To sermon central members…… I would like to a couple of my fellow ministers for their teaching and counsel.
Although this message is in no way intended to speak for them, I would like to note that some of their thoughts have heavily influenced what I have said below.
? Slide #1 1 Peter 3:18-21
Suppose that a man was walking in the desert and came across a dying man who had never heard the Gospel.
Being a good Christian.. the man shared the Gospel with the dying man and told him that he should place his faith in Christ, Repent of his sin, and by the way, Jesus also said that he should get baptized in water.
The dying man sincerely does all of the above but alas... there is no water available for baptizing anyone and later the same day, the man dies.
Have you ever heard a story like this? Did he go to heaven? What does God think about those who are not baptized?
Is their a difference between the normative necessity of baptism and the absolute necessity of baptism?
is there a difference between someone who sincerely wants to obey Christ by being baptized and is not able to..... and someone who is able to and who simply refuses to be baptized?
All of these are real world questions that many people ask about this topic....
and the world continues to talk and ponder...
in our scripture today... we have a puzzling statement! "Baptism saves you"
most of the ministers in modern day American Christianity hold the view that anytime the New Testament speaks about Baptism and Salvation... they view it through the filter of symbolism.
That is to say that Baptism symbolizes salvation. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward belief or grace.
at the end of the day... as a true believer in Christ.. we must ask ourselves... Why do I believe the things that i believe? Do I believe them because they were handed down to me? Do I believe them because most other Christians believe? Or do I believe because the plain teaching of Scripture leads me to believe?
As we continue, I sincerely ask you to have an open mind, and set aside what you may have previously been taught and see where God’s word truly leads.
The one place that we must never come to is a place where we would say, "I don’t care what the Bible says, I still won’t believe it." May God help us.
Peter cares deeply about those who would read his words... He cares even about you.
Would you notice with me what he says under the direction of the Holy Spirit?
Peter tells his audience that Christ died for sins… once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous to bring them to God…..
This is a very commonly quoted verse of Scripture but many times there is no context given...
He goes on to say that Christ preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago… when God waited patiently in the days of Noah … when 8 people were saved through the water….
Peter says that corresponding to that…. Corresponding to the water… corresponding to 8 people being saved through the water.......through the resurrection of Christ… Baptism now saves you!
Notice that it doesn’t say that Baptism symbolizes salvation…. It says that the water symbolizes baptism.. and that baptism saves…
WOW! Did he really say that? Why would he say such a thing?
Today I want us to have a closer look at some of the things that leads Peter to make such a statement, but before we do….
-pause-
One thing that we should remember right up front…. Is that ultimately as we think about different things that come into play when we talk about salvation…
…….ultimately…. we are not the judge of another’s salvation….
Invariably a topic like this will bring many people to mind… and we think… “but what about my sweet grandma… who loved Christ and was never baptized?”
Or perhaps we think of someone who wasn’t so sweet.. and we are tempted to say… “Oh they were saved! Or Definitely they were not saved!”
We need to take care…. Not to do that…
There is only one who has the power to save and that’s God…… There is only one who is qualified to judge…. And that’s God…
and we must guard to make sure that we don’t get into the “Salvation Judging business”
The important question is not about all of the rest of the people that you think of….. The most important question of the day…. Is “What are you going to do with God’s word?”
How are YOU going to respond to what the Bible says?
-Pause-
I’ve shared with you…. several of the slogans of the Christian church in America … One that comes to mind as we approach this topic…. Is
“We claim to be Christians ONLY… but not the ONLY Christians!”
And so how can we claim that when not everyone believes the same thing about Baptism….
Here’s one take on it…. Now, I’ve borrowed this thought from a fellow minister…. but it’s a good thought…
Anytime I can find someone who has made Christ the Lord of their life….. and is doing their best to follow Him according to what they know of the scriptures….. I’ve got a brother! I’ve got a sister!
And so with the Bible and Christ as a uniting point instead of a dividing point….
I’ve got brothers and sisters in Christ who are Baptists, and Methodists, and Episcopalian, and Presbyterian, and Nazarene, and Church of God, and Pentecostal, and on down the list goes…..
They have made Christ Lord of their lives….. they are doing their best to follow Him….. based on what they know of the scriptures…
They are my brother’s and sisters in Christ!
Will there be un-baptized people in heaven? Certainly!
But the important question is not about them…. It all comes back to the question of what are YOU going to do with God’s word?
-Pause-
This is a question that I had to settle in my own heart even as recently as a couple of years ago..
You see I was brought up in a church that taught that after a person is saved, baptism is simply the response.
In other words…. For the saved person, baptism is their first act of obedience.
Also I was taught that baptism is a public declaration of our faith…..
I was taught that baptism is an outward sign of an inward faith….
What is interesting is that I was also taught that even though baptism is some of those things…. I was also taught that baptism is ONLY a symbolic thing and is not involved in any way in actually saving you.
-pause-
As a young Christian I had every reason to believe that the preachers and teachers that I sat under were right and so I took their word.
And as a result… every time I came to a scripture that had anything to do with Baptism… I immediately viewed it through a filter of symbolism…
I came to the scriptures with a pre-understanding of symbolism before I even finished reading the verses.
I spent more than 6 years preaching from the pulpit that baptism does not have anything whatsoever to do with saving you.
At the suggestion of a connection between baptism and salvation, I raised many objections!
“The bible says “Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” There is no mention of baptism in that verse!
John 3:16 There is no mention of baptism in that verse!
Romans 6:23 There is no mention of baptism in that verse!
“that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.. you will be saved” There is no mention of baptism in that verse!
What about the thief on the Cross? Jesus said to him “Today you will be with me in Paradise” And yet he wasn’t baptized… What’s going on there?
-pause-
Based on the information that I had at the time…. I was dead set that Baptism couldn’t have anything to do with the Salvation process ….. in any way.
…. And yet….. I have since come to understand that each of those questions has an reasonable answer.
None of those verses exclude Christian Baptism… they are all very compatible with Christian baptism..
The thief on the cross … Probably the most common objection……falls on a least three points…
1. It’s an extreme example…. The percentage of people who are saved just moments before death while nailed to a cross is pretty small
2. Jesus is God….. God can save anyone that he wants too… Jesus actually went around forgiving sins throughout the Gospels… (IE—the paralytic) and yet these others are not looked to as examples of the salvation message.
3. The thief was actually under the Old Covenant…. Where as we are under the new covenant.. (Explained below)
Slide- Hebrews 9:15-18
15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. 16 In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it,
17 because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. 18 This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. Heb 9:15-18 (NIV)
KJV= Testament
NIV= Will
NASB = Covenant
The dividing line between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant was the Death of Christ… and when that conversation occurred… Christ had not died yet…
The objection draws upon an Old Covenant example of a person being saved to ask a question about New Covenant salvation.
And when you combine that with the rest of the clear teaching from the Bible on the subject… the case for Baptism being somehow involved in the Salvation process compelling!
-pause-
Unfortunately, there is no way that I can hope to cover it all in the course of this short message. … but maybe we can at least touch on a few things.
-pause-
In addition to the scriptures, one of the things that weighed on me very heavily was when I learned that in 2000 years of the existence of the Christian church..
The idea that Baptism is involved in the salvation
process was universally taught for the first 1500 years…. And it was only 500 years ago … when Zwingli came along in the middle 1500s that it began to be taught as a sign and a seal only.
-Slide- Zwingli Quote
Zwingli said, “in this matter of baptism--- if I may be pardoned for saying it—I can only conclude that all of the doctors have been in error from the time of the apostles. “ Page 130 Bromiley, G. W. Zwingli and Bullinger; Selected Translations With Introductions and Notes. The Library of Christian classics, ed. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1953.
In other words, according to Zwingi... He was the first one to get it right in 1500 years when he taught that Baptism was only a sign and a seal.
In 2000 years of church history, the modern evangelical understanding of Baptism as only sympolic is only 500 years old.
Did the apostles and the church fathers really have it wrong for the first 1500 years and some are only just now getting it right?
I don’t think so….
I’ve actually confirmed this with my own research..…. I’ve surveyed the writings of the church fathers including the men who studied with the Apostles in the first century…… and in the first 1500 years of the church I can find no other teaching….
*** for more research please see, "A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs: A Reference Guide to More Than 700 Topics Discussed by the Early Church Fathers" by David Bercot
Now as powerful as the writings of the church fathers and 1500 years of church history is…. It is only a piece of confirming evidence…
The primary source that we must look to on this topic is of course… the scriptures.
Let’s begin with the Mandate to be Baptized!
A mandate is a command… Commands must be obeyed!
-Slide- Mathew 28:18-20
Matt 28:18-20 (NIV)
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
From the Lord Himself….
We have one command to make disciples which is followed by 2 ways that disciples are made… Baptizing them…. And teaching them to obey everything that He has commanded.
Later in the 2nd chapter of the book of Acts… the Apostle Peter stood up preached the first Gospel message that had ever been preached…. And when he did… the people believed him…. they were cut to the heart and they asked Peter “What shall we do?”
Now Peter could have said…. “now we’re going to have an invitation hymn and alter call and we are all going to pray sinner’s prayers”
But that’s not what he said!
-Slide- Acts 2:38
Peter replied, "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 (NIV)
Here is a direct command of what people should do in response to the Gospel message. Here is the promise of the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit for those who do.
Baptism, (as per Acts 2:38) is the “occasion” for the remission of sins. Also the “occasion” when one receives the indwelling presence of The Holy Spirit.
Baptism is not the means for Salvation… Only Christ is…. It is simply the meeting point…. It is the “Occasion” When heaven and earth come together…..
It is the occasion when the repentant sinner is buried with Christ in His death….. and as a result of that….comes into contact with His death and therefore His blood….
It is the occasion when the repentant sinner is raised to newness of life.
We are saved by the Grace of God, thru faith in Christ, at baptism for good works.
Let’s camp here just for a moment… On Acts 2:38 .. baptized FOR the forgiveness of sins… This
Greek word “FOR” e?? (Pronounced ICE) really does mean for!
Many try to make this word mean “Because of” but that’s not what it says….
Theologians call this the “Causal use” of the Greek word ICE
Some try to make this verse say…. “Repent and be baptized because you already have the forgiveness of sins” but that is just not found in this text…
-Slide- Greek word “FOR” e?? and English words used in KJV
English Words used in KJV:
into 573
to 281
unto 207
for 140
in 138
on 58
toward 29
against 26
miscellaneous translations 322
[Total Count: 1774] —Strong’s Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary
It is NEVER once translated anywhere as "Because of" Anywhere in the Bible!
-pause-
Do you remember Paul’s accounting of his own conversion in Acts chapter 22:16?
-Slide- Acts 22:15-16
Paul had an encounter with the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus…. And in the process he was struck blind…. Paul was led into town and the Bible says that he was there in the town praying and fasting for 3 days without food or drink….
Now think of it…. Paul had already called Jesus “Lord!” He had faith! He had been praying for 3 days and yet when Ananias comes to restore his sight he makes this startling statement to Paul…
You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’ Acts 22:15-16 (NIV)
Now if Paul’s sins were already taken care of by his faith, repentance, and prayer… then why did he still have sins that needed to be washed away in baptism?
You see there is more to this than just belief….
-Pause-
-Slide- Pendulum Swing (Salvation by works Vs Faith Alone)
Back in the days of Martin Luther…. The catholic church began to teach a works salvation… they carried the role of works way to the extreme.
The church even began to sell something called “Indulgences” Where a person could buy for $$ the right to sin in advance…
The church clergy would prescribe something called “Penance” where the person would have to do things in order to help work off.. and pay for their sin
and Martin Luther saw all of this going on …….. and in response to what he saw going on in the Catholic church nailed his 95 thesis to the front door of the Whiten burg church….
And when Martin Luther articulated his faith… he swung the pendulum from the extreme of having a works Salvation clear over to the other side …..and Luther taught that we are saved by “Faith Sola” Faith alone…
Did you know that there is only one verse in the New Testament that uses this phrase?
-Slide James 2:24 -
“You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” James 2:24 (NIV)
You see.. Biblical faith is not mere mental ascent! Biblical Faith is an active faith!
Slide--- Faith Hall of Fame Hebrews 11
In the great faith hall of fame in Hebrews 11….
By faith we the universe was formed …..By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain ….. By faith Noah, built an ark ….. By faith Abraham made his home in the promised land …..By faith Abraham, was enabled to become a father ………By faith Abraham, offered Isaac as a sacrifice…… By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born……. By faith Moses, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. …….By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land……By faith the prostitute Rahab, welcomed the spies….. …..
The List continues to mention many others 39 These were all commended for their faith.
True Biblical faith is active …. Not just something that you believe to be true in your mind. Its more than just mental ascent!
-Pause- -Pause-
Do you remember a few moments ago….. When we said that the important question … is a personal question here… What are you going to do with God’s word?
It’s His word that has the final authority. Not my pre-understanding.. not the authority of my favorite minister…. or anyone else…
It has to come back to the Bible…
Another minister recently pointed out in a sermon that the Bible says that there are actually many things that are involved in saving you!
The Bible says that God saves you!
Slide- 1 Tim 4:10 And Romans 6:23
God, I Tim 4:10 & Rom. 6:23; 2.
and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe. 1 Tim 4:10 (NIV)
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23 (NIV)
Slide--- Matt 1:21 and 1 Tim 1:15
The bible says that Christ Saves you. , Mt. 1:21, I Tim.
1:15; 3.
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." Matt 1:21 (NIV)
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst. 1 Tim 1:15 (NIV)
The Bible says that the Holy Spirit Saves you! , I Cor. 6:11
Slide—1 Cor 6:11
And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Cor 6:11 (NIV)
The Bible says that Grace Saves you!
Slide---- Eph. 2:8-9 and Titus 2:11
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. Eph 2:8-9 (NIV)
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Titus 2:11 (NIV)
The Bible says the Blood is involved in Saving us!
Slide----- Rom 5:8-9, Heb 9:22;
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! Romans 5:8-9 (NIV)
In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Heb 9:22 (NIV)
The Bible says that the Gospel
-Slide--- I Cor. 15:1-4; Rom. 1:16;
Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 1 Cor 15:1-2 (NIV)
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. Romans 1:16 (NIV)
The Bible says that The Name of Christ saves… ,
Slide….. Acts 4:12, John 20:30--31;
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12 (NIV)
Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:30-31 (NIV)
The Bible says that Belief/Faith saves ….
-Slide---- John 3:16 Acts 16:30-31
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NIV)
He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household." Acts 16:30-31 (NIV)
The Bible says that Repentance too is involved in Saving you!
Slide Luke 13:3, Acts 2:38
I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Luke 13:3 (NIV)
Peter replied, "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 (NIV)
The Bible says that Confession of Christ before men is involved in saving you!
Slide Rom. 10:9-10, Mt. 10:32-33
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Romans 10:9-10 (NIV)
"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. Matt 10:32-33 (NIV)
The Bible says that Baptism is involved in saving you!
Show slides…… I Pet. 3:21, Romans 6:1-6
and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also--not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 1 Peter 3:21 (NIV)
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 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. Romans 6:1-4 (NASB)
Baptism is a burial…. I heard one preacher who told the story of being a young kid who lived on a farm….. one day one of his puppies died and he took it out to the back yard and dug a hole and placed the puppy in the hole and…… well the point of the story is that you burry dead things…..
If a person has already been made alive in Christ prior to being baptized… what are you doing burying them?
Slide--- Col. 2:12, Mark 16:15-16
having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. Col 2:12 (NIV)
He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:15-16 (NIV)
The Bible says that Godly living is involved in salvation. ,
Slide Heb. 10:26, II Cor. 5:17;
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, Heb 10:26 (NIV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
2 Cor 5:17 (NIV)
-Blank Slide here-
And so according to the Bible.. which of these things …. According to the Bible … can be left out or removed and a person still be saved?
Some might say “leave out baptism”… but we shouldn’t do that!
If Jesus and the Bible say a person should be baptized why would anyone argue against it?
So here’s the point….. It’s quite possible that there will be some who leave today believing that I am mistaken in some of the things that I’ve presented today….
Having not been raised in the Christian church I considered this for a number of years before coming to this understanding….
In fact I remember writing a 12 page paper on the topic of baptism in my early days of college… A paper that refuted what the professor taught on the subject……..
I had a professor that loved me enough to allow me the grace and the space to come to my own conclusion….
He handed me back my paper in class and stopped at my desk and said… “I liked your paper” and I looked down and paper had an “A” on it…. He understood that I sincerely was interested in TRUTH and was doing my best to walk in it…
Family … you have a pastor who loves you enough to present to you even the portions of the Bible that may not be popular in line with the popular views… you also have a pastor who loves you enough to allow you the GRACE and the SPACE to come to your own conclusion as well…
The Bible calls us to speak truth… but to do it in love…
Do you remember the test for a bother that I shared earlier?
Any time I can find someone who has made Christ the Lord of their life and is doing their best to follow him based on what they know of the scriptures …. I’ve got a bother! I’ve got a sister!
as we come to the time of invitation…. My question for you is basic……
Have you made Christ the Lord of your life?
Regardless of all the rest…… Regardless of your grandmas and grandpas… and aunts and uncles… friends and co workers….
Are you doing your very best to follow Him based on what you know of the scriptures?
(Give some concrete examples of following based on what the scripture says here…. Baptism, confession, evangelism, tithing, etc.)
Are you doing your very best to follow Him based on what you know of the scriptures?
Let’s pray!
