Baptism and Becoming Truly Free

I was reading today in Romans 6 where Paul is teaching the people about baptism and serving the Lord. Baptism is essential to returning to live with God, but it can't be undertaken lightly. We have to prepare ourselves to receive this ordinance. The main way we accomplish that is through repentance. We have to do our best to put away our sins and make things right before we a baptized.

Baptism is symbolic of the death and resurrection of the Savior. When we are baptized, we go under the water completely, symbolizing the Lord's death and burial. As we are raised again out of the water, we are reminded of the Lord's resurrection on the third day. Because baptism is symbolic of of the Savior's death and resurrection, it must be done through immersion rather than sprinkling or in any other way.

When we go into the water, symbolically what King Benjamin describes as the "natural man" dies. When we come out of the water, we begin what Paul described as a "newness of life." We put aside the sins that we used to commit and do our best to follow the Savior and repent as we need to. We yield ourselves to God and follow Him to the best of our ability.

Baptism is one way that we choose who we are going to serve - whether we'll serve righteousness or sin, God or Satan. We can know who's servant we've chosen to be by the things we choose to do. If we choose to do what is right and follow the example of the Savior, then we've chosen to follow God. By choosing that route, we have found the only way to be free. Sin binds us and imprisons us, while repentance and following the Savior frees us.