Greg Laurie, whose story is featured in the Jesus Revolution movie, hosted an event that he says saw 4,500 people baptized at Pirates Cove, where he himself was baptized in the film.

In an interview with Billy Hallowell, Laurie said an 85-year-old man was baptized that day. He had turned to Jesus after seeing Jesus Revolution, Laurie said, adding that his family had thought he’d never come to faith.

CBN News has a great clip on the event.

If you want a refresher on the film, here’s the trailer:

I love how, in CBN’s clip, Laurie preaches at the event that baptism is the death of the old life and the start of a new life in Jesus the Messiah. He quoted from Romans 6:4 about being buried and living a new life. Here’s that verse with some more context (verses 3-8):

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 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. 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. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin — because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

I remember when a man who is now one of my pastors/elders explained to me at an evangelism event at the mall the meaning of baptism. He had been speaking about the power of baptism as he was sharing the gospel with people, and I didn’t understand. He shared scriptures with me like this one to explain what he meant. I realized baptism means more than I had thought. It’s how we’re killed and buried with Jesus, so that we may live a new life.

It’s so good to remember this passage. The body that is ruled by sin has been done away with. I can now, as verse 11 says, count myself dead to sin but alive in Christ. When sin comes knocking, I am dead and unavailable to do what it wants. Let us live in this reality.

Aliya Kuykendall is a staff writer and proofreader for The Stream. You can follow Aliya on Twitter @AliyaKuykendall and follow The Stream @Streamdotorg.