If this sermon is helpful to you look for my latest book, “The Greatest Commands: Learning To Love Like Jesus.” Each chapter is sermon length, alliterated, and focuses on the life and love of Jesus. You can find it here:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/1606471120
WHAT IS BAPTISM?
Scott Bayles, pastor
First Christian Church, Rosiclare, IL
I’ll never forget the day I decided to take the plunge. The room was no bigger than a walk-in closet. It didn’t help that lining one wall end to end was a series of large metal filling cabinets, making the space seem smaller and even more intimidating. I sat there in a cold metal folding-chair surrounded by three silver-haired gentlemen—elders. I wasn’t on trial, though it felt like it. I was actually there because I had requested to be baptized. Quickly, I was ushered into the tiny little office to discuss my decision with my pastoral leaders. They patted me on the back, told me they were proud of me, and then it came—the question. “So, have you committed any sins?”
I didn’t know how to answer. I was like a deer caught in the headlights. I thought, “Have I sinned? Of course, I’ve sinned. Why do you think I’m asking to be baptized?” But I was afraid of what their next question might be. I was certain they were going to ask me what sins I had committed. I thought I was going to have to confess every misbehavior and impure thought I ever had. So I did the only reasonable thing an eleven-year-old boy could do in that situation. I lied. “Nope,” I said hurriedly. Then they gave me another pat on the back and said, in that case, I really didn’t need to get baptized. I tried again a month later. This time I knew the right answer and not-surprisingly they didn’t ask me what sins I committed.
Your story may be a little bit different than mine; but all the same, baptism is a defining moment in any believer’s life. Baptism separates the tire kickers from the car buyers, it signifies a change in culture, and it celebrates the union of sinner and Savoir. Sadly, baptism has also been the center of controversy among Christians. The danger lies in two extremes—either we make baptism too important or too unimportant. Either we deify it or we trivialize it. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that both the Baptist Church and the Church of Christ posted articles in our local paper this week debating the essentiality of baptism. One says, “I’m saved because I’m baptized.” The other says, “I’m baptized because I’m saved.” 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. In our churches, debates about the essentiality of baptism have been common—yet serious discussions about baptism’s essence are very rare. In my opinion, arguing over whether or not baptism is essential to salvation reveals very little, but looking into its essence can open our eyes to see the power of Jesus to cleanse and renew broken lives, directing them toward a new purpose. I believe we do that by placing baptism where it should be—at the foot of the cross.
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. In its essence, baptism is first of all a symbol of reunion.
• A SYMBOL OF REUNION
Baptism is important because, in its essence, it connects us as believers with Jesus—reuniting sinner and Savior. And to understand and celebrate the intimate connection we share with Jesus, let’s go back to the a couple thousand years to the muddy shores of the Jordan River. The Bible says:
At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River and wanted John to baptize him. But John tried to stop him, saying, “Why do you come to me to be baptized? I need to be baptized by you!”
Jesus answered, “Let it be this way for now. We should do all things that are God’s will.” So John agreed to baptize Jesus.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he came up out of the water. Then heaven opened, and he saw God’s Spirit coming down on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love, and I am very pleased with him.” (Matthew 3:13-17 NCV)
The Jordan River may seem like an unlikely place for a divine epiphany—after all, sublime scenes call for extraordinary settings—and there certainly wasn’t anything extraordinarily about the Jordan River. It was a useful little river, but hardly a locale befitting divinity. Yet it was onto this ordinary stage that the Son of God stepped, wading into the muddy current that was the lifeblood of his people, the cool water swirling around his knees and course sediment squishing up between his toes. It’s easy to understand why John was hesitant to baptize Jesus. After all, John had been “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,” and Jesus was the spotless Lamb of God.
But Jesus insisted, saying, “Please do it, for I must do all that is right” (TLB). You see, as Jesus descended into the water, he was coming down to our level. He was identifying himself with sinners. Baptism was for the immoral, the impure, the liars, adulterers and thieves, and yet Jesus willingly plunged into the water as if to say, “I’m with them!”
In his baptism, Jesus cast his lot with humanity. He came to the river because we are sinners. He was washed because we were not clean. He did what was right because we, so often, do what is wrong. He became like us so that we could become like him.
And today when we are baptized, it’s as if we are joining Jesus in the water. In fact, early Christians often decorated their baptisteries with the scene of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan, depicting with paint and mosaic tile their belief that the person stepping down into the water for baptism was joining Jesus there. Through faith (and only through faith) the waters of baptism become a meeting place where we encounter Jesus himself. The Bible even says that “we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism” (Romans 6:3).
Just a wedding celebrates the fusion of two hearts, baptism celebrates the joining together of sinner and Savior. Do the bride and groom understand all the implications of the wedding? No. Do they know every challenge and or threat they will face? No. But they love each other and they vow to be faithful to the end. When a willing believer enters the waters of baptism, does he know the implications of the vow? No. Does she know every challenge or temptation? No. But both know the love of God and are responding to him. So first and foremost baptism is a symbol of reunion. Turn the stone so the light hits from another angle, though, and baptism becomes a symbol of repentance.
• A SYMBOL OF REPENTANCE
Remember, the Bible says that John “went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3 NIV). 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, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38 ESV).
So both John’s baptism and Christian baptism were signs of repentance. Repentance isn’t just some made-up religious word. It actually comes from a culture where people were essentially nomadic and lived in a world with no maps or street signs. It’s easy to get lost walking through the desert. At some point you become aware that the countryside is strange and you’re not where you should be. You finally say to yourself, I’m going in the wrong direction, and then you turn and go a new way. That’s repentance.
Literally, the word simply means “to turn.” The prophet Ezekiel explained what God wants his people to turn from: “Repent and turn away from…all your detestable sins” (Ezekiel 14:6 NLT). Another prophet, Isaiah, revealed what God wants us to turn toward: “Turn to me now and be saved, people all over the world! I am the only God there is” (Isaiah 45:22 TEV). All through the Bible, God pleads with people to turn away from their sins, failures, and mistakes, and to turn toward him—trusting in God alone to save. Baptism marks the “turning point” for those who chose to turn away from sin and toward God. It’s a stake in the ground that marks the turning point of your life.
One time, a young girl named Erin who was usually the model of good behavior in church, was particularly wiggly one Sunday morning. After distracting all those around her for some time and ignoring her father’s warnings to be still, her dad finally scooped her up and began walking to the rear of the church for an “attitude adjustment.” Just before they got to the back door, Erin screamed for all the church to hear, “I repent! I repent!” Baptism is our way of shouting for all the church to hear, “I repent! I repent!”
Refract the light of the cross from yet another angle, and baptism becomes a symbol of resurrection.
• A SYMBOL OF RESURRECTION
The Jews saw baptism as a method of maintaining ritual purification for priests, or sometimes as a rite of passage for converts and John preached baptism with repentance. But Jesus would add a whole new dimension to baptism, as it came to be a living picture of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. This is what the Bible says:
Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? When we were baptized into his death, we were placed into the tomb with him. As Christ was brought back from death to life by the glorious power of the Father, so we, too, should live a new kind of life. (Romans 6:3-4 GWT)
Just as the waters of baptism provided Jesus with a way to identify with us, they also provide us with a way to identify with him. The waters of baptism paint a vivid picture of our Christian faith—that plunge beneath the running water is like a death; the moment’s pause while the water sweeps overhead is like a burial; then rising up again into the air and the sunlight is a symbol of resurrection.
This powerful symbol of death, burial and resurrection poses significant trouble, though, for those who were sprinkled as babies rather than immersed as believers. While it’s great to dedicate a child to God, faith in God expressed through baptism is a decision that every person must make for his or her self. If you’ve been baptized as an infant, be grateful that you had parents who cared enough to set you apart for God, but don’t neglect the chance you now have to complete their prayer for you by submitting to believer’s baptism. The symbolism of immersion is compelling—just as a person lowers you into the water, Christ lowers you into his pool of grace until every inch of you is covered, head to foot, with God’s love.
The Bible also says, “When you were placed in the tomb with Christ through baptism... you were also brought back to life with Christ through faith in the power of God” (Colossians 2:12 GWT). This is an important distinction to make—baptism apart from personal faith means nothing, but baptism as an act of faith is pregnant with meaning and significance. Not only does it signify our reunion with Jesus, our repentance form sin, and our resurrection with Christ, but it’s also a symbol of rebirth.
• A SYMBOL OF REBIRTH
The Bible says, “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4-5 NIV). Now, the washing of rebirth doesn’t refer to water baptism itself; rather, it refers to the work of the Holy Spirit who regenerates and renews our spirits. But the invisible work of the Spirit is visibly dramatized in the waters of baptism.
Baptism, then, symbolizes our spiritual birth into God’s family. During his conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus said, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:6-8 NIV).
The Holy Spirit is invisible; and when a person is born again of the Spirit, you can’t see it or hear it, but baptism is the visible reflection of our invisible birth.
Most people, at one time or another, wish they could start life all over again. But second thoughts usually bring us to the conclusion that another trip through life would involve just as many opportunities for mistakes as the first time. When Jesus said, “You must be born again,” Nicodemus saw only complications and impossibilities. But, as Jesus would later say, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27 NIV). The only way a person can really start over in life is by being born from above—“born again” by receiving God’s life-giving Spirit. Starting over may be a physical impossibility; but thanks to Jesus and the Holy Spirit, it is spiritually reality. Baptism represents a fresh start, a new birth.
Of course, if all of this is true—if baptism is so meaningful and so intimately connected with repentance, resurrection and rebirth—it raises a whole classroom of questions. Not the least of which is—what about those who’ve never been baptized? Is baptism absolutely necessary for salvation? Are my unbaptized friends or family members unregenerate and unforgiven?
When it comes to that kind of question, I tend to side with Augustine, who said, “It is not the absence of baptism, but the rejection of it that condemns.” In other words, why isn’t the person baptized? Some people just reject baptism; they just don’t want to do it. That kind of resistance spells trouble for the soul and reveals a deeper problem of the heart. If we aren’t willing to join Jesus in baptism how can we join him in anything else? Jesus commanded baptism. If we reject his commands, we can’t call him Lord and if we can’t call him Lord then we can’t call him Savior.
On the other hand, some people are never baptized because they were never taught about it or maybe because they died before ever reaching the baptistery. What if I put my faith in Jesus, repent in my heart, but get attacked by a swarm of killer bees before I can arrange to be baptized? If that’s the case, don’t worry.
The answer is found in the character of God. Would a God of love reject an honest, believing heart? No way. Would a God of mercy and kindness condemn a seeking soul on a technicality? Absolutely not. Remember that God knows the beginning from the end. He knew you and chose you long before you knew and chose him.
Think of it this way. When does life begin? At birth? No. Christians protest abortion clinics specifically because we believe life begins at conception. If a mother loses her baby before giving birth, is that baby any less her child? Of course, not. The same can be said spiritually, if baptism represents our new birth, then we must concede that life began when the seeds of faith were first planted by the Holy Spirit. I believe you belong to God from the moment faith is conceived in your heart. But keep in mind that you can’t live in the womb forever. Baptism is an essential threshold that every believer must cross in order to experience the fullness of life and the inheritance that God promises to his children in this world.
Baptism is not to be taken lightly. It’s a willing plunge into the promise and power of Jesus Christ. It embodies and represents our reunion with Jesus, our repentance of sin, our resurrection with Christ, and our rebirth into God’s eternal family. Rather than letting this beautiful act be a source of contention or division, let’s celebrate that there are God-loving people in the Church of Christ and the Baptist Church and in every denomination who, although they may not agree with us in every regard, are reaching out, making disciples, and baptizing people every day in the awesome and wonderful name of Jesus Christ.
INVITATION:
If you were baptized as a baby or maybe never baptized at all, I want to nudge you a little closer to the rivers edge. I won’t push you in; it’s your decision. But I want to encourage you… remove your shoes, bow your head, and take the plunge; this is a holy event.
