Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV)
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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Since, in two weeks, we are meeting together for a baptism service, I thought we should talk about baptism. I have found that this is a fairly controversial topic – there are different views of what baptism is, why we do it, it’s importance, etc. Fundamentally there are two different understandings or beliefs around physical baptism. At this level the differences are very important. Some believe there is salvific merit in the act of baptism – the act of baptism results in salvation or the forgiveness of sins. To be clear, this view would say that my salvation is or can be contingent on physical baptism.

While there are variations to the second view, it would say, hopefully, that salvation is because of the kindness of God alone through faith alone in the merit of Christ alone and the act of physical baptism is not saving.

So, while at this level these differences are VERY important, my intention is not to present all the differing views here. In the limited time I have I would like to explain the view we hold to here at Community Bible Church.

First, the foundation is that salvation is by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, in Jesus alone.

John 3:16-18 (ESV)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

John 3:36 (ESV)
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

John 5:24 (ESV)
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

John 11:25-26 (ESV)
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die…”

John 20:31 (ESV)
^…but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Acts 10:43 (ESV)
To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Acts 13:38-39 (ESV)
Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

Acts 26:18 (ESV)
[Jesus saved Paul in order to open the eyes of the Jews and the Gentiles], so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Galatians 2:16 (ESV)
…yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Galatians 3:8-9 (ESV)
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV)
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Jesus, the perfect One, came to earth that we might kill him. And in his death he would absorb God’s judgment for all those he would save – he dies so we can live.

So, how do I connect with what Jesus has done so that I can live and not die? Through Faith. I here the gospel and God opens my heart to my desperate need and the solution – and I believe. I repent and trust in Jesus as my only hope. I turn from believing in self to believing in Jesus and his death. I believe, I trust, I know Jesus as my greatest value – my champion. Faith is embracing Jesus as the living Christ who died for me – faith alone in Christ alone. In this I am born again – that is spiritual baptism – through God-granted faith I am connected with the death of Jesus. That connection or identification with Jesus is spiritual baptism.

So then, what is physical baptism and how important is it?

Physical baptism is the specific, primary, Jesus-commanded way that ALL Christians are to publicly tell the world that they have been spiritually baptized into Jesus – they are now his. Physical baptism is the one way all Christians over the last 2,000 years have publicly demonstrated the reality of their spiritual baptism. Just as when we, through faith, embrace Jesus, his work becomes ours and we are spiritually baptized, physical baptism publicly demonstrates and images this. In Jesus’ death we die to power of sin (we are immersed under the water) and in Jesus’ resurrection we too live forever (we are lifted out of the water).

Romans 6:3-4 (ESV)
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 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.

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How important is baptism? Why should I be baptized?

Since physical baptism does not save, many discount its importance. It is VERY important for at least three reasons.

First – Its commanded – Just as all Believers are to participate together in taking the Lord’s supper together, remembering Jesus’ death for us until he comes again – all Believers are to be baptized.

Matthew 28:19 (ESV)
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…

Second – It is, in a sense, a fruit of your salvation. The Bible says that if your salvation isn’t strong enough to produce public loyalty to Jesus, you’re probably not saved. Baptism gives us the opportunity to publicly confess the One who died for us.

Matthew 10:32-33 (ESV)
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.

Romans 10:9-10 (ESV)
…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Baptism is what immediately followed salvation in the NT.

Acts 2:41 (ESV) – Peter to the Jews in Jerusalem
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Acts 8:12 (ESV)
But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

Acts 10:47-48 (ESV) – Peter to Gentiles who believe in Jesus
Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ…

Third – It is a means of grace. Since baptism, if done correctly, is a declaration of the gospel, baptism is an instrument through which God can save others. Baptism gives new Christians the a forum for evangelism.

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There are 2 or 3 verses in the Bible that seem to say that faith in Jesus is not enough – that baptism is necessary for salvation. So to be clear, I’d like to say that there is a sense in which baptism is vital. If you are saved, if you claim Jesus as your savior and you refuse to publicly identify with him in baptism – you may not be saved. So baptism is VERY important. But does baptism save?

Acts 2:38 (ESV)
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Analogy of Scripture – Interpretive principle that states that no passage of Scripture, when correctly interpreted, will teach something contradictory to the rest of Scripture. So, the weight of Scripture, as a whole, is very important whenever we attempt to find meaning in a specific verse.

The weight of Scripture is clear that salvation comes through faith alone in Christ alone, and to trust something we do for salvation actually defines what it means NOT to be saved.

Galatians 3:7-10a (ESV)
Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. For all who rely on works of the law (things we do to earn salvation) are under a curse..

So what does this verse mean? While physical baptism and spiritual baptism are not the same, we tend to put too much distance between them. Based on the examples we see in the N.T., new believers seemed to be baptized immediately after coming to faith in Jesus – there was little separation between spiritual rebirth and the need to publicly identify with Jesus. We seem to have lost the urgency to publicly identify with Jesus – they had it. In Acts 2:38 I think we see Luke showing us this as he has virtually combined the spiritual baptism and physical baptism into one statement. Something like this, “Repent and identify with Jesus – spiritually for the forgiveness of your sins and physically so that others can see.”

If you are trusting in Jesus and his work alone as the only way you can stand before a righteous God, you need to publicly declare this and publicly identify with your champion – the One who died so that you can live.