Baptism: A Response of faith to the Gospel of Jesus.

INTRODUCTION

Acts 2:38–39 “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.””

WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

Isaiah 53:4–6 NASB95

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.

HOW IS THE WORK OF CHRIST APPLIED TO US?

FAITH / CONFESSION / REPENTANCE / DEATH TO SELF / LIFE LIVED BY THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST

Romans 3:28 NASB95

For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

Romans 10:9–10 NASB95

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

2 Corinthians 7:9–10 NASB95

I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

Galatians 2:20 NASB95

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

THE CHURCH OF JESUS HAS ALWAYS HAD A SACRAMENTAL INITIATION IN THE FAITH THAT EMBODIES EACH OF THESE.

BAPTISM!

Romans 6:1–11 NASB95

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 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. 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, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

FAITH / CONFESSION /REPENTANCE / DEATH TO SELF / LIFE LIVED BY THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST.

Faith - Baptism shows our faith in Christ.

Confession - Baptism is a public confession of our faith in Christ and our submission to His Lordship.

Repentance - Baptism demonstrates our turning from the world, Satan, and self and turning to Jesus as Lord.

Death to self - Life in the Spirit of Christ - The water symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of us in Christ.

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BAPTISM IS MORE THAN A MERE SYMBOL, IT IS A SACRAMENT

Mark 16:15–19 NASB95

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

A visible sign or seal of the graces of God in Christ, that offer spiritually what they visibly represent.

IT IS NOT ABOUT MAGIC IT IS ALL ABOUT FAITH!

The water is not magic / ceremony is not magic.

Without faith in Jesus and His words the ceremony will do nothing for you.

FAITH -

Faith that in the waters Jesus will meet you there.

Faith that through the pastor Jesus will baptize you.

Faith that in the submersion of water, Jesus is baptizing you into His death and burial.

Faith that as you rise out of the water, Jesus is filling you with His HS to empower to live your life in Christ.

It is not magic and it is more than a mere symbol.

Through faith Jesus offers us the grace through the symbol of baptism.

Through faith we meet Jesus in the water and He baptizes us into His death and resurrection.

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CONCLUSION

The Biblical response to the Gospel is Baptism.

Acts 2:37–41 NASB95

Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.

Acts 8:34–38 NASB95

The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.

BAPTISM IS THE INITIATION RITE THAT SYMBOLIZES

Your faith

Your confession

Your repentance

Death and burial of your sin nature

Resurrection into a new life empowered by the Holy Spirit.

BAPTISM IS MORE THAN A MERE SYMBOL IT IS A SACRAMENT.

By faith Jesus meets us in the water

By faith Jesus baptizes through the pastor

By faith Jesus baptizes you into His death and buries your old sinful nature.

By faith Jesus raises you up and fills you with His Spirit, empowering you to live for Him.