Cornerstone

Rom 6:1-4 (4)

All Christians have their baptismal stories. Let me tell you mine. I had been saved for some time and was endeavoring to live for the Lord. I wished, however, to give a symbolic public testimony to the fact that I had made a commitment to follow Jesus all of my life. Therefore, when pastor Robert Thompson, Sr. of the Mt. Zion Church of God (Holiness) congregation announced a baptismal service I asked to be a candidate.

We had no baptismal tank and so we did it the old fashioned way. In mid-November the congregation boarded the school’s bus and headed toward a beautiful creek in the Ozarks south of Mt. Zion Bible School. It was a cold and windy day. When it came my turn I waded out into the water where Bro. Thompson affirmed my testimony of the saving grace of Jesus and then plunged me neath the freezing flood! The cold water shocked my sensibilities. For a symbolic moment I crossed the line into another world. Then I was raised quickly and triumphantly to the symbolic challenges of the Christ-like life. Shivering but warm in my soul I made my way out of the water of testimony into an unfriendly world to stand for my Lord.

It was through this experience that I came to realize that in Romans 6 Paul was trying to equate burial with our separation from a sinful life. In addition, Paul was trying to equate resurrection with the consistent holy life of the Christian.

Dr. Gayle Woods

Gal 2:17-21 (20)

I have been at the head of a casket many times. Each time as the mourners passed by I tried to see inside of their soul. I have seen them tremble violently. I have seen them cry freely. I have seen them wail mournfully. And yet, one woman made an indelible impression on my mind. Her face was hard and expressionless. I saw hopelessness stamped across her countenance. I later learned that she was terrified of death. To her it was the end of all that she loved dearly. She saw no hope beyond the grave.

The Christian on the other hand looks at physical death from a different perspective. Because Jesus lives we have promise of life forevermore. Thus in explaining the separation that must take place when we turn from a life of sinfulness, Paul uses a meaningful word picture. He gives the paradox of the Christian hanging on a cross in death but at the same time full of abundant life. What does the word picture describe? Our life that is crucified is our past life of sinfulness. The past life of sinfulness and the determination to continue to live a life that is friendly toward sin is also crucified. And yet our life following conversion does not come to an end. Through the resurrection power of Jesus we now have life in Him. This means that our purpose for life is no longer to follow the suggestions of a sinful world but rather to do our best to be always pleasing to God.

Dr. Gayle Woods