Baptism pt. 2

Baptism

What we’ll cover: Read an example of baptism. Try to answer: What is baptism? What does it symbolize? How should it be done? When should it be done?

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            We’re going to start with reading from the London Baptist Confession of 1689. I start with this to show this is the Old Faith of the Baptist tradition not some New Idea that Roy or I just made up on our own last week. The 1689, was also the Confession of Faith of famous English Baptist pastor Charles Haddon Spurgeon, 1855 if you’ve heard many sermons here you’ll catch the occasional Spurgeon quote.

            I -  # of Ordinances in the Church

So this was written against the 7 Sacraments of the Catholic Church – Any idea what they are? Baptism, Confirmation, Confession, Marriage, Holy Orders, and the Anointing of the Sick.

Christian Baptism is one of two ordinances that Jesus specifically instituted for the church. Just before His ascension, Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19–20). These instructions specify that the church is responsible to teach Jesus’ word, make disciples, and baptize those disciples. These things are to be done everywhere (“all nations”) until “the very end of the age.” So, if for no other reason, baptism has importance because Jesus commanded it to his church.

II – Baptism

            1 What it is

                        Sub-points

                        A Repentant faith

                        B Water, Trinity

                        C Immersion, without vitriol (verbal abuse)

At Calvary we strongly believe that each and every Christian should be water baptized by immersion. Baptism illustrates a believer’s identification with Christ’s death on the cross, burial, and resurrection **hand motions**. Romans 6:3-4 declares, “Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 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.” **hand motions** The action of being immersed in the water illustrates dying and being buried with Christ & the action of coming out of the water pictures Christ’s resurrection.

We caution that being obedient to baptism is not to add anything (like our own works) to the gospel. To say that baptism is necessary for salvation is to say we must add our own good works and obedience to Christ's death in order to make it sufficient for salvation. Therefore, we say baptism is an important step of obedience after salvation but cannot be a requirement for salvation.

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As an example, in Bible times, a person who converted from one religion to another was often baptized to identify with this new conversion. Baptism was the means of making their decision public. Those who refused to be baptized were saying they did not truly believe. So, in the minds of the apostles and early disciples, the idea of an un-baptized believer was unheard of. When a person claimed to believe in Christ, yet was ashamed to proclaim his faith in public, it indicated that he did not have true saving faith.

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Family quote – But by virtue of our baptism, Peter & I are brothers in Christ & one day we are going to be in heaven together, so we might as well learn to get along here because we will have to get along there. God won’t have it any other way!   - Gene Robinson

This is to say, Baptism is to be done in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit—this is what makes it “Christian” baptism. It is through this ordinance that a person is admitted into the fellowship of the church. When we are saved, we are “baptized” by the Spirit into the Body of Christ, which is the church. First Corinthians 12:13 says, “We were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—rich or poor and we were all given this same Spirit.”

As we said before, Christian baptism is the means by which a person makes a public profession of faith and discipleship. In the waters of baptism, a person says, wordlessly, “I confess faith in Christ; Jesus has cleansed my soul from sin, and I now have a new life of sanctification.”

Christian baptism illustrates, in dramatic style, the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. At the same time, it also illustrates our death to sin and new life in Christ. As the sinner confesses the Lord Jesus, he dies to sin (Romans 6:11) and is raised to a brand-new life (Colossians 2:12). Being submerged in the water represents death to sin, and emerging from the water represents the cleansed, holy life that follows salvation.

Change – Rituals, anthropologists tell us, are about transformation. The rituals we use for marriage, baptism or in inaugurating a president are as elaborate as they are because we associate the ritual with a major life change, the crossing of a critical threshold, or in other words, with transformation. Abraham Verghese

When? - A new believer in Jesus Christ should desire to be baptized as soon as possible. In Acts 8 Philip speaks “the good news about Jesus” to the Ethiopian eunuch, and, “as they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?’” (verses 35–36). Right away, they stopped the chariot, and Philip baptized the man.

Everywhere the gospel is preached and people are drawn to faith in Christ, they are to be baptized.

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Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

²⁶ Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the South^[d] to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. ²⁷ And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch (a court official) of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship ²⁸ and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” ³⁰ So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
    and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he opens not his mouth.
³³ In his humiliation justice was denied him.
    Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”

³⁴ And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the Gospel about Jesus. ³⁶ And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”^{[e] 38} And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. ³⁹ And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.