Joel Espada was baptized into Jesus on December 31, 2017. It is incredibly poetic that this would be the day, New Years Eve, that he would be made new in Christ. As the Apostle Paul discusses in Romans 6: 1-7 when we are baptized we are participating in the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus and our old selves are “done away with.”
“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 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.
5 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. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.”
As the year 2017 was done and the new year of 2018 had begun so was the old self of Joel done away with and the new “Joel” had arrived!
I asked Joel a few questions and I have put a part of the discussion here:
|
