The Sword of the LORD

Baptism is often overlooked as simply a ritual or act that Christians perform as a show of obedience to the Lord.  Once baptized, many Christians never think of it again - the obligation has been fulfilled.  I pray that after reading this today, your view of baptism is changed, and that your whole walk with God is transformed forever.   In the sixth chapter of Romans, the apostle Paul plainly teaches the basic principles of baptism, beginning with the question: “Shall we continue in sin?”   The answer is clearly, “no;” but the reason is very intriguing.  The writer asks how we, who are dead to sin, can live any longer in sin.  Many Christians I know struggle from day to day to do the right things, make the right choices, and live a life that is pleasing to God.  They live their life in full awareness that they are open to temptation and subject to attack and, therefore, are ever busy fighting and resisting those temptations – sometimes successfully, and sometimes not so much.  Aft

"Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls." (James 1:21).    A neighbor who lives behind me has an amazing apple tree.  It is enormous, and has been there for a very long time.  It provides a lot of shade to them in the summer time, and an ample amount of fruit in the fall.  The amazing thing about this tree, though, is not its size, or age, or even the amount of apples that it bears; no, the amazing thing is that it bears five different varieties of apple!  Someone years ago took the time to graft the branches of other apple trees into the branches of this existing tree.  Now, that which was not possible for this tree to bear on its own has not only become possible, but a reality.   The Bible teaches us that the Word of God can be grafted into the lives of believers.  It is an operation that is, unfortunately, very foreign to man in general.  Paul tells us in Rom