ONE BAPTISM
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 2/11/2018
If you’re just joining us, we’ve spent the last six weeks exploring the often elusive ideal of Christian unity. As I’ve said every week throughout this series, Jesus passionately prayed that his church—everyone who would ever believe in him—would be one! There’s a remarkable reversal here because this is one occasion where we get to answer Jesus’ prayer instead of the other way around. But how do we do that? How do we maintain a spirit of unity in the church?
To help answer that question, the Apostle Paul provides believers with a series of seven “ones” that ought to bind us together in Christian unity. He writes, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:3-6 NIV).
We’ve already examined the first five “ones” that Paul lists here: one body (the church), one Spirit (the Holy Spirit), one hope (the hope of heaven), one Lord (Jesus Christ) and one faith (the willingness to act on our belief in Jesus). That brings us to the sixth “one” that binds us all together as believers: one baptism.
Baptism is a defining moment in any believer’s life. Baptism separates the tire kickers from the car buyers. It celebrates the union of sinner and Savior. However, even though Paul identifies baptism as something uniting Christians, baptism has also been the center of controversy and division among Christians.
Believers have argued for centuries about both the meaning and method of baptism as well as the role it plays in our salvation. The danger lies in two extremes—either we make baptism too important or too unimportant. Either we deify it or we trivialize it. 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.
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. So, let’s explore some of what the Bible says about baptism and how it can help bind believers together as one.
First, we need to understand the purpose of baptism.
• THE PURPOSE OF BAPTISM
For that, we need to go back to the beginning. The first mention of baptism in the Bible is made by John the Baptizer. The Bible says, “John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River” (Mark 1:4-5 NIV). John began preaching in the wilderness around the Jordan river in order to prepare people for the coming of Christ. People from all over Judea came out to hear him preach and John baptized them by the hundreds, maybe even thousands.
This phrase—a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins—is used repeatedly in each of the synoptic gospels and it points us to the purpose of baptism. Namely, baptism symbolizes the washing away of sin. The Jews were already familiar with ritual bathing or washing. Priests were required to wash from head to toe before they could enter the Temple. Gentiles were baptized before they could convert to Judaism. Everyone knew the story of Naaman who dipped seven times in the Jordan River in order to be cleansed of leprosy. But now, for the first time, John extended this ritual to everybody. He called men and women, Jews and gentiles, slaves and soldiers to confess their sins and be cleansed.
Of course, John isn’t the only one in Scripture preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. In John 1, Jesus himself is baptized and by John 3, he’s the one waist deep in the Jordan River calling people to repent and be baptized. 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” (Acts 2:38 ESV). Ananias said the same thing to Paul: “Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away” (Acts 22:16 NIV).
When you wash dirty hands, the results are immediately visible. What was once soiled is now sparkling. But repentance happens on the inside with a cleansing that isn’t observable. So, baptism is the outward, visible representation of the sins that darken and dirty our hearts being washed away—fully and finally forgiven by the matchless grace of Jesus Christ. It’s a confession that, apart from Jesus, we are all unclean. The cleansing of our hearts and minds is the purpose of baptism. But if we gently turn the jewel of baptism, looking at it in a different light, we’ll also see the picture of baptism.
• THE PICTURE OF BAPTISM
I heard a story about small country church that held a baptismal service Sunday afternoon down by the river. A local good old boy had been fishing nearby and already had a few too many beers. So, when he saw the crowd gathering at the river’s edge, he waded over to see what was going on. The minister turned and noticed the old fisherman and said, “Mister, are you here to find Jesus?” The inebriated fisherman looks up and says, “I suppose I am.”
So, the preacher dunked the fellow under the water and pulled him right back up. “Have you found Jesus?” the preacher asks. “No, I haven’t!” says the drunk.
So, preacher dunks him under again, brings him up and says, “Now, brother, have you found Jesus?” Wiping his eyes, the man replies, “No, I didn’t.”
Frustrated, the preacher plunges the man into the water again, holds him down for a few seconds, brings him out of the water and says in a harsh tone, “Friend, are you sure you haven’t found Jesus yet?” Gasping for air, the old drunk says to the preacher, “Are you sure this is where he fell in?”
That drunk fisherman may not have realized it, but being baptized is very much about joining Jesus in the water. Jesus gave a whole new level of meaning to baptism, as it came to be a living picture of his death, burial, and resurrection. Pontificating that very point, the apostle Paul would later write: “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)
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). Through faith, the waters of baptism become a meeting place where we encounter Jesus himself. By faith, our baptism sort of pencils us into the picture of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.
The waters of baptism echo the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus—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 problems, by the way, 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 fulfill their hopes for you by submitting to believer’s baptism. The word “Baptism” comes from the Greek word Baptismo which means to immerse or dunk. It was the word used to describe sinking ships as they disappeared beneath the sea. It was used to describe washing clothes that are plunged into a bucket of soapy water.
The symbolism of immersion is compelling. Just as Jesus died on the cross, we die to sin. As he was buried in a tomb, we are buried beneath the water. As Jesus rose from the dead full of life and light, we rise from our watery grave ready to live a whole new life. This is the picture of baptism.
Finally, as we examine the jewel of baptism from yet another angle, we discover the power of baptism.
• THE POWER OF BAPTISM
As we’ve already seen, there is nothing inherent within the waters of baptism that can wash away sins or give us new life; rather, the true power of baptism comes from the Holy Spirit. Nowhere is this more vividly dramatized than in the baptism of Jesus.
In Matthew 3, Jesus is baptized by John. Rising up out of the river, Jesus was sopping wet with loose strands of hair plastered to his face. Then, all of a sudden, something miraculous happened. The Bible says, “Suddenly, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down as a dove to him. Then a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love—my Son with whom I am pleased’” (Matthew 3:16-17 GWT).
What an awe-inspiring sight this must have been. It isn’t that the Holy Spirit came down in the form or shape of a dove, but that he descended from the heavens in a visible form for all to see, like a dove would descend from the sky. The Bible says that the Spirit came “to rest on him” and “remained on him,” expressing both God’s love and power.
Believe it or not, every follower of Jesus today receives that same love and power—we each are given the same Spirit of God. Again, Peter says, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.” (Acts 2:38-39 NLT)
Although we don’t visibly see the Holy Spirit descending upon us when we are baptized, the visible act of water baptism demonstrates an invisible reality—namely, the baptism or washing of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. As John the Baptist pointed out, “I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:8 ESV). Later, Paul tells us, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body” (1 Corinthians 12:13 ESV). You see, water—no matter how much soap you might add—will never be able to wash clean the scarlet-stained souls of sinful people. The only detergent with that kind of cleaning power is the blood of Jesus applied by the Holy Spirit. Thus, the true power of baptism isn’t in the water, but in God’s Holy Spirit working within our hearts.
There is a strong connection between the water and the Spirit. Jesus repeatedly refers to the Holy Spirit as living water—and for good reason. The Holy Spirit—the living water that Jesus offers—does for our souls what H2O does for our bodies. Like cool water on dry cracked lips, the gift of God’s Spirit refreshes, revitalizes, and renews dry and thirsty hearts!
Conclusion:
So how does baptism unite believers? Well, in many ways baptism is a rite of passage—an essential threshold that all believers must cross. All throughout the book of Acts, anytime a person comes to faith in Jesus, they were immediately baptized—in the river, along the side of the road, even at midnight. There were no unbaptized believers in the book of Acts.
Anytime someone is baptized, they are immediately added to the local fellowship and the church on a whole. They become part of the family. Every new baptism is a moment of celebration in heaven and on earth. Whenever someone is baptized, hardy handshakes, happy hugs and heavenly harmony fills the church.
So how about you? Last week, we talked about faith—specifically, how genuine faith always leads to action. Baptism is the first act of faith for the believer. Have you put your faith into action? Baptism is pretty amazing. It’s a willing plunge into the purpose, picture and power of Jesus Christ.
Invitation:
Next Sunday, we’ll conclude our study of the seven “ones” that bind us all together. In the meantime, if you haven’t been baptized or maybe you were baptized as infant, let me urge you to allow the waters of baptism to become a demonstration of your personal faith. Experience the purpose of baptism, participate in the picture of baptism and receive the power of baptism. If you’re ready to take the plunge, please talk with me before you leave today. You can pull me aside after church, or better yet, come forward while we stand and sing.
Let’s sing church.
