Baptism in water (or water baptism)
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9. Was it when we were baptized in water that we entered into the new
covenant with God? |
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No, it was
not when we were baptized in water that we entered into the New Covenant with
God, but when we repented and believed in the Son of God, that is, when we
were justified by our faith. In other words, when we received the
circumcision of our heart (that is, when we received the remission of our
sins). For just as the circumcision of the flesh under the Old Covenant was a
sign of the covenant between God and the Israelites, as God said: “And you
shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign
of the covenant between Me and you” (Gen. 17:11 – NKJV), so now under the New
Covenant the sign of the covenant between God and us is the circumcision of
the heart: not a circumcision done by the hands of men (as under the law) but
the circumcision done by Christ Jesus, who through His precious blood
cleansed our conscience from all the sins which defiled it. |
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Therefore,
since water baptism follows faith, water baptism is an outward sign through
which the person whose heart has been circumcised by Christ proclaims that he
has already entered the Covenant with God, a covenant which is better than
the one God made with the Israelites because it was established on better
promises. |