I Have Been Baptized into Christ

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)

<a href="http://songsfromscripture.bandcamp.com/album/arise-my-soul">Arise My Soul by Abe &amp; Liza Philip</a>

Themes: Baptism, Salvation, Cross, Eternal Life

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LYRICS

VERSE ONE
Before the worlds, He loved me first
Jesus redeemed me from the curse
In agony, He bled and died
I have been baptized into Christ

VERSE TWO
I have been crucified with Christ
Buried with Him and made alive
He lives in me, now sin must die
I have been baptized into Christ

CHORUS
I have been baptized into Christ
Into His death and raised to life
Jesus is all and He is mine
I have been baptized into Christ

VERSE THREE
O praise the Father, Spirit, Son
For Christ the Lord has overcome
And while He lives, I cannot die
I have been baptized into Christ

CHORUS

VERSE FOUR
So come what may, I will not fear
In life and death, the Lord is near
Now I am bound for Paradise
I have been baptized into Christ

CHORUS (repeat)

ENDING
I have been baptized into Christ

THE WORD IN THE WORDS

VERSE ONE
Before the worlds, He loved me first

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3-6) / We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Jesus redeemed me from the curse

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (Galatians 3:13)

In agony, He bled and died

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. (Hebrews 5:7) / …looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. (Hebrews 12:2-3)

I have been baptized into Christ

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? (Romans 6:3)

VERSE TWO
I have been crucified with Christ

For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (Galatians 2:19-21)

Buried with Him and made alive

having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. (Colossians 2:12)

He lives in me, now sin must die

“Christ in you, the hope of glory.”—Colossians 1:27 / Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as [d]instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6: 12-14)

I have been baptized into Christ

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? (Romans 6:3)

CHORUS
I have been baptized into Christ
Into His death and raised to life

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3-4)

Jesus is all and He is mine

you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is call, and in all. (Colossians 3:9-11)

I have been baptized into Christ

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13)

VERSE THREE
O praise the Father, Spirit, Son

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19)

For Christ the Lord has overcome

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

And while He lives, I cannot die

We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. (Romans 6:9) / Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” (John 11:25-27)

I have been baptized into Christ

For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Galatians 3:27)

VERSE FOUR
So come what may, I will not fear

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4

In life and death, the Lord is near

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

Now I am bound for Paradise

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23:6)

I have been baptized into Christ

one Lord, one faith, one baptism (Ephesians 4:5)

DEVOTIONAL

“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” Mark 16:16

Mr. MacDonald asked the inhabitants of the island of St. Kilda how a man must be saved. An old man replied, “We shall be saved if we repent, and forsake our sins, and turn to God.” “Yes,” said a middle-aged female, “and with a true heart too.” “Aye,” rejoined a third, “and with prayer”; and, added a fourth, “It must be the prayer of the heart.” “And we must be diligent too,” said a fifth, “in keeping the commandments.” Thus, each having contributed his mite, feeling that a very decent creed had been made up, they all looked and listened for the preacher’s approbation, but they had aroused his deepest pity. The carnal mind always maps out for itself a way in which self can work and become great, but the Lord’s way is quite the reverse. Believing and being baptized are no matters of merit to be gloried in—they are so simple that boasting is excluded, and free grace bears the palm. It may be that the reader is unsaved—what is the reason? Do you think the way of salvation as laid down in the text to be dubious? How can that be when God has pledged his own word for its certainty? Do you think it too easy? Why, then, do you not attend to it? Its ease leaves those without excuse who neglect it. To believe is simply to trust, to depend, to rely upon Christ Jesus. To be baptized is to submit to the ordinance which our Lord fulfilled at Jordan, to which the converted ones submitted at Pentecost, to which the jailer yielded obedience the very night of his conversion. The outward sign saves not, but it sets forth to us our death, burial, and resurrection with Jesus, and, like the Lord’s Supper, is not to be neglected. Reader, do you believe in Jesus? Then, dear friend, dismiss your fears, you shall be saved. Are you still an unbeliever, then remember there is but one door, and if you will not enter by it you will perish in your sins. -Charles Spurgeon

Martin Luther on baptism: “They say: 'You were baptized when you were still a child and did not believe. Therefore, your Baptism was nothing.' etc. This is really the same as saying: 'If you do not believe, God's Word and Sacrament are nothing. But if you believe, they are something. Therefore, only those who have faith receive true Baptism, whereas those who do not believe receive nothing but water and are not truly baptized.” / For that purpose Christ instituted holy baptism, thereby to clothe you with his righteousness. It is tantamount to his saying, My righteousness shall be your righteousness; my innocence, your innocence. Your sins indeed are great, but by baptism I bestow on you my righteousness; I strip death from you and clothe you with my life.

A few more thoughts on baptism…

All Christians agree that baptism welcomes the baptized into the Christian community by water and the invocation of the Triune Name (Matthew 28:19). But that’s pretty much where the unanimous agreement comes to an end.

We wrote this hymn knowing full well that through the centuries, great theologians deeply immersed in the Scriptures have differed on many points regarding baptism. The truth is, no matter what convictions you have regarding baptism, many thoughtful Christians will disagree.

Christians debate over the appropriate age of the one being baptized:

infants of believers
young children who profess faith
or only teenagers and adults (where baptism is preceded by repentance and faith)

Christians disagree over the amount of water necessary and mode (how baptism should be done):

complete submersion - this requires large amounts of water to allow the baptized to be fully immersed (denominations in the Baptist tradition exclusively practice submersion only for those old enough to profess credible faith, but submersion is also the mode used for infants in the Orthodox tradition)
partial immersion (less common) - where the baptized stand or kneel in water while water is poured over the head or for the sick and bed-ridden where full immersion is impractical
affusion - pouring water on the head of the baptized (very common among Western historic denominations)
aspersion (sprinkling) - inspired by Ezekiel 36:25 (“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols”) and practical concerns where affusion or immersion are not considered the best option

Most importantly, there is strong disagreement about whether baptism is primarily about what we do or what God does. Is baptism primarily an act of human obedience to Christ’s command or primarily an act of God’s grace coming to the one being baptized? In other words, does baptism symbolize salvation (Baptist, Evangelical, non-denominational, Pentecostal) or deliver saving grace (Lutheran, Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox) or function as God’s covenant sign replacing circumcision in the Old Testament (Presbyterian/Reformed)?

We can choose to condemn others who differ with us or mourn the fact that others don’t share our hard-won convictions on what we believe to be true. Or we can humbly accept that in this world we all see through a glass darkly (1 Corinthians 13:12) and choose instead to celebrate the glorious truths about baptism that every true Christian holds dear.

Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology puts it this way: "In all the discussion over the mode of baptism and the disputes over it's meaning, it is easy for Christians to lose sight of the significance and beauty of baptism and to disregard the tremendous blessing that accompanies this ceremony. The amazing truths of passing through the waters of judgment safely, of dying and rising with Christ and of having our sins washed away are truths of momentous and eternal proportion and ought to be an occasion for giving great glory and praise to God."

We hope this hymn on baptism from the sacred Scriptures will be found useful for you and your church in celebrating baptisms. And even in a service where no one is being baptized, we pray this song will help your congregation remember their baptism and the glorious new identity it brings. You have forgiveness and everlasting life if these words are true of you: I have been baptized into Christ!