Initiation?

[Hebrewselevensix]

What is the means of initiation into the new covenant? What unites us to God and each other thru the mediator

 

[stovebolts]

What is the means of initiation into the new covenant? What unites us to God and each other thru the mediator

I would say Baptism ( full immersion) is the picture that comes into my mind.
I need to note that my theology on Baptism runs parallel to a wedding. Our Lord has given us His promise, and we in turn give ours. Each has confessed their love, devotion and dedication to each other. The ceremony climaxes as each are United.

Romans 5 ESV
6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self[a] was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free[b] from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

 

[Serving Zion]

What is the means of initiation into the new covenant? What unites us to God and each other thru the mediator

Building upon stovebolts' answer, I would point to the wording of Peter as he describes baptism in 1 Peter 3:21:

(following the picture of Noah being saved by the ark through the flood, verse 20) "which also you represents now saving baptism, not of flesh a putting away of filth, but of a conscience that is good, devoted toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ".

See, it is the faith that we have as we know that Jesus is doing His work in the heavens to reign as the King of kings and that He is sovereign in that place, that is the saving faith (consider Romans 8:31-34).

There is two parts to this saving faith: one is that we must believe that God has the power to reign, which is the belief in God that comes from acknowledging His work in the world even though He is an invisible spirit instead of a physical person; and secondly, that we believe He is for us and not against us. That's why we need to keep a conscience that is clear because it is part of the armour of God that extinguishes the accusations of the devil (Ephesians 6:11-17).

In order to have a clear conscience we need to remain without sin and that is the major difference between what the true doctrine teaches as compared to what the false teachers would teach whereby they have not truly left their sin behind and instead they have deceived themselves to think that their sin is somehow not counted against them because Jesus died on their behalf.

So faith is definitely about leaving the life of sin behind, but Peter is showing the difference in approach to baptism similar to the way Paul describes the ineffectiveness of earning salvation by keeping the law (Romans 4:4, Romans 4:16, Romans 3:20): Paul says that whoever tries to earn salvation by keeping the law is bound to fail because the law's primary function is not to give a means for justification but a means for disqualification. The law only states reasons for condemnation and so therefore the one who lives by it is becoming a judge in order to justify themselves by looking at the sin in others.

In a similar way, Peter is saying that the baptism doesn't mean to justify us by washing away the things of the flesh that we think are unclean (eg: smoking, drinking, swearing, etc), but it is simply a pledge to God that we will keep a good conscience because even if our conscience condemns us, we know God's love for us is so great that as long as we have meant to do no wrong, He is able to justify us according to His mercy and that is why He has given up His one and only son in order to be that mediator for us for as long as it takes (Hebrews 7:23-25, Hebrews 7:12, 1 John 2:1-2).

 

[stovebolts]

Very well put Serving Zion
Like a wedding ceremony, there are different elements that come together as a whole, otherwise it’s just a show. Immersion in water is one of many of those individual elements.

When two individuals fall in love, it is a natural progression that one day they would be wed. And when they are wed, they come together surrounded by community and vows which confess their love, obedience and dedication for each other are said and rings are exchanged as a symbol of their vows and devotion toward one another. It is a very intimate moment. Upon those confessions, the officiator of the ceremony who has the authority to bind those confessions declares that the two have become one.

Imagine now an individual coming to the Baptismal pool with less than noble purpose. Or suppose a poor person marries a rich person for the purpose of gaining the others wealth. Have the two really become one, even if the ceremony went perfect and all the right words were said?

1 Peter 3:21 ESV
Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Is it any wonder that these words are used as part of a summary which began with wives honoring their husbands, husbands loving their wives then goes onto the keeping of unity which means we will suffer for each other on occasion.

My wife and I just celebrated our 23 Anniversary. It’s been a good 23 years. But that is not to say we haven’t suffered with one another on occation or had our ups and downs. But those sufferings are perfecting us as we draw deeper into one another and our marriage strengthened. You see, the vows we made 23 years ago were with a clean conscience. And if our conscience is clean, then when issues arise, you work through them based on the commitment you gave at the ceremony. You don’t give up and file for divorce.

A beautiful teaching that comes out of Yom Kippur ( day of atonement ) is this. As long as one party of the marriage is willing to reconcile, then reconciliation is always possible.

As a church, I believe we’ve lost the beauty that baptism as a whole represents and it’s proper place in our salvation.

The Church is described as the Bride of Christ, and Christ is always willing to reconcile with His Bride.

 

[for_his_glory]

I was going to go the wedding route about the wedding in Canaan and the analogy of it being we becoming the Bride of Christ (New Wine - New Spiritual Man), but the Holy Spirit gave me this to give instead.

We put on Jesus by the renewal of our mind, body and soul through Jesus life, death and resurrection by which we can reconcile ourselves back to Gods grace and mercy through His Salvation of renewal and rebirth of spirit. We now have the mind of Christ as joint heirs with Jesus as we walk in the path of Jesus and not our own path anymore.

John 3:3-21 except a man be born again of water and Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Vs.6 that which is born of the Flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Flesh cannot perceive the things of the Spirit and is enmity against God, Romans 8:6, 7.

Sin separates us from God because God is a spirit and can only recognize his own children by what spirit is living in their hearts. We have to renew, rebirth - born again, Gods Spirit within us in order to be called a child of God and see the kingdom of heaven. We now put off the old man (flesh) and put on the new man (Spirit), Colossians 3:1-17. We are renewed by the word of God and through the Holy Spirit teaching us of all things, John 14:26.

Acts 2:38,39 When we repent of our sins and ask Jesus into our hearts we are also receiving the promise of God that his Holy Spirit will come and dwell in our hearts and teach us of all things we need to learn, John 14:26. The baptism that Peter was talking about in Acts 2:38 was a Spiritual rebirth through the word of God. Some people think it is being dunked or sprinkled with water the way John the Baptist did and there is nothing wrong with that for it is an outward appearance to man that you have repented and received Jesus and the Holy Spirit into your life, Matthew 3:11, but Jesus himself never baptized with water, John 4:2, for the baptism of Jesus was for receiving the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit) that helps us to know the will of the Father, 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12.
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This is what Smith's Bible dictionary says:
To be baptized for Christ shows an intention to become a true follower of Christ. John baptized with water unto repentance but as a sign of it, perhaps only a sign of their willingness to enroll themselves among John’s followers. Jesus himself did not baptize with water, but with the Spirit and Christian baptism was only instituted after the resurrection when the Lord gave the commission to his apostles to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Matthew 28:19-20.