Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

There are certain things that help us identify with specific groups:

A Bronco’s blue and orange hat, sweatshirt, or shirt is practically a necessity if you live in the Treasure Valley.

Most people will proudly display their country’s flag during their Independence Day celebrations.

Being able to identify with a certain group is very important for people.

There are certain symbols, rituals, or practices that are part of being part of certain groups.

The Christian Church also has its own ceremonies which we call ordinances - these are water baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

We call them ordinances because they are practices that were commanded/ordered by the Lord Jesus Christ.

They were commanded by Jesus Christ to his apostles and all those who would follow him until the end of the age.

As we get closer to November 18th in which we will be celebrating baptisms, we want to study the topic of baptism so that we may be prepared.

Those of us who are baptised should take this time to refresh our own memories and understand the vows that we made as part of our baptism.

Those who will be baptised have the opportunity to understand the meaning of baptism, based on the Scripture.

The Church had been baptising

Those who have not considered baptism have the opportunity to consider water baptism and whether it is appropriate for them to make a decision to be baptised.

Today, we will consider:

Why do we baptize?

What is water baptism?

How do we baptize?

Who should be baptized?

I. Why do we baptize?

I. ¿Porqué bautizamos?

The easiest answer to this questions is - we baptize because it is commanded by Jesus!

Matt 28:19

What could be more important that simply obeying something that the Lord Jesus Christ has commanded?

It is commanded by Jesus at the end of the gospel according to Matthew.

Notice how the Lord Jesus Christ relates baptism with the name of God.

Through water baptism we are in some way being united to the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Through water baptism we are confirming our faith in the triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Water baptism is a public profession of faith.

Many people think that the biblical public profession of faith is walking an aisle or coming to the front to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Although these things may be good they are not the biblical profession of faith.

The only biblical profession of faith is water baptism.

Throughout the New Testament we see that all those who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ were then baptized.

It is through water baptism that we identify ourselves with the God who saves.

We are baptized into the name of God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Why?

Because it is the triune God who saves:

The Father loved the world in such a way that he...

Sent his Son into this world to live a perfect life and die for our sins…such that...

Through the preaching of the Gospel the Holy Spirit applies God’s word to our hearts, regenerates our heart so that we may believe in the everlasting Gospel.

Water baptism is the biblically commanded ritual that unites us to the visible church of God.

It is through water baptism that we are identified with the people of God.

Therefore, if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ we should submit ourselves to water baptism as a public testimony that we have identified ourselves with the people of God!

II.

What is water baptism?

II.

¿Qué es el bautismo en agua?

There are many that wrongly think that water baptism saves.

Water baptism is not a salvific act.

There are those that believe that simply because you are baptized then you are born again.

This is absolutely false and against the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We are saved by faith and not by baptism.

There are others that go to the other extreme and say that baptism was only for the time of Jesus and the apostles.

Organizations such as the Salvation Army no longer practice water baptism or the Lord’s Supper thinking it no longer applies to our time.

Based on we understand that water baptism is a commandment of God that must be obeyed by those who follow him.

III.

How do we baptize?

III.

¿Cómo bautizamos?

We baptize based on the meaning of the word baptizo which is greek for baptism.

Baptizo is a greek word which means “dip, summerge, or wash” in water.

Baptism is always related to the use of water.

Baptism can be conducted in a river, the ocean, baptistry, or even in a water trough/tank.

The important thing is that there be enough water to fulfill the requirement of submerging a person in water.

The mode/way of baptizing has a symbolic meaning.

The act of submerging/dipping someone in a body of water symbolizes being washed by the Lord Jesus Christ.

The new birth has the idea of being cleansed from sin.

The new birth has the idea of thoroughly cleansing a person from all their impurities.

It is important that we should only be baptized once in our Christian life.

We cannot be baptized every time we have sinned against God and we have repented.

However, there are those who have not been baptized according to the Bibles commands.

For example, they may have been sprinkled as a baby.

This is not baptism because we understand baptism to be immersion in water.

Others may have been baptized in a non-Christian group such as Jehovah’s Witnesses or LDS church.

Some were baptized as children when they were not really a believer.

Others may have been baptized in a church that has a wrong view of God.

An example of this is a Jesus only church that believes that the the Trinity (the belief that God is one and has revealed himself in three eternal, co-equal persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) is unbiblical and therefore only baptize in Jesus’ name.

In these cases, the person really has not been baptized.

Whatever happened the first time may have involved water but it was not baptism in the Biblical sense of the word.

IV.

Who should be baptized?

IV. ¿Quién debe ser bautizado?

There are churches that baptize babies, others that baptize toddlers, or extremely young children.

Some do this because they think that believers and their children are to be baptized.

Others do this because they wrongly think that by baptizing a child they essentially make them Christians.

Both of these positions are wrong based on the Lord Jesus’ words to his disciples.

Jesus Christ commanded us to make disciples of the nations!

Baptism is part of the evangelistic work of the Church.

Mattew 28:19-20

The Lord Jesus sent us to preach to the nations and to make disciples.

Disciples are those who have made a decision to follow Jesus Christ.

Disciples are those that have repented of their sins and believed in the saving gospel of Jesus Christ.

Disciples are those that have counted the cost to follow Jesus.

Disciples are those that have decided to forsake the world and be faithful to Jesus Christ.

Disciples are those who do not have any other master but our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Disciples are those that have demonstrated by their life and testimony that their decision is not an emotional impulse but a genuine faith and desire to follow Jesus Christ.

It is these disciples that should be baptized in the name of the triune God.

This excludes babies.

This excludes the children of believers.

This excludes those that are dead.