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SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY: SONS & DAUGHTERS – TAKE THE PLUNGE: I’M ALL IN
Based on the message by Pastor Chad Everett
OVERVIEW
What does it really mean to be all in with Jesus?
In Spiritual Authority: Sons & Daughters | Take the Plunge: I’m All In, Pastor Chad Everett continues teaching from Galatians 3:26–27. Through faith in Christ, we become sons and daughters of God. Paul then says that those who have been baptized into Christ have also “put on Christ.”
The Greek word baptizō carries the idea of being plunged, immersed, or completely covered. Being baptized into Christ is more than adding Jesus to one part of our lives. It is surrendering ourselves to Him and becoming united with Him.
“Baptizo is I take the plunge, I’m all in.”
The picture of a cloth completely soaked in water helps us see what a life immersed in Jesus can look like. When we stay connected to Him, His life does not remain contained within us. What is in Him begins to flow into us and spill out onto the people around us.
Jesus describes this connection in John 15:5 when He says that He is the vine and we are the branches. A branch does not produce fruit by trying harder. It bears fruit because it remains connected to the vine.
Galatians 3:27 also says that those baptized into Christ have “put on Christ.” The phrase points to the picture of putting on a garment. In Christ, we have been given a new identity. Because the old person has been put off and the new person has been put on, the attitudes, behaviors, and ways of thinking connected to our old life no longer fit.
This study will help us examine what Scripture says about being immersed in Christ, remaining connected to Him, living from our new identity, and putting off what no longer belongs in our lives.
HOW TO USE THIS STUDY GUIDE
Read → Respond → Reflect
Read each passage carefully before answering the Respond questions. Keep your Bible open and allow the verses themselves to provide the answers.
Then use the Reflect questions to examine your own life. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal where you may be holding something back from Jesus, trying to produce through your own effort what comes through connection with Him, or allowing an old identity or behavior to come back on you.
The goal is not simply to understand what it means to be baptized into Christ. The invitation is to take the plunge, remain connected to Jesus, and live from the new identity you have received in Him.
This guide is designed for individual study, family discipleship, and Roads Groups.
SECTION 1 — KNOW WHO YOU ARE: SONS AND DAUGHTERS THROUGH FAITH
Focus
Before moving into Galatians 3:27, the message returns briefly to the truth of verse 26: “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Our identity does not come from our occupation, accomplishments, performance, or what we are able to achieve. Those things can change. Who we are in Christ does not.
Becoming a son or daughter of God happens through faith in Jesus, not through our ability to perform well enough for God. This identity provides the foundation for everything that follows. We can take the plunge into Christ because through faith we belong to Him.
Read
Galatians 3:26–29
Respond
- According to Galatians 3:26, who are believers in Christ?
- According to verse 26, how do we become sons of God?
- According to verse 27, what has happened to those who were baptized into Christ?
- What distinctions does Paul name in verse 28?
- What does Paul say about all those who are in Christ Jesus?
- According to verse 29, what is true of those who belong to Christ?
Reflect
- What am I most likely to look to for my identity besides my relationship with Jesus?
- When my performance is good or bad, do I allow it to change the way I see myself before God?
- How would remembering that I am a son or daughter through faith in Christ change the way I respond to failure?
- Where do I need to stop trying to become something and believe what God says is already true of me in Christ?
Further Scripture Reading
Galatians 3:26–29
SECTION 2 — TAKE THE PLUNGE: BE FULLY IMMERSED IN CHRIST
Focus
Galatians 3:27 says, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
The Greek word baptizō carries the idea of being plunged, immersed, or completely covered. Paul is not describing a life where we give Jesus one small portion of ourselves while keeping control of everything else.
The image of a cloth dipped into water makes the contrast clear. A small corner dipped into the water represents giving Jesus only a portion of our lives. Complete immersion is different. The entire cloth goes under.
Being immersed in Christ means going all in. Jesus is not simply part of our Sunday. He wants every part of us.
The question becomes personal: Are we immersed in Christ, or are there parts of our lives we continue to reserve for ourselves?
Read
Galatians 3:26–27
Respond
- According to Galatians 3:26, what makes someone a son of God?
- According to verse 27, into whom are believers baptized?
- What does verse 27 say those who have been baptized into Christ have also done?
- Does Paul say believers are baptized into an organization, or into Christ Himself?
- Looking at verses 26 and 27 together, what relationship does Paul make between faith in Christ, being sons of God, and being baptized into Christ?
Reflect
- Have I invited Jesus into my whole life, or have I kept certain areas under my own control?
- Is my relationship with Jesus mostly centered around attending church, or am I intentionally walking with Him throughout the week?
- What area of my life is hardest for me to completely surrender to Jesus?
- What would going all in look like for me right now?
Further Scripture Reading
Galatians 3:26–29
SECTION 3 — STAY CONNECTED AND LET JESUS SPILL OUT OF YOU
Focus
A cloth that has been completely soaked will carry water everywhere it goes. That picture helps describe a life immersed in Jesus. When we are filled with Him, His presence should affect the people around us.
But a wet cloth eventually dries out if it remains separated from the water.
That is why continual connection matters.
Jesus gives us this same picture in John 15:5. He is the vine and we are the branches. The branch does not produce life on its own. Everything it needs comes from its connection to the vine.
Jesus is not a vending machine where we put in enough faith or prayer to receive something we want. Instead of merely wanting something from Jesus, we are invited to want Jesus Himself.
We do not simply seek peace. We stay connected to the Prince of Peace. We do not try to manufacture spiritual fruit. We remain connected to the One from whom the fruit comes.
As His life flows into us, it also flows through us. The people around us should experience something of the love, goodness, and presence of Jesus because we have been with Him.
Read
John 15:5; Galatians 3:27
Respond
- In John 15:5, who does Jesus say is the vine, and who are the branches?
- What does Jesus say happens when someone abides in Him and He abides in that person?
- According to Jesus, what can we do apart from Him?
- According to Galatians 3:27, into whom have believers been baptized?
- How do John 15:5 and Galatians 3:27 together describe the believer’s relationship with Christ?
Reflect
- Am I trying to produce peace, joy, wisdom, or spiritual fruit through my own effort instead of staying connected to Jesus?
- When I do not immediately see an answer to prayer, am I tempted to disconnect from God?
- What helps me remain connected to Jesus throughout an ordinary week?
- When people spend time around me, what are they experiencing from what is flowing out of my life?
Further Scripture Reading
John 15:1–8
SECTION 4 — PUT ON CHRIST: YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A NEW IDENTITY
Focus
Paul does not only say that believers have been baptized into Christ. Galatians 3:27 says they have also “put on Christ.”
The phrase “put on” carries the picture of putting on clothing or sinking into a garment. When we are immersed into Christ through faith, we become clothed with Christ.
This changes how we understand our relationship with God. We are not trying to earn a new identity through better behavior. In Christ, something has already happened.
Colossians 3 describes the believer as having put off the old man and put on the new man. Second Corinthians 5:17 gives the same truth in another way: anyone who is in Christ is a new creation.
Our goal is no longer simply to become a slightly improved version of ourselves. Jesus Himself becomes the image toward which our minds and lives are renewed.
Our new identity is not “a better me.” Our new identity is found in Christ.
Read
Galatians 3:27; Colossians 3:9–11; 2 Corinthians 5:17
Respond
- According to Galatians 3:27, what have those baptized into Christ put on?
- According to Colossians 3:9–10, what has the believer put off and put on?
- According to Colossians 3:10, in what is the new man being renewed?
- Whose image is the new man being renewed according to?
- According to 2 Corinthians 5:17, what is true of anyone who is in Christ?
Reflect
- Do I see myself primarily through my past and failures, or through what Scripture says is true of me in Christ?
- Am I trying to become a “better me,” or am I allowing my mind to be renewed to the image of Jesus?
- What old label do I still tend to use about myself even though I am a new creation in Christ?
- How would my choices change if I consistently remembered that I have put on Christ?
Further Scripture Reading
Colossians 3:9–11; 2 Corinthians 5:17
SECTION 5 — TAKE OFF WHAT NO LONGER FITS
Focus
If we have put on the new man, then the old ways no longer fit.
In Colossians 3, Paul tells believers to put off anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language, and lying. The order matters. Paul does not tell them to stop these things so they can become new. He tells them to put them off because they have already put off the old man and put on the new.
The image of an old coat being placed over a new one helps make the point. The old coat does not fit anymore.
The enemy may try to bring old attitudes, thoughts, words, temptations, and patterns back onto us. When that happens, we do not have to accept them as our identity. We can recognize them for what they are and put them off.
A failure does not mean we have become the old person again. We repent, put off what does not belong, and remember who we are in Christ.
Our minds are continually being renewed according to the image of our Creator. Jesus is the new measuring stick.
Read
Colossians 3:8–11; 2 Corinthians 5:17
Respond
- What behaviors does Colossians 3:8 tell believers to put off?
- What additional behavior does verse 9 tell believers to stop?
- According to Colossians 3:9–10, what has the believer put off and put on?
- According to verse 10, how is the new man being renewed?
- According to 2 Corinthians 5:17, what is true of someone who is in Christ?
Reflect
- What attitude, thought pattern, words, or behavior keeps trying to come back onto me?
- When I fail, do I begin defining myself by that failure?
- Is there something I need to repent of and put off rather than accept as “just who I am”?
- Where does my thinking need to be renewed so that I live according to my new identity in Christ?
Further Scripture Reading
Colossians 3:8–11
FINAL ENCOURAGEMENT
Jesus is not inviting you to add a little more of Him to a life you continue to control. He is inviting you to take the plunge.
Go all in.
Through faith in Christ, you are a son or daughter of God. When you are immersed into Christ, Scripture says you have put on Christ. You have been given a new identity.
Stay connected to Jesus. The branch does not have to strain to create what only the vine can supply. Remain in Him and allow His life to flow into you. Then let what He is doing in you spill out into the lives of the people around you.
When the enemy tries to put the old coat back on you, remember that it does not fit anymore. Put off the attitudes, behaviors, thoughts, and words that belong to the old life. You are not trying to earn a new identity. You are learning to live from the identity you have already received in Christ.
“Will you take the plunge? Will you go all in? Or are you just going to keep reserving a little bit of yourself for yourself?”
Take the plunge. Stay connected. Put on Christ. Take off what no longer fits.
Be all in.