The Doctrine of Baptism (Matt 28:16-20; 1 Pet 3:21-22; Rom 6:1-11)

Introduction

Please turn your Bible to Matthew 28.

This morning, our church gets to do something that’s celebratory in nature—this morning, we’re privileged in that we get to baptize someone who was already a believer, but when she was baptized as a believer, she was baptized by sprinkling rather than by immersion.

Now, because I’m new here and because I’m not sure when the last baptism was done here, I wanted to take today to focus on the topic of baptism—what does it mean, why do we do it, and why do we do it the way that we do it here in a Baptist church? After all, if we claim to be Baptist then we ought to know what distinguishes us from other churches.

To answer these questions, we’re going to look at what I consider the three cornerstone passages concerning believer’s baptism by immersion. These are the three passages that our understanding of baptism rely on and without these three passages, we would have a deficient view of baptism. Now, I will say, this is not a comprehensive or systematic study on baptism throughout the Bible, we’re only focusing on the foundation for baptism in the New Testament—if you’d like to know more about baptism in a comprehensive way, come talk with me later.

So, what we’re doing this morning is this: we’ll be looking at three different passages that answer the following questions: (1) Why do we baptize? (2) What is baptism? and (3) What does baptism do? And the answers give us our outline for this morning: (1) We baptize because Jesus commands us to baptize (Matt 28:16-20), (2) We get baptized as our Confession of Faith (1 Peter 3:21-22) and (3) Our baptism symbolizes our union to Christ (Romans 6:1-11). These three passages lay the foundation of the doctrine of baptism and by showing you the foundation of the doctrine of baptism in this sermon, I’m hoping for two results: (1) if you’ve never been baptized, but you claim to believe, I’m hoping for conviction and (2) if you’ve been baptized, I’m hoping that you look back at your baptism as your confession of faith and you give Jesus all the praise for it.

Prayer for Illumination

We Baptize because Jesus Commands us to Baptize (Matt 28:16-20)

The first passage that I want us to look at is Matthew 28:16-20.

This is a familiar passage and one in which many of us have it memorized. In it, Jesus and his eleven disciples are standing on a mountain just before his ascension when Jesus makes a profound statement. Let’s look at these verses.

Matthew 28:16–20 ESV

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

So, they’re standing on a mountain and there’s a little bit of doubt.

Remember, this is after the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

It’s understandable that there would be some doubt about who Jesus is. They literally watched him beaten, torn apart, and crucified on the cross.

Now, there is some question as to why there would be some doubt when you consider that this isn’t directly after His resurrection, but anything we say about that is speculation.

The Bible said that when they saw Him, they worshiped Him, and some of them doubted, but note that in this passage, Jesus doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about doubt.

In fact, it’s almost as if he ignores that issue and jumps into what’s more important. V. 18 says that he said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

Now, we could debate what exactly Jesus means by “all authority” being given to Him—especially in light of the truth that Jesus was still God prior to His death, burial, and resurrection. He already had authority as God and yet, somehow, He now has all authority.

And with all this authority, he gives a command, vv. 19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

We have a command that we know colloquially as the Great Commission and in this Great Commission, He gives three specific jobs that are requirements of His disciples:

These disciples are to make more disciples—what this means is that they are to intentionally go out not just to get someone to pray a prayer or raise their hand, but rather to change the entire direction of their life. The goal is for the individual to intentionally choose Jesus and follow after Him. There are two additional points to be made here, (1) the disciples are to go and make new disciples—meaning, you can’t just wait in one spot, you need to go to them and (2) these new disciples are to be made of all the nations, not just our own.

The disciples are then to baptize these new disciples—baptism being the idea of dipping or submerging the person in water (that’s what the term baptizo means, “to dip”). In addition, Jesus tells us that these baptisms are to be done “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Now, this isn’t some sort of magic formula or anything like this—this is actually a statement of identity—by being baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, the individual is making it clear that He is Jesus’ and Jesus is His.

And then they are to teach them—In particular, they are to teach them to observe all the commands that Jesus commanded them to observe. We could go at length about these commands, but Jesus sums them up by telling us to love God and love our neighbors.

It’s a high command, but Jesus makes it clear that we are to do these things and that we can do them because He is with us to the end of the age.

So, why do we baptize others? Because Jesus tells us to baptize new believers.

The second passage we need to look at is 1 Peter 3:20-21. This passage has a reputation for being one of the most difficult passages in the Bible to understand and to interpret, but we’re not going to get caught up in the details here, we’re looking at one specific point.

In 1 Peter 3:20-21, Peter is speaking about the importance of baptism and he compares it to Noah’s Ark—that just like Noah and his family was saved from death in the waters, so is a person saved through the waters of baptism.

I know that sounds unusual because it sounds as if baptism has the ability to save, but you have to consider baptism how the first century believers thought of baptism. In our current culture, we’ve divorced baptism and salvation—meaning, we see them as completely different events, but in the first century, they considered baptism as your response to salvation—meaning, if you’re truly saved, you will get baptized—to them it’s all tied together. Keep that in mind as we read 1 Peter 3:20-21.

We get Baptized as our Confession of Faith (1 Peter 3:21-22)

1 Peter 3:21–22 ESV

21 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, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

In this text, Peter is comparing baptism to Noah’s Ark and he’s making the argument that just like Noah and his family were saved through the waters of the flood on the ark, so are you saved through your baptism.

And the way that this is phrased ought to rub you the wrong way just a little. Biblically, we know that our salvation is by grace through faith alone, correct?

So, how can Peter make the statement that baptism now saves? Because in the first century Christian understanding of baptism, it includes the full event—that you’ve heard the Gospel, you’ve accepted Jesus Christ, you’ve repented of your sins, and now you’re following Jesus.

Peter isn’t just talking about the action of being submerged under water—he’s talking about everything that leads up to that submersion under water.

In fact, he makes that abundantly clear in v. 21, that true, genuine Christian baptism isn’t about the physical ritual—you aren’t cleansed physically by your baptism, but rather, it cleanses you spiritually.

Because baptism is the means through which you make your profession of faith. It is through baptism that you make your decision to appeal to God for a good conscience known to those around you.

Now, that phrase does bring a good question, what does it mean that baptism is an appeal to God for a good conscience?

And I think the easiest way to explain what exactly this means is this—through baptism, which includes the idea that you’ve repented of your sins and you’re following Jesus, you make the declaration publically that you are indeed a follower of Jesus.

Your baptism is your proclamation of genuine faith—that you have and are appealing to God for your good conscience.

Where does that good conscience come from? It comes from Jesus who has cleansed your conscience by taking your sins upon the cross.

What Peter is saying is that the appeal that you make to God when you choose to be baptized, which is supposed to happen around the same time that you accept Jesus, repent of your sins, and believe in Him, is what saves.

Not the action itself, but rather the crying out to God that occurs when you get baptized.

And this appeal is made on the basis of or through the resurrection of Jesus Christ—or in other words, it isn’t the physical action that saves, it is crying out, it is calling on, it is believing in the resurrection of Jesus that saves.

Your baptism is when you make your public declaration of faith in Jesus Christ and when you make the appeal to God for salvation through Jesus Christ.

It is important for us to note Peter’s emphasis at the end of v. 21 into v. 22, that this appeal is made to God through Jesus’ resurrection and it is Jesus “who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.”

This is a reminder that your act in being baptized does not save you—Jesus saves you.

And it is a reminder of who Jesus is and why He is able to save you.

It is because He has gone back to heaven, it is because He is in charge at the right hand of the Father, it’s because all things have been subjected to Him or placed under Him.

And by being baptized you are declaring that you are His and He is yours for and in the local church family.

So, what we’ve seen so far is this: (1) we baptize new believers because Jesus told us to baptize new believers. (2) We get baptized because our baptism is our confession of faith.

Lastly, there is a symbolic aspect to our baptism that we see in Romans 6:1-11. We don’t have a lot of time left to look at this passage, but I think it’s actually pretty clear it what it means. Let’s take a look at this last passage.

Our Baptism Symbolizes our Union to Christ (Romans 6:1-11)

Romans 6:1–11 ESV

1 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 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 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.

In this last passage, Paul is speaking out against the thought that grace is a reason to continue to sin. There were some that made the claim that because God is so gracious, we ought to sin and sin and sin again so that there would be more and more grace.

In confronting this issue, Paul appeals to their baptism and his argument is actually quite simple.

Their baptism physically symbolized a spiritual reality—and that reality is that through Jesus Christ, you have been baptized into His death.

This baptism into His death, which is the spiritual reality that is symbolized through your physical baptism brought about the death of your old body of sin, which stops you from being enslaved to sin.

This is symbolized in your going under the water.

Again, it physically symbolizes a spiritual reality. In addition, your physical baptism represents your spiritual life in Jesus Christ.

That as you are raised from out of the water in likeness of His resurrection, so you now live in newness of life from and in Him.

This is symbolized in your coming back out of the water.

Paul says that your baptism symbolizes the spiritual reality of your death to sin and newness of life by uniting you to Jesus in His physical death and resurrection.

Because of this, you should no longer live in sin, you should stop seeking that sinful lifestyle, and you should consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in and through Jesus Christ.

And just as a side-note, the symbolic nature of baptism that unites us with Jesus Christ, ought to be taken seriously not just by the person being baptized, but also by those witnessing the baptism.

If you’re being baptized, the reality being presented through your baptism is that you genuinely believe in Jesus and you’re committing to following Him with your life. What you’re publically saying by being baptized is that you believe in Jesus, you’re part of the family, you’re part of the universal church, and you want everyone to know.

If you’re witnessing a baptism, the reality being presented through their baptism is that they genuinely believe in Jesus and they’re committing to following Him with their life. That they believe in Jesus, they’re part of the family, they’re part of the universal church, and they want you to know.

With this in mind—to be baptized isn’t just a simple ritual we do, it’s an integral part of our faith in which we publically profess our belief in Jesus Christ and our willingness to follow Him.

We baptize because Jesus told us to baptize new believers, we get baptized as our confession of faith, which symbolizes our union to Christ.

With this in mind, we move into our application and our application is actually rather simple and I’m going to give you our application from two perspectives (1) for those that haven’t been baptized and (2) for those that have been baptized.

Application

If you’re a believer, but you haven’t been baptized—can I just ask, why not?

We looked at three passages that lay the foundation for baptism, that Jesus commands it, that it is our confession of faith, which symbolizes our union to Christ.

With that in mind, what we see then is that baptism is an important part of our faith and that by choosing not to get baptized, we’re choosing to disobey Jesus’ Great Commission, and we’re refusing to make the public confession of faith that the New Testament speaks about, and we’re not showing the public union that we have with Jesus and His death, burial, and resurrection.

Again, with this in mind, if you claim to believe and you haven’t been baptized, the question is why aren’t you baptized? Especially with as important as baptism actually is.

Now, if there’s a medical reason that’s a different situation—for instance, if you are physically unable to be submerged under water because of legitimate fear or medical conditions and devices, then we wouldn’t expect you to get immersed, we would work with you to baptize you in a different way that would still fulfill what needed to be fulfilled in Scripture.

But if you’re able-bodied, and you see that Jesus commands it, that it is our confession of faith, and it symbolizes our union to Christ, and you’re still unwilling to be baptized, you ought to ask yourself why.

You need to check your heart.

Of course, you don’t necessarily need to be baptized in the church building and we’re willing to baptize you anywhere just as long as there are witnesses to your baptism, but if you absolutely refuse to be baptized, what does it tell you about your heart?

If you’re a believer, but you’ve never been baptized, then your application is this: go get baptized.

If you’re a believer and you’ve been baptized, your application is three-fold:

First, go and make disciples so that we see more new believers baptized—the Great Commission makes it clear that disciples of Jesus make more disciples.

As a result, if you’re actively going and making disciples, we ought to see more and more believers getting baptized.

If we aren’t seeing anyone being baptized for an extended period of time, we ought to be concerned.

So, go and make more disciples.

Second, when you witness a baptism, celebrate with them and help them stay accountable to this new spiritual reality of being dead to sin and alive to Jesus Christ.

Baptism is a great moment of celebration for the local church and we ought to celebrate every time someone gets baptized.

In fact, when we baptize here in a little bit—if no one shouts “amen!” I’m going to be sorely disappointed, so please be vocal about our celebration.

In addition, because the person being baptized is representing their new spiritual reality of being dead to sin and alive in Christ, let me encourage you to lovingly hold them accountable to this.

Third, when you think about baptism, reflect on your own baptism and give thanks for the spiritual reality of being dead to sin and alive to Jesus Christ in your own life.

Jesus did for you what you couldn’t do for yourself. And through your baptism, you obeyed His Great Commission, you’ve proclaimed your genuine faith in Him publically, and you’ve shown your union to Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

Remember it, give thanks for it, and celebrate with others who choose to follow Jesus in baptism.

Put simply, what we see in these three passages concerning baptism is that baptism is an important part of our faith, so, if you aren’t baptized, go get baptized; if you are baptized, celebrate with those who get baptized, help them stay accountable to their new spiritual reality, and give thanks for what Jesus has done in your life and in theirs.

Pastoral Prayer