Baptism - What Is It?
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In the first mention of baptism in NT, we find that baptism is linked with repentance and the coming of the kingdom of heaven...
1 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,
2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
5 Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan;
6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
What is repentance?
It literally means “to change one’s mind.”It is far more than just saying, “I’m sorry.” It is a spiritual 180” turn.
One definition:
Repentance involves a fundamental reorientation of one’s life away from sin and toward God. It means renouncing the misbehavior by which one’s relationship with God was being harmed, specifically abandoning courses of action in which one defied God by embracing what He dislikes and forbids.
Repentance and baptism are inextricably linked together in the Bible. There is no baptism without repentance. Without repentance, baptism is just getting wet.
There is only one man who has ever lived who needed no repentance. Who is that? Jesus, of course! Yet, even He submitted Himself to baptism.
13 Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.
14 But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”
15 But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him.
So though Jesus needed know repentance and therefore technically needed no baptism, He submitted to baptism before He began his ministry as an example to us. He said that it was “to fulfill all righteousness.”
When Jesus was baptized of John, a voice came out of heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” This indicates to us that being baptized is well pleasing to the Father.
On the day of Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection, Peter preached a powerful sermon which resulted in many men and women being convicted of sin...
37 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?”
These folks were in a repentant state. They saw that they had been guilty before God. Though they had not physically nailed Jesus to the cross, their sins had sent Him there. They were crying out, “What shall we do?”
Peter’s reply:
38 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.
39 “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.”
Notice here again how repentance and baptism are linked. It’s important to note here that baptism by itself does not save us. We receive forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus Christ.
In the Bible, there is no such thing as an unbaptized Christian. The only person that I can think of who was saved without being baptized was the thief on the cross. He received Christ on the cross, was completely saved, and Jesus said to him, “Today you shall be with me in paradise.” Had he lived, he would have most certainly be baptized.
Baptism is a symbol...a powerful outward sign of an inward work of the heart.
3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
4 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.
Did you notice that there are two baptisms in these two verses? In verse 3, there is a “baptism into His death.” This is the inward work of the heart that happens when we repent and believe.
Look back at Verse 4...”Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death...” is the actual water baptism.” This verse teaches that baptism is a symbol that we have died to our old sinful life and are now raised to walk in newness of life.
Peter says it this way:
21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
This scripture calls baptism “an appeal to God for a good conscience.” Notice here that not only is baptism linked to repentance, it is linked to the resurrection of Christ.
When we are baptized, we are portraying in symbol the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Simultaneously, we are symbolizing the spiritual transformation that has occured in our own hearts.
Paul restates much of this to the Colossians. In this scripture, Paul describes baptism as sort of a NT version of circumcision:
11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;
12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
Notice here again we see the link between baptism and resurrection. We are raised to walk in newness of life, as Paul said in Romans. Things on the other side of baptism should look different to us!
Paul goes on:
13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Praise the Lord! Baptism is a triumphant cry that our sins are forgiven. The old debt of sin has been cancelled out. It’s been taken out of the way! Hallelujah!
A word about rebaptism:
I know of no one in the NT who was rebaptized, but I have no objection to it. Though not necessary, for someone who has been baptized but has since gone astray and then returned to the faith, some have found it helpful as part of a rededication of their lives to be rebaptized. For others, who may not have actually left the faith altogether, but yet have found there faith lacking, they may want to be rebaptized as part of a renewal of their spiritual experience. It is somewhat equivalent to those who renew their wedding vows after many years of being married.
Right before Jesus went back to His Father, He delivered the Great Commission to His disciples. This is still true for us as much as it was to the first disciples...and it included baptism:
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
You and I are called to make disciples of all the nations. The entry point to discipleship is baptism.
The main point of this message is this:
If you have committed your life to Christ and yet have never been baptized, scripturally you are in serious error. You need to be baptized to “fulfill all righteousness.” Furthermore, if you have never publically committed your life to Christ, you need to do that day.
Let’s look at another Scripture in Romans before we close:
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,
9 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;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;
13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Being saved is a simple process! Isn’t it wonderful that he doesn’t have 29 hoops for us to jump through to receive the salvation that is available in Christ. It is so simple! (Notice I didn’t say easy...It’s not easy on our flesh!)
We believe in our heart (resulting in righteousness)
We confess with our mouth (resulting in salvation)
That’s it!
Then we are baptized to confirm that we’ve been saved.
If you have never submitted to Christ in your heart and made that confession of faith with your mouth, why not do that today? We are never promised tomorrow.
2 for He says,
“At the acceptable time I listened to you,
And on the day of salvation I helped you.”
Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”—
May today be the day for you!
