It's my 30th Birthday!

Today I celebrate my 30^th birthday. 49 years ago Eleanor Girard delivered a baby girl named Cindy. However, on September 1, 1985 I was born again.

Jesus replied “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.... born of water and the Spirit.” (Jn 3:3,5)

On the occasion at which Peter declared that Jesus was “the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said he would give Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 16;13-20) Peter used those keys on the day of Pentecost when he preached the first gospel message. He quoted the prophet Joel and ended that quote with the phrase “and anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” So many people seem to think that Peter's sermon ended there – but it didn't! When he does wrap up the sermon, the people...

“were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. (Acts 2:36-41)

Peter, using the keys to the kingdom which Jesus gave him, tells his audience, and us, how to call on the name of the Lord in order to be saved.

1) Repent: Jesus taught a message of repentance. “But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Lk 13:5) Repentance is so much more than just being sorry! Using hyperbole, Jesus taught that we need to take radical steps to get rid of the sin in our lives.

“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—where, ‘Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.’ ” (Mk 9:43-44)

Jesus taught that change is essential to entering the kingdom of heaven (being saved).

Jesus called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said:“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 18:2-3)

Actually I have heard many messages on the radio and at church services that don't mention repentance whatsoever when telling someone how to become a Christian. This breaks my heart, because according to Jesus, IT IS ESSENTIAL for entrance into the kingdom of heaven!

2) and be baptized: Paul describes the significance of baptism in Rom 6.

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. (Rom 6:3-8)

I have seen baptism pictured this way:

Jesus died on the cross, was buried in a tomb, and was raised to new life.
In baptism, through faith, we participate in His death, burial and resurrection.

• Death: We repent of our old life and the sin that has enslaved us, “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. (Rom 6:6)
• Burial: Then, in the waters of baptism we are “buried with him through baptism into death.” (Rom 6:4) The Greek word from which we get the word baptism means “immersion.”
• Resurrection: We come up out of the water a new creation – born again!
  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Co 5:17)
  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Rom 6:5)

“Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him” (Rom 6:8).

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Rom 6:11)

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Gal 3:26-27)

3) For the forgiveness of sins:
         Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,
               nor his ear too dull to hear.
         But your iniquities have separated
               you from your God;
         your sins have hidden his face from you,
              so that he will not hear. (Is 59:1-2)
It is our sin that separates us from God. Thus to be reconciled to God and be able to be with Him in heaven, we need to have our sins forgiven. That is what it means to “be saved.” There is absolutely nothing we can do on our own to earn that forgiveness. It is a gift of God. (Eph 2:8) Peter tells us in Acts 2:42 that our baptism is for the forgiveness of sins. That is when the wall of sin between us and God is obliterated – crucified with Christ on the cross. That is when our sin comes into contact with the saving, atoning blood of Christ, “who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.” (Rev 1:5) Peter further clarifies the importance of baptism as the vehicle through which we receive God's incredible gift of salvation.

In [Noah's ark] only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. (1Pet 3:20-22 emphasis mine)

Please note: the water of the flood is the symbol of baptism. Baptism is not a symbol.


Baptism must be in response to faith. Baptizing an infant has no power to save because the baby has no faith of his/her own. Baptizing someone who doesn't believe in Jesus, his crucifixion and resurrection is no more than giving them a bath. We are saved by faith, which is displayed through baptism. Every conversion account in the Bible includes immediate baptism. Nowhere is Scripture does it indicate that baptism is an “outward sign of an inward grace,” rather it is portrayed in passage after passage as the point of new birth.


Paul tells us that baptism is our spiritual circumcision.

In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism,in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. (Col 2:11-12)

Under the Old Covenant, made with Abraham, circumcision was the one and only mark of God's covenant with His people. Under that covenant, a male had to be circumcised to be counted among God's people. Similarly, under the New Covenant, to be counted among God's people we all need to undergo a spiritual circumcision in which the old self is put off. Scripture clearly indicates that spiritual circumcision occurs at the baptism of a believing disciple. By faith, a person enters into covenant with God at baptism, and becomes a member of His family. He is born again.




4) and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit:

Jesus said we need to be “born of water and the Spirit” to enter the kingdom of heaven. (Jn 3:5) In Acts 2:42 (quoted above) the Apostle Peter puts water and Spirit together in his response to those who were cut to the heart by gospel message. Peter tells them (and us) to be baptized, and in the same breath promises us the gift of the Holy Spirit.

I know I have seen God's Spirit at work in those who have not been baptized, however, I have also seen some of these same people encounter a new depth of connection with the Holy Spirit after being baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. I have seen others, unaware that baptism was the point of new birth, declare shortly after that momentous event that they felt “born again,” “washed,” full of the Holy Spirit!

So, 30 years ago today a new child of God was born into His kingdom. I give Him all the praise, glory and honour! May He be forever praised!