Baptism
Notes
Transcript
Following our looking at the Resurrection I want to take a few weeks to look at a few aspects of the Great Commission.
Today we are going to hyper focus on “Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Next week, we will look at the Lord’s Supper. And the week after that we will look at the Great Commission as a whole.
I’m going to warn you now that I have several illustrations that all result in friends improperly understanding something about baptism.
Many years ago, I had a conversation with a close childhood friend. We met through church
He stated that he had never been baptized, I asked why not, and he had responded by stating that he didn’t think it was important, because it doesn’t do anything.
At the time I thought it was odd - and I remember pushing back at his statement. And in retrospect that attitude should have given me a sign that something was extremely amiss with his faith… and frankly, it is why I wasn’t surprised when he later left the faith.
However, this is a common view for many who comes from a baptist, or non-denominational church background. Where many argue that because you can be saved without getting wet - we don’t need baptism.
Baptism may not be necessary for salvation, but this morning I hope that I will demonstrate that it is indeed necessarily in another way.
Now this morning I am not only intending to convinced people who have not been baptized to be baptized, but also to bring delight to those who have been baptized.
As we continue it is appropriate that we take a moment to acknowledge what our church has historically held to be true about Baptism.
From the New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith 1833.
XVI. Of Baptism And The Lord’s Supper
We believe that Christian Baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, into the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit; to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its effect, in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; that it is prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation; and to the Lord’s Supper, in which the members of the church by the sacred use of bread and the fruit of the vine, are to commemorate together the love of Christ displayed in His sacrificial death for His people; preceded always by solemn self-examination.
This also touches on the Lord’s Supper, which we will look at next week.
Now of course we want to Biblical first and foremost. Our churches statement of faith, however, is a historically agreed upon confession to represent the theological commitments of our fellowship. This is not just my opinion or elder’s opinions but rather the historical beliefs of Maranatha Baptist Church - and that we affirm that these are representative of what Scripture teaches us about baptism.
To Summarize what the confession says:
Immersion in water
Believers
Trinitarian
Name of the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Nancy and Raul?
Demonstration of our faith in the crucified, buried and resurrected Savior.
Sign of our death to sin and resurrection to a new life
Pre-requisite to church relation:
Church membership
serving in church offices
the Lord’s Supper.
This means that if you have not been baptized by immersion in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We would advise, and our church’s statement of faith agrees, you should remain seated during the Lord’s Supper next week until you can be baptized. Now Jim and I will not physically prevent you from not taking - ultimately, it is on your conscience between you and God - however, the believers first act of obedience to Christ after their conversion ought to be baptism.
Believers baptism is not the same as re-baptism. Referring back to my friends who were baptized in a unitarian church - they were not rebaptized - they were truly baptized.
I do not believe in re-baptism. I reject the idea that we should baptize people who were baptized and it just didn’t stick. I have another friend who has been baptized, 3 maybe 4 times. Once as an infant, once in a church as a believer, once in the Jordan river, and one more time in a church. The final time when he began to be much more serious about his faith. Three of those were unnecessary.
If we are being consistent to our statement of faith this means that anyone who has not been baptized as a believer by immersion in the name of the Triune God is ineligible to be a member of our fellowship. I am not saying that they are not truly born again. I am not saying that they are not welcome to worship with us - they certainly are.
The appropriate method and meaning for baptism is important for church membership, and taking of the Lord’s Supper.
For the remainder of our time I want to unpack the
Who,
Why,
What,
How,
Where,
and When Baptism.
However, I will also demonstrate how this is part of our churches identity, and the remarkable joy that remains for those who look back at their baptism. So this is not just for those who have not been baptized,
Who?
Who?
Believers. Those who have made a credible profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The great commission… make disciples then baptize.
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
In Acts 2 - they receive the word of the Gospel, they believe, and then they are baptized.
Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8. In verse 35 Philip tells the Eunuch the good news about Jesus. And then he baptizes him.
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”
In Acts 16, we see two specific instances of conversion and then baptism.
In verse 14 the Lord opens the heart of Lydia to believe and then she is baptized.
Same chapter a few verses down:
Paul and Silas are in the prison - they are singing hymns to God, there is an earthquake, the prison doors broken open, the bonds were unfastened. The jailer fears for his life - Paul calms him to state that they have not escaped but they are all still there…
When the Philippian jailer asks
30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.
Another thing that I wish to note about baptism is its connection to the body of the church.
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Is that they were added to the church following their confession of faith, and their baptism. When we baptize here we add those people to church membership.
Part of baptism is a commitment to the body of Christ. You are identifying with others who have been baptized. You are making a commitment to participate in the local body. As the local body is who administers baptism, and the local body is the one who accepts baptism - baptism is closely connected with church membership.
Why not babies?
Because the New Testament demonstrates faith before baptism in every instance where someone is baptized. There are two instances of household baptisms (Lydia and Jailer) - people assume that they are children there - the text does not say one way or the other. However, when the jailers household is baptized in Acts 16:32 we read that the gospel was spoken to all in the house before they were baptized. Which seems to in the book of Acts assume belief.
32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.
When considering a candidate for baptism we do not look for perfection, or even a robust theology, we want to know that someone understands the Gospel, understands who Jesus is, what he has done, understands what baptism is, and is repenting of their sins.
For the same reason, I would be hesitant to baptize any person on behalf of another person’s request. Example: a parent asking of their child, one person telling me that another person is ready for baptism. I would need to speak to the candidate not baptism on the word of another.
Who baptizes: the pastor or elders. Those who are representative of the church as a whole.
Baptism should be done in the local church, overseen by a spiritual representative of the local church, before the local church. This is key to the theology of church autonomy that baptists have held so dearly. We don’t have a presbytery, we don’t have a synod. However, we don’t despise other churches so we don’t have to rebaptize people simply because they were baptized as believers in another church.
Why?
Why?
First, because Jesus said so. If you are a follower of Jesus there is not reason to not wish to be obedient to what he has commanded. It identifies us as his disciples - and his disciples obey his commands.
It also identifies us with his death.
In Colossians 2:12 we read.
12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
In our baptism we are identified with Jesus’ death. As Jesus died and went into the grave so are we lowered into the water. As Jesus was raised from the dead, so we are raised out of the water.
In Romans 6:3-4 we read:
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.
This is often quoted during baptism ceremonies. Buried in the likeness of his death, raised in the likeness of his resurrection to walk in the newness of life.
Why do we get baptized: to show obedience to Christ, to publicly profess our faith in Christ, to commit ourselves to the body of Christ.
What?
What?
We have already answered what it is… but what does it mean?
What does it mean?
Baptism is the first public act of obedience that a Christian ought to show after their conversion.
Is it necessary for Salvation?
No.
It is necessary for obedience.
So someone who refuses to get baptized because it doesn’t do anything - may be demonstrating a lack of spiritual fruit. If you claim to be a Christian but do not desire to be obedient to Jesus then you are either lying, or in dangerous sin.
Jesus in John 14:15 said “If you love me, obey my commands.” If you love Jesus you will obey his command to be baptized.
Now I said it was not salvific but what about that verse in 1 Peter…
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,
The New Testament in many places aligns salvation and baptism so closely that they at times seem to be synonymous. We are saved by grace alone through faith in Christ - not as a result of works. However, the New Testament knows nothing of a non-baptized believer. It is inconceivable that someone who has sincerely professed faith in Jesus would not be baptized. (we’ll look at this verse in context on Wednesday night.) In short, Peter is using baptism as shorthand for salvation here. It is a symbolic picture of the resurrection of Christ, but also our new life in Christ.
How?
How?
The word baptize means to immerse. This means that we dip the baptismal candidate in water.
Why? Because that is how Jesus was baptized. When Jesus is baptized in the gospels it states that he came up out of the water.
Additionally, the new testament repeatedly compares baptism to a burial. Immersion best displays that picture.
Are there exceptions?
Sure. If baptizing by immersion is impossible - then there can be exceptions. Those are few and far between - if baptism by immersion is going to somehow be detrimental to their health maybe there’s an exception. Those on hospice care, or in hospitals who cannot be immersed. There are possible exemptions - but
How do we know when it is right for someone to be baptized. Well as Baptists we will occasionally baptize false converts, those who play the Christian game for a while until something happens and they bail.
My category for baptism is that the individual should come to me about it. I’m probably not going to baptize an minor whose parents come to me to ask about baptism. I want to make sure that the candidate understands what the gospel is, who Jesus is, and why we baptize.
Where?
Where?
By where I am not so much concerned with location as I am context. Lake Roosevelt, Swimming Pool, Church Baptismal, Feeding trough, jacuzzi, Jordan River - does not make much difference - as long as the context is appropriate.
The appropriate where is In the context of the local church.
The ordinances that Jesus gave were given to the church, not families, not friends, but the organized body of confessing believers.
Baptism should be done within the context of the local church. It should be observed and celebrated by pastors to the delight of the congregation.
When?
When?
After one confesses Jesus as Lord and that God raised him from the dead. Though the instances I demonstrated in the texts previously show people being baptized soon after, I would hesitate to celebrate spontaneous baptism. The early church after the close of the NT, would catechize a baptismal candidate for a year. That seems to be a bit much. However, it does seem appropriate to wait for a period of time to see the new believer show fruit and demonstrate an understanding of the gospel, and remorse and repentance of sins.
If nothing else it takes a few hours to fill our baptismal so…
If you consider yourself a Christian - you have faith in the death of Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, and you believe that God raised him from the dead - and have not been baptized by immersion as a believer - it is appropriate to ask “Why have you not been baptized?” If that describes you, then it might be time to schedule a meeting with Jim and I about that.
Remember Your Baptism
Remember Your Baptism
“Therefore, as often as well fall away, we ought to recall the memory of our baptism and fortify our mind with it, that we may always be sure and confident of the forgiveness of sins. For, though baptism, administered only once seemed to have passed, it was still not destroyed by subsequent sins.” John Calvin Institutes Book 4, XV, 3
This quote, as best as I can tell has led to the
Presbyterians adopting this wonderful phrase “Remember your baptism.” However, it’s ironic because well they baptize babies who would not remember their baptism. However, that’s not really what they mean by it.
What they are conveying is that Christians ought to remember that their baptism was welcoming them into the covenant community. Wonderful language - wrong order. For Christians, when you are discouraged - remember your baptism. Remember that the community of faith came around you celebrated and affirmed the signs of regeneration in your life and rejoiced as you were lowered into the water buried in the likeness of his death - and lifted out of the water - raised in the likeness of his resurrection. Remember your baptism that you were welcomed into the community of faith - that in your public profession of faith in Christ Jesus you were committing to be part of the Christian community.
Remembering your baptism means remembering the gospel.
When we baptize others we remember our own baptism.
I remember when I was getting ready to enroll in ministry I read a book that spoke of putting figurative flag posts in the ground to look back on - he was getting at the illustration of someone traveling through the desert and placing flagposts to remember where they came from… when ministry gets hard, when you fall into sin, when other people make you want to sin, when seminary seems miserable, when you aren’t sure why you are doing this - or where you are going anymore look back at those flagposts reason why you went into ministry… in a similar sense Christian baptism is a flagpost. When you want to quit the church, when you fall into sin, when you don’t want to get out of bed in the morning to come to church, when you have tension with other believers…
Remember your baptism. Remember their baptism too.
Remember that they were bought with the same precious blood of Jesus that you were.
As I close I want you to consider one of two things…
If you have not been properly baptized as a believer, and think it might be time - take some time to pray about it. Consider what baptism means.
If you have been baptized, then delight in the wonder of salvation and the picture that baptism portrays.
