1. “Saved BY Grace AT Baptism!” Colossians 2:11-13

2. A great host of sincere people believe that God gives the new birth prior to baptism…

3. The Biblical teaching is clear. Forgiveness happens THROUGH faith AT baptism into Christ.

4. It is this preacher’s firm conviction that in our attempt to preserve the Biblical doctrine of baptism we have neglected the Biblical doctrine of grace. We must do both!

5. Purpose: to better understand that baptism is the occasion of God’s grace

6. IBaptism is God’s PROMISE A.It’s God’s Promise to Give Us Something

7. This is exactly what baptism is – God’s promise. “Meet Me at baptism and I’ll apply My Son’s blood to your life.”

8. Mark 16:16 “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”

9. Acts 2:38 “Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

10. IBaptism is God’s PROMISE A.It’s God’s Promise to Give Us Something B.Think of Baptism More as a Promise

11. IIBaptism is God’s WORK A.Grace Always Emphasizes God’s Work

12. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

13. IIBaptism is God’s WORK A.Grace Always Emphasizes God’s Work B.Baptism is not Our Work

14. Similar to “The Most Startling Picture of the 20 th Century.” This is a picture of a young woman who is looking at her diseased heart… This illustrates what God does at baptism. He acts as our Spiritual surgeon and gives us a new heart.

15. IIBaptism is God’s WORK A.Grace Always Emphasizes God’s Work B.Baptism is not Our Work C.Very Action of Baptism Shows This

16. Key Point Bible always speaks of baptism in the passive voice… always speaks of this as being something God does, it is His work and not ours…

17. IIIBaptism is the BLOOD OF CHRIST APPLIED A.The Foundation of Grace

18. “And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood…”

19. IIIBaptism is the BLOOD OF CHRIST APPLIED A.The Foundation of Grace B.A Clear Inference

20. Romans 6:3-4 “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death. Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

21. Colossians 2:12 “Having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”

22. IVBaptism is the EXERCISE OF FAITH

23. Remember working with magnets? Positive and negative ends worked… but get two like poles and they what?

24. IVBaptism is the EXERCISE OF FAITH A.Faith Grasps the Promises of God B.Without Faith Baptism is Nothing

25. If I were to say that all present here today who will meet me out front here at 12 noon will receive $1,000 would you come? You would if I gave you reason and proof that I was generous and wealthy enough to do this!

26. Conclusion and Summary This is the whole picture of baptism. God makes a promise that is so great only grace could accomplish it. He promises to meet us in/at Christian baptism and at that precise moment, not before or after, give us His grace. Thus, baptism does not contradict grace; instead, it enhances it! Thus, we conclude that we are saved BY grace, but when and where? We are saved BY grace, THROUGH faith, AT baptism! This is God’s promise, let this be our faith!