What difference does it make that baptism is an ordinance? To borrow an expression from Paul the Apostle, “Much every way.”

“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:3,4)

In the four gospels and the Acts, baptism refers to the practice of literal water baptism. It is for those who have come to know Christ as Savior. When we reach the New Testament’s epistles, however, baptism often refers to something other than water baptism...but we must understand water baptism for 6:3 to make sense. 

For a number of reasons, I believe the Bible shows us that it is.

Acts 8:26-39 is a case study involving conversion and baptism. The eunuch’s question for Philip was, essentially, “Is there any reason why I shouldn’t be baptized?” Philip clearly answered the question by putting the eunuch to a test: “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest [be baptized]” (8:37).

Paul says in Phil. 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.” The problem is not that we do not have the opportunities in life. It is that we do not confront our own inadequacies, face up to them, and seek to conquer life’s difficulties through faith in Christ.

Spurgeon said, "He who lives without prayer, or little prayer, is the Christian whose heart will become dry and barren." You cannot remain a fresh and vibrant Christian without prayer and without being a student of the Word of God.

How important is Jacob’s ladder?  It was a gigantic object lesson God used to point to Jesus. 

An anonymous source has identified some interesting features of spiritual harvests:

1. The harvest God provides: "Seedtime and harvest...shall not cease" (Gen. 8:22).
2. The harvest sin produces: "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Gal. 6:7)
3. The Gospel harvest: "They (the fields) are white already to harvest" (John 4:35).
4. The harvest of judgment: "The harvest is the end of the world" (Matt. 13:39).

This Christmas, read Mary’s song and allow it to be a primer on worship. Allow it to move you to spontaneous worship. Allow it to cause your soul to magnify the Lord.