“For as indeed through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the One, the many will be made righteous.” Romans 5:19
We were made a sinner, without any effort on our part. We were born with the spirit of sin in our flesh through Adam. Christ also now makes us righteous through no effort of ourselves through faith, in believing who He is and what He has done for us. [Righteousness is credited] “To those believing on the One having raised Jesus our Lord out from the dead, who was delivered over for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.” Romans 4:24-25
Now to this there is an act of obedience. The spirit of sin entered into the flesh of Adam through disobedience. It is not the fruit that gave him the knowledge of evil, the fruit in itself was harmless. But it is the very act of disobedience in believing the lie of the devil that brought his spirit to work in Adam’s flesh and through him the knowledge of evil.
Christ now also gives us an opportunity to act in obedience to Him, having made us righteous through faith. The obedience of baptism in water. Through which the spirit of sin, that once gained access to the flesh through disobedience may be expelled from our own flesh through an act of obedience, that we may be set free from sin to live a life of righteousness. [Note]: It is not the water that drives sin out of our flesh, but our obedience to Christ, which allows Him to do for us what we could not do ourselves.
Baptism is an integral part of our walk with Christ and over the power of the enemy. We think this enemy to be in some far away place, but it is as close as it can be in our very flesh, working against us. He has successfully deceived us through the centuries to relegate baptism to a mere formal religious practice [in infant baptism] where it does us no good. Baptism is an act of obedience, we have to do it ourselves, NO ONE can be obedient for us in our behalf. We have to be immersed into the water to make the death and burial of Christ to be our own, so as to be raised with Christ, making His life of righteousness our own.
“Therefore Christ having suffered in the flesh, you also arm yourselves with the same mind, because the one having suffered in the flesh is done with sin, so as to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer to men’s desires, but to the will of God. For the time past is sufficient to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having walked in sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and abominable idolatries.” 1 Peter 4:1-3
Peter associates baptism with the suffering of Christ. Not that we suffer in the flesh like Christ, because he says, “one having suffered in the flesh is done with sin” now Christ struggled against sin to the very end of His life, so it says in Romans “He died to sin.” But in respect to us he says, “is done with sin,to live the remaining time in the FLESH…For the will of God” The point he is making is, baptism is a means by which we take part in the suffering of Christ against sin. Not that we bear the burden striving against sin ourselves, Christ has already done that. Which lives us free to live for the will of God [free from sin]. And he goes on to compare, the old manner of life from which we are set free from, and calls it “the desires of the Gentiles” as a picture of the uncircumcision of heart.
There are a large portion of Christians who have never given heed to the truth of water baptism. It has been made light of, to be some religious ritual. This is a grave error. The life of sin begun in disobedience and the life of righteousness MUST also begin with obedience. This EASTER consider the death and resurrection of Christ, and if you by your own will have not been baptised in Christ, to make His suffering your own, we encourage you to do so.
Be obedient to Jesus Christ and be baptised.
Bread Bait. 
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