. That while you are sorry for sin,

you're not going to live in it. Because you've been

called to the New life. You've been filled with the

Holy Spirit, and in that atmosphere of acceptance, face the

things you need to face as you grow and come

to know Jesus better and better. I'm still facing things

in my life that the Lord shows me. That's part

of what it means to grow in Christ. God doesn't

suddenly make you perfect at your baptism. He wants you

to grow in faith. He wants you to grow care

closer to Him. He wants you to be tested so

your character can develop. Life will be a challenge at times,

but we still have that old sinful nature that no

longer has a right to define us and to rule

over us in life Verses ten and eleven. But if

Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because

of sin, your spirits are alive because of what does

it say righteousness? If the spirit of Him who raised

Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised

Jesus Christ from the dead will give life to your

mortal bodies also through the spirit which dwells in you. So, then, brethren,

we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according

to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh,

you will die. But if by the Spirit you put

to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Our new status with God is not defined by our

success our failures, by our vital connection of faith to

God through the Holy Spirit in our lives. If you

are led of the Spirit of God, you're God's child.

He's not nitpicking at your growth, He's looking at who

you belong to. We are God's children now, John says,

it does not yet appear we will be, but when

he comes, will be his for God's children. Now, because

God has given us the Holy Spirit at baptism, the

Holy Spirit creates in us the true ansforming attitude of

a son and daughter of God Verses fourteen to seventeen.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God

are the children or sons of God. For you did

not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back, that

means to go away into what what does it say fear?

God does not want to use fear to motivate you.

We're children of God, but you have received the spirit

of sonship of being a child of God. When we cry,

and what does it say? Abba? Father? Abba is the

Aramaic Hebrew for daddy, father, father, Daddy father, he says

in verse sixteen. Is the Spirit himself. Spirit is in

just some impersonal presence the Greek personal pronoun. In Verse

sixteen tells you the spirit is the third person of

the Godhead, as Sister White calls him. It is the

Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are

children of God, the Spirit himself, Paul says, will intercede

for us. Thus we have a connection within us to

the God that is outside of us, so that we

are part of the family of God Verse seventeen. And

if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow errs

with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that

we may also be glorified with him. I am grateful

for the Holy Spirit, the unseen person of the Godhead,

who brings Jesus and the presence of the Father into

our lives, because they are one and in this wonderful union.

Sister White says that because of our baptismal vow in

the name of the Father, of the Son, and the

Holy Spirit, these three great heavenly worthies, which are the

three great worthies of the Godhead, pledge themselves, she says,

with all their power and all their might to make

sure we make it to heaven. That's a huge promise.

And so as before, as we end our service here,

I want to invite all the baptismal candidates come forward

right here. I like the elders of the church and

any significant family members who would like to be a

part of the prayer. But the elders of the church

are going to lay hands on them. And as they're

coming here, let me make a simple call by the

raising of hands. If you need to be baptized, and

you have not been baptized by immersion, and you know

it's needed in your walk with Christ, and you want

to be baptized, raise your hand high so we see it.

Raise your hand high. Okay, thank you, Quinn, God's working Donald.

Anybody else here, Okay, you come to Elder Mervyn John

and myself and we will help you. Okay, I'm gonna

step down. Yeah, let's just form a circle here, and

the elders of the church are just a little circle

here in the middle. Come a little closer of this way.

We're gonna kneel and pray for you. I want the

elders to be able to just lay a hand on

you as we pray. But come on in closer, like Debbie,

you come right over here, and I'll let you be

a part of this prayer. And let's just kneel, and

if any any elders in the midst here, just come

up here and join us for the laying on of hands,

because we need enough hands to help us. Any elders

that are staying out there Okay, what Elder Del Santos,

please you and your wife come forward, just him. That's

all right, okay, alrighty, and let's let's make sure that

the circle is a little closer. We want a hand

on every single new baptismal candidate. We don't want to

leave anyone out because of our space. Here, we're going

to pray. Let's kneel. Let's just neil, if you don't mind,

take it easy, no hurries.

Yeah, there we go. Let's pray, and Pastor Dos Santos

come over here, and once you offer the dedication prayer

for us for the baptismal care, let's thank you receiving

the Holy.

Spirit, HM, Fathering Heaven. Blessed be your name, because you

have made everything is needed for our salvation. Blessed be

your name, because you have promised the Holy Spirit to

work in our hearts, to bring conviction of sin, to

repent our hearts, and to create new heart in us. Lord,

we are here before you with this precious groups of people, girls,

young people, men and women who have decided to give

your life to their life to you. They have been baptized.

Their names has been written in the Book of Life.

Oh Lord, Please give their names there till the moment

you can call them to be with you by attorney

for eternity, We Lord ask the blessing of your spirit

in their lives. Fill their lives with your spirit. Give them,

Lord that gives their needs to work in the ministry,

to participate in mission. Fill them with your spirit, Lord,

and make them people in accordance to your heart. We

ask with them the blessing of your spirit. Bless the

church all of all. Lord, with your spirit today and

we are Lord, Please lead the life of your children today,

give them the wisdom to live every day. Give them

the joy of salvation, and make them Lord, be contagious

to others. Made them be a good influence to others,

to their civilings, to their families, to their relatives, to

their friends, to their colleagues. Made them Lord and good

influence to their nervors. Wheever they go, whatever they do,

may do everything in accordance to your will. Lord. Thank

you for the ministry of your servants, the elders of

the church Pastor Mike, and the theme of elders in

this church. Thank you, Lord for the world they have

done to inspire these people. To lead these people to

bring them to you. Lord, Please continue to pour your

spirit upon our lives that we can use follow your

instructions and fulfill the purpose you have for us. We

know you have purpose, special purposes for those who have

been baptized today. We ask Lord, help them to keep

the vision, to never lose the vision about the hope

of your second coming. Help them, and help us all

to be ready to see Esus who is coming soon.

We want to be their Lord, but we know we

have now the opportunity and the privilege the responsibility to

share with others the hope that fills our lives. Help us,

Lord to do our best to honor you as we

put our hands upon this Your children who have been

baptized today, Lord, pour your spirit upon them. Pour your

spirit upon them in accordance to your promises. You have promise.

Ask and it will be given. Lord, give us the

holy spirit. We pray in Jesus' name. A man, A man,

a man,