One Baptism Series

ONE BAPTISM

Scott Bayles, pastor

Blooming Grove Christian Church: 2/11/2018

If you’re just joining us, we’ve spent the last six weeks exploring the often elusive ideal of Christian unity. As I’ve said every week throughout this series, Jesus passionately prayed that his church—everyone who would ever believe in him—would be one! There’s a remarkable reversal here because this is one occasion where we get to answer Jesus’ prayer instead of the other way around. But how do we do that? How do we maintain a spirit of unity in the church?

To help answer that question, the Apostle Paul provides believers with a series of seven “ones” that ought to bind us together in Christian unity. He writes, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:3-6 NIV).

We’ve already examined the first five “ones” that Paul lists here: one body (the church), one Spirit (the Holy Spirit), one hope (the hope of heaven), one Lord (Jesus Christ) and one faith (the willingness to act on our belief in Jesus). That brings us to the sixth “one” that binds us all together as believers: one baptism.

Baptism is a defining moment in any believer’s life. Baptism separates the tire kickers from the car buyers. It celebrates the union of sinner and Savior. However, even though Paul identifies baptism as something uniting Christians, baptism has also been the center of controversy and division among Christians.

Believers have argued for centuries about both the meaning and method of baptism as well as the role it plays in our salvation. The danger lies in two extremes—either we make baptism too important or too unimportant. Either we deify it or we trivialize it. I’m not sure any scholar or saint will ever fully appreciate what this moment means in heaven. Any words on baptism, including mine, are simply a human effort to explain a holy event.

Baptism is like a precious jewel—set apart by itself, it is nice and appealing but has nothing within it to compel. But place baptism against the backdrop of our sin and turn on the light of the cross, and the jewel explodes with significance. Baptism at once reveals the beauty of the cross and the darkness of sin. As a stone has many faces, baptism has many sides: cleansing, burial, resurrection, the death of the old, and the birth of the new. And as a stone has no light within it, baptism has no inherent power. But just as the stone refracts the light into a rainbow of colors, baptism reveals the many colors of God’s grace. So, let’s explore some of what the Bible says about baptism and how it can help bind believers together as one.

First, we need to understand the purpose of baptism.

• THE PURPOSE OF BAPTISM

For that, we need to go back to the beginning. The first mention of baptism in the Bible is made by John the Baptizer. The Bible says, “John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River” (Mark 1:4-5 NIV). John began preaching in the wilderness around the Jordan river in order to prepare people for the coming of Christ. People from all over Judea came out to hear him preach and John baptized them by the hundreds, maybe even thousands.

This phrase—a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins—is used repeatedly in each of the synoptic gospels and it points us to the purpose of baptism. Namely, baptism symbolizes the washing away of sin. The Jews were already familiar with ritual bathing or washing. Priests were required to wash from head to toe before they could enter the Temple. Gentiles were baptized before they could convert to Judaism. Everyone knew the story of Naaman who dipped seven times in the Jordan River in order to be cleansed of leprosy. But now, for the first time, John extended this ritual to everybody. He called men and women, Jews and gentiles, slaves and soldiers to confess their sins and be cleansed.

Of course, John isn’t the only one in Scripture preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. In John 1, Jesus himself is baptized and by John 3, he’s the one waist deep in the Jordan River calling people to repent and be baptized. Peter repeated a similar sentiment on the day of Pentecost, saying, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38 ESV). Ananias said the same thing to Paul: “Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away” (Acts 22:16 NIV).