Introduction:
- Is it really important?
- Does it really matter?
- Why do Christian denominations disagree about what it is and how it should be done?
- If it doesn’t affect my salvation, is it really a big deal?
- Can it happen more than once?
- Who can perform it?
- Who can receive it?
- What if it doesn’t happen before someone dies?
- When should a child get it?
No, I am not referring to a tattoo, or to marriage. These are just a few of the many questions I regularly receive regarding the ordinance or sacrament of baptism.
Some of these questions come because we live in an age of individualism, where personal freedom to choose is our highest value. In this kind of culture, baptism matters only if it matters to the one being baptized.
Sometimes, questions about baptism arise because we live in a post-denominational age. The distinctions between Christian denominations is often seen as unfortunate or irrelevant, a distraction to the unity of the church.
Here at Lake Wylie Baptist, we have visitors from a variety of spiritual backgrounds. Some of you come from high church Catholicism in which baptism, according to the church, is necessary for salvation. Other come from a secular background and the very idea of a religious ritual of immersing someone in water doesn’t just seem odd, it even sounds like cultic behavior. Most of you grew up in mainline protestant churches. You know that baptism doesn’t save you, yet its important. Even still, you may wonder why Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists differ in who and how they baptize.
So, let’s engage in a thought experiment for a moment. Imagine you are in a swimming pool and a friend sneaks up behind you, grabs you by the shoulders, pulls you under, and says, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”
Have you then been baptized? Why or why not? What’s the difference between being baptized and merely getting dunked?
Raise the Need, State the Destination, Give Signposts:
Well, I can’t hope to answer every question about baptism in a single sermon, put my goal today is to address the essentials. What is baptism? Who should do the baptizing? And who should be baptized?
And I pray there’s something in this sermon for everyone in the room, whether you were baptized decades ago, are considering baptism now, or object to the ritual altogether.
If you’ve been baptized, you now bear a spiritual responsibility to others who have been baptized; to watch over them, pray for them, and serve them.
If you’ve put your faith in Jesus Christ, but you have not yet followed Christ in baptism, my goal today is to warmly welcome and encourage you to take that first step of obedience and be baptized.
If you’ve not put your faith in Christ, well I pray that even today you would hear the gospel, that the holy and righteous God who will judge all hearts and actions has sent his only Son to pay for your sins in his death on the cross, and he now invites you to trust in his Son for the forgiveness of your sins.
Baptism is important; not merely because we have the word “Baptist” in our name. It’s important because the risen Christ commands the church top baptize. And he commands Christians to be baptized. It’s not optional for us. But just because it’s a command doesn’t make it a burden. In fact, as you will see today, baptism conveys with it tremendous blessings that you ought to want in your life.
So here is our outline for this morning:
Baptism Is:
- A Symbolic Depiction
- A Church’s Public Act of Affirmation
- An Individual’s Public Act of Commitment
- Baptism is a Symbolic Depiction
What does baptism symbolize? It symbolizes a person’s union with Christ. It’s a visible sign of a spiritual reality.
Baptism does not unite us to Christ. It is a picture of our union with Christ. In the same way that my wedding ring is not the thing which creates my marriage with Chelsea. It’s a visible symbol of the marriage.
Hear the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 6:3
3 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.
Think about the act of baptism. A person who has professed their faith in Christ steps down into a pool of water. They are pushed under the surface. What does that symbolize? Jesus Christ physically died as a payment for sin and was buried, and through faith I am unified with him. Such that, just as surely as my body goes under the water… my old life of sin was buried with Jesus Christ.
What happens next? The person who has been buried under the water is raised back up. What does that symbolize? Jesus Christ did not stay in the tomb but was raised bodily! And I am unified with him in that resurrection. I have a new life now… it is not my own life, it is the very life of Christ.
Paul told the Galatians:
27 For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. (Gal. 3:27)
And to the Colossians:
having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. (Col. 2:12-14)
Clothed with Christ. Buried in his death. Raised to walk in newness of life. Made alive. Trespasses forgiven. Debt cancelled. Baptism is a picture of total, complete, and vital unity with Jesus Christ.
It is not the cleansing itself. The water in the baptismal pool is just regular old water. It comes from the spigot on the side of this building. No one prays over it. It’s not holy water.
It is a symbolic depiction of the inner cleansing of our heart and conscience before God that comes through the shed blood of Jesus Christ in the place of sinners on the cross.
In a sense, every baptism is a divinely ordained drama. When someone is lowered under the water, we are seeing God’s wrath against sin poured out on Christ. And when they are raised out of the water we are seeing the power of the resurrection.
Their old self, which hated God, ran from God, and disobeyed God died with Christ and a new person, a new creature is raised up out of the grave.
- Baptism is a Church’s Act of Public Affirmation
Today, people think of baptism as a personal act first and foremost. You might choose to be baptized just as you might choose to buy a shirt or get a haircut. And it doesn’t matter so much who is doing the baptizing just as it doesn’t matter who is selling you the shirt or cutting your hair.
And of course, its partially true that baptism involves an individual decision. But there’s more to the picture. The New Testament teaches that baptism is not merely an individual act; it’s also a church act.
If you go back to Matthew 16, Jesus is teaching about the confession that the church holds: that Jesus Christ is the Christ. In other words, the foundation of the church is the true confession about Jesus.
Then, Jesus says that the true church, has been given an authority which he calls the keys of the kingdom. Listen to Matthew 16:19
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
The church as been given the authority and responsibility to hear a person’s confession of faith and make a public affirmation on behalf of Christ.
The heavenly authority to open and close the kingdom to individuals is given, not to a single pastor, nor to an individual Christian… but to the church.
What does that mean? It means that when a church baptizes someone they are exercising heavenly authority and declaring to the world, “We have heard this individual’s confession of faith. We believe it to be credible. And we are publicly affirming their union with Christ.”
This is why we always read the conversion testimony of those being baptized to you, the church.
Church, understand that God has given us authority to speak on his behalf to the watching world. Our baptisms are public declarations affirming the validity a person’s faith in Christ.
In other words, the local church is like an embassy, or an outpost of the kingdom of Christ. When you’re travelling in another country and realize you’ve lost your passport, where do you go? You know you’re a citizen of the United States… but your word alone isn’t good enough. Who can verify your citizenship? The local embassy.
When we baptize someone, they are publicly declaring their faith in Christ, and we collectively, as the embassy of the kingdom are putting our stamp and seal of affirmation on their individual profession.
And this isn’t optional for us. This isn’t an elective ritual. We are commanded to baptized by the risen Christ himself who in Matthew 28:18 said…
“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,
You see church, preaching the gospel and baptizing disciples isn’t a suggestion. It’s the very charter and contract of our existence.
Lake Wylie Baptist Church can have small groups or not. We can have a children’s ministry or not. We can have VBS or not.
But a church that doesn’t preach Christ is no church. And a church that does not warmly encourage and exhort Christians to baptism is no church.
Members of Lake Wylie Baptist: when our church baptizes someone, they become our responsibility. Not just my responsibility, but ours. King Jesus has commissioned us to oversee and walk with those we baptize.
We are to get to know them, pray for them, have them pray for us, minister to their needs. This spiritual labor is a duty, yes, but it is also a privilege and a blessing because they will do the same with us. By adding to our number through the waters of baptism, Christ strengthens his church. He blesses his church with more eyes to see needs, more hands to serve, more hearts and lips to pray.
Who do you know here? I realize you cannot know everyone equally well. But are there a few fellow members who, if you were asked, you could say how you’ve prayed for them this week?
One of the best things you could do as a member here is ask Nelly for a copy of our membership list, and every day pray through 2-3 names, asking God to confirm them in the faith, to supply their needs, and to use you to minister to them.
Who knows what kind of blessings God will pour out as we all commit to a richer and deeper love to one another.
Baptism is a symbolic depiction, a church’s public act of affirmation… finally…
- Baptism is an Individual Act of Public Commitment
Finally, at the end of the sermon, let’s talk about the person being baptized: the individual. What is a person doing when they choose to be baptized?
They are personally and publicly committing themselves to both Christ and his church.
In Acts 2, were told about one of the first sermons ever preached in the history of the church. Peter is preaching the gospel that God saves sinners through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Listen to how the audience responded to Peter’s sermon:
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Those who repented of their sin and trusted in Jesus Christ were baptized. In other words, baptism is the very first public act of obedience to Jesus.
If you are a Christian, Jesus commands you to be baptized. Baptism is how you publicly confess to the world that you belong to Christ, you identify with Christ, you are unified with Christ. Your old self has died, and you have been raised with Christ.
A question you might have at this point is, “But, why should I prioritize baptism? Isn’t it enough to believe?”
I want to be clear: baptism justifies no one before God. Only the shed blood of Jesus Christ, taken hold of by faith makes you right before God.
Yet, Jesus Christ himself prioritized an unashamed, courageous, public confession of faith in Matthew 10:32:
So, everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. (Matt. 10:32-33)
Friend, if you are a Christian who has not yet been baptized, I want to welcome you to talk to me. If you have questions about baptism, ask away. If you would like to be baptized but wonder about church membership, ask away.
We’re not going to fill the pool and give a high-pressure sales pitch just so we can dunk you. Our church is here to help you follow Christ. And that begins with a conversation.
Young people in the room… kids… if you have put your faith in Christ and are desiring baptism… but it hasn’t happened yet… know that we are excited for your faith in Jesus, and we are watching your life to see you display the true fruits of faith and repentance.
Parents… if your child is asking to be baptized… or if you just had a baby and wonder what age you should start talking about baptism, a few thoughts:
- First, even a young child can have true saving faith in Christ.
- Second, in young children it’s often difficult to discern the difference between love and reverence for God and love and reverence for parents.
- Therefore, though this isn’t a hard and fast rule, it’s best to consider baptizing children sometime around their adolescent years.
Parents, if you have questions about the baptism of children, we have a wonderful free resource for you in the book stall. It’s this little book called “Forbid them Not.”
A moment ago I said that Baptism is an individual’s act of public commitment to Christ. It’s also a commitment to Christ’s church.
Think back to Peter’s sermon in Acts 2. The people respond to the sermon in faith followed by baptism. But that’s not all:
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
To whom were the 3,000 added? They were added to the local church in Jerusalem. They stepped out of the world and into the church. And so it should be with us.
In baptism, you aren’t just publicly committing to Christ… you are joining the company of his people.
The gospel doesn’t just reconcile man to God, it reconciles us to one another; to those who have also been united with Christ.
So, in a baptism, the church is saying to the world, “Upon the authority given to us by Christ, we hear your confession of faith and affirm that you are truly a Christian.”
Likewise, the one who is receiving baptism is saying to the world, “I recognize this church as authoritative on behalf of Christ, and I’m submitting myself to these Christians.”
So, who should be baptized?
Do you consider yourself a Christian? If not, I’m glad you’re hearing this sermon, but baptism shouldn’t be your first priority. Friend, your first priority is turning to Jesus Christ, trusting him to forgive your sins.
If you are a Christian, but have never been baptized, why not?
Earlier I said there would be no high-pressure sale pitch. But I do want to leave you with a few things to consider:
First, Jesus Christ commands every Christian to be baptized. No exceptions. No special cases. True disciples of Jesus Christ obey his voice. If you claim to be his disciple and you have not been baptized, you need to be.
Second, baptism is a wonderful sign Jesus places upon his disciples through his church. Every Christian in this room will struggle with assurance that God is pleased with them at some point or another in their life. And baptism ought to be a visible reminder of God’s redeeming love. When you’re in a season of doubt, you can think back to when you were symbolically buried with Christ, and his church publicly affirmed your faith. This means baptism is a duty, but it should also be a delight.
So, let’s return to our thought experiment at the beginning. If your friend dunks you into a chlorinated 78 degree pool has he baptized you?
No, he hasn’t. And you probably already knew that. But hopefully, you now understand why.
It’s because baptism is a church’s act of affirming and portraying a believer’s union with Christ. And it’s a believer’s act of publicly committing to Christ and his people.
In baptism, we are making the gospel visible. Christ was crucified for sinners, buried, and raised.