Does Baptism Save Us?

This morning my goal is to give you an overview of baptism and My hope is that you will leave here with a better understanding of what it is and what it is not

To do that I will be building my message off of -Romans 6:1-8

will you turn there and stand with me as we read God’s Word this morning

Romans 6:1–8 ESV

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 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. 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. 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. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

Prayer

Have you ever been absent from someone for a while - and the when you see them you have to do a double take becasue they have changed so drastically

you start to wonder what happened becasue they look so different - I am not talking about a little change - no we are referring to a drastic change

that is what is should be like for us when we come to Christ - We should experience a drastic change

I still laugh whenever we run into someone that knew me in high school - becasue it never fails once they learn that I am a pastor - their first words are - words of shock

believe me When you are saved it changes you -

that is why Ezekiel 11:19 says

Ezekiel 11:19 ESV

And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,

some of you are saying pastor I grew up in a good home

so really I did not go experience a major change in my life - and to that I would say yes you did - becasue you went form life to death

Being a follower of Jesus changes us - and this kind of change can only come form Christ alone

if we add anything to the message of Christ then we loose Christ

Salvation is in Christ alone

and so when we are asked is baptism required for salvation the answer is no

However what you need to understand is that baptism is necessary in the life of a Christian if we want to be obedient

to be a faithful follower you need to be baptized - In fact if some one claims to be a christian but refuses to be baptized - If i was the one discipling them I would lead them to ask themselves if in fact they were truly saved

the Big Idea of today’s message is this

Baptism is not a condition of Salvation but it is vital evidence of Salvation

So how do we know that baptism does not save us - let’s unpack this question

No where in the bible are we told that baptism is what saves us - if we have to be baptized in order to be saved then how is it that the thief cross is in paradise right now

but again we are saved by faith not by water and that is why Paul writes these word in Roman 5:1

Romans 5:1 ESV

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul in this verse does not say we are justified by….

baptism

or by saying the sinners prayer

no we are baptized by placing our faith in Jesus Christ and making him the Lord of our life

Faith Alone is what Saves Us

Why does this matter - because I believe there are people out there - that waked the aisle repeated the sinners prayer and them were baptized who believe that their baptism is what saves them - and when they face Jesus they are counting on the fact that he will let them into his kingdom becuase they were baptized

and i believe Jesus will say these words to them

Matthew 7:21–23 ESV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

because their faith is in baptism - not Jesus

There are some who say that you have to be baptized in order to be saved and that is no the case

in Romans 6 the verses that we just read Paul asked a rhetorical question - the question was about remaining in sin and then in the next several verses he answers the question by explaining to his readers what actually takes palce when you are saved

he tell us what happens to us at the moment we place our faith in Jesus

and what I want you to notice is that no where in these 6 verses does Paul mention water baptism

and this morning we are going to use these verses to answer our question

Does Baptism Save us

So then what happens the moment we place our faith in Jesus and make him the Lord of our life

first ot all Paul tells us that we are freed from our sin

We are Saved from Our Sin

look at Romans 6:1-3

Romans 6:1–3 ESV

you may say percher what does that have to do with baptism or salvation

becasue it demonstrates that at the very moment you and I are saved there is a radical difference in our life

we are no longer slaves to the old master -we are made new and fee of that bondage

you may be asking yourself how is it that we have died to sin when we are still alive physically

is all has to do with Paul's answer in Romans 6:3

Romans 6:3 (ESV)

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus

some of you are looking at these words and saying no hold on pastor right here in Romans Paul uses the word baptism - he tell us that we have been baptized into Christ

but notice what it says - Paul says we are baptized into Christ - not into water

We are Baptized into Christ

so what does it mean to be baptized into Christ

it is all about identity

According to this, all those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ have been “baptized into” Him.

The word “baptize” is a transliteration of the Greek term

baptizō

which means “to immerse” or “to submerge.”

so to be baptized into something is to be completely enveloped by it

so At the moment we are saved - our identity is radically changed

and When we place our trust in Jesus Christ for salvation from sin, we are enveloped by Him

that means…

we take on His identity

now Paul goes on to describe all the ways we have been baptised into Christ

Into his death

at the end of verse 6 Paul explains that we have been baptized into His death

Romans 6:3 (NASB95)

baptized into His death?

what this means is that when Jesus died his death becomes or death - no what you need to understand here is that Paul is not referring to our physical death - He is talking about a spiritual death

when we accept Jesus and he becomes the Lord of or life

we die to the old way of life - that life of sin

when Jesus is out Lord and master sin no longer has a grip on us

church that means you and I no longer have an obligation to obey sin

when we have been saved - when we have been rooted in Christ - wen we have been baptized by the Spirit

yes we may continue to sin - in fact we will find that we stumble and fall at times when it comes to sin

but we are no longer controlled by it

sin is no longer our master

because Jesus is our new master

no look at verse 4

We have Died with Christ

Romans 6:4 NASB95

Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

Paul uses the word therefore - and any time we see the word therefore we need to ask what is it there for

becasue we have baptised into his death - we are not alone in this death - we share in death with Christ

we have been buried with him

so does Paul stress the burial of Christ here?

because with out the death of Jesus there would be no body to bury

this is a reminder that Jesus our Lord and Savior laid in that tomb - his death was real - but as we know death had no hold on him becasue after three days he rose form the dead - conquering death and hell

and just like his death and burial is real - so is our spiritual death - don’t you see what Paul is saying here - he is saying you have died to sin - the old man that was controlled by sin is no longer the man you are - your identify is now in Christ

That is when we baptize some one

we immerse them in the water

because it portrays our burial with Christ

and as we are raised it shows that we are alive in him

As believers - Are identify in in Christ

I could camp out there all day - oh how we need to understand what it means to have a new identify

but for the sake of time let’s move on

look a t the end of vs 4 and then vs 5

Romans 6:4–5 (NASB95)

so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,

We Have been Resurrected With Jesus

this is where the story gets really good - becasue there is no body in that tomb - Jesus arose form the dead and conquered death and hell

so what does that mean for us

it means that when we make Jesus the Lord and Savior of our life

not only do we die - spiritually speaking with him being buried in him

we also share in His resurrection (no witness)

Church we have been raised up to walk in the newness of life

and we are to walk in a manner that is worthy of that new life

yes we will stumble - we will fall - but that is no longer us — we are no longer who we use to be

we are a child of God - our identity is found in Christ

are you walking in Christ? you may say pastor how do I walk in Christ - and that is a whole other sermon - that we do not have time to get into - but let me give you the cheat code

it all has to do with the Holy Spirit - he is our helper and if we want to walk in the newness of life that means we have to listen the the direction of the Holy Spirit in our life - it is His job to teach how to glorify Christ

back to what Paul is saying here

look at vs 6

We have been crucified with Christ

Romans 6:6 ESV

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.

it only makes sense that if we dies with Christ and are buried with Christ

we were also crucified with Christ

that is why Paul tells them you should already no what I am about to tell you

Church everything about us when it comes to the old way of life - that sinful way of life has been nailed to the cross

Christ died for our sin so that it no longer has control on us - so that we could be made right with God

that means we have been freed form our sin problem - you know the one that makes you unworthy to enter into heaven

the one Paul writes about in Romans 6:23

Romans 6:23 NASB95

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

that free gift is Jesus and because we have made him the Lord and savior of our life

We have been freed from our sin

look at

Romans 6:7 ESV

For one who has died has been set free from sin.

because we were crucified with Jesus and our sins were nailed to the cross

because he bore our sins again we are no longer a slave to sin

as christians we now belong to Christ - his is our source of idenity

and now we are being sanctified - we are being made into the image of Jesus

and none of this is because of the water in that baptistry

it all is because Jesus died for us

so does Water baptism save us - no

it is our declaration to the - world that we no longer identify with the old man - that out identify is now rooted in Christ

he lived the life we could not live and died the life that we could not live so that we could be saved

so that we could be free

he busted out of the grave so that we could be saved

Closing

if you are here this morning and you are struggling with sin right now

the baptism this morning is a reminder that if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior - you do not have to live in that sin

in fact let me just put it bluntly - as a child of God you are not to love in that sin

So whatever that Sin is

it could be an attitude you are harboring

It could be pride

it could be a number of things

whatever it is - you need to bring that to God - you need to repent of that sin and you need to ask the HS to help you walk in the newness of life

I love what Lamentations 3:22-23 says

Lamentations 3:22–23 ESV

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

If you are entangled in that sin this morning know this

God is not in having crossing his arm at you saying - tis - tis

he is not giving you the eye

He is saying my Child you have been forgiven of all your sin - you do not have to live this way - you can walk in newness

in a moment you will have a chance to bring that sin to God - and you may be tempted to say I now I need to come to the altar and lay it down but that means everyone will know that I am struggling with that sin and they will judge me

but here me when I say this if they are judging you - shame on them

if they are judging you then it means that they are harboring sin to

so don’t worry about them - just run to the father

before we go into a time of invitation

I want to first address anyone here this morning that has never been saved

you no longer have to bear you sin alone - Jesus has already paid the price - so that you could be forgiven and

Salvation is as easy as ABC

A - Admit that you are a sinner - that you fall short and are not worthy of the glory of God

B - believe that - even though you are not worthy - Jesus loved you anyways and he died for you - so that you could be made right

C - then confess Jesus as the Lord and Savior of your life - surrendering control of your life to him

would you make him the lord and savior of your life

with every wye close - no looking around - no trying to see who puts there hand up

if you would like to make Jesus the Lord and Savior of your life would you raise you hand (call Bob if some one raises their hand)

everyone keep there eyes closed - if you are here this morning and you are saved - you know you have been freed from sin but you find yourself struggling with sin right now

entangled in it and you want me to pray for you please raise your hand

worship tea m as I pray please make your way to the front

prayer

if you raised you hand - would yo be bold enough to come to the front and lift it up to God this morning - as the worship team begins to play the altar is open

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