In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian, Paul through Jesus teaches the people the following:
II CORRINTHIANS:5: 17-19;
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself, by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”
What Paul is saying to the people of Corinth is that if you have by your faith, and your belief agreed to join yourself with Christ Jesus, believeing Jesus to have ransomed you from your sinfulness through his crucifixion, then in effect you are no longer your old sinful self in the eyes of God but born again through the cleansing of the blood and water of Christ that flowed from his wounds.
In verses 20 and 21 Paul goes on to explain to us and to the people of Corinth that Almighty God desires to have a close and intimate relationship with each and everyone of us, but he can not do so as long as we live in a state of sinfulness. Therefore for us to have a relationship with God we must be made righteous and the only way to become righteous is for us to be reconciled to God through Christ, as Christ is the only one God made sinless and whom God asked to become sin for us, so that through Christ Jesus we can become righteous and justified in the eyes of God.
This message becomes extremely important to all would be Christians who would choose to become baptized, especially during this Lenten season as baptism in Christ, as Paul points out is the only way that man can become reconcilled to God by being cleansed of their sinfulness. Most Christian denominations wait until Holy Week, the week before the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday to baptize the newly faithful and welcome them into the fold, although baptism can be performed for any person at any time.