Bible Baptism - Feb. 20th, 2022

Matthew 3:13–17 KJV 1900

13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

I. Introduction

A. A Dangerous Subject

1. Church history shows that the time of baptism is often a time of persecution as well

2. This is still often true on the mission field

B. A Greatly Misunderstood Subject

1. Some believe we are not to baptize with water at all

2. The Church of Christ believes no salvation without it

3. Some sprinkle, some pour, some immerse three times

4. Some believe any Christian can baptize another; others believe only certain churchmen can baptize

C. Answering Questions About Baptism

II. Body

A. Who Should Be Baptized?

1. There are many errors about this

a. Some baptize infants to keep them from hell

b. Some baptize as a first step in coming to God

c. Some are baptized for others, such as Mormons for the dead

2. The Bible teaches that only the saved should be baptized

a. Acts 2:41: the converts in the New Testament church

Acts 2:41 KJV 1900

41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

b. Acts 10:47-48: Cornelius and his family

Acts 10:47–48 KJV 1900

47 Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.

c. Acts 16:31-33: the jail or and his family

Acts 16:31–33 KJV 1900

31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.

3. The clincher- Acts 8:36-37: "If thou believest . . ."

Acts 8:36–37 KJV 1900

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.

B. How Should One Be Baptized?

1. Many unusual ideas about this

a. Sprinkling: several denominations

b. Pouring: also several

c. Immersion

2. Immersion is proper because of the meaning of the word

a. Baptizo: to wash, dip, submerge

b. To immerse

3. Immersion because of the significance of the ordinance

a. Communion pictures Christ's death

b. Baptism pictures His burial and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-4)

Romans 6:3–4 KJV 1900

3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 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.

4. Martin Luther:

"I could wish that the baptized should be totally immersed, according to the meaning of the word and the signification of the mystery.”

C. Why Should One Be Baptized?

1. Baptism is following Jesus (Matt. 3:13-17)

Matthew 3:13–17 KJV 1900

13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Jesus walked approximately sixty miles from Galilee to the lower Jordan River to be baptized by John. This indicates the importance which He attached to this ceremony and it should indicate the significance of baptism for His followers today.

[William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1211–1212.]

The Theological Significance of the Baptism

To most Christians the baptism of Jesus Christ is as much an enigma as it proved to John the Baptist. This is reflected in the almost absurd statement about it. For example, in urging believers to be baptized in testimony to salvation it is common to hear the expression, “follow the Lord in baptism,” as if our baptism is a carbon copy of His. It is doubtful if there is a single passage in the New Testament in which a Biblical writer connects the baptism of Christ with Christian baptism.[18] But, the baptism of Christ does have important theological significance, as the following things indicate.

Christ’s baptism is His identification with Israel (Matt. 3:15). John’s baptism was founded upon the redemptive work of the Lamb to come, and precisely for this reason it seems to be the exclusive responsibility of those who are the recipients of the work of redemption. How, then, can He who needed no redemption personally be baptized? The answer He gave John is our clue. To fulfill all righteousness bears a close relationship to Paul’s, “born of a woman, born under the law” (Gal. 4:4, italics added). It refers to the fulfilling of all the righteous requirements of the law, as we have said. He must be circumcised, although there is no necessity to put away the body of the flesh in His case (cf. Col. 1:11). He must be presented in the temple, although He does not need deliverance from the house of bondage in Egypt (cf. Luke 2:22). The baptism signified not only the removal of sins; it also pointed to a positive preparation and dedication of heart to the coming King and His kingdom. He, too, belongs to this people, although He is their King, and must demonstrate His willingness to do the will of God. The baptism, then, is a phase of his humiliation under the law, just as the circumcision and the presentation.[19] He acknowledged John’s authority at this stage in the unfolding of the program of divine revelation. He went, then, to the baptism as a representative person, convinced that this was a divinely imposed duty for every Israelite.[20]

Christ’s baptism was His inauguration into the Messianic office [Service]. We have already set this forth, but it should be emphasized here that this involved not only the work of redemption, but also the accompanying work of judgment (cf. Matt. 3:11–12). This our Lord has yet to do.

Christ’s baptism is the illustration of the goal of His ministry [Profession of Faith & Hope]. When Jesus descended into the waters of the Jordan and then emerged from them, it seems most likely that this was intended to be a figure of His death. When we turn on in the pages of Matthew to verse twenty-two of chapter twenty [Matt. 20:22] and find Him describing His death as a “baptism,” this becomes most likely. In fact that verse may well be Jesus’ own interpretation of baptism; it has to do with death. Thus, John’s baptism foreshadows His death, Calvary is His baptism in death, the Great Commission is a charge to preach with a view to uniting men with His death, while Paul in Romans six explains the subject in detail theologically. John’s baptism, then, mirrors the event of the cross.

It is true, then, that the cross casts its shadow over the ministry of the Messiah from the beginning. When we remember that the Lord Jesus did not accept Calvary easily, the greatness of His sacrifice becomes more significant. He hated death; this was one of the powers He came to destroy. And yet, from the very beginning He struggled with that power because He loved men and His Father’s will more. Luther said somewhere, “Every Christian is a Crucian!” But Jesus Christ is the greatest Crucian of them all.

One final note may be worth-while. It concerns the divine initiative in the work of salvation. The four words of verse fourteen, “comest thou to me,” are a kind of summary of the divine initiative of the Christian good news. Will we ever really get over the fact that He laid the foundations and made the first move? He spoke in His Son when men did not really wish to hear from Him. And when they were wandering and going astray the Good Shepherd sought and saved them.

It is a well-known fact that the Jewish scholar Claude Montefiore set himself to discover if there was anything really new in the teaching of Jesus, anything which no Jewish prophet or rabbi had said before Him. At the conclusion of his investigation he singled out one thing as distinctive—the picture of the Good Shepherd going out into the wilderness in search of the lost sheep. The picture of God as not merely receiving those who turn to Him, but as taking the initiative in seeking the ones who have turned from Him he found new. Montefiore called this “a new figure” and “one of the new excellencies of the gospel.” We would disagree with Montefiore in this respect: the thought of the divine initiative in salvation is one that pervades the entire Word of God, from its opening word to Adam, “Where art thou?” (Gen. 3:9), to the words of the Lord Jesus Himself, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost” (Luke 19:10). But we would most assuredly and emphatically affirm that it is one of the glorious excellencies of the gospel of Christ.

[18 Cf. Beasley-Murray, op. cit., 64.]

[19 G. C. Berkouwer, The Person of Christ, p. 246.]

[20 The word πρέπον is suggestive. Baptism is not a commandment of the law, but it is a duty. The word means to be proper, right (cf. William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, p. 706).]

[S. Lewis Johnson Jr., “The Baptism of Christ,” Bibliotheca Sacra 123 (1966): 227–229.]

Jesus was the example of those who profess to be his friends. . . To use the language of Mr. Bradley, [an] Episcopalian . . . , “It bids you obey the divine law, not scan it. It bids you do the will of God, not criticise it. It says, ‘Let men talk as they will; let even the godly on the earth, ministers, and prophets, reason, and explain away, and dissuade; let nature condemn, and feeling shrink; all these things are to be disregarded. Is the command plain? Then there must be no reasoning about the matter; no conferring with flesh and blood. The right hand must come off; the right eye must be plucked out. You must go down with Christ into Jordan. You must “follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.” The will of God must be done, and every command of God obeyed.’ ”

. . . Let us then diligently pray for the Spirit of God; . . . covet this best of all gifts; and under his gracious guidance . . . follow the Lord Jesus on earth until he calls us to his throne in heaven.

Fellowship with him possessing,

Let us die to earth and sin;

Let us rise to enjoy the blessing

Which the faithful soul shall win:

May we ever

Follow where our Lord has been.

[Joseph Belcher, The Baptisms of the New Testament (Roger Williams Heritage Archives, 1847), 20–22.]

2. Baptism is obeying Jesus (Matt. 28:18-20)

Matthew 28:18–20 KJV 1900

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

PLEASING GOD

“To please God even a little is infinitely greater than to have the acclamations of all our race throughout the centuries.” 2100.454

[Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Exploring the Mind and Heart of the Prince of Preachers: Five-Thousand Illustrations Selected from the Works of Charles Haddon Spurgeon (Oswego, IL: Fox River Press, 2005), 351.]

3. Baptism is public identification with Jesus (Acts 2:41)

Acts 2:41 KJV 1900

41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

a. The purpose of New Testament baptism

b. The cost to the new converts

c. Identification with the crucified, buried, and risen Christ

III. Conclusion

A. Only the Saved Should Be Baptized

B. All Saved People Should Be Baptized by Immersion

C. Those Baptized Should See It as an Important Milestone in Their Christian Experience

[Source: Roger Campbell, Preach for a Year, #8; Kregel]