Daily Bible Readings YLT March 17th

Remembering that the Bible is written by the Holy Spirit by the hand of human beings who are filled with the Spirit, and is to be read with understanding given by the Holy Spirit and in no other way, we must know that the war that we are in, is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world. Therefore, in our growing into maturity, into perfection in our Christian life, if we harbour or retain or cling to anything of our past life, anything that has led us into evil in our past, then we are in danger of returning to that life. Therefore in our baptism, we leave behind all spiritual opposition to our life in Christ and are raised into a new life in Christ. Behold! I am a new creation. No more in condemnation. Here in the grace of God I stand.When we are baptised into Christ, we leave what was behind and run the race ahead with our eyes fixed on Jesus, the redeemer and perfecter of our faith. "But I pursue, if also I may hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by the Christ Jesus; brethren, I do not reckon myself to have laid hold; and the one thing - the things behind indeed forgetting, and to the things before stretching forth - to the mark I pursue for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14Know this, that baptism is of the utmost importance spiritually. Through baptism we are separated from the power of this world, we die to it, and are raised into freedom and forgiveness in Christ. Jesus commanded in his last command as recorded by Matthew, that disciples should make disciples of all nations, 'baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you".In Hebrew 6: 1-2 one of the foundational teachings of Christ, is the doctrine of baptisms. It is essential we understand and take this to heart. We must be baptised to be freed from our past and to move into our life raised in Christ - this separation is complete, but we can turn back to that past: today's Old Testament passage about the Midianites (Numbers 31 ) demonstrates to us spiritually how determined and complete that separation must be.