Many years ago, there was a man of Syria named Naaman. He was a commander in the Aramean army, a valiant soldier, and he developed the infectious skin disease we know as leprosy. You have to understand, getting leprosy wasn’t like acne or poison ivy. Leprosy was a death sentence. Its Hebrew name means “a stroke or smiting” because getting it was considered being hit with divine judgment – kind of like the way we look at getting hit by a bolt of lightning.
Getting the infection meant basically 2 things: first, that you were a total outcast from society. In Jewish society, at least, lepers were forced to go and live off to themselves, because what they had was so hideous and contagious. No one wanted it. Secondly, leprosy meant slowly dying, a little at a time. As fingers and toes and limbs wasted away, so did the leper’s hope of any kind of recovery. There was no cure. Today, though it’s much more under control, there are still countries where some form of leprosy is a serious problem.
Naaman’s situation was so obviously serious, a little slave girl in his home says, (2 Kings 5:3) "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." His situation is so obviously desperate in his own eyes that he listens. And his need is so great that he goes to the land of his enemies, not only armed with a letter from his king, but also with a load of gold, silver, and clothing as a gift, to seek help.
What motivates such a respected man, recognized as a great leader in his nation, to humble himself, take a bunch of gifts, get a letter of recommendation, and go to the land of his enemies to ask if they might be so kind as to help him?
Leprosy. Naaman looks in his mirror at a man without hope. Rimmon, his god, hadn’t helped. In that day, leprosy pretty well marked the beginning of your end, and Naaman didn’t want to end yet! At least, not that way! He was infected with a disease. He was wanting, and he was seeking a cure.
To what extremes might you go to be cured? We don’t get leprosy. To what might we compare it – something that makes you an outcast and spells the end? How about the leprosy of our era…how about…AIDS? Imagine, now, looking in the mirror at a person who’s HIV positive – a person infected and without hope. Would you at least do some research and look into what might help you? Would you learn about it and about any progress being made in treating it? To what extremes might you go financially, with your diet, your time, and would you want to be treating just the symptoms, or try to cure the disease? Maybe now you can appreciate the mental state of Naaman the Syrian as he travels to Samaria.
Elisha the prophet hears about Naaman and sends word for him to come over to his place. So, Naaman and his horses and chariots all pull up at Elisha’s gate. Ding-dong. Elisha doesn’t come out. Elisha doesn’t invite Naaman in. Instead, he sends out a messenger – monkey boy. (v10) "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed."
Naaman has a dumb moment: “What? You’d think he’d at least come out and speak to me in person! I thought he’d come out and wave his hand over me and, badda-bing badda-boom, fix it! Wash in the Jordan? Stupid Israelites! We’ve got better rivers back home!”
Do you see the problem with that response? If a man is so infected, if his life is so without hope, if he’s willing to humble himself, go to the land of his enemies, and offer to pay a huge reward, does it make sense that he’d refuse to do something so simple? His servants saw the problem, and they realized the foolishness of turning around and going home in a huff. (v13) Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!" Naaman comes to his senses. He goes to the Jordan River. He washes there…1X…no change…2X…3X…7X and (v14) “his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.”
What happened to Naaman isn’t our main thought today. Naaman wasn’t baptized. Jesus wasn’t even born until hundreds of years later. But what was going on inside of Naaman is really important to what we’re talking about today.
Can’t you hear the question Naaman is asking: Do I really need to do that? Do I really need to do something so humbling? Do I really need to do that here in Israel? Do I really have to do it 7 times?
This morning, people aren’t following Jesus because something stands between them and God, and we’ve been trying to address whatever that may be. It may be this very subject of baptism. And here we are, saying that it shouldn’t be something that gets in the way. Fact is, it never did get in the way, until 1523, during a very crucial time in church history, when a Swiss theologian named Huldreich Zwingli basically said since the time of the Apostles, everyone who has been presenting baptism as the time of entrance into the Body of Christ -- everyone who has taught and written and studied the Scriptures, every church leader who has led people in this direction for 1500 years -- well, they're wrong. In essence he said, “No, you don’t really need to be baptized.” The idea has been so widely accepted for 490 years, that to say anything else places you in the minority.
OK, but do you really need to be baptized?
If you’re asking that because you want to get God off your back, and it’s just something you have to endure to not get sent to hell, then, no, you don’t. If that’s why you’re asking, baptism really isn’t going to do you any good.
If you’re asking because your wife or friend is nagging you about it, and you actually don’t believe it’s a need, but you’re willing to do anything just to get that person to be quiet, then, no, it really isn’t going to do you any good.
If your reason for asking is because you’re trying to decide what has happened to your unbaptized friend or relative who died, and you really aren’t looking at your own relationship with the Lord, then, no, I doubt that your baptism is going to change anything about your friend or relative.
If you’re asking because some friends of yours did it, and now they’re church members, and you want the status and clout that comes with membership, then, no, it isn’t going to do you any good.
Right away, the question we’re asking this morning is one that not everyone needs to bother with. This is a question for the person who’s seeking Jesus. It’s a question for the person who wonders, “What must I do to be saved?” If you’re not ready to believe in Jesus’ claims, accept that you need a Savior, and recognize that Jesus is the ONLY way to God, then this question of baptism really doesn’t apply to you right now.
If baptism were just like some flu vaccination, where you line up, indifferently, have it done to you, then go on your merry way, I’d be figuring out how to dunk everyone whether they wanted it or not. We’d start a new ministry here at Central – the ambush and dunk ministry. It would be just like having your dog dipped for fleas. Most dogs don’t want that, really, even though we think they need it. But there’s more to baptism than just an act of being immersed under water.
Do I really need to be baptized? I want to answer with 5 questions this morning real briefly:
1. Do I really need to be saved?
Before you get offended at the judgmental attitude of this, realize that every person who ever accepted Jesus started here – with the realization that we need to be saved – that our choice to sin has built a chasm between ourselves and our perfect God – that nothing impure is going to enter into heaven – that the payment for sin is death, forever death.
I once had someone tell me “I don’t think God’s going to keep someone out of heaven because of a little water.” No, I’m sure He’s not. It’s not water or the absence of it that keeps someone out of heaven – it’s sin.
Yes, you really need to be saved. The very fact that you’re here this morning shows that you have at least some inkling of that truth. Yes, you really need to be saved.
2. Do I have a way to do that on my own?
Being Americans and all, we ought to be able to figure out a way we can fix this on our own, shouldn’t we? Can we do that? I’ll let Paul answer for me…
Romans 3:9-12
What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast.
Titus 3:5a
…he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
Maybe our good works will help, at least. Maybe they’ll at least get us part of the way back to God. Could it be?
Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
Our very best, not our worst – our righteous acts – are like filthy rags. Doesn’t sound like it’s going to do us much good. The difference between Christianity and religion is that religion is man’s effort to save himself. Christianity is about accepting the work that God has done to save us. That takes us to the next question:
3. Has God made a way that I can be saved?
Who will deliver me from this body of death?
What shall we do?
What must I do to be saved?
These are real-life questions that people in the Bible asked about our greatest need. And the answer is essentially the same each time: God has made a way you can be saved!
1 Thessalonians 1:10b …Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
Mark 16:16a - “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved…”
Acts 2:21 “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Acts 16:31 "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household."
Romans 10:9-10 …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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
1 Peter 3:21 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…
The good news for everyone here today is that God has made the way for every person to be saved. You don’t have a way on your own, but God has made the way you can be saved. It’s all based on the work of Jesus Christ – His perfect life, His death in your place, and His resurrection.
4. Can I accept it on my own terms?
Matthew 22, Jesus told the story of a man invited to a wedding banquet. He wasn’t even on the original guest list, to start, but was added in by special invitation. Now, at a party like this, when people arrived at the door, they’d be given a special set of party clothes to wear. Only, this guy didn’t put his on. When the king who threw the party saw this guest not wearing the “party clothes,” he asked him, “Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?” The man was speechless. (Matthew 22:12) Then he was thrown out.
In other words, when it comes to being a guest at God’s invitation, you don’t tell God, “I’ll come, but I’m coming on my terms, my conditions.”
Ill - Can you imagine – you have a gift for me – a great gift – something that’s way beyond ordinary – something big – it’s an SUV with a bass boat attached! And you tell me that you have it to give to me, and then I tell you, “OK, but only if you deliver it to my driveway. I don’t want a big deal made of it. And only if you give me a place to store it in the winter. Oh, and I also won’t take it unless you put some of those spinner hubcaps on it.
Or can you imagine, you’re drowning in a flooded river, someone throws you a rope and shouts “Tie this around yourself under your arms!” and you say, “I don’t like this rope. Don’t you have something in a better color? And I don’t want to tie it under my arms, I’d rather tie it around my waist! And make sure, when you’re pulling me in, that you don’t do it too fast. I don’t want to look silly to the people watching!
There’s something wrong there, just like there was something wrong with Naaman becoming indignant about washing in the Jordan River.
If it’s even possible that God makes baptism a condition necessary for salvation, why would anyone resist it as a way of honoring the Lord Who gave it to us and Who even gave it to us in His own example when He was baptized? Who are we to accept His gift to us, and then set the conditions under which we’ll accept it?
Accepting God’s gift of life at baptism is the exception. It’s the 2nd invitation. It’s the special arrangement God has made for people who’ve already strayed. The question we really need to deal with is “What can we do to have His promise?”
If we really believe about ourselves that we’re lost, that God has made the only way for us to be saved, and that we can’t do it on our own, then we more likely would be saying, “Lord, I’ll do whatever you ask me to do” instead of “Lord, can’t you do this my way?”
5. Are there any exceptions?
Some struggle at this point because we want there to be exceptions. That’s usually because we want to have some hope that a relative who died unimmersed is OK. We want to hear that this isn’t a hard and fast condition – that God will overlook it. I understand why a person would want to hear about exceptions.
The problem comes when we try to apply that to ourselves – we who are alive, right now. The problem comes when someone realizes that being baptized means accepting Jesus’ lordship in your life, repenting of your old way of life, and becoming a different person than you were. Suddenly, we’d like to hear that a person can count on heaven without the baptism part. “Do I really need to be baptized? It might be that God makes exceptions. It might be that a person doesn’t have to be.”
And while you say that to yourself, just imagine what your life would be like if you lived it based on exceptions. I might win the lottery. My bank might make an error in my favor. My kids might grow up just fine without me overseeing their development. My boss might let me keep me job if I don’t show up for work this week. I might be the exception when it comes to having to eat right to stay healthy. Yeah, all of that might happen. Are willing to bet your job on it? Your health? Your children? Your finances? Most of us don’t live that way. What about your forever?
The Bible says there are several things that take place when we’re baptized. Do you need them? Do you really need to be baptized?
Well…
Do you really need to have the HS? Peter said,
Acts 2:38 "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.
Do you really need to be clothed with Christ
Galatians 3:27
all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Do you really need to be forgiven of your sins?
Acts 22:16
And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'
Do you really need united with Jesus?
Romans 6:3-5
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. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
Do you really need become a part of the Body of Christ, the Church?
1 Corinthians 12:13
For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Story - Acts 22. We join a story already in progress – it’s the Apostle Paul, telling the story of how he became a follower of Jesus. He had been on his way to Damascus, traveling there to persecute Christians. On the way, Jesus Himself appeared to Paul and rebuked him. Paul was struck blind, but more importantly, he was changed in his heart – he repented. He went into Damascus, and for 3 days, ate nothing. This man, who had tortured Christians to their death, was under conviction. Had Paul heard about Jesus? Many times, no doubt. Did Paul believe in Jesus? Most apparently. Was his heart changed? Enough that he fasted for 3 days. Did Paul pray a prayer? Yes, Acts 9 says he was praying – for 3 days, in fact. If that’s what it takes to become a Christian, you would think that after 3 days it would have stuck! Still, God sent a man named Ananias to Paul. Listen to what he told Paul:
Acts 22:13-16 (NIV)
He stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very moment I was able to see him. "Then he said: 'The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'
Jesus had spoken directly to Paul. 3 days he was fasting and praying. He was struck blind, and healed. And what does Ananias say to him? “And now, what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.”
Ananias didn’t say, “Paul, now that you’re saved, get up and testify to your changed life by being baptized.” He didn’t say, “Paul, now that your sins are forgiven, announce it to your friends by being baptized.”
Do you really need to be baptized? If you’re honestly asking that question this morning, I refer you back to the story of Naaman and what his servants said:
2 Kings 5:13
“…if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!"
Ill – Javin, a little boy in Hillsboro, OH, was the first child of a young couple there. He was born healthy, but his heart had a problem - an irregular beat. They tried to correct it with medication, but that wouldn’t work. So, the doctors told them what they would have to do. They would have to stop Javin’s heart, and restart it – kind of like rebooting a computer. This sounded like no big deal to them, but to his parents and to me, it sounded pretty radical. So, on a given day, they took Javin in to Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati, stopped his heart, restarted it, and he’s been fine ever since!
Remember, you and I, we have a disease. It separates us from God, and it marks the beginning of an eternal end. There’s no simple cure for it. The only way out from it is to be put to death and start over. That’s what baptism is all about.
Paul describes it as being “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.”
