Accordance

Declaration:

My eyes are on Jesus
My heart is tuned to His Spirit
My ears are listening to His voice
My mind will believe what He says
My voice will declare the truth of His word

Today, we are continuing our series, “Asking For A Friend”. In this series we will answer your questions regarding the church, God, faith, theology or anything else that comes up!

Here are a few questions that we will discuss today: Why are we baptized, Why do we take communion, Why are there so many rules for christians?

As a reminder, you can write your questions and drop them in the baskets or you can send them to me via email.

Accordance - conformity or agreement. We are going to be learning about some things that are foundational truths in the word. It’s up to us to choose to listen to Holy Spirit and agree to follow Him.

Why Are We Baptized?

First, I want to talk about water baptism. This is an experience that all christians should have, according to the very words of Jesus. In fact, Jesus himself was baptized. Not because of sin or a need for repentance, but to show us the model by which we must follow.

Matthew 3:13–17 (NIV)

13Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. 16As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Jesus did this to affirm the message of John regarding the necessity of confession and repentance of sin to enter into relationship with Jesus and access to heaven. He also did this to show that He desired to do the Father’s will in everything, hence the voice from the Father stating His pleasure with the Son.
It’s a commandment of Jesus. When He ascended into heaven he told us to make disciples and baptize them

Matthew 28:19 (NIV)

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

It identifies the believer with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection

Colossians 2:11-12 (NLT)

"When you came to Christ, you were 'circumcised,' but not by a physical procedure. It was a spiritual procedure--the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead."

Romans 6:4 (NIV)

"We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."

It is an act of obedience for the believer. It should be preceded by repentance, which simply means “change.” It is turning from our sin and selfishness to serve the Lord. It means placing our pride, our past and all of our possessions before the Lord. It is giving the control of our lives over to Him.

Acts 2:38, 41 (NLT)

"Peter replied, 'Each of you must turn from your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.' Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church--about three thousand in all."

It’s a public testimony, the outward confession of an inward experience. In baptism, we stand before witnesses confessing our identification with the Lord.
It’s a picture representing profound spiritual truths of death, resurrection, and cleansing.

Can I be baptized more than once?

Short answer = YES!

I have to remind you of what we have read, there is no reason to believe that your baptism early in life “didn’t stick” but as we’ve discussed it’s a picture or symbol of what is happening on the inside. So, there is nothing that says you can’t be baptized multiple times in your life. Another note I’ll make is that in Catholicism, we see the sprinkling of babies recognized as baptism. While dedicating your child to the Lord and seeking the help of the church family with the nurture and admonition of the child, they still must reach the age of accountability and make the choice to accept Jesus for themselves. I’ll state again, repentance & salvation are separate from water baptism. Water baptism confirms or shows everyone else what’s happening.

Acts 19:1–7 (NIV)

1While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. 4Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7There were about twelve men in all.

What about baptism in the Holy Spirit?

Notice the scripture we read above. At the moment of baptism for the believers after Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was part of the whole deal. This is something that has been so profound to me. As I’ve shared my background, I wasn’t really taught this, no one expounded on these scriptures except to say, “it doesn’t happen like that anymore” or “those were special times/circumstances”.

It’s important enough to Jesus to tell the disciples to wait

Acts 1:4–5 (NIV)

4On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

It was important to the church. There was news about the Power that fell on believers!

Acts 8:14–17 (NIV)

14When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

I believe He is searching for those that are hungry for more of Him. Our true expectancy and love born out of a desire for time with Him. We can’t put demands on how, we just remain in a posture of rest and receiving. It’s the picture that David paints in Psalm 23, “you anoint my head with oil and my cup overflows”.

Acts 10:44–48 (NIV) - Peter & Cornelius

44While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, 47“Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

The takeaway here is that the Holy Spirit is the one who does it and will move how he sees fit. I think, based on Peter’s response, that Peter was surprised. I take this as the rule and encouragement that we don’t have to wait until “everything is perfect” we just need to keep our hearts from seizing control!

Closing

As we close, I want to tell a quick story. My youngest son, Isaiah, is about to have a birthday tomorrow(double digits). So, lately he’s been waking up and going about his day with expectancy. He’ll ask Alexa, how many days until Aug 30th, etc. He’s SO READY for the day because we’ve created an atmosphere of joy and blessing and he knows that we love him and we like to bless him as we are able with gifts. I have to say, our family is a bit different because we don’t try to emphasize things over experiences and I’m aware that not every family or situation can afford gifts. So that is something we’ve been teaching our children. As you can imagine though, the younger ones aren’t fully there yet.

What I want to convey in this story is that child-like faith, joy and expectancy that my parents, who love me, will bless and take care of me. I want to remind you that we have a GOOD Father and He is able to do above and beyond whatever we ask or think. So, let’s dream BIG with Him. For our future, our community, our families and our relationship with Jesus. Do you want more??

Let’s pray: I encourage you to join me as one people, with a heart of repentance. Breaking off the chains of tradition or teaching that tells us how God must act. I pray for God to bring us back to a place of child-like faith, expecting each and every time He moves with the awesomeness that He deserves.