It is considered to be inhumane to bury someone alive, be it a human or even an animal, a pet perhaps. That’s because we tend to only bury things that have died and don’t expect to see them anymore; in this lifetime...at least.

I’ve presided over many funerals in the past 35 years. I’ve watched the painful agony as grieving loved ones are literally peeled off the caskets where their deceased spouse or child or parent lay in, just prior to seeing them lowered six feet into the ground. When all the final words are spoken and/or sung, and tears and hugs are exchanged, that casket is covered in soil and that is it; another life has ended...and people move on with their own lives; some slower than others. And may I tell you that in all those years I have taken part in this ritual, I have yet to ever see a person who was laid to rest...show back up out of the blue, weeks or months later where I ran into them at a local coffee shop or Home Depot or Walmart.

Which leads me to believe that we have failed to fully understand what ‘water baptism’ is all about, and why we instruct new converts to ‘be baptized’ (Acts 2:38; Matt.28:19).

Water baptism is a ‘burial’ for our ‘old man’ who is ‘supposed’... to have been put to death.

“Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were 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.... knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” (Rom. 6:3-4,5).

Now here is where many sincere people enter a quagmire of theological debate and confusion. Paul just explained how this is ‘supposed’ to play out when a person comes to Christ in faith (wholeheartedly), and after they have ‘repented’ (turned from their sinful ways). He writes there: “we should no longer be slaves of sin.”

What did Jesus say (most assuredly) about ‘anyone who commits sin’, in John 8:34? If you turn to that passage in your Bible, you should read (in red letters) where He states: “anyone who commits sin is a slave of sin”; and I don’t see any footnote that says “unless they have been baptized and joined a church somewhere”. And if you continue reading there... He even goes on to add: “and a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.”(35)

Stop for a moment and let that sink in. You’ll want to take your time with this today.

I’ve asked this before and will ask it again: Who are the true ‘children’ of God? I believe Romans 8:14 states: “Those who are led by the Spirit...these are the sons/children of God.” And “whoever walks in the Spirit will not fulfill the lusts and desires of their flesh” (old man/nature), if you want to underline that in Galatians 5:16. “And we know that whoever has been born of God does not sin...and the wicked one does not touch him.” (1 John 5:18).

Do you see where this gets uncomfortably messy, if not confusing for many of us? Meanwhile, we get tangled up in disputes asking whether one needs to be baptized in order to be ‘saved’ or not; does one have to be immersed fully in water or just ‘sprinkled’ for it to count; and what words actually need to be uttered when one is being baptized? So let me say it again, another way: We only bury people who have...died. And this is where the messaging gets lost when we point people to Jesus...and the cross...and the need to ‘repent’ (turn from) and surrender one’s life fully to following Jesus.Why call Him ‘Lord’ if...(Luke 6:46)?

I would not be surprised at all if during that exchange that Jesus had with the rich, young ruler...that some of those disciples in attendance bit their tongues while thinking Jesus blew a good chance to have a really useful person join their group who would be a great asset in the kingdom.

Let me state for the record...God is not looking for ‘potentially good assets’ to help Him out. He’s looking for people who are tired of walking in death and darkness and are willing to turn wholeheartedly to Him and surrender their lives to Him, unconditionally... so that He can give them true lasting, eternal and abundant life. But in order to receive this ‘life’, one has to first be willing to ‘die’ to their old way of living, and God means all of it. And as you know, that rich young ruler was not ready to ‘die’ yet to an area in his life that Jesus pointed out...so he turned and walked away in sorrow. (Matt. 19:22)

Nowadays, there are plenty of ‘churches’ that are ready to welcome in people like that rich young ruler, maybe even get them on stage right away using their gifts and such to help grow the church. In fact, they like to get them baptized with much fanfare and promotion to show how ‘God is moving’ in their midst. But ...if/when we are quick to ‘bury’ someone who is clearly not dead yet, nor willing to die any time soon...is that not just as inhumane...in a ‘spiritual sense’?

New ‘Christians’ are supposed to have ‘died’ (Rom. 6:6; Gal. 5:24), and that ‘old man’ is NOT supposed to be ‘surfacing’ all the time. In fact James suggest that anyone who is living such a double-life is an ‘adulterer’ (James 4:4), as does Paul when he used a simple illustration in Romans 7:1-4. This ‘adulterer’ thing is no small matter. If we claim to be ‘wed to Christ’, parading ourselves as the ‘spotless bride’ He is coming back for (Eph. 5:27), all the while our ‘old man’ is still alive...do you not see the potential problem we face with all this? Far too many people in our churches are doing just that...and don't seem overly bothered or concerned either; probably because of ill-informed teaching. (Jer. 23:16-20; Ezek. 13)

I suppose the case could be made that we have no shortage of churches today that are filled with...’zombies’. Zombies of course, the subject of folklore and movies that depict ‘dead/alive’ bodies that hunger for human...’flesh’. Yeah...that one had me thinking too.... Join me tomorrow?