“The Value of Baptism.”
Baptism: The need for Immersion by Water
Matthew 3:6-17
Introduction:
Have you ever known a manager that had a hard time relating to his employees. Maybe he had an office some distance away from where the “real work” went on. How does a manager communicate his dreams and visions for a company when he seems so far removed from the work place. More importantly how do you know what that manager expects of you?
Even for our own children it is sometimes hard to communicate our expectations, because often they interpret what we say in such a way as to fit what they want to hear.
People sometimes see God as a distant manager; of course we know that He is not distant, but very close, even but a heart beat away from us. Yet we often feel His is far away because we cannot see, feel, or touch the physical Christ in a worldly sense. Even if Jesus was to stand physically in our midst, many of us would not change our ways, just as those in Christ day did not heed His words. You see many of us fail to follow the standards of God, instead creating our own standards and rules for life. We rationalize these standards as being what we think God had intended and ignore His Words instead, inserting our own ideas of how things should be done.
Today I want to share with you the value of baptism, not as something to be rationalized away, but an example of the obedience of faith as lived out by Jesus Christ.
First before we got to our text today let us look at this mystical word “baptism.” What does “baptism” mean in plain English.
I. Transliteration or Translation
A. Baptiso Transliterated
-The word Baptism was adopted into the English language from the Greek Language
-The word Baptism is what is called a transliterated word, let me give you an example.
-Yo hoblo poquano espanol.
-For those of you who do not speak Spanish, I simply said; “I speak a little Spanish.”
-or I could say to you; I hablo a little Spanish; hablo being the transliterated word.
-I agape you. Again the transliterated word being agape.
-In that example of the word agape, the word has no equivelant word in the English language.
-The word love does not effectively capture the meaning of agape; yet we do not find agape transliterated.
B. Baptiso Tranlated
-Baptism or Baptiso in the Greek easily translates in the English to immerse, plunge, or dip.
-Let look at a few occurances where Baptiso is translated correctly in scripture.
1. Lazarus and the Richman
“Father Abraham have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip (baptiso) the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.” (Luke 16:24)
2. Namman
“And so he went down and dipped (tabal/baptiso) in the Jordan seven times as the man of God had told him and his flesh was restored and he became clean like that of a young boy.” (2 Kings 5:14)
-tabal in the Hebrew translates to immerse, plunge, or dip
-The Greek translation, the Septuagint, renders the Hebrew word tabal as baptiso
-in fact the Hebrew translation of the New Testament uses tabal where ever the word
baptizo is found.
-the transiliteration of baptiso has no true meaning in our English language and takes on
whatever meaning we associate with it or have learned to apply to it.
-the truth is the Greek has words like kheto to pour and rantzo to sprinkle; yet they are not used in referance to baptism.
-the reason baptism is not properly translated is to accommodate the various modes and human concepts of what baptism means, not what God meant it to be.
-What does baptism mean to you?
II. The Meaning of Baptism
-For each person the transliteration of the word baptiso takes on a different meaning depending on the influence of the church you were discipled in.
A. Ceremonial Meaning
-As a Methodist for me baptiso meant a religious ceremony denoting a life change, whether it be the dedication of an infant or the confirmation of an individual into the Christian life. It involved sprinkling of holy water and the marking of the cross on the forehead with that of water. When ever I read the scriptural accounts in the Bible of Baptism this is the ceremony I envisioned taking place. I knew no other baptism.
B. Faith Only (Spiritual Meaning)
-In response to the ceremonial meaning of baptism a movement was formed that did away with the need for baptism all together or at least made baptism unimportant in the role of salvation. This is the faith only movement.
-Baptism is treated as symbolic of a spiritual transformation and therefore unnecessary.
-Faith only focus on the grace of God, to exclude all acts of man.
-The intent of faith only is noble, but what often results is watered down Christianity without the need for accountablity.
1. Faith only, teaches freedom from Christ
-In seeking freedom in Christ; they find freedom from Christ which leads to death.
-Faith only is dangerously close to what the Gnostics were teaching that Paul warned about; the idea that if you were spiritual that it didn’t matter what you did in the flesh.
-Fleshly action was unimportant to the Gnostic; but that is not what the Bible teaches.
-Our words and actions must match if we are to call ourselves Christians.
-Freedom in Christ should lead us to obedience rather then rebellion.
“Shall we go on sinning that grace might increase, by no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:1)
-Christ did not come to remove acts of righteousness or the laws which governed them, but to fulfill them; in that we in our sinful condition fail to keep God’s commands, yet with Christ our short comings are washed away.
*As a novice brick layer, in the Dominican Republic, I followed the foundation laid by the Master brick layer to insure that my walls were straight. Even then the Master brick layer had to go behind me and check or repair some of my work. In the end we built a church that had strong straight walls in which to worship.
“[Jesus says] do not thing that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot (smallest letter in the Hebrew; yot) or one tittle (vowel point in the Hebrew) will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. “Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:17-19)
-Faith only; neglects the clear commands of scripture to be immersed and often take scripture out of context to justify the very acts of faith which define our Christianity.
-Faith should lead us to obey of God’s Word; our trust in Christ should lead us to follow his example.
“[Paul says,] Through Him [Jesus Christ] we [the apostles] have received grace and apostleship for obediance to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;” (Rom 1:5,6)
-thus we like the apostles are called to demonstrate our faith through our obediance to Christ who is calling us to be different from the world.
2. Faith requires action to be genuine
-Faith is an action word
-James says faith without action or deeds is worthless
-If you trust Christ then He must not only be your Savior, but your Lord as well.
C. Immersion Only (Physical Meaning)
-one of the founding goals of the Restoration Movement was to restore scriptural baptism.
-to remove the ritualistic ideas that became associated with the word “baptism” and simply translate the word “immersion”
-the orginal intent was not to turn people away from God or condemn those Christians who had not been immersed. The point was not legalism, but following God’s Word.
Alexander Campbell wrote this in the Lunenburg Letter:
“There is no occasion, then for making immmersion, on a profession of the faith, absolutely essential to a Christian – though it may be greatly essential to his sanctification and comfort. My right hand and my right eye are greatly essential to my usefullness and happiness, but not to my life; and as I could not be a perfect Christian without a right understanding and cordial reception of immersion in its true and scriptural meaning and design. But he that would infer that none are Christians but the immersed, greatly errs as one who would affirm that none are alive but those of clear and full vision.”
-Many in our movement today have gone to the extreme of making immersion the only precept for salvation, and leave out the need for faith, repentance, or Christ.
-But just as faith only is wrong, so is immersion only.
III. The Value of Baptism
-Let us now look at one of the most important instances of baptism in scripture, that of Jesus Himself, for Jesus illustrated how we are to live our lives and set the standard for Christianity.
-In Christ we see the manager stepping on to the work floor to teach us in word and example how to be a Christian.
(Read Matthew 3:6-12)
A. Baptism is an escape from damnation.
-The first thing Christian Baptism does for us is help us escape from the fires of Hell.
-Jesus brought both salvation and condemnation upon mankind, because at the cross we must make a decision, we must choose to make Jesus both Savior and Lord or choose our own path which leads to Hell. (Mt 3:11b)
-There is no middle ground, there is no half way point, there is no part time Christians, it is either all or nothing.
“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)
1. Salvation
-the one distinction of Christian Baptism is the receiving of the Holy Spirit in conjunction with the action of immersion.
a. John’s Baptism
-was for repentance of sins committed
-it was based on ritual cleansing by being immersed in water
-it resulted in the forgiveness of past sins (Mk 1:4; Lk 3:3)
b. The Baptism commanded by Christ or Christian Baptism
-applied the immersion mode of John the Baptiser
-but added the indwelling or reception of the Holy Spirit
-it results in the forgiveness of not only past sins, but those future sins that we may commit
-although the sequence of being immersed then receiving the Holy Spirit change in a couple scriptural examples, both are events occur together.
2. Condemnation (Mt 3:7, 11,12)
-the Pharisees and Saducees sought to escape this fire
-the “fire” spoken of is not passion for God nor the refining fire of God, but Hell fire, judgement upon mankind.
-the fire is the judgement and those without Christ are the chaff that will burn in unquenchable fire in Hell.
*Today our modern combines smash and shake the beans or corn from the chaff. In Biblical times one had to toss the crushed grain in the air with a pitchfork or winnowing fork. The chaff being lighter would be blow into a pile by the wind, with the grain falling back to the ground in a separate pile. Jesus is the sifter, he is the one who will sort the wicked from the righteous.
-Christ is the one we see breaking the seals on the scroll in the book of Revelation to usher in judgement upon the earth.
B. Baptism is a response to a changed heart
-the Pharisees and Sadducees wanted the appearance of righteousness without the commitment to righteousness.
-John the Baptist said they should produce fruit; there actions spoke for their faith.
-we are called to be imitators of Christ; to walk in His example.
“There for be imitators of God dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” (Eph 5:1-2)
“Now by this we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1 Jn 2:3-6)
C. Baptism is a confirmation of sonship.
1. Obedience
(Read Matthew 4:13-15)
-Jesus was setting the standard for us to follow; for John the Baptist testified to the fact that Jesus had no need for a baptism repentance. Jesus was without sin.
-If any of us have the right to argue that they don’t need to be Baptised, to be immersed, then Jesus had every right in the world to argue that point.
-But what did he say? “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”
-Jesus was setting the example, He was making a public statement of his unity with God.
-When we get baptised we are making a public confession, a commitment to a relationship with Jesus.
a. Jesus speaks to Nicodemus (How must a man be born when he is old?)
“Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (Jn 3:5)
b. Jesus speaks to His disciples
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Mt 28:19)
2. The Seal of Sonship
(Read Matthew 4:16,17 & John 1:32-34)
-The Spirit came down upon Jesus and remained on Him
-In the book of Revelation it is the Spirit of God that seals us from God’s wrath upon mankind.
-The Holy Spirit is a down payment of the inheritance that God has given his people as adopted sons and daughters of our Lord’s everlasting kingdom.
-Baptism is were we receive the seal of sonship; just as God the Father confirmed the son as he rose from the waters of the River Jordan, we too, who rise from the watery grave of baptism are confirmed as children of God, sealed by the Holy Spirit.
I struggled with the issues of baptism coming out of the Methodist Church.
-I searched the scriptures and the many commands to be baptized.
-I studied the word baptiso and could only conclude that it meant immersion.
-I read the 10 accounts in Acts by which people were immersed.
But it came down to one thing. I had been living my life as a Christian and I did not want people to think I was anything other then a Christian.
-I didn’t want to follow some church doctrine or legalistic ritual laid down by men.
-It bothered me to think I was not saved, that what I had been taught was wrong.
I was so concerned with what other people thought of me rather then obeying God’s Word.
“Repent and be baptized [immersed], everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)
“Not [by] the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. [Baptism] saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet. 3:21)
I surrendered myself to God and was immersed as His word commanded. Revelation 2:10 says;
“…be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
How far will you go for God? What is the value of baptism to you?
