BAPTISM 

 

WHY ARE WE BAPTIZED?
DEAD, BURIED AND RISEN WITH CHRIST

When we believe in Christ, we are forgiven our sins through His blood.  We die with Christ through repentance, are buried with Him in Baptism and resurrected with Him in Newness of Life.

  1. DEAD WITH CHRIST
    Col 2:     20Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 

  2. BURIED WITH CHRIST

    Colossians 2: 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,  10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.  11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,  12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.  

  3. RISEN WITH CHRIST.
    We live life THROUGH Christ.
    Col 3:     1If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

 We are Crucified WITH Him, Buried WITH Him, and Resurrected WITH Him in NEW LIFE.

WHY DO WE NEED TO BE BAPTIZED?
We become clothed with Christ once we are baptized.
Gal 3: 26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Through death CHRIST defeats the Devil.
Heb 2:14/15 14Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 
 
The unsaved live in dread of death. Christians have already had their funeral – when we were buried with Him in Baptism.
Christians are born twice but die only once! Unbelievers are born once and die twice! 

BY going DOWN in the water – we are buried, when we come UP again, we are resurrected.  

Romans 6: 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  4Therefore 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. 
Baptized INTO Jesus Christ, baptized into His death, so that we may be resurrected in NEWNESS of Life.

ASPECTS OF SALVATION

  1. JUSTIFICATION – PAST – Jesus died on the cross and gave us His righteousness, thereby we become justified – we are crucified with Him and buried with Him and risen with Him.
  2. SANCTIFICATION – PRESENT – We are called to die daily by picking up our crosses and following Him. By living a life acceptable to the Lord, we become Sanctified.
  3. REDEMPTION – FUTURE – He who perseveres to the end shall be saved. (Matt 10:22)

 We are already living part of our eternal life by being resurrected with Him.

1 Cor 10:1/2 1Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

Exodus 13:21, 14:20  Is a perfect illustration of Baptism – Moses and the Exodus from Egypt.

 Eph 4:5  5One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
ONE Lord, ONE Faith, ONE Baptism

BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE
1 John 5:4 4For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. 5Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

-          By being born of God, we overcome the world, and that means we have the power to OVERCOME SIN - it doesn't mean that we become "King's kids" or claim the victory now, or have power to bind the devil! .

True repentance is the only thing that will save us.  (click here for an article on repentance)
Jesus came by Water and by blood and it is the Spirit who testifies.
John 5:   6This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that testifies, because the Spirit is truth. 7For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. 9If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.

There are 3 that bear record in Heaven – Father, Son and Spirit. There are 3 that bear witness on earth – Water, Blood and Spirit. We are not complete until all 3 aspects bear witness in our lives.

 The Foundation of Baptism is REPENTANCE. Once you believe, there are still 2 more aspects to complete. They may happen in ANY ORDER. 

John 20:22 21Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

Jesus breathed on them and they received the Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, Jesus told them to wait for the Spirit to come in, then the Spirit was outpoured.
When we are Born again – we are Baptized with Jesus unto repentance, but Scripture tells us to still be baptized – We must make it experientially true. Water Baptism is the SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE of what is an OBJECTIVE TRUTH.

SPIRIT BAPTISM

 Acts 2:38 38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Peter said: Repent AND be baptized and you will receive the Spirit.

Acts 8:36And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what stops me from being baptized? 37And Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (Interestingly, this important verse 37 is left out of the NIV Bible!)

Peter and John were baptizing in the name of the Lord Jesus. 

Acts 10:44 Were Spirit baptized before water baptized.

 These people were all BORN AGAIN, they:

  1.  BELIEVED, then

  2.  Received the Holy Spirit, then

  3.  were Water baptized. 

Acts 9:17 PAUL was baptized.

 INFANT BAPTISM
A fundamental concept of salvation is belief in Jesus and REPENTANCE. We cannot baptize someone who doesn’t believe, we cannot baptize someone who cannot possibly repent, we cannot baptize someone who doesn't understand.
Therefore, there is NO SCRIPTURAL BASIS for infant baptism – babies cannot believe and so cannot be baptized.
Baby dedication is accepted, where the parents take an oath before God to bring up their children in a Godly manner.

Matt 3:7 – MUST have repentance for Baptism. 8Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 11I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance:

Jesus said:

  1. “Suffer the little children to come unto me”.

  2. “Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”.

  3.  Blessed are those whose sins are not taken into account.”

 Mark 16:16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
He that believes AND IS BAPTIZED shall be saved. An unbaptized believer is incomplete and unconsummated.

Matt 3:13-15 JESUS WAS BAPTIZED. “It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness”.
We must follow Jesus’ example on the basis of Scripture – It is His will for all of us.

 BAPTIZE = Grk BAPTESO – cover wholly with a fluid; to fully wet.

1 Peter 3: 19By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 21and 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, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

Through the ARK, 8 people in all the world were saved. They were saved through water, which symbolizes the baptism that we are instructed to complete. It gives us the ability to face God with a clear conscience.