Remember Who You Are: The Gospel According to Baptism

Three years ago today, I stood before my local church, heart racing, eyes brimming, voice trembling with joy, to share how God had rescued me from the kingdom of darkness and brought me into the kingdom of His beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). I remember reading my testimony aloud to the congregation. If Paul was the chief of sinners, I was surely his apprentice. The grace I spoke of had undone me, rebuilt me, and carried me to that moment.

Then came the water. Warm, embracing, unforgettable. I was lowered into it. Then raised. Washed. Welcomed. The act was physical, yes, but its meaning ran far deeper.

I don’t want to forget that day. More than that, I shouldn’t. Not because it was emotional, but because baptism is one of the clearest, most embodied declarations of what God has done for us in Christ, and who we are now in Him.

That’s exactly what Paul reminds us of in Romans 6. Baptism did not cause these spiritual realities, but it was a God-given sign that pointed to them, a visible sermon of what had already been done in my heart by faith.

Don’t You Know?

In Romans 6, Paul asks a question that we may answer too quickly:

“Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” (Romans 6:3, NASB 1995)

He doesn’t say some of us, or the really spiritual among us, it’s all of us. Baptism is not just a public profession of faith, though it certainly is that, but a picture of a deeper reality: union with the crucified and risen Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

We went down into the water as a picture of dying with Christ. And we rose from it as a picture of the new life we already have in Him. Baptism doesn’t save us, but it powerfully points to the spiritual reality of our union with Christ — a reality with eternal consequences.

Paul continues:

“Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4, NASB 1995).

That “so that” is everything. Baptism is not a finish line; it’s a beginning. And remembering it re-roots us in the reality of who we are and why we live differently now.

Why Remember?

1. We Fight Sin with Resurrection Power

Paul makes a clear application of what baptism points to:

“Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:11, NASB 1995).

That’s identity talk. I don’t fight sin by trying harder alone. I fight it by remembering who I am: crucified with Christ, buried with Christ, raised with Christ. That old self that was licentious, immoral, lustful, self-righteous, proud and selfish was nailed to the cross. Buried with Him. Gone. And the new self, raised with Him by grace through faith. New. Free. Alive.

Our Baptism powerfully portrays it. It gives shape to the spiritual reality: that sin no longer defines us, and we no longer belong to it.

When temptation strikes, I don’t ask, “What should I do?” I ask, “Who am I?” When guilt whispers, “You’re still the same,” I remember:

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20, NASB 1995).

When temptation lures me to live like I belong to my old self, I look back, not to the water itself, but to what it signified. I remember: I’ve already died. And now I live in Him.

Baptism reminds us: I am not who I once was. I’m united with Christ.

2. We Anchor Our Assurance in God’s Work

Baptism is a moment we can look back on because it was a God-given sign that we belong to Jesus. It doesn’t point to our strength, resolve, or feelings in the moment, but to what God accomplished through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son.

So I am not who I was. And neither are you, if you are in Christ. You may falter. You may stumble. You may forget. But God doesn’t. He finishes what He starts. He holds what He claims. He completes what He cleanses.

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus..” (Philippians 1:6, NASB 1995).

When we’re plagued by doubt, we remember: I have been united with Christ. I didn’t save myself. I didn’t raise myself. I was plunged into his grace. And I came out bearing his name.

If you haven’t yet been baptised as a believer, don’t despair; the realities of union with Christ are yours through faith. But don’t delay either: baptism is Christ’s invitation to make this gospel visible. Obey him, and let the water preach to you.

3. We Suffer with Hope

Union with Christ doesn’t just mean sharing in his resurrection; it means sharing in his death, and all the sufferings that led there.

“For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection” (Romans 6:5, NASB 1995)

That means our suffering is not meaningless. When I walk through grief, loss, unmet expectations, physical pain, anxiety, and depression, I am walking the path Christ walked. Down into death, yes. But always with a promise: resurrection is coming. Suffering doesn’t get the final word; Jesus does.

The J-curve of the Christian life, i.e suffering now, glory later, is not a detour. It’s the pattern of Christ. And baptism reminds us of how we were first drafted into that story.

4. We Remember We’re Not Alone

Baptism is deeply personal, but it’s never private. Three years ago today, I didn’t stand alone. I was surrounded by a community of saints. A new family in Christ. They bore witness to the miracle of grace unfolding in my life.

Paul reminds us in Ephesians 4:5 that there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” That means we’re part of one body. Every member of your local church has walked through that same water. Every baptism we witness is a reminder: we’re not walking this path alone.

In those moments, we remember our own story, and we’re renewed in our shared calling to walk this new life together, shoulder to shoulder, day by day.

Remember Who You Are

We are a forgetful people. At least, I know I am. And in the Christian life, forgetfulness is no small matter. When we don’t often remember our baptism, we risk losing sight of the gospel it declares. We lose sight of who we are, what Christ has done, and why it still matters today. Baptism is not just something that happened to us; it’s something God gave us to remember. A reminder of our identity. A reminder of how our story was permanently united with Christ

The water doesn’t unite us to him, faith does (Ephesians 2:8). But God, in his kindness, gave us baptism as a physical reminder of a spiritual reality: that we have died and risen with Christ.

That water wasn’t magic (though it was warm). But it told the truth: our old self was crucified with Christ. ‘Drowned’. Gone. And the new us rose in its place, washed, renewed, and renamed. Baptism gave shape to something I too easily forget: I am not who I was.

If you’ve been baptised by immersion upon the profession of faith, take a moment to remember. Not just the water, but the wonder. Not just the act, but the Christ it points to. That you no longer belong to darkness, but to the Light. Rehearse that truth until it reshapes how you see your Sin, your Suffering, your Christian walk, and your Saviour. Let that day keep preaching to you that you are his, and he is enough.

Today, three years later, I don’t just feel nostalgic, I feel grounded. I remember that Grace met me. Grace still holds me now. And grace will carry me home.