We Are Buried.

 We are--

Crucified with Christ.

Buried with Christ.

Raised with Christ. 

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 

Rom_6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

I still remember my baptism vividly. The day I was buried symbolically with Christ. I can still recall the moment I was fully lowered under the water. I wasn't under the water very long, but I was under completely, fully submerged, all of me, every bit of me was buried. I was crucified with Christ. I was buried with Him by baptism. And when I came up out of that water grave I was raised up from the dead like Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. On that day I followed the commands of my God, of my Savior and through that I obeyed the direction concerning the death, burial and resurrection of my Savior!  

Do I celebrate Easter? No. Not in the traditional sense. I recognize all its pagan origins interspersed with the religious connotations. I do NOT worship any bunnies, eggs, or any of the fertility symbols. I do NOT worship this day delegated to be Easter as a day God commands. This is a day mankind has contrived on many levels. I do believe a lot of people celebrate this day with the intent to hold it up as celebrating Christ's death and resurrection, just as Christmas day is done to celebrate His birth- though there is no Biblical command anywhere for us to do this, not one.  These days are used and abused in many ways, though the hearts of many believe they are following truths, and in ignorance perhaps they are forgiven, but given the opportunity for truth they then are accountable. God help us all.   I gather with my family, I use what I consider to be secular days set aside to do this, but DO NOT and WILL NOT ever claim these days to be Biblically mandated in any way. I will NEVER worship these days, never. I will worship ONLY GOD and only on the day He has commanded and set aside, the day He made holy, the day He sanctified, and that day is the seventh day Sabbath and it is a weekly day of WORSHIP that by HIS grace and will I am able to set aside and worship Him as He desires! 

God forgive me if I'm wrong even in gathering with family on these days, but I hope and pray all my family knows that I worship God and God alone on the Sabbath day, and no other day.  

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(Excerpt E.J. Waggoner - Articles on Romans Chapter 6)

'We are separated from sin, by death with him, in order that we may be joined to life in him. 

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"Buried with Him by Baptism." 

Baptism, therefore, is burial. 

If people were content to follow the plain reading of the Scriptures, there never would be a question concerning "the mode of baptism." No one from reading the Bible could ever get any other idea than that baptism is immersion. "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead." Col. 2:12.  Baptism represents the death and resurrection of Christ, and by it we show our acceptance of his sacrifice; and the very act is an actual burial, in order to make the lesson the more impressive.

Why the Change in Baptism? 

How is it that there has been a change from Scripture baptism to sprinkling? The answer is very easy. Baptism is a memorial of the resurrection of Christ. But "the church," by which is meant the bishops who loved the praise of men more than the praise of God and who wished to curry favor with the "better class" of the heathen, adopted the pagan sun festival. And in order to appear to justify themselves in so doing,  they claimed that the rising sun which was worshipped by the heathen was a symbol of the resurrection of "the Sun of Righteousness," namely, Christ, and that by observing Sunday they were celebrating his resurrection.

But they did not need two memorials of the resurrection, and so they dropped the one that the Lord had given.  In order, however, not to appear to throw baptism away, they claimed that the heathen sprinkling with "holy water" which they very naturally adopted with the heathen sun festival, was the baptism enjoined in the Scriptures.

The people trusted in the "fathers" instead of reading the Bible for themselves, and so it was very easy to make them believe that the Bible was obeyed. It is true that there are some who follow the word in regard to immersion,  who also observe Sunday; but the two practices are inconsistent. The word is neglected in one particular  (observing Sunday) in order to provide a memorial for an event which they already celebrate in accordance with the word (baptism). Scriptural baptism is falling into disuse among [many] who observe the first day of the week.  It must be the case that sooner or later they will wholly give up one or the other.

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There is absolutely no Biblical proof whatsoever that the Sabbath day of worship that Christ Himself worshiped on, the seventh day, was changed to the first day of the week, none.  People will cite the resurrection automatically created the change, but Christ did not institute the change anywhere. He did institute an act to commemorate His death and resurrection and that is the Lord's Supper, that is the symbolic breaking of bread representing His body that He gave for us. It is the symbolic drinking of wine that represents the blood He spilled giving His life for us.  Baptism, the submersion of ourselves under the water represents us descending into the dark grave of death, the rising up out of the water represents us rising to new life! These acts were done by Christ Jesus Himself and examples to US.  

Why did mankind insist on adding their own twists on things? Because by and large mankind is ruled by Satan who wants to deceive all those he can into following his lies. He doesn't want mankind studying for themselves the word of God, but rather taking what other men say is truth and believing it. Satan has completed his deception so thoroughly that when Christ returns millions upon millions of people are going to be shocked they are NOT Christ's, that they don't know Him at all and Christ doesn't know them!  Why? Because they cared more for mankind's lies than His truths. The truths that are UNPOPULAR, the truths that are SHUNNED, the truths that make up the very, very NARROW way that few will find!  

Father, God, please…please let me know ONLY Your truth! Please, keep me from the evil of Satan's grand deceptions! Please KNOW me when You return for Your people! Please! PLEASE!  All through Christ Jesus, my Lord and Savior now and forever!