Baptism: First Belief then Obedience

Transcript

GRM 534
7/13/1997
Baptism: First Belief then Obedience
Selected Verses
Gil Rugh

Last Sunday we talked about the Great Commission in Matthew chapter 28, and you might turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 28 if you would. I want to follow up on our consideration of the Great Commission by talking about one aspect of that commission that we touched on, but I want to do it more in detail, and that is the issue of Baptism. Baptism is an issue that causes a lot of confusion in people’s thinking. There are a number of different views on the subject of Baptism, and I thought it might be profitable for us to look at what the Scripture says about Christian baptism in particular. We have a booklet called Baptism, Truth or Tradition and it has just been reprinted. And they did a super job with the new cover, it has got some great colors on the cover. Now the content is the same, so if you already have it, you have the basic booklet without the pretty cover. But if you haven’t read it let me encourage you to do so. It will be more broad than we are able to cover today, including issues like the baptism of John the Baptist, Jesus’ baptism, Holy Spirit baptism, passages that cause confusion that are sometimes misinterpreted often to teach that baptism is necessary for salvation. So that is available for more thorough consideration.

There are a number of views when we talk about baptism. Some people just basically believe that baptism brings salvation. They really believe that because they are baptized they will be saved. Some believe that in infant baptism original sin is cleansed and washed away. So your initial salvation occurs when you as an infant are baptized. For some groups this means that the baptism of infants is of greatest importance. Roman Catholicism would hold to this view for example, that infants must be baptized and very soon after birth, because that baptism brings its salvation, cleansing it from original sin. There are some who teach that baptism in and of itself does not save, but it is a necessary ingredient in our salvation. There are several things you must do to be saved and one of them is be baptized. Then there are those that would understand that baptism is not necessary for salvation, it is not part of our salvation, but it is important as an act of obedience.


Now the interesting thing is, for all three of these positions I have mentioned, (there may be other variations) people turn to the scriptures to support their ideas so it is important for us that we be sure that we handle the scripture accurately. You can prove just about anything you want from the Bible, but the Bible is clear in what it says, but you must handle it accurately. You must read it in its context, the immediate context, the overall context. There is one author of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and that author is God. He has not contradicted Himself, so we have the confidant assurance that what God said He intended to be understood.

We have to be careful about just running and grabbing a verse or a part of a verse, throwing it out as though that established a certain position. It causes people to say, well, you know you have your interpretation, and I have my interpretation. But we understand there is only one correct interpretation. So we have to read it, study it, and find out what it says.

Leave your marker in Matthew 28 and back up to Matthew chapter 15. Now in our normal study, we are studying the book of Colossians on Sunday morning, and we will be resuming that study shortly. We are coming into a section where tradition is a big issue. And this context we will soon be dealing with a verse where Paul talks about the matter of baptism. Well in Matthew chapter 15 Jesus deals with the subject of tradition and the danger of tradition. The religious leaders asked Jesus regarding His disciples, verse 2, “Why do your disciples break the traditions of the Elders?” The spiritual leaders of Israel, the Pharisees and the scribes raised this question. Jesus responded with a question by saying in verse 3, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” Something had happened in Israel. Tradition had become more important to the Jews than the Word of God itself. Jesus gives an example and then in verse 6 He says, “And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.” Tradition becomes more important that the word of God and they would rather hold onto their tradition than be faithful to God’s word. Quotes from Isaiah, chapter 29 verse 8 saying, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.” Tradition can be a terrible thing. Religious tradition can be a terrible thing. It can result in worship that is empty and worthless because it is a following of the teaching of men, not the truth of God. That is what Jesus has just said. For our purpose right now, we want to be careful that we don’t hold to a position on baptism because of our tradition. This is what our church believes, this is what our church practices. The question is, is it biblical? Is it true to the word of God?

Turn over to Matthew chapter 28 again. In the great commission Jesus gave a basic command for His disciples to make disciples. So those who were His followers were to go out and make other followers. “Make disciples of all the nations” is the basic command in verse 19, as we saw in our previous study. A disciple is one who has come to believe in Jesus Christ and so has become a follower, one who learns from Christ. They are to do this wherever they are going. “Go” is a participle. “Going, or having gone, make disciples.” Second participle, “baptizing them.” Third participle, “teaching them.” We want to focus on the “baptizing them.” It is part of the great commission that Christ gave to His disciples. He said go and make disciples. They are to be baptizing these who become followers of Jesus Christ.


This is the first reference to Christian baptism in the New Testament. It is not the first reference to baptism; John’s baptism has been a major part of the Gospels. Matthew chapter 3 talks about John’s baptism. Jesus was baptized, there is a reference to the baptism of suffering, a reference to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but this is the first reference to Christian baptism. John’s baptism was not Christian baptism. Jesus baptism was not Christian baptism. The baptism of the Holy Spirit had not yet occurred, and has not yet occurred as of Matthew chapter 28. Baptism of the Spirit will occur in Acts chapter 2. So we want to be careful. Some people as soon as they see the word baptism they think Christian baptism. But if we study the scripture we see that there are different kinds of baptism. There are different kinds of water baptism, as well as baptism that is not with water. That will help explain why, but when we look at Acts chapter 19 shortly, those who had been baptized by John the Baptist are re-baptized by the Apostle Paul. If John’s baptism was Christian baptism that would not be necessary, but it was not. So this is the first reference, Matthew chapter 28 verse 19, to Christian baptism in the New Testament. It is a command regarding what the disciples of Christ are to do that will be carried out in the book of Acts. What we are going to do is walk through the book of Acts and see how the followers of Christ carried out the command of the great commission. The first time Christian baptism occurs in the Bible is in Acts chapter 2.


Lets turn over to Acts chapter 2. The first reference to Christian baptism was the Great Commission, “Make disciples, baptizing them.” The first actual occurrence of Christian baptism occurs in Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost. Because here for the first time we will have Christians, those who are baptized by the Holy Spirit and thus placed into the body of Christ, the Church, which begins in Acts chapter 2. We won’t go into the details of Acts chapter 2, but Peter picks up and begins preaching a sermon with verse 14 of Acts 2. It is a sermon that explains the purposes of God in Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ fulfills the Old Testament prophecies of the one who would come and pay the penalty for sin by His death on the cross. That this was the predetermined plan of God that His Son be nailed to the cross by the hands of Godless men. That He be buried and that He be raised again so that He not see corruption in the grave. He quotes from David in verses 25 through 28 to substantiate this. “This Jesus the Savior has been exalted to the right hand of God in Heaven.” That occurred in Acts chapter 1. Verse 36, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” There is no pulling of the punches. Peter stands in the power of the Spirit to do what Christ commanded him to do, make disciples. And that means he must proclaim faithfully and accurately the truth concerning Christ. That involves the sinfulness of humanity as well as a recognition of the person and work of Jesus Christ. As a result of this sermon verse 37 tells us, His listeners are “pierced to the heart.” God has driven His truth into their very hearts and they are under conviction. They say, ?what shall we do? We are guilty.? Peter said to them, “repent and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” So verse 41, “so then those who had received His word were baptized. And that day there were added about 3,000 souls.” So the church begins on its first day as a church of about 3,000. And you note, Peter preaches, they respond and believe, repenting of their sin, they are baptized. It is the pattern. Jesus said, “Make disciples, baptizing and teaching.” Starts out, “preach the gospel,” they believe, and so become disciples. They are baptized and now we will see through the ministry of Acts there is an ongoing ministry of teaching them in fulfilment. It says more later why verse 38 is not saying baptism is an essential part of your salvation. Scripture makes clear that baptism is not in any way necessary for you to be saved. Again you just have to wait a moment, and in a little bit we will look at that clearly. What Peter is declaring here is they must repent and baptism is the public, visible evidence that you have believed in Jesus Christ as your Savior. Baptism declares that you are a follower of Christ, have been cleansed from your sin and now you are identified with Him. That is what baptism is. Peter calls these Jewish listeners, they are here for the feast of Pentecost at Jerusalem, to repent of their sins as they recognize that Jesus the Messiah whom they crucified is the Savior and you are to be baptized in identification with Him as a result of your faith. That happened. That will be the order, preach the gospel, people believe, they are baptized as we move through the book of Acts.

Look over in Acts chapter 8. In Acts chapter 8 remember of the great commission was make disciples of all the nations. In Acts chapter 2 the Jews are confronted with the gospel and believe. In Acts chapter 8 the Samaritans, mixed blood, Jews who back in their history had intermarried with Gentiles, developed their own worship system. There were no dealings between the Jews and the Samaritans. Well, Phillip carries the gospel to the Samaritans in Acts chapter 8. He preaches the message of Christ to the crowds at Samaria. Verse 12, “But when they believed Phillip, preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.” The order is the same as chapter 2 with Peter. Phillip preaches about Jesus Christ, people believed and they are baptized and the baptism is the public. A visible expression that I have believed in Christ, I have committed myself to be His disciple, a follower of His. It identifies me with Him.

Now you note in each of these occasions there is no explanation given of what baptism is. What does it mean? Because Christianity did not begin baptism. When Johns comes on the scene baptizing he is John the Baptizer. There was no explanation given, what does it mean to baptize. There is some evidence given that baptism was already practiced by the Jews. When a Gentile converted to Judaism, he was baptized symbolizing his washing from his defilement as a sinful Gentile in his identification now with the nation Israel. Also the Greek mystery religions when a person became a convert to one of the Greek mystery religions they were baptized again identifying themselves with that particular religious group. So baptism in its basic meaning of identification (cleansing and identification being two key concepts) was practiced before the Christians. Christianity just picked it up and continued that identifying these as the followers of Christ and those who are being cleansed by Him and now have an allegiance to Him as their teacher, their master.

Look over later in Acts chapter 8. Phillip confronts the Ethiopian Eunuch who has been in Jerusalem. He was evidently an Ethiopian who had converted to Judaism. He is reading his Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 53 where he was reading in verse 32. “He was led as a sheep to slaughter and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, He does not open His mouth. In humiliation His judgement was taken away. Who will relate His generation for His life is removed from the earth.” The eunuch said to Phillip, I don’t understand it, that great passage in Isaiah chapter 53 which was a prophecy of the suffering and death of Christ to take away the sin of the world. Phillip in verse 35 explains the scripture. Verse 35, “Phillip opened his mouth beginning from this scripture he preached Jesus to him.” Simple picture in the making of disciples is a clear explanation of the truth concerning Jesus Christ. This is important. We see how the great commission is carried out.


We have many people today and I listen to some sermons and invitations are given at the end and I am not sure what people are responding to. A sermon is preached where the gospel is never made clear, where people are not confronted with the reality of their sinful condition, that they are lost without hope and under God’s condemnation, that Jesus Christ is the only Savior and only by repenting, turning from your sin and believing in Christ can you be saved. That never comes up in the sermon but at the end of the sermon. They give an invitation for you to come to the front. I say what are those people coming down there for? Joining the church, they have had a hard week? We need to be careful. It is essential in the making of disciples that the truth of God’s word be clear.

What happens? Phillip presents the truth concerning Christ. The Ethiopian eunuch asks the question in verse 36 the end of the verse, “What prevents me from being baptized?” Evidently in the explanation here concerning Christ it was common. I want to be a follower of Christ. I want to be identified as such. Verse 37 says, “Phillip said “if you believe with all you heart, you may.” And he answered and said “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”” The end of verse 38, Phillip baptized him. There is some discussion about verse 37. It is not in some of the older manuscripts. Some of your Bibles will have it in brackets with a note. The earliest manuscript that contains it is in the sixth century. But it is quoted several hundred years earlier by Irenaeus, a portion of that verse. The truth is a scriptural truth but I would not use that verse to prove anything regarding baptism of the order because there is a question about it. But the truth is true. The order is the same. The Ethiopian eunuch is confronted with the gospel. The evidence is he believes it. He is ready to be baptized. You say well why would Phillip baptize the Ethiopian Eunuch out here in a region outside Jerusalem. Who is going to see? Who is going to know? So we can be sure that this man who was an official in the court of Candice, Queen of the Ethiopians was not traveling by himself. So his baptism was a public declaration with his entourage and with those with whom he had to live and work, that he had become a follower of Jesus Christ.

Look over in chapter 9 of Acts verse 17, the apostle Paul’s experience. He is confronted on the Damascus road by Jesus Christ. He is struck blind. Saul, as he was known at this time, already knew the message concerning Christ. He was going about persecuting the church and those who claimed to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, who claimed to believe that Jesus by His death and resurrection provided salvation. So Paul knew the facts of the gospel already. But Ananias comes to him and says that he been sent by Christ. Paul regains his sight and in the end of verse 18, he got up and was baptized. You see the sequence in each of these, confronted with Christ, believe, they are baptized. You don’t find here well think about it. You don’t find anybody saying let me think about it. I want to make sure there is no misunderstanding in my family. I don’t want to cause unnecessary turmoil or hard feelings. I want to be sure that everything is understood. The issue is do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world? Will you repent of your sins and trust Him? Then the next step, publicly declare that faith in identification with Him. Then you are taught. We have turned it around. We say people ought to hear the gospel, believe, be well taught and then sometime get baptized if they so feel like it. The order is clear in the Scriptures.


Jump over to Acts chapter 10, verse 47. Peter has gone to the house of Cornelius, A Gentile to preach the gospel. And this is the first time the gospel will be preached to Gentiles. Acts chapter 2, Jews, Acts chapter 8, Samaritans who were a mixture of Jew and Gentile. Acts chapter 10 the Gentiles. Peter stands and preaches concerning Jesus Christ. You can again read Peter’s sermons here, we don’t have time. Peter presents the truth concerning Christ. Verse 43, he’s concluding “of him, all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins,” and the Holy Spirit falls upon them. They manifest that they have been baptized by the Holy Spirit. Then Peter says in verse 47, “surely no one can refuse the water for these to baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did.” And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Several things, I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, I just want to draw your attention to the fact, the reason Peter says these Gentiles qualify for baptism is they have received the Holy Spirit. That would mean that they have been baptized by the Holy Spirit, identified with Christ and placed into the body of Christ. So they qualify to be baptized. And you’re saying baptism is necessary for salvation? Here you have people that already got the Holy Spirit, have already been placed into the body of Christ. Baptism doesn’t make them more saved, but it is an essential identification with Him before all men. So they are baptized.

Acts chapter 16, the Philippian jailer. Paul and Silas had carried on the ministry at Philippi preaching the gospel. As a result of the work of the power of God they are thrown in prison after being beaten. They are chained in the inner prison. At midnight they are singing hymns of praise to God. Their physical suffering is irrelevant to them. Their physical pain is not a very important issue to them. What is on their minds is the greatness of their God and the privilege they have to represent Him. An earthquake comes and they are set free. The Philippian jailer comes out and expects that the prisoners will have run away, but they haven’t. And he is aware that the power of God is at work. So he falls down before Paul and Silas in verse 30 and says, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved, and your household.” Incidentally I don’t think that what they say here we guarantee that what they say here, you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and the result will be the salvation of all your household. What he is saying is this promise of salvation is not only just for you, but it is for your whole household as well. You and everybody in your family can be saved if you will believe in Jesus Christ. Sometimes I think people misuse this verse. Oh I believed in Christ and I am a parent, therefore that guarantees my children will be saved. We call it household salvation. That is not what this verse is saying. That would be contrary to the rest of scripture. What this verse is saying is that anyone in a household can be saved if they will believe in Jesus Christ. That would include their extended household here which would include servants and so on as well. “They further,” verse 32, “spoke the word of the Lord to them, together with all who were in his house.” You see they go on to a further explanation of Jesus Christ, of God’s salvation. And then the end of verse 33, “immediately he was baptized and all his household.” Order is the same. You say, well, it is late, we have had a busy night, you sleep on it, and we will talk tomorrow about the possibility of baptism. No, they do it that night. We get your identification with Christ right out in the open, right away.


Chapter 18, visit at Corinth. We are going to look at another passage later on Corinth, but here is where Paul carries the gospel to the Greek city of Corinth. He went to the Synagogue; he starts explaining to these Jews that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures. And that creates great division and conflict, so he moves out of the Synagogue and moves next door (Paul never ran very far from His conflict.) to a house of a Gentile who had been a convert to Judaism. And there he continues to preach. Verse 8 tells us “Crispus, the leader of the Synagogue believed in the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians heard were believing and being baptized.”

So I said when we studied the Great Commission the New Testament knows nothing of an unbaptized follower of Jesus Christ. They believe the message concerning Christ and they are being baptized. That is the way I declare my identification with Him to the world.

One more passage on this in Acts, Acts chapter 19. The disciples of John the Baptist when Paul meets them at Ephesus. They had heard the preaching of John the Baptist, perhaps when they visited in Palestine. They had believed it, been baptized by John. Baptism of John declared they were repenting of their sins, being cleansed by faith in the word of God, and were preparing for the coming Messiah. They identified themselves as followers of John the Baptist and his message. Well, Paul says in verse 4, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling people to believe in Him who was to come after him, that is Jesus. So John’s baptism was a baptism of preparation for the coming of Christ. When they heard this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

So baptism doesn’t save you, that is why John said in Matthew chapter 3, when the religious leaders came out and wanted to be baptized by him, he said no. There is no evidence that you have repented in your sins and believed in the Messiah. If baptism was necessary for salvation he would have been glad to baptize them so that they could get saved. That is the way the Roman Catholics have handled it down through the centuries, run around and pour water over everyone you can. They become baptized Christians. No, they become people who got wet. That is it. You say, well you shouldn’t make fun of other people’s religion. I am not making fun of it. I am telling you it is wrong. It has nothing to do with the biblical subject of baptism. It is a heresy developed by men that leads souls to hell. So here they are to be baptized. Why? Now we have heard the message of Christ, have believed in Him. We are His followers. We are identified with Him.

So the pattern is the same. The gospel is preached, the people believe, the believers are baptized. We could go back and follow the teaching. From this point on, for the rest of their life they are being taught and grounded in the truths of Scripture. All the letters in the New Testament were written to ground those who believed and had been baptized in the word of God. So they have carried it out. Wherever they were going they were making disciples and preaching the gospel, calling men and women to repentance. They were baptizing those who believed. Then they were taught the truth.


The significance of baptism then. We want to look at it negatively first. The Scripture is clear that baptism is not a part of salvation. Baptism does not save you. You do not need to be baptized to be saved. It is not part of salvation. Look at I Corinthians. We just saw Paul’s ministry in Corinth in Acts 18. Turn over to I Corinthians chapter 1. What happened in Corinth is there were divisions in the church. People there were dividing around those who had baptized them. It would be like at Indian Hills some people would say oh I am a follower of Gil. He baptized me. Some would say oh I am a follower of Eddie. He baptized me. And on we go. That is what happened in Corinth. Oh, I am a follower of Paul. He baptized me. Oh, I am a follower of Peter. He baptized me. Well, I follow Apollos. He baptized me. Verse 12 of chapter 1 brings that up. But then verse 13 Paul says, “Has Christ been divided? Paul wasn’t crucified for you was he?” Were you baptized in the name of Paul? What would you think if Eddie got up here and said I baptize you in the name of Eddie Masters. I would say somebody go up and hold him under. That would be heresy. No, you are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Baptism identifies you as a follower of Jesus Christ, a disciple of Christ and not of a man because Christ is the one who died for you.

It wasn’t Paul’s practice to do the ministry of baptism. Evidently others who traveled with him did that ministry. We read in Acts 18 they were being baptized, those who believed the message. But he says in verse 14 that I didn’t baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius and maybe some others I don’t remember. But we are told as a result of his ministry they were being baptized so evidently others associated with Paul did the actual baptism most of the time. Verse 17, “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel.” You see baptism is not part of the gospel. It is not necessary for your salvation or Paul would have been consumed with baptizing people. His responsibility he said was to preach the gospel and not in cleverness of speech so that the cross of Christ would not be made void. The simple, pure gospel is what he preached.

I was listening to a sermon last night by a preacher. He said he was helped by a letter he got from a very prominent person. He mentioned the person. This person wrote and told him that they had heard him use the word “lost” in a sermon referring to people. He said that is a terrible thing to do, to talk about people as lost. This preacher appreciated that, and he learned from that. Well he is a heretic. That doesn’t surprise me. But you have to teach the gospel in its clarity. People are lost. That is why you need a Savior. People are dead in their sins. That is why they need someone who can make them alive. But baptism doesn’t do it. Paul says I didn’t come baptizing. I came preaching the gospel. It is not part of salvation.

The gospel is enumerated. We won’t turn over there. In I Corinthians chapter 15 Paul says I want to make clear the gospel that I have preached to you. Christ died for your sins. You must understand you are a sinner. The penalty for sin is death and Christ died for your sins. He was buried and He was raised from the dead the third day. When you believe this you are saved from your sins. That is the gospel. Baptism is a result of having believed the gospel and having been saved. It is not part of your salvation. It is the result of your salvation.


There are other passages we won’t turn that would help but go to Romans chapter 3. If you want to know one section of scripture that resolved finally, forever for anyone who understands the Scriptures that baptism is not part of salvation, it is Romans chapter 3 and 4. Romans chapter 3 verse 21. Paul begins to explain God’s work of justification, declaring men and women righteous by faith in Christ. He spent the first part of the book showing that we are all sinners under condemnation on our way to hell. Now he begins with chapter 3 verse 21 to explain how God’s righteousness can be applied to us. And he explains the work of Christ clearly. Verse 22 it is “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe for there is not distinction for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We are justified as a gift by God’s grace through the finished work of Christ.” Verse 28, “We maintain that a man if justified by faith apart from the works of the law.”

There were a group called the Judiazers and we refer to them as such. They were Jews who claimed to believe that Jesus was the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the world but they also preached that you had to keep the law in addition to believing Christ. Particularly you had to be circumcised as a male. And if you weren’t circumcised faith in Christ wasn’t enough to save you. Circumcision was the identifying mark of a member of the nation of Israel, one who was part of God’s covenant with the nation through Old Testament times.

I want you to note something, verse 29 and 30. “Is He God of the Jews only? Is He not God of the Gentiles also, yes the Gentiles also.” So there is one God, He is for Jews and Gentiles alike. Verse 30, “Since indeed God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the un-circumcised through faith is one.” Now depending on your edition of the Bible you may have this verse worded differently. But the basic statement here, “since indeed God is one.” The edition I am using the “is one” is at the end of the verse. So you have it split up, “since indeed” and “God is one.” Some of you have it, “if indeed God is one,” starting the verse. In the Greek text the “is one” is connected to the “since indeed God.” More helpful it says, “since indeed God is one. . . who will justify the circumcised.” But they have broken it up for whatever reason. But don’t lose sight of the basic statement. “There is one God,” is the point. “He is the God for Jew and Gentile.” That means there is only one God, He is the God for both Jew and Gentile, there is only one way of salvation, no matter if you are a Jew or you are a Gentile. Now if we could find out how this one God has saved one person we will know how He is going to save any person who is ever saved down through all of time.


So in chapter 4 Paul gives us an example of an individual who had been saved by God; it was the man Abraham. An impeccable illustration from Israel’s history, Father Abraham, one that no Jew could disagree over. Verse 3 he quotes from Genesis chapter 15 verse 6, “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” God spoke; Abraham believed what God said and God credited Abraham with righteousness, His righteousness. Then he goes on to explain about sin and so on. Quotes from David and the faithfulness of God in forgiving sin. Verse 9, “Is this blessing of righteousness on the circumcised or on the un-circumcised also? For we say faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it credited? While he was circumcised or un-circumcised.” Stop and think, Genesis 15:6 Abraham believed God and God credited to Abraham as righteousness. Had Abraham been circumcises yet? No that is Genesis 15. Abraham will not be circumcised until Genesis 17. Years later Abraham will be circumcised. So that is what he says. “Not while circumcised, but while un-circumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of faith while un-circumcised.” The point being, and he goes on to discuss this issue of the law, Abraham was saved by faith alone. You cannot say circumcision is necessary for salvation because we have a clear example held up. The one God who saves everyone in the same way, by faith in what He has said and done, saved Abraham by faith. So don’t say circumcision is necessary for salvation. You can’t even say, well it wasn’t necessary in Genesis 15, but later God made it necessary. Because there is only one God, there is only one way of salvation. The same way it has always been.

You say, alright I never believed that circumcision was necessary for salvation, why are you beating on me? Well you have to ask the question-when was Abraham baptized? Before or after Genesis 15? You know what? As far as we know from scripture Abraham died unbaptized. Not only was it years later, it was never. Is baptism necessary for salvation? Not unless there is more than one God, and we have already established there is only one God. So, baptism cannot be necessary for salvation. But we could add on to it when did Abraham join his church? Well Abraham died 2,000 years before the church came into existence. Do you have to join a church to be saved? No. On we go. I mean what do you want to add? You know the problem is not that the Scripture is not clear. It is we want to establish our own traditions, our own beliefs, and then assume that God will adjust. But you know what that means? That means all of us become little gods that have created our own religion, but there is one God and He has spoken. Baptism cannot be necessary for salvation according to the argument of Romans chapter 3 and 4 otherwise God lied in Genesis 15:6. Salvation has always been by faith alone. We manifest that we have the believed by our response. Years later God would command Abraham to be circumcised, and he was. Testifying that he believed this God and so obeyed Him. Remember a disciple is one who submits, follows, and learns from.

So I have been baptized, because it is necessary for me to be saved? No, but because I had been saved. As a testimony of the faith I have in my heart in Jesus Christ, I have publicly identified with Him. So chapter 5 of Romans begins, “Therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand.” It is by faith. Same as it was for Abraham in Genesis 15 it is for us 4,000 years later, by faith.

Well if baptism is not necessary for salvation, what we have is we are always falling off one side or the other. Indian Hills has not fallen off on the side, you must be baptized to be saved. We have fallen off the other side. Well, if baptism is not necessary to be saved, then it is optional. Doesn’t matter whether I do it or not. Wrong. That is not biblical. That is rebellion against God’s word. Jesus did not say, “Make disciples, baptizing them [if they agree it is a good idea] teaching them [if they would like you to.]” No, He said, “Make disciples” and here is what you are to do with those disciples. You are to be baptizing them and you are to be teaching them.

Romans chapter 6, you don’t have to turn there. We won’t take the time. Romans 6 unfolds the details of Spirit baptism. We are identified with Christ when we believe by the Holy Spirit, with Christ in His death, His burial, and His resurrection. We are sinners, the penalty for our sin is death. When you believe in Jesus Christ His death is credited to your account. You are viewed spiritually by God as having died with Christ, been buried with Christ and raised up with Christ to new life. Water baptism is a physical expression of that spiritual reality. No one saw that transformation take place in my heart, but it was a spiritual reality. Water baptism publicly expresses the commitment of faith I have in my heart to Jesus Christ. I have become a follower of His. My allegiance is to Him.


People say, well I can publicly give my testimony in other ways. I mean I can verbally tell people I am a Christian, I have believed in Christ and so on. Well, that is fine. But you understand who gives the Great Commission and who doesn’t. You don’t give the great commission. I don’t give the great commission. The one who has said “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me” has given the great commission. He said “make disciples, baptizing and teaching.” Some people say, well I am going to get baptized, I just want to be sure it is the right time. You know when the right time is? Have you believed in Jesus Christ? Well I don’t know if my family is ready for that. Well, what does your family have to do with this? Have you believed in Jesus Christ and committed yourself to Him as a follower of His? What does your family have to do with it? Jesus said, “I came to divide families. Well, you know we can be wise. You know there is no sense in making trouble if we don’t have to. If I get baptized my Roman Catholic family are not going to be open to hear anything from me, my Lutheran family are going to be upset and won’t listen to me. It would probably be better if I wait. Do you think the Jews responded well to knowing that a member of their family had undergone Christian baptism? Let me tell you, they made it so bad in Jerusalem that everybody lost their job and the church was reduced to poverty, that the church had to pick up collections in other places to send money to Jerusalem. You are a Jew and you went to work the next day and they say, I hear you were baptized, you are fired. We don’t employ followers of Christ here. Would have probably been better don’t you think to wait? I mean you believe in your heart, you get saved, and who knows, a couple of weeks, a couple of years, maybe never.

You know we have swung off the other side and said well, since baptism is not required for salvation it is optional. You know it is like me as a parent telling my little children at home, saying I want you to do this. They say, “will I die if I don’t?” No. So they don’t have to do it. Yes you do. I mean, but that is the way we reduce it with God. Can I go to heaven if I am not baptized? Yes. Oh, then I won’t bother. New Testament knows nothing of an un-baptized Christian. On the day of Pentecost Peter said, “Repent and be baptized for remission of sins.” Because they needed to be baptized to have their sins forgiven? No. Because it is an assumed essential. If you have truly believed in your heart you are ready to be identified with Christ before the world. If you are not ready to be identified with Him before the world, there is serious doubt whether you have really believed in your heart. I really believe that that initial moment of salvation is that time when by the grace of God He reaches down and opens your blinded eyes to see and understand and enables you to believe in Christ. That really happens at that point in time more or I think at any time since that. I am ready to leave go of everything and everyone and follow Him and that is a great time to put my testimony in the public form. It is what God requires. You cannot be an obedient Christian and be an unbaptized Christian.


Now I know we say, we don’t want to preach baptism because people will get confused. And if I stand up today and say, “Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins,” I’d get a 150 notes this week. You’re confusing the gospel. I am preaching what Peter preached. You know the non-elect will be confused, the elect will understand. As I have ruffled through these half a dozen verses on baptism like this, “Repent and be baptized,” I say Lord, you know I wouldn’t have said it that way. I quickly forget who I am and who He is. You ought to come to appreciate what these verses do say the same thing that Jesus when he taught the parables. What did He do? He taught in parables so the unbeliever wouldn’t understand. But the believer would. Well, these verses confuse people. We’ve got all different denominations that have been raised up around the idea you have to believe and be baptized to be saved. But the elect are not confused. They understood baptism and understand baptism is a result of my salvation, a declaration that I have been saved. But it is not part of my salvation.

So don’t misunderstand at Indian Hills like I say I think if we tilt to one side I think it is the side, we’ve let it be optional. You talk to someone, ask them for their testimony. We ought to be asking, do you know if you died tonight if you would go to heaven? Are you prepared to meet God? Have your sins been forgiven by faith in Christ? Oh, yes. When were you baptized in identification with Him? Oh, I haven’t. Oh, I thought you told me you were a follower of His? Oh, I am. But I thought you told me you weren’t baptized? Oh, I haven’t been. I don’t find those kind of disciples in the New Testament. We accept a lot of testimony that is just empty air. Oh, I am a Christian, I have trusted Christ. Where do you go to church? Oh, I don’t go to church. Well, your church doesn’t save you. How many times I have had people say you know you don’t have to go to church to be saved? I know, but when you are saved you will go to church. You are a member of the body of Christ. We long for fellowship with His body.

One more word, the mode of baptism. I saved it until last because to me it is the least important, that is why this isn’t Indian Hills Baptist Church. I believe there is a more biblical way and I have a conviction about it, and I will share it with you. You might as well be right on this point as well. But the mode is not the important issue, three basic modes are immersion, pouring, where they pour water over you, and sprinkling where a little bit of water is applied. I believe that immersion is the biblical way for several reasons. Number one the word baptism. The word baptism is a Greek word, not an English word. The Greek noun is “baptisma”. Drop the “a” and we have baptism. Translators did not translate the Greek word baptism when they translated the Bible into English. That way they didn’t have to get into the conflict. But the word means to immerse. Secular Greek the word is used of dipping a piece of cloth in a jar of dye. You baptized it in the dye to dye it. It is used of a ship that had sunk. Now the word baptism has become a religious word with limited use to us, but you read in secular Greek about a baptized ship. It is sitting under the water, it sunk. So it is just the meaning of the word. If you read a Greek Lexicon you read the meaning of the word, to dip, to plunge, to immerse. And if they had translated baptism from Greek into English you would read, “Repent and be immersed, for the forgiveness of sins.” So just the meaning of the word would indicate that.

The picture I would understand as well, you are identified with Christ in His death, His burial and His resurrection. And that clearly portrays that as well. New Testament closed in the 90's with the writing of the book of Revelation. John wrote the book of Revelation around ?95. There is a writing called the Didache that was written in the first half of the first century, 100 to 150 A.D. There it is assumed that emersion is the practice although it does allow for pouring as a form of baptism if you are in a barren region where there is not enough water to immerse someone. So very early we had testimony, not only in the New Testament, but then how the early church understood its command and carried it out for baptism. The Greek has good words for sprinkling. It has very good words for pouring. But it used the word for immersion. So we follow baptism by immersion here.


Alright, let me just summarize quickly what we said. Baptism was commanded by Christ and practiced by the early church in the book of Acts. I hope that is the pattern. It was commanded by Christ, “Make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them.” Praise God it was carried out that way as we moved into the book of Acts in the early church.

Number two, it follows faith in Christ and should be observed soon after faith. We are always concerned we will baptize someone that is not a Christian. Peter did that, or Phillip did that. Phillip, Acts chapter 8. Simon was baptized. Peter says to him later, “I perceive you are still in the bond of your iniquity.” He had heard the message, he had been baptized, but he had never been saved. We want to help God out, if we put enough time, for enough growth and enough evidence then we will only baptize Christians. Well, there will be some people who get carried along in the emotional moment. But in the New Testament baptism follows along very quickly upon true saving faith. Emersion is the New Testament pattern, what New Testament baptism would be. It pictures new life in Christ and should be followed by transformed living, by your being taught the word of God.

I don’t know where you are, maybe you are a regular attender of this church and you think because you attend Indian Hills, because you were baptized at Indian Hills, because you give money at Indian Hills, that you are saved. That is a terrible, horrible mistake. You are saved by faith in Christ alone. Have you come to understand that you are sinner, separated from God and on your way to hell? The penalty for your sin is death and Jesus Christ, God’s son stepped in to pay that penalty on your behalf. And you can have forgiveness and cleansing if you will turn from your sin and believe in Him as your Savior. Do that, you ought to publicly step forward to be identified as a follower of His in water baptism. Then it ought to be evident to yourself and others that you are growing and changing as you are taught the word of God. Lets pray together.

Thank You Lord for Your truths. Thank You for calling us to salvation in Christ. Thank You for calling us to public identification with this Savior as a result of our faith in Him. Lord, may we be obedient. Lord may we count it an honor and a privilege to step forward and declare ourselves disciples of Christ, followers of Him who loved us and died for us. May our lives be an ongoing testimony to the reality of that salvation until He comes. We pray in His name, Amen.