Campaign Class/ Baptism, result of obedience, asking for obedience

Intro- I am getting excited about our upcoming campaign, and I pray that you are as well!

I am supposed to cover the passages that are used in the safety chain for baptism, and result of obedience tonight, and I am excited to do that, but before I do that, I want you to think with me about the gravity of this situation.

We have discussed in classes and sermons recently, that our goal, is to make disciples. Garrett has spoken about it, our elders have spoken about it and we know it to be true. Too often we view baptism as the ultimate goal. Before I get to those passages, I want to go back to the a couple of passages that have already been covered for our own reflection and our own examination.

Luke 13:3 KJV 1900

I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Powerful reminder from Jesus Himself that no one will enter heaven without repentance. But what are we repenting from?

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 KJV 1900

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

This is the new passage that our elders have added to the chain this year to better deal with repentance, for which I am very grateful.

Do you realize that with this study, we are asking people to turn their entire worlds upside down?

If I may, I want to challenge us in this room with this thought tonight. I don’t want you to think about those you are going to study with on campaign, I want you to think about yourself.

Please do not ask someone else to do what you have not done.

Ask yourself:

Do I have a handle on sexual temptation?

Have I eliminated idols from my life?

Am I faithful to my spouse?

Have I put to death greed and covetousness?

Do I allow alcohol to have a foothold in my life?

Am I a man or woman of integrity?

is not an exhaustive list of sinful behaviors but it is a great launching point for the discussion. My challenge to each one of us is this...

Before you talk to someone about Baptism, make sure they understand the cost

Before you talk to someone about the cost, make sure you aren’t asking them to do something you have not yet done.

Ok that was for free.... now to discuss the passages concerning baptism :)

King James Version Chapter 8

Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

Acts 8:35–39 KJV 1900

Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

Questions to ask: When Philip preached Jesus, what did the Eunuch want to do?

Answers we are looking for: He wanted to be baptized

Digging deeper:

V.35- Beginning with this scripture he preached “accapella worship” If we wan to see NT results, we need to use NT methods, and talk about Jesus

We do not know how long the study lasted or what was even taught, but it is apparent that based upon the teaching the eunuch understood his need for baptism/ We also see that following Baptism, he had a reason to rejoice.

Mark 16:15–16 KJV 1900

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Questions to ask: What two things are we to do before we are saved?

Answers we are looking for: Believe, be Baptized

Digging deeper: The imperative that is used in this text is “preach”. That is the command. We are commanded to preach the Gospel, and that is what we are doing with this campaign and this study. We aren’t “fulfilling” the great commission since the great commission isn’t something that can be fulfilled in one setting. It isn’t something we do and say, “i’ve done it” it is something we continually obey. You could say that you have fulfilled the great commission if you have preached the gospel to every living person. Until then, you still have work to do.

Context of this in Mark: Jesus has risen, He has appeared to some who have told some of the disciples and the disciples didn’t believe. Jesus Himself, appears to them, rebukes them for their unbelief and then tells them to go preach the gospel… the good news… His resurrection.

Acts 2:37–41 KJV 1900

Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

Questions to ask: What were these people told to do to have remission of sins? What does it mean when they were told to save themselves?

Answers we are looking for: 1. Repent, and be baptized. 2. They needed to do those things, repent and baptism.

Digging deeper: “They gladly received the word” - They had just been informed of their lostness. They needed hope, of course they were glad to hear what was preached! may we never forget that as we are teaching this study, our mission is not to beat people over the head and beat them down, but to offer them the Hope that Peter offered.

(talk about the fact that in the real sense, we cannot save ourselves,

The word used for “save” here in the KJV is passive. It would better be translated “be saved” (several other translations translate it that way) This isn’t a point I would bring out in a study with a non christians, this is just a healthy point for all believers to understand, we do not, and cannot save ourselves. Rather, there are some things we must do in order for God to save us.)

Romans 6:3–6 KJV 1900

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Questions to ask: What is baptism compared to in this passage? How do we bury people?

Answers we are looking for: Burial, and resurrection

Digging deeper: Right before this text, Paul was writing about the relationship between law and Grace. A concept many struggled with then, and in many respects still do today. He wrote about the fact that where sin abounded grace abounded more. He then clarified his comments and answered the question that they hadn’t asked yet. Informing them that they can’t continue in sin. When we teach this passage, in it’s context we are not just teaching the need for baptism, we are teaching the need to die to our old life.

This goes back to what we discussed at the beginning of this class. We talked about the importance of putting to death the sinful man… this text is a beautiful depiction of that. When we are baptized we are dying to our old self. we must live this way.

1 Peter 3:21 KJV 1900

The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

Questions to ask: What does this verse say saves us?

Answers we are looking for: Baptism

Digging deeper: This is one of the most powerful passages concerning baptism because of the way it is worded. It states that Baptism saves us.

Keeping it in context thinking about Noah and his family and how God used that water to cleanse the earth and to deliver Noah and his family from destruction, God uses water (baptism) to deliver us from our sin.

I would caution you from making the most important verse in your minds eye. It states that baptism saves.

clearly says that it is by grace that we have been saved

says whoever believes has eternal life.

You add all that together, it is not a contradiction, it leads us to the conclusion that we are saved by God. His grace has provided us a way to have our sins removed (baptism) and if we believe, we will obey.

We need not emphasize any passage above another, we must however, teach the whole council in that we cannot be saved without baptism washing away our sins.

Acts 22:16 KJV 1900

And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

Questions to ask: When we are baptized what happens to our sins?

Answers we are looking for: They are washed away

Digging deeper: Well known text to us. The apostle Paul when he was still Saul had just seen Christ on the road to damascus and was left blind. He didn’t eat or drink for days. He was told to wait and he would be told what to do. God sent the messenger Ananias to him and he asked him a question. “Why do you wait?” - He expressed urgency. Then he clarified “Wash away your sins”- Saul still had his sins. It wasn’t until baptism that they were taken away.

Result of Obedience:

Acts 2:47 KJV 1900

Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Questions to ask: 1. What happens to those who are saved? 2. Do we join a church?

Answers we are looking for: 1. They are added to the church by the Lord. 2. no.

Digging deeper: Just a helpful note in case you are studying with someone who insists on using their own Bible that maybe is a different translation, their translation will likely not have the word Church used here in V.47.

ASKING FOR OBEDIENCE:

I like to compare the list from those 4 questions and ask if they see a difference between what they have done and what they see in scripture?

Usually, if you have had a good study with a good heart, they see the difference

If they don’t see the difference, you may go back through a couple of these scriptures, then ask after and ask if they want to do what they just read in scripture.