God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
We will never get anywhere in life without discipline, be it in the arts, business, athletics, or academics. This is doubly so in spiritual matters. In other areas we may be able to claim some innate advantage. An athlete may be born with a strong body, a musician with perfect pitch, or an artist with an eye for perspective. But none of us can claim an innate spiritual advantage. In reality, we are all equally disadvantaged. None of us naturally seeks after God, none is inherently righteous, none instinctively does good (cf. Romans 3:9-18). Therefore, as children of grace, our spiritual discipline is everything – everything! I repeat…discipline is everything!
Paul alludes to a component of baptism that is often overlooked. He says that from this moment forward, we are to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). Baptism represents our death to the self-ruled life and our submission to the rule of God, our willing embrace of His mission for us.
