A Message on BAPTISM in the Series Healing and Hope

 Why should I be baptized?  ◦ Because Jesus was baptized.   Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. But John didn’t want to baptize him. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?” But Jesus said, “It must be done, because we must do everything that is right.” So then John baptized him. After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with him.” Matthew 3:13-17, New Living Translation (NLT)

◦ Because Jesus calls us to be baptized.   “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19, NLT

◦ Because the Apostles practiced baptism.   Peter replied, “Each of you must turn from your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ…” Acts 2:38 NLT

 What is the significance of baptism? ◦ Through baptism, we declare our allegiance to Jesus Christ.   Those who believed what Peter said were baptized… Acts 2:41 NLT

◦ Through baptism, we illustrate our new life in Christ.   For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Romans 6:4 NLT

◦ Through baptism, we affirm our connection to Christ’s church.   Those who believed…were baptized and added to the church… Acts 2:41 NLT   Baptism signifies God’s work of forgiveness and regeneration, provides entrance into the community of God’s people, and gives evidence of repentance, faith, and discipleship.

 The washing away of sin. It is a sign of sin’s remission and forgiveness, in virtue of Christ’s reconciling work (Acts 22:16). The point of baptism is not bodily cleansing (1 Peter 3:21). The external washing denotes the inner cleansing that enables us to answer with a clear conscience to God and others.  The death of the old, sinful self-the old life. Water drowns as well as washes (Romans 6:3ff.).   A rising to new life. Water is also life-giving. Christ called Himself the One who gives the water of life (John 4:10ff.).

 The ministry of the Holy Spirit. The new birth is birth not of water alone but also of the Spirit, as we see from John 3:5-8. The Spirit is the one who convicts of sin (John 16:8), leads us to Christ (John 16:14), and gives us new life in Him.   The nature of the Christian’s life. This life is one of ongoing death and resurrection, of daily dying to sin and rising again to righteousness (Col. 3:5-10), of putting off the old nature and putting on the new (Eph. 4:22-24).   The believer’s assurance. Baptism, with the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:26), has a meaning that reaches to the end of the earthly life. Only when we die and receive in Christ the resurrection of the dead will baptism have no further meaning. For only then, when there is no more death, when the last enemy has been destroyed (1 Cor. 15:26, 54-56), will the sign of death and resurrection lose its point and relevance. Until then, however, it is a sign of reassurance and hope.

 The active element of faith: repentance and commitment. Baptism speaks to us of our own movement in this participation. Going under the water signifies the repentance that is death to the old life. Coming up from the water signifies the faith and obedience that characterize the new life. As the baptized we have the sign of our own participation in Christ’s work by the Spirit’s ministry. Participation means personal commitment corresponding to the covenant sign and openly expressed to the world. The commitment, however, is for life and not just for the moment.  “If anyone acknowledges me publicly hear on earth, I will openly acknowledge that person before my Father in heaven. But if anyone denies me here on earth, I will deny that person before my Father in heaven.”