A study of believer's baptism. Who is it for? What does it mean? Why should I be baptised? A message delivered on 3 February 2008.
Baptism follows salvation. Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Baptism is a command - for all real believers in the Lord Jesus. Acts 8:35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. (36) And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptised? (37) And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (38) And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptised him.
Baptism is for people who gladly receive His Word. Acts 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptised.
Baptism is for people whose heart the Lord has opened… Acts 16:14 And a certain woman named Lydia… heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. 15 And… she was baptised, and her household…
Baptism is the outward manifestation of an inward transformation! Baptism testifies outwardly about the change that happened inwardly.
This Bible word, baptism, means to immerse or submerge in water. Baptism means going down into and coming up out of the water. It is a testimony of your faith and repentance in Christ, and obedience to His will.
Baptism is a public witness of your faith in Christ. Acts 16:30-33 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (31) And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (32) And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. (33) And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptised, he and all his, straightway.
In baptism, you identify with Christ - baptism signifies Who you belong to. It declares Christ as your Saviour and Lord. Colossians 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. Baptism is called a burial. It is His finished work for your forgiveness, through His death and resurrection. In baptism we are united with Him. The believer is released from the power of sin. Paul shows this life change is like putting on new clothes. Galatians 3:27 – For as many of you as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ.
Baptism is a symbol - a figure - of salvation already received. 1 Peter 3:20-21. A Picture. A Representation. To express spiritual truth; spiritual realities… It is an outward picture of the inner event. An outward sign of an inward change.
Baptism identifies a person as a disciple of Christ and his passing from the old way of life to new life in Christ. The person who was previously dead in sin has been made truly, eternally, spiritually alive!
Baptism is a symbol - just as a wedding band is a symbol of love. Wearing a wedding ring doesn't make you married, but it does show that you are married and not ashamed of letting everyone know it. You belong to a man you love with all your heart, and your wedding ring is a way of showing it. When Jesus was baptised, He was identifying Himself with us.
When you are baptised, it publicly identifies you with the Lord Jesus Christ. Baptism is a symbol of: Dying with Christ, towards sin; it is receiving New Life in Christ. Being raised to eternal life with Him. By the very power that raised Christ from the dead. Romans 6:3-6 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptised into Jesus Christ were baptised into his death? (4) Therefore 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.
Baptism pictures the Gospel - the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. It’s burial of the old self; it symbolises the putting away of sin; of a resurrection of the believer's soul and of a new life with Christ.
As we are baptised we follow the example of the Lord Himself - our model - He submitted to baptism: Matthew 3:13-15 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptised of him. (14) But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? (15) And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh (it’s becoming – it’s fitting for) us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
A person is baptised because it’s is our Lord’s command. It is an act of obedience for those who are His disciples. Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip preaching …they were baptised, both men and women. It’s for men and women – to testify to God's work in your life.
[0:00] It says, someone who what?
[0:32] Believes. Someone who believes. Someone who believes and puts their trust in Christ. Someone who is a believer. Someone who is sane can be baptized. In Acts 16, it talks about a lady called Lydia.
[0:45] She was there and the message came to Lydia. She was a worshipper but it says that she, her heart was opened by the Lord. So it's a believer, someone who's put their trust, who's received the message, who's received the word and whose heart the Lord has opened.
[1:03] And it's really, it's an outward manifestation, it's an outward display of something that's happening on the inside. Baptism is something that happens outwardly that shows what's happened on the inside of us.
[1:18] Who needs to get baptized? Every believer. What does the Bible say is baptism? Now the very word baptize is actually a Greek word which means to immerse or submerge.
[1:31] Alright? It means what I'm doing to my pen here. Alright? Listen. This is what baptism means. Watch carefully. That's what it means. Alright?
[1:41] It means dipping something in water. What is it? It's a testimony. It's obeying God. What does it mean? In Acts 16, we hear the account of Paul who was speaking to the Philippian jailer.
[1:56] And Paul and Silas were there. The people were, they'd been locked up because they loved the Lord Jesus. They'd been jailed because they were following Christ as their saviour. And suddenly, there was a big earthquake.
[2:08] God set them free. And the jailer was there and he thought, wow, this is it now. I'm really done for because listen, the Philippian jailer knew that if they escaped, he was going to get executed for not doing his job properly.
[2:23] And he says to these guys, Sirs, what must they do to be saved? He knew he was in big trouble, but he also knew he was in big trouble with God Almighty because he wasn't right with God. When the earthquake happened and the scary stuff happened, God started to get his attention.
[2:38] And Paul and Silas, they said to him, the Philippian jailer, they said to him, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. There it is again. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and what?
[2:49] Thou shalt be saved. And it says there they spoke unto him and later on it says they baptized him. So there's something that happened, it followed on. It identifies us with Christ when we baptize.
[3:02] We signify that we are God's property, that we belong to him. And it says in Colossians 2 that we buried with him in baptism. It's a burial service. Alright?
[3:13] You can see in your notes there, it's got a picture of like a burial. Now you see, we bury someone in the ground. In baptism you're buried into the water. You're brought down into the water, then you're brought back out again.
[3:26] It represents our dying to ourselves and when we come out of the water, it represents how God raises us out of the grave and brings us back to life, to a new life in Christ.
[3:38] Burial is a representation of the finished work of Christ. It represents how Christ died for us, that he died, was buried and that he rose again from the dead.
[3:49] It pictures how you die as you go into the water, briefly, you're in that water, you're buried, then you're brought out of the water, you're alive, you're out of the water and alive and it represents how Christ died, was buried and resurrected the gospel and it also represents for us as believers how we put our trust in Christ, we die to our old self.
[4:10] So when I become a Christian, the old person who I was died. In a sense, that old person, that sinful person, that sinner man that Andrew Craig was, is now dead and buried and gone.
[4:25] But now I've been made alive, I've been brought back to life and God has given me his new life. The Bible says if any man is in Christ, he's a new creature, he's a new creation.
[4:39] Old things have passed away, behold, all things have become you. It's like God's taken a picture, a snapshot with his camera and this is what it kind of is an illustration.
[4:50] It's a picture, a photo that represents something. On mornings we have the Lord's Supper where we take that bread and that cup.
[5:01] Now listen, the bread and the cup, the bread and the juice represent, the bread represents the body of Christ the juice, the grape juice, the fruit of the vine represents the blood that Christ shed for us.
[5:17] That is a picture, it's a symbol, it's a sacrament, that is an ordinance of the church, the Lord's Supper and the other ordinance of the church is baptism.
[5:29] It's a symbol again too, it's symbolic. Sometimes symbols we can't always get the picture but really it's God's graphic picture of a spiritual truth that we are representing when we're baptised.
[5:42] And it's a picture of that, it's a figure of that. 1 Peter 3 verse 20 Peter calls it a light figure, it's a picture, a symbol, a representation of it.
[5:53] It's a symbol of our dying to self and of our receiving his new life. Okay? So why be baptised? Why should I be baptised? Okay? Firstly, as I say, make sure you're a believer.
[6:05] This address tonight is about Christians trusting Christ and going for that next step of being baptised. First and foremost, you must believe, you must be saved, you must have put your trust and faith in Christ and had him take away your sin.
[6:23] What is it? It's a representation, a symbol, a very important symbol that we should obey. Why should we do it? Because God commands us to be baptised.
[6:33] It says that the Lord himself led us as an example. It tells us in Matthew 3 that the Lord Jesus himself was baptised. Can you imagine when you think about why did the Lord submit to being baptised by John the Baptist?
[6:52] And he said it's to fulfil all righteousness. It's a fitting thing, it's a becoming thing, it's an appropriate thing for us to fulfil all righteousness. So it's something that's very special and God counts it very important.
[7:06] Christ is our model, as our example, as the Bible says of him, that we should follow in his steps. If Christ was baptised, if it's important enough for our Lord and Saviour to be baptised, then it's certainly important.
[7:20] It's certainly something we shouldn't take lightly. And if Christ is our model, our example, we want to follow his example. And lastly, one other scripture in Acts 8 verse 12, it declares you trust, it declares you faith.
[7:35] It says, when they believed Philip, Acts 8 verse 12, when they believed Philip concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, it says they were baptised, both men and women.
[7:50] Notice here too, it says both men and women, adults were baptised. This is something for grown up people, this is not something, listen now, where it's just for babies, and some churches, well-meaning though they be, they bring a baby in the mother's arms, and they bring it and put it in a little basin of water and sprinkle some water on it.
[8:13] That's not in the Bible. As much as some faith, well-meaning though they think that they're doing the right thing, that counts for nothing. Baptism, even for an older person, some older people think, oh, I'll be religious and I'll go and get baptised.
[8:28] You know, the water's just going to make you wet. There's nothing magical about the water, whether you're a real Christian or not. As such, the water itself is not the issue, but the important thing is are you saved?
[8:42] Have you put your faith in Christ? Are you a believer? Have you trusted him? Baptism does not save us. Baptism is for believers who are saved. So take that trusting step in Christ.
[8:54] So just to wind up here tonight, it's also a wonderful testimony time. It's an opportunity for you as a believer to declare your faith in Christ, to give witness to Christ in a public testimony.
[9:08] Christ has saved me. I've become born again, I've turned from my sin and I've received his salvation. I'm a Christian. I'm saved tonight, I'm saved today because of his grace and because of my trust in his work for me.
[9:22] Thank you.