“Baptism does not
save a person, but Jesus means for His saved individuals to publicly identify
with Him and His people. It’s one piece of how His citizens become official.
It’s how they wave the flag." Jonathan
Leeman
Noted author, Max Lucado wrote: “The human
mind explaining baptism is like a harmonica interpreting Beethoven: the music
is too majestic for the instrument. No scholar or saint can fully appreciate
what this moment means in heaven. Any words on baptism, including these, must
be seen as human efforts to understand a holy event. Our danger is to swing to
one of two extremes: we make baptism either too important or too unimportant.
Either we deify it or we trivialize it. One can see baptism as the essence of
the gospel or as irrelevant to the gospel. Both sides are equally perilous. For example, one person says, ‘I am saved
because I was baptized.’ The other says, ‘I am saved so I don’t need to be
baptized.’ The challenge is to let the pendulum stop somewhere between the two
viewpoints. This is done by placing it where it should be: at the foot of the
cross.
Baptism is like a precious jewel—set apart by
itself, it is nice and appealing but has nothing within it to compel. But place
baptism against the backdrop of our sin and turn on the light of the cross, and
the jewel explodes with significance. Baptism at once reveals the beauty of the
cross and the darkness of sin. As a stone has many facets, baptism has many sides:
cleansing, burial, resurrection, the death of the old, and the birth of the
new. Just as the stone has no light within it, baptism has no inherent power.
But just as the stone refracts the light into many colors, so baptism reveals
the many facets of God’s grace.”
Once a person admits his/her sin and turns to
Christ for salvation, Jesus commanded that the step of baptism must be taken to
proclaim to heaven and earth that they are now a Christ-follower. Baptism is the
initial, immediate step of obedience by one who has declared his/her faith. So
important was this step of obedience that as far as we know, every single
convert in the New Testament was baptized. With the exception of the thief on
the cross, there’s no example of an unbaptized believer.
That’s why this is such an exciting day
at Grace! We have four adults who have professed their faith in Christ and now
want to obey the Lord by believer’s immersion. What a joy to hear their
testimonies and how God has worked and brought about new life in Christ in their
lives.
Like a wedding ring doesn’t make one married,
so baptism will never get anyone into heaven. We are not baptized into eternal
life. We are baptized because we have eternal life. We are baptized as a symbol
that we have new life in Christ. It’s a matter of obedience. And since the time
of Christ, believers have participated in baptism by immersion, sometimes with
great fanfare and exuberance, and sometimes with solemnity and reverence.
Regardless of style, though, the visual and emotional appeal of this
confessional act is at the very heart of who we are as Christ-followers.
Baptism as an act of obedience. Some
of the last words Jesus spoke to His disciples were the threefold instruction: to
make disciples, baptize those who believe, and teach them all of His commands
(Matt. 28:19-20). If for no other reason, we baptize because Jesus told us to. Obedience
is to characterize followers of Christ. In Matthew 28:20, Jesus said we should
teach new believers “to observe everything I have commanded you.” Baptism
is simply an act of obedience both for the new believer and the local church.
We baptize to please God and be obedient.
Baptism as an opportunity to witness. The
New Testament and Christian History indicate that baptism served as the initial
profession of faith for early believers. After Philip shared the gospel with the
Ethiopian, the new believer’s first request was to be baptized (Acts 8). When
the Philippian jailer responded to the preaching of Paul and Silas, he and
believing members of his family were baptized (Acts 16). The same is true for
Lydia (Acts16), Cornelius (Acts 10), the Corinthians (Acts 18), and others. For
these believers, baptism was a silent witness, an outward expression, of their
new faith and new way of life in Christ.
So how is baptism a witnessing opportunity
for us? According to Romans 6:1-4, our baptism is a witness to the saving work
of Christ - His death, burial, and resurrection. As a symbol, baptism visually
reenacts His burial in the grave and His resurrection to life. That’s the
picture in immersion.
When we see a new believer walk into the
water, go under the water and come up from the water, we are seeing what Jesus
did to save us. Baptism symbolizes that as Christ died, was buried, and rose
again, so the believer has died, is buried to self, and now has new life in
Christ.
Baptism symbolizes that he/she is a new
creature in Christ. As believers adopt a Christlike character, the change becomes
evident to those with whom they associate. It symbolizes that change in the new
believer. And it’s a public witness to believers and nonbelievers. Like a
wedding, it’s a public confession that this individual is now a Christ-follower.
Why won’t some believers be baptized? Usually,
there are two reasons – humiliation or fear. Though baptism is exciting, it’s
not pretty. One goes down into the water dry and comes up a soaking mess. It’s
humbling. You’re not in control but trusting the one immersing you in the water.
That leads to the second reason. Some
individuals are terrified of water. Yet, if God can miraculously save your
sinful soul, He can protect you from a little water. That’s why the baptism of
Les Vincent today is so moving. Les has some heart issues. Baptism carries some
risk for him, yet Les is more committed to being obedient to God’s Word than to
being safe.
The early church took seriously the concept
of church membership who was born again. Acts 2:47 tells us that “the Lord
added to their number daily those who were being saved.” The first church was
made up of those who’d been saved and were then baptized. In spite of some
obvious cultural and social differences between the 1st-century church and today's church, the requirement for congregational inclusion must still
be believer's baptism. At baptism the new believer is making a commitment not
only to Christ but to a local church family. He or she is identifying publicly
with a specific congregation.
The church body at this point also is assuming responsibility for the new believer. There’s a new member in their family.
Being part of that local church means the congregation has a responsibility to
include the new Christ follower, to encourage him or her in their spiritual walk,
and to support the new believer as a brother or sister and as a friend.
Everyone who is part of the fellowship of a
local church should have experienced personal salvation and believer’s immersion.
Similar to a wedding ceremony, baptism is a holy moment both for the person being
baptized and for that local church family they are being baptized into.
Can
we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out
more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at
262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life,
I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My
Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy.
Please include your mailing address.
