Belonging in the Family of God

Baptism is an outward sign of an inward transformation, symbolizing the believer's identification with Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.

We must be careful today not to confuse the two types of baptism that we see in Scripture. There is the baptism that occurs at salvation where we are brought into right relationship with Christ that Romans 6:3–4 speaks about

“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.”

This baptism is special in that it gives us newness of life as Paul says. But the baptism we are focusing on here this morning is physical, the act of getting wet with water through immersion. The first must happen before this second act can occur.

Baptism is not only a personal commitment but also a community experience, where individuals affirm their faith within the body of Christ and the church affirms their testimony by the addition of them into membership, which means the church is a supportive family. What makes baptism important is there is always at least one witness that says, “Yes, I can affirm their salvation story.”

Big Idea: Baptism is a significant step in the believer's journey that publicly affirms their faith and commitment to Christ, inviting those being baptized into deeper fellowship within the church community.

This morning we will examine 2 benefits for being physically baptized.

1. Christ's Command to Baptize

Matthew 28:18-20

English Standard Version Chapter 28

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.”

We often will begin talking about the great commission from v. 19, but v. 18 is critical for us to remember. Everything we do is rooted in the authority of Jesus. Why should we listen and do these things? Because Christ is King and he commands us to be about these things.

From the outset, Christ command His church to be about 2 things.

Evangelism

“fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19) Sharing the gospel and discipling people

I enjoy fishing and by extension so does my family. I would love to stand here today and tell you that everytime I go out fishing I catch hundreds of fish and am hugely successful each time. But I am not. Yet I keep going, why? I enjoy it and when I am successful there is great joy in it.

Sometimes we treat evangelism like this, I am having no success so I must be terrible at it and I am going to quit. Our determined success in evangelism is not God’s standard.

What we determine as unsuccessful, God may determined as success if we are faithfully trusting His work in it.

Baptism

Immersion is the most appropriate mode of baptism, because that is the only mode that symbolizes burial and resurrection.

The public declaration of the inward change that has already occurred.

“Before giving the commission, Jesus first established His absolute, pervasive authority, because otherwise the command would have seemed hopelessly impossible for the disciples to fulfill, and they might have ignored it. Were it not for knowing they had the Lord’s sovereign demand as well as His resources to guide and empower them, those five hundred nondescript, powerless disciples would have been totally overwhelmed by the inconceivable task of making disciples for their Lord from among every nation on earth.” John MacArthur Matthew Commentary

Salvation has been and always will be by God’s grace alone through faith alone as a gift of God (Eph. 2:8)

But even in these two commands, there is a great truth to remember baptism is not the end all be all. We must also continue to be taught and teach others about Scripture. It is an ongoing process. And it is a process that we are not left alone in, Jesus goes with us.

The second benefit of belonging to the family of God is...

2. Community in Baptism's Embrace

Acts 2:38-39

English Standard Version Chapter 2

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

Baptism was a signifier of a new community centered around faith in Christ. Baptism unites believers, creates accountability, and provides encouragement within the church family. Nothing lights a fire under believers like seeing someone take an obedient step to publicly proclaim Christ.

Peter was encouraging all that takes place at the moment of salvation. We are forgiven...we receive the HS...then they were water baptized. So because of the change the gospel made in the life of the people who heard it, they publicly declared it through an outward sign.

Let’s dig a little deeper though for what it means to be a part of the community and to be embraced by it:

How do I join this community?

a. Repent

change of heart and confession of sin

e.g. archer and missing the mark.

b. Baptized

Peter links baptism with forgiveness of sins. You cannot be baptized apart from the forgiveness.

What’s critical is that Peter makes it clear this is individual and a responsibility of each “hearer” to respond.

c. Identity with Christ

Peter isn’t making an off comment or “Christian” statement, this was critical in the understanding of the people who were hearing the message. You cannot be baptized without surrendering and trusting in Jesus Christ.

d. The Holy Spirit

At the moment of Salvation, being the context here, Peter says a believer receives the Holy Spirit as Paul puts it, the seal of salvation Ephesians 1:13–14 “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

Notice that there isn’t a second pouring of the Spirit as some would believe or a double blessing. The understanding of salvation and baptism that Scripture clearly teaches is that you are baptized at salvation through the Spirit, receive Him as a guarantee of your salvation and then it was expected for you to physically get baptized.

Thus Peter concludes that this promise of community is for all who would believe, from the youngest person who can grasp the truth of the gospel to the oldest person. But you do have to personally believe, repent, and surrender your life to Christ. Your family doesn’t save you, your marriage doesn’t save you, your parents cannot save you, your job, your hobbies, your charity cannot save you. Only through the name of Jesus can salvation come to you.

Next Steps:

Probably most of us here today have experienced the water baptism that we are going to see take place here shortly. But one area that we can take the next step is finding someone in our life that we can pour into their life to share the hope of Christ or to encourage them to get baptized and join the local church.

Peter made it clear that baptism is a process of adding someone to their local body Acts 2:41 “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”

For some here today, maybe you’ve never been baptized by immersion and you can feel the tug on your heart to get this taken care of. It would be awesome if this was a launching point for you to take your walk with Christ seriously. If you are interested please speak with me or another leader of our church so we can help you move along in this process.

A couple of admonitions:

Don’t think baptism puts you into a “special” Christian category, there isn’t a double blessing or advancement of your walk when you get baptized. It is simple obedience to what Christ commands.

Don’t think neglecting getting baptized is a big deal. (E.g. neglecting to take the trash out or disobeying a family rule doesn’t remove you from the family but it does estrange the relationship until it is corrected). Jesus made baptism a big deal when he instructed His followers early on to be baptizing people.

Remember your salvation story is special no matter the content because the same power that saved you, saves everyone else. Use God’s work in your life to give Him glory.