“And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.” – Colossians 2:12

From the book of Acts, we observe that whenever a person believed in Christ, they would be baptized as a public expression of a spiritual truth that had taken place in their lives (Acts 2:38; 8:12; 8:36-38; 9:17-18; 10:47-48; 16:14-15; 16:30-33). They were declaring that they identified with Christ’s death on the cross, that their old self had been buried with Christ, and that they were raised with Him to a new life. 

Believing in Christ requires an intentional crucifixion of your old sinful nature on the cross so that, by the power of God, you rise to a new life. Unless you get rid of the old, you cannot put on the new life that Christ has to offer you. The new way of living is contrary to the old way. You need to bury the old way to fully experience the new and better way.