Jesus had a ministry that lasted a little more than three years. Of all the things He could have started His ministry with and ended His ministry with, He started it by being baptized and concluded it by commanding the church to make disciples and baptize others. Now, since baptism was the bookends of the ministry of the Son of God, that alone should tell us that baptism is a big deal. Baptism is important, not because Baptists say it is, but because the Bible says it is. In fact, the Bible talks about baptism seventy-four times. In order to understand why baptism is a big deal, I want to answer three questions.
1. What Does Baptism Mean?
Mark 1:9-11 which is our starting text tells us in vivid detail about the beginning of the ministry of Jesus: “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opening and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:9-11).
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:18-20).
If you went back in time, two thousand years to the days of Jesus, you would have heard a Greek word used in everyday language to describe a variety of situations. That Greek word is the word Baptizo. The word meant to immerse, dip, or dunk. It was used to describe ships that sunk in the sea or cloth that was dyed in a certain color. One ancient Jewish historian even described a man that was murdered by baptism. In other words, he was drowned. For a long period of time, the word Baptizo had no religious significance whatsoever. Women baptized their dishes. Sinking ships were baptized into the sea. Kids playing in a river dunked or baptized each other. Then one day a man showed up named John and he began baptizing people.“ John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4). John said that baptism is an outward sign of an inward repentance. In fact, he became so identified with the new meaning of this word they began to call him “John The Baptizer” or “John The Baptist.” John did something in a religious setting that had never been seen before. He baptized people who wanted to repent from their sin and place their faith in God.
Now it is important to see how John baptized the Lord Jesus. Verse nine tells us that Jesus was “Baptized by John in the Jordan.” Literally, it says He was baptized “into the Jordan.” Verse ten tells us that Jesus then “And when he came up out of the water…” Now, it is obvious the reason that Jesus came up out of the water is because He had been placed down into the water. But, there is a reason why John not only baptized Jesus in this fashion, but also in this place. “John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized” (John 3:23). That statement is very revealing. Why did John have to have much water? The reason is because to be baptized you have to go down into the water. That is exactly what we read about Jesus.
Now, why is it necessary to go down into the water? Because in order to be baptized, you've got to be buried beneath the water which is exactly how Paul describes baptism in Romans 6:4: “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). When you bury a corpse you don't take a few ounces of dirt and sprinkle it on the body and leave it there to bake in the sun. You bury that body beneath the ground and a baptistery is meant to be a liquid tomb where a person is to be buried beneath the water.
How old must you be before you are baptized? The question is really, “How old must you be before you are saved?”
2. Who is to be Baptized?
In the New Testament without exception, the only kind of baptism that was practiced was what we call today “Believers Baptism.” In the New Testament, the way you would profess your faith in Christ would be to be baptized. Baptism was the profession of faith. In the Bible, two things always go together - Belief and Baptism. They always go together in that order. Without exception, every time you read about someone being baptized in the New Testament, it was after they believed after they had committed their heart to God, never before. Look at these examples: “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41). “But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women” (Acts 8:12). One more: “While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days” (Acts 10: 44, 47-48). Now, do you sense a pattern emerging here? People were presented with the Gospel. They responded to the Gospel and they were baptized.
Now, I want to hasten to add that the Bible is also very plain that you do not have to be baptized in order to be saved. Water doesn't save anyone regardless of whether it is a spoon full or a tank full. The only liquid in the Bible that saves is the Blood of Jesus Christ: “the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). A person is never baptized in order to be saved. A person is baptized because they have been saved You are baptized because you want to show that they have been saved. That is why we do not practice infant baptism. You do not put a wedding ring on an infant and then wait for that infant to grow up and get married. It is not until an infant is old enough to choose a husband or a wife and then after marriage gets the wedding ring. Just as a wedding ring is to be put only on the finger of a person who is married, baptism is to be performed only on a person who is a believer.
3. What Is The Significance Of Baptism?
There are three words I want to share with you today that if you will write them down and remember them you will always understand why baptism is a big deal.
3.1. Identity
Think about this for a moment. Why was Jesus baptized? Jesus was not a sinner. Jesus did not need to become a believer. He is the One we are to believe in. He wasn't professing His faith in God. He was God. So why was Jesus baptized? This is important. The reason Jesus was baptized is directly related to why we should be baptized. Baptism is a means of identification. When Jesus was baptized He was identifying Himself with us and giving us an example to follow and when we are baptized we are identifying ourselves with him.
How does this work? Baptism is God's physical picture of the Gospel. Now, as you know the Gospel is the fact that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, that He was buried and three days later He was raised from the dead. That is exactly what baptism pictures: the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Guess what? That is exactly what Paul tells us in Romans 6:3-5: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:3-5). As you read this passage, you will see very clearly three items: 1) the death of Jesus Christ: we “were baptized into His death...”; (2) the burial of Christ, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death”; and (3) the resurrection of Christ “just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” So, baptism is a means of identification whereby we identify with what Jesus did for us.
3.2. Advertise
Years ago, when I got married, I immediately put on a wedding ring. Now I didn't have to put on the ring in order to be married, but I put on the ring in order to show that I was married. I wear that ring today to show that I am a married man. Now, I can take the ring off and put it in my pocket, but I would still be married. You see the ring does not make me married; the ring shows that I am married. Just as a wedding ring shows that you are married, baptism shows that you are a believer in Jesus Christ and that you belong to Him. When I speak to children about the meaning of baptism, I always tell them that baptism is an advertisement of your faith. Baptism is a billboard along the side of the road publicly declaring my faith in Christ. Well, quite frankly that is exactly what baptism is. It is your advertisement to the world that you have become a believer in Jesus Christ accepting His death, burial, and resurrection as payment for your sins.
3.3. Transform
Now get this picture in your mind because a picture is so important. Baptism pictures the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross as we have already read in Romans 6. Whenever a person is baptized, they are picturing a death and burial as they go down into the water and as they come up out of the water they are picturing a resurrection. What they are picturing is not only what Jesus has done for them, but what Jesus has done to them. Their old person has died, their old person was buried, and as a result of believing in Jesus, they have been raised as a brand new person. When a person gives their heart to Christ, the old person dies, their sins are buried forever beneath His forgiveness and they are raised as a brand new person to live their lives for Christ.
I want to close by speaking to several groups of people here. First of all, there are some of you here who have not only never been baptized, you have never become a believer. You have never truly received Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life, which is what we mean by being “saved.” So, there are some of you here that have never been baptized and you have never been saved. I am going to ask you in a moment to surrender your life to the Lord who died for your sins. Now there are some of you here who fall into this category. You were christened as a baby, sprinkled as an infant, but you too have never been saved. I am going to give you an opportunity to get everything spiritually right in your own life by taking the first step toward true baptism which is once again becoming a believer in Christ and receiving Him as your Lord. Now, there is a third group of you here and you have been immersed. As far as the method of baptism, you did it correctly. Somewhere, sometime perhaps as a child you were put under the water and brought back out of the water, but you were not saved then and are not saved now. One of the reasons you struggle spiritually is because of the very fact, that even though you did what you were supposed to do on the outside, God has never done with you what He needs to do on the inside. You too, today need to respond to Jesus Christ by receiving Him into your life. Finally, there are some of you here perhaps and you have been saved, but you have never been biblically baptized, that is immersed since you have been saved. You may have been immersed as a child or christened as a baby, but later on, in life you received Christ, but you have never been baptized since you have been saved. Today, you need to respond not by becoming a believer. You already are a believer; you need to respond by becoming obedient to the command of Jesus to be baptized.
I am sure there are those here today who need to be saved and those here who need to be baptized. You must be saved in order to go to heaven. You must be baptized in order to be obedient. I pray you will do what God is calling you to do right now.
