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36) WE BELIEVE IN SCRIPTURAL BAPTISM
Text: Ephesians 4:4-6
BRIEF REVIEW
Welcome brethren to our weekly Bible Study - and to our ongoing challenge which is to:
“...set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us”(Lk1:1)
So far in this series of lessons we established many truths through the Word of God,
With particular emphasis lately being on what we believe about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Through our study of the Scriptures we have seen what the Gospel is...
We have discovered why the Gospel is important...
We have taken careful note of where the Gospel is to be preached,
And of course, studied How we can effectively share the Gospel with others.
Jesus declared in Mark 16:15 - Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel…
So we know what we are to be doing as Christ’s disciples,
We are to share the Gospel – but we must also take note in how we do it.
Remember, last week we talked about the importance of also...
“Confirming a Person’s Salvation in Jesus Christ”.
Now this has absolutely nothing to do with you or I saving that person,
Because salvation can only ever come through Christ alone.
We know that – so when I talk about the need to confirm a persons salvation,
I am talking about the need to discern, beyond mere assumptions,
That a person has actually placed their faith in Jesus.
CONFIRMING SALVATION
Now some people may not see the need for this.
Some simply say: “Its our role to share the Gospel – and leave the rest upto God.”
Others say things like: “You can never truly know a person’s heart...
So at some point we just need to accept their word that they are saved”.
And look – I absolutely agree...
But the point that I am trying to make is that…
There exists a great deal of confusion among people today
About what the Gospel is and about how people genuinely get saved.
Some sources have stated that there are 10,000 different religions
That actively exist in the world – and brethren believe me when I say,
They are not all preaching salvation through Jesus Christ.
There is one God – and there is one truth.
Just as there is one Gospel – and one way to be saved through Jesus Christ.
Remember – even the Apostle Paul warned about the existence of False Gospels.
The sad truth and reality in all of this is that Satan actually gains alot out of Religion,
Because Religion does not preach the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And if they are not preaching the true Gospel – how are people going to get saved.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4: But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Brethren, mark my words - there are people living in the world right now,
Who have been misinformed and wrongly taught within various religious circles...
And they are blind to the truth.
And of gravest concern to me – is many think they are saved – when they are not.
Salvation comes through Jesus Christ alone...through faith in Him alone.
There is One God...One Truth...and One Gospel.
This is why I challenge you all – when sharing the truth with others...
To also seek to “confirm their salvation in Jesus Christ”.
When meeting a stranger don’t just assume they are saved – because they say so,
Or because they say they believe in God.
Words do not save a person – Faith in Jesus Christ does.
We must care enough about others – not just to preach the Gospel...
But to also to confirm their understanding of the truth.
THE QUESTION METHOD
The question then becomes – how do we do that?
With so much confusion in religion...
And with so many misconceptions existing among people about how they are saved,
How can we “Confirm their Salvation in Jesus Christ”?
Personally, I like to ask people I meet two questions.
Question 1: “If you died right now – do you know for certain that you would go to heaven?”
This should be a simple question to answer for those that have faith in Christ,
And for those who know and understand the Gospel truth.
But for many others a question like this can fill them with dread and doubt.
The thing I like about this question...
Is that for those who are unsure of their salvation,
It provides a wonderful opportunity to openly share the Word of God & the Gospel truth them.
I like to tell people of how God wants them to know for sure that they are saved,
Because as the Scriptures declare in 1 John 5:13:
“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life…”
This is not a think so...Hope so...Maybe so...could be kind of a situation.
You can know for certain that you will go to heaven if you accept Christ as your Saviour.
And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life. 1 John 2:25
Question 2: “If you came face to face with God, and He asked you – ‘why should I let you into heaven?’ What would you say?”
The good thing about this question - is that it helps us to determine
Where exactly people are at spiritually.
What are basing their hope and faith of salvation on?
At this point, many people who do not have a firm Salvation in Jesus Christ...
Begin to form an answer based upon their own good works.
“Well I lived a good life and tried to always do what is right” – they might say.
Look you might have tried to live a good life – but that is not going to get you into heaven.
That’s when I like to again present the truth of the Scriptures:
Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. …And from this approach many, many other verses can be shared.
The point in all of this is – when meeting people, don’t just assume people are saved
Even if they say they are – take the time to confirm their salvation in Jesus Christ.
I’M SAVED – WHAT COMES NEXT?
So that’s what we learnt previously – but what comes next?
How do we make true disciples of others?
Once a person is genuinely saved – where do we take them next in the Scriptures?
Well as we have discussed before - there are really only two key messages in the entire Bible:
One message is about Salvation - and the other message is about Service.
One message is about how to get saved through Jesus Christ...
And the other message is about how to follow and serve Jesus Christ.
Now we can’t confuse these two messages – because they are different.
Unfortunately, religion often tries to confusingly blend these two messages together
When God has always intended them to be received and acted upon separately.
First, you get Saved by faith in Jesus Christ...
And then you can effectively move on in faith - to Serve Jesus Christ.
Brethren you cannot serve God - until you first come to know God.
And the only way we can come to truly know God is through Jesus Christ His Son.
This is how true Christianity works.
There are two simple steps – first you get saved and come to know God,
Then you learn to follow God and serve Him.
Without Salvation in Jesus Christ – there is no next step.
A person can never ever serve God – without first being saved by Him.
Salvation is always the first step.
And I’ll tell you Why – it’s because our sins !
John 3:18 - He that believeth on Him [Jesus Christ] is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Without Jesus – we all stand condemned in the flesh, and in our sinful estate...
Before a Perfect, Holy, and Just God.
Without Christ, all that God sees is our sin – that makes It impossible for us to serve Him.
You see, we must first have our sins forgiven through the loving sacrifice of Christ,
Then when the Heavenly Father looks at us – He no longer sees our sins,
But a covering and an atonement that was made for us by the blood of Jesus Christ.
6 To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.
7 In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace; - Ephesians 1:6-7
This must always be the first step in drawing near to God.
First, we get Saved and have our sins forgiven...
Then we can take the next step to Serve God in our lives.
SCRIPTURAL BAPTISM
So what is the next step for a saved Child of God? – It is Baptism!
Now again, it must be stressed that there are many different ideas in the religious realm
About what Baptism is - and about how Baptism should be practiced.
Unfortunately, most such views and opinions are wrong.
Just as there is only One God...One truth...and One Gospel,
So too is there only One Baptism.
Turn with me to Ephesians 4:4-6
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Please take careful note here that the Bible declares - there is only One Baptism,
And brethren that Baptism - is the Right Baptism.
Now thankfully, the One Baptism spoken of here by Paul,
Is also revealed to us all clearly through the Word of God,
So we don’t need to be confused at all about this.
If God declares to us that there is One Baptism – we can be rest assured He will show us what it is.
The unfortunate thing is that with 10,000 different religions...
There are also many, many different forms and practices of Baptism – and this out not to be so.
Please understand, if there is only One Baptism - there can be no other.
Our challenge then today brethren – must be to discern the Right Baptism that God is speaking of.
Thankfully God’s Word always cuts the truth straight.
Simply put, any Baptism not following the prescribed method taught in the Bible - is not Scriptural.
And Baptism that is not Scriptural – has to be Unscriptural !
Many people think that because they have had a religious experience involving water...
That they have been baptised.
No - Scriptural Baptism must follow the right method as seen practiced in the Bible,
And not just anyone has the authority to baptise another either.
We would all do well to understand that.
Through the course of our lessons in these upcoming weeks
We shall open the Word of God – to whole heartedly seek out and find,
The One Baptism that is right in God’s eyes.
But in order for us to effectively do this–we must ask and answer a lot of questions including:
What is Baptism ?
Why should one be Baptised ?
Who is able to be Baptised ?
Who has the right to Baptise another? ...and...
How should Baptism be performed ?
Through all of this, our study will also address some commonly raised questions
Such as the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, rebaptism, and infant baptism.
WHAT IS BAPTISIM?
To begin with – let’s keep things simple and ask ourselves: “What is Baptism”
The English Word Baptise stems directly from the original Greek word...
That Jesus and the Apostles used in the Bible.
The main Greek Word is “Baptizo” - and it is used 80 times across the New Testament,
Being translated into English in the following ways:
Baptise – 76 times / Wash – 2 times / Baptist – 1 time / Baptised – 1 time.
Now there are indeed other variations to this word found in the Scriptures,
But “Baptizo” is the main Greek terminology used for Baptism.
And interestingly, the word means: “To immerse”, or “to submerge”.
That is critical for us to understand – when it comes to the One Baptism...
That the Lord speaks of in the Scriptures - and to it’s practice in the Right Way.
“Baptism” - the way that it is referred to in the Scriptures,
Means to immerse or to submerge under water.
The word “Baptizo” never means “to sprinkle” or “to pour”.
There are four other commonly used Greek words used in the New Testament
Which mean to sprinkle or to pour. These words are:
Rhantizo, Proschusis, Ekcheo, and Epicheo
Now although Jesus and the Disciples did use these same Greek Words,
There is not one time in the Scriptures - when they are used with reference to,
Or in the context of - Scriptural Baptism.
That’s because the One Baptism...the Right kind of Baptism...Scriptural Baptism,
Involves the full immersion or submerging of another under water.
Every time Jesus and the Apostles used the word “Baptizo” it was with this meaning.
Now brethren we will talk more about this in future weeks,
But I do want to touch on this point right now before we move on together,
The One Baptism… the Right Kind of Baptism…being Scriptural Baptism
Will never involve dipping, dabbing, sprinkling, pouring or showering…
Because to be “baptised” – the way that the Scriptures teach,
Means to be fully immersed under water.
And we will learn more about this in future weeks.
But for the purposes of today we now know what Baptism means – but what does Baptism picture?
WHAT BAPTISIM PICTURES
You see, Baptism means something!
It is not just something we do. It is not just a fun day splashing around in the water.
No. Baptism is spiritually pictorial - illustrating to all who see it, some wonderful Scriptural truths.
On one level – Baptism shows outwardly...
The internal heart desire of one who, after being saved, wants to follow Christ.
And for any earnestly wanting to follow Christ…
The next logical step is to follow Him into the waters of Baptism.
Afterall, this was the example that Jesus gave.
Christ Himself was Baptised – as a sign of the New Covenant.
You see, Baptism is important – because it means something!
1) PICTURE OF THE GOSPEL
After we are saved - we are called to then follow in Christ’s footsteps...
By sharing the Gospel and living the Christian life.
For all who have been Saved by Christ – the next step comes in actually Serving Christ.
And for all who have come to freely receive salvation…
The next logical step is to follow Christ in proclaiming His salvation before others.
Baptism demonstrates openly before all who see it - a child of God’s desire to want to do this.
It stands as a witness and testimony of a person’s desires to whole heartedly follow Christ,
And it pictures to others God’s saving grace.
Now some religions teach that one must be baptised in order to be saved.
That is not correct – salvation comes through faith in Christ alone!
However, even though the act of Baptism itself is not what saves us,
On one level, what Baptism ultimately pictures is the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ,
And that my friends - is the glorious truth of the Gospel – which does save us.
In fact, the Apostle Paul defines the Gospel as clearly to us in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
So just as the Gospel message is a declaration of truth about…
The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ,
So too is this an important part of what Baptism pictures.
The act of lowering down of someone into water…(being symbolic of Christ’s death),
Their full immersion under the water…(being symbolic of His burial)
And then the lifting up of that person again out of the water…(symbolic of His resurrection),
Is hugely significant in this regard to all who witness and see it.
However again – I must stress that Baptism is not what saves a person,
But what Baptism pictures through the Gospel of Jesus Christ – is what can save a person.
I love the fact that there is always an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel at every Baptism,
And that as a Child of God surrenders to follow in the Lord’s footsteps in this way…
Their witness and testimony helps to glorify Christ in this way.
You see on one level – baptism is a picture of the Gospel…
And of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
2) PICTURE OF NEW LIFE
Of course, the full picture and significance of baptism goes beyond even this.
Remember Baptism comes after salvation and is the next step
For those wanting to follow and serve Christ.
The practice of Baptism by full immersion under water...
Helps to also illustrate the spiritual change that has taken place in every sinners life.
It pictures a saved believer being buried to his old life and sinful way of living,
To be raised again to live a new kind of life as they follow Christ.
Turn with me to Romans 6:1-4
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Now that we are saved – shall we go back to our old sinful way of living – Paul says?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Here Paul is talking about spiritual changes that should be evident
And taking place within every saved believer - as they seek to follow Christ.
Remember – for those who are saved and want to continue…
To follow and serve the Lord with their life - the next step is Baptism,
And baptism pictures how our old life and sinful flesh should be put to death and buried,
So that we can be raised up to live a new kind of life in Christ.
Baptism then stands a outward sign and picture…
Of a saved believer who wishes to follow Christ,
By living a new kind of life – one that is lived apart from the world
And apart from all the sinful appetites of the flesh – so that we might glorify Christ.
Paul also talks about these spiritual changes in 2 Corinthians 5:17 saying:
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Here Paul is talking about a Child of God who is committed to living “In Christ”…
And he talks about the wonderful change that takes place.
But please recognise that it’s one thing for Christ to be “In You”,
And its another thing altogether for you to be living “In Christ”.
Christ coming into you - happens at the point of salvation…
Where you first accept Jesus as your personal saviour
And you are indwelled and sealed by the holy spirit. That is Christ in You.
You In Christ however is all about living a holy and separate kind of life
As you surrender to God’s will for your life
And seek to live a sanctified life, separate from the rest of the world in service to your king.
Paul says – those who seek to live in Christ – will become like a new creation.
Their old way of life and living will pass away – as they live and walk anew with Christ.
Baptism pictures and signifies a saved believer’s commitment to follow the Lord,
As they consider they’re old sinful ways and manner of living dead and buried
And seek to live a new kind of life as they follow Christ.
3) SIGN OF THE NEW COVENANT
However, there is so much more to baptism than this.
Sure, Baptism is a significant step – showing a believer’s intent to want to follow Christ,
And stands as an outward picture to the lost of the glorious Gospel,
But there is more to the spiritual significance of baptism than this.
In fact, Baptism stands as a sign of the New Covenant – which Jesus Christ Himself came to usher in.
Now please understand this - The Lord has always desired for His people to serve Him
Within a full covenant relationship.
Now today its the New Covenant that Christ is calling us as His disciples to follow under today…
And it is a Church Covenant.
You see, anyone faithfully seeking to serve the Lord today…
According to God’s greater plan and purpose for their lives,
Will be doing so within a Local New Testament Church.
And Baptism my friends - stands as a prerequisite for anyone seeking to join a local Church.
You see as we join ourselves to a local church – we are able to commune and fellowship…
With our Lord in a very special way.
And it is within the Church that we are able to experience full covenant relationship with God today.
Ephesians 3:21 - Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Jesus wants to share an intimate love relationship with all who have the heart to serve Him,
And so precious is the kind of relationship He desires to have with us,
That He likens it to that of a love relationship shared between a husband and wife.
In fact, the Scriptures depict Christ as being the Bride Groom…
While all those who have been saved and baptised, who are faithfully serving Him
Within Scriptural Church Assemblies - are depicted as being a part of His Bride.
Now brethren we haven’t got time to get into all of this today,
But so precious was Christ’s desire to share this kind of relationship…
With His saved children - under a New Covenant,
That He was willing to shed die and shed His blood to seal it.
This truth is missed on many – Christ ultimately died on the cross, not just to forgive us of our sins,
But to also to secure and usher in a New Covenant which He desired to share with us.
Ephesians 5:25 - Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it;
(Note: the word “it” used here in the Greek does not refer to an inanimate object but instead comes out in the feminine gender to actually speak of “Her”).
You see, Jesus didn’t just shed His blood and die on the cross to save mankind from their sins,
Because He also died and shed His blood for His Bride…
And to usher in a New Covenant to be shared with his bride within the Church.
By the way Baptism is one of two main ordinances…
God instructs His people to keep under the New Covenant,
And Baptism stands as an outward sign of those who having already been saved,
Want to follow and serve Christ, within full covenant relationship,
By joining and becoming a faithful member to a local Church.
This is God’s will – and this is plan and purpose for all who get saved and want to follow Him.
Many, many people miss the true significance of this.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion then brethren – this is what we have learnt from the many teachings of the Bible.
Baptism – means to “fully submerge” or to “immerse under water”.
This is only meaning and practice we find in the Bible
And if you are going to hold to the “One Baptism” declared in Ephesians 4:5…
It must be the right kind of Baptis0m following this practice.
And it is important to do this – because Scriptural Baptism signifies and pictures a lot.
It holds spiritual significance before God’s eyes – and we as His servants must honour that.
Firstly - Baptism is a spiritual picture of the Gospel…
In that it shows and declares before the all the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Secondly - Baptism is a spiritual picture of a new kind of life every true disciple is called to live.
It signifies the death of the old man and sinful way of living under the flesh
To be raised according to the power and grace of God to live in service to Christ.
Thirdly – Baptism stands as a sign of the New Covenant that Christ desires us to follow and serve Him under within the Church. In this regard Baptism stands as a prerequisite to church membership and to joining of a local body to serve Christ.
