Baptism
- Mrs. Bess
- Jul 17
- 2 min read
The Nicene Creed is an important statement of faith that has existed for over a thousand years. It was written by a collection of church leaders who came together at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD and the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD. It was written to help believers to state in a very simple way what they believe about God, His Son Jesus, the Holy Spirit.
The Nicene Creed ends with this: "I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." What a beautiful thing to consider- being a part of one big holy church that looks forward to everlasting life with God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit up in heaven!
When Jesus called people to follow him, it was to show them the way into God's kingdom, to bring them into God's family. He preached in Matthew 4:17, "Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." Jesus lived a life of obedience to the Father that was the perfect of example of how we are to live as God's children.
However, we don't obey perfectly, the way Jesus did. We sin in the things we do and the things we say. Unfortunately, we can't do anything to fix this problem of sinning. But Jesus told us that if we turn away from our sin and turn back to God, then we are forgiven! We are accepted by Him! We are made part of His family! And when we come by faith into His family we want others to know!
One way we show and tell others that we have come to faith is by being baptized. It is an outward sign of the work He has done in our hearts. The water doesn't do anything special, but it signifies the washing away of sin through the work of Jesus on the cross. He died once and that took care of it! And when we are baptized it indicates we are trusting in Him to cleanse us from our sins.
That doesn't mean we won't ever sin again, but it means that we are trusting Jesus to do a good work in our heart and life to help us to live in reliance on Him and the Holy Spirit each day. When we decide to follow Jesus, we turn back from our old ways of sin. No turning back!
If you have decided to follow Jesus, tell someone about it! And if you haven't been baptized and become part of a church family, look for a place to get involved and live a life of faith and trust alongside others who are trusting in Him too!
With love! Mrs. Bess
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