Baptism, What Does It Mean? Part 1 08/28/2016

Summary: Baptism, The New Exodus Studying the Bible will blow your mind. IF you are not studying it, you are missing out!!! Baptism was supposed to be such a simple subject, but oh no, mind blowing. Spurgeon Quotes “I do not question the safety of the soul that has believed, but I do say again, I would not run the risk of the man who, having believed, refuses to be baptized.” “I feel shocked when I hear people say, “But it is not essential to salvation.” You mean and beggarly spirit! Will you do nothing but what is essential to your own salvation? A Pharisee or a harlot might talk so. Is this your love to Christ—that you will not obey him, unless he shall pay you for it, unless he shall make your soul’s salvation depend upon it?” “I am amazed that an unconscious babe should be made the partaker of an ordinance which, according to the plain teaching of the Scriptures, requires the conscious acquiescence and complete heart trust of the recipient. Very few, if any, would argue that infants ought to receive the Lord’s Supper; but there is no more Scriptural warrant for bringing them to the one ordinance than there is for bringing them to the other.” 2 kinds of people, those who are saved and need to be baptized, and those who have been baptized but need to be saved. Baptism is not only a picture of what Jesus has done for u in the past but a picture of the life u are going to live in the future resulting ultimately in resurrection life in the very presence of God. Baptism captures 4 meanings: Repentance and Salvation from Sin Association with the death and resurrection of Jesus Becoming a citizen of the people and kingdom of God It Foreshadows the life of Spirit empowered ministry that the disciple will now live. Different Christian groups tend to focus on one of these elements to the neglect of the others like the blind men describing the elephant. The work of the Holy Spirit is to bind the worshipper to the Messiah in glad allegiance. This is what baptism symbolizes. What is the pattern that Jesus establishes at his baptism? The pattern established by Jesus is being baptized and then receiving the Holy Spirit which in turn initiates his ministry. The baptism of Jesus is immediately followed by a period of testing, community living, and Spirit empowered ministry. Such is also the case in Acts for the church in Jerusalem for they are immediately persecuted such that they are driven from Jerusalem. Jesus baptizing with the Spirit, reflects that Jesus is God, BTW. Baptism, a water metaphor is reminiscent of the OT water metaphor of pouring. Matthew 3:11 He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Isaiah 44:3 And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children. Ezekiel 36:26–27 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. Ezekiel 39:29 29 And I will never again turn my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit upon the people of Israel. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!” Joel 2:28–29 28 “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike. I suppose the critic will argue that Jesus is the instrument that Yahweh uses. Pattern in Matthew Matthew 3:11–12 11 “I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Matthew 3:16–17 16 After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. Matthew 4:17 17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” Following the pattern established earlier in Matthew in the life and ministry of Jesus, it only makes sense that Matthew 28 is making a strong connection between discipleship and baptism. Matthew 28:19–20 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Pattern in Luke Luke 3:21 21 One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. Luke 4:1 Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2 where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Luke 4:14 14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Luke 4:18 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, 19 and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” So in Acts, we see the pattern established by Jesus repeated in the life of the church: Acts 1:8 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 2:1–17 On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. 5 At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. 6 When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. 7 They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, 8 and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! 9 Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, 10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!” 12 They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other. 13 But others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying, “They’re just drunk, that’s all!” 14 Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. 15 These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. 16 No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: 17 ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Acts 2:37 37 Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Acts 2:38 38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38–41 38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.” 40 Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!” 41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all. Acts 2:42–47 42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. Here we see the body or community aspect. Those baptized began living as one people, God’s people, the new Israel, which we will see later. Acts 5:15–16 15 As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by. 16 Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed. Like Jesus, baptism initiates a time of testing: Acts 7:59–8:1 59 As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died. Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. Baptism: Baptized into the one body, the Church 1 Corinthians 12:13 But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share (and we were all made to drink, NASB) the same Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:13 refers back to 1 Corinthians 10:1–4: 1 Corinthians 10:1–4 I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. 2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All of them ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. The double use of water in this passage – the water of the Red Sea through which the Israelites passed and the water which flowed from the rock for them to drink in the desert – is easily the best explanation for the otherwise initially puzzling double reference in chapter 12 (we were all baptized … and given one spirit to drink). The Messiah’s people, for Paul, are thus the new-exodus people, formed as was ancient Israel into ‘a people’ by the redeeming action of the one God on their behalf and by the sovereign and holy presence of the one God in their midst, leading them in the pillar of cloud and fire and sustaining them on their journey. And baptism, it here becomes clear, is indeed (to use the old theological language) the ‘outward and visible’ sign of entry into the Messiah’s people, defining them just as surely as the crossing of the Red Sea defined the people whom Abraham’s God brought out of Egypt. Baptism invokes the gift and the presence of the spirit, just like it was in the exodus when the living presence of YHWH accompanied the people out of Egypt and came to dwell in the tabernacle, the forerunner of the Jerusalem Temple. The baptism of John the Baptist is the beginning of God recreating the Exodus centered around the person of Jesus. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, will now dwell with His people the way that Yahweh did in the OT beginning at the Red Sea. John the Baptist is recreating the Exodus narrative. He calls people to pass through the water with the result of receiving salvation, not from the Egyptians, but from sin and receiving the presence of the the one true and living God who will actively dwell with His people. Having heard this, now listen to Galatians 3:26–29 afresh: Galatians 3:26–29 26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. 1 Peter 3:21 21 And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. With this text the Catholics have taught that along with… water baptism actually does save you, and the Reformers, Luther and Calvin and all the rest reacted to this false view and ended up with a similar view in the maintaining of the practice of infants but in fact this is Peter’s short-hand way of saying the very things we have said already. So consider 1 Peter 3:21 equivalent to Paul’s Galatians 3:28. 1 Peter 4:1- repentance aspect 1 Peter 4:8–9- gospel community aspect 1 Peter 4:10–11- Spirit empowered ministry aspect 1 Peter 4:12- time of testing following baptism aspect (So its like the pattern ultimately gets switched in its practical application within the church, and Bible interpreters have anachronistically made this switch backwards compatible resulting in so many denominations having differing views on baptism like the 6 blind men each describing the elephant, each denomination focusing on a few texts and applying those few texts to the many texts instead of letting all the texts stand on their own in all the Bible’s progressive revelation so we can see the whole elephant.) So we might say the Catholics focus on the salvation aspect, the Pentecostals on the spirit empowered ministry aspect, and the Reformers and the Baptists on the death and resurrection aspect, but we need all 3 if we are going to see the whole elephant. So in failing to understand all that the Bible is teaching as far as the big picture and by isolating certain texts and focusing merely on the issue of salvation, as in, is does baptism actually save you or is it merely a symbol of salvation, we have turned NT baptism for the Church back into the baptism of John the Baptist: Acts 19:1–7 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers. 2 “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them. “No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 “Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked. And they replied, “The baptism of John.” 4 Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.” 5 As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all. So NT baptism is not less than John’s baptism, but it is certainly more. CONCLUSION: If you are going to be baptized, are you prepared to live a life of Spirit empowered ministry? IF you have been baptized, have you forgotten that you were cleansed from your old way of living? John 3:5 5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 2. Baptism. Since Jesus commanded his church to baptize (Matt. 28:19), we would expect that there would be a measure of blessing connected with baptism, because all obedience to God by Christians brings God’s favor with it. This obedience is specifically a public act of confessing Jesus as Savior, an act which in itself brings joy and blessing to a believer. Moreover, it is a sign of the believer’s death and resurrection with Christ (see Rom. 6:2–5; Col. 2:12), and it seems fitting that the Holy Spirit would work through such a sign to increase our faith, to increase our experiential realization of death to the power and love of sin in our lives, and to increase our experience of the power of new resurrection life in Christ that we have as believers. Since baptism is a physical symbol of the death and resurrection of Christ and our participation in them, it should also give additional assurance of union with Christ to all believers who are present. Finally, since water baptism is an outward symbol of inward spiritual baptism by the Holy Spirit, we may expect that the Holy Spirit will ordinarily work alongside the baptism, giving to believers an increasing realization of the benefits of the spiritual baptism to which it points. When baptism very closely accompanies someone’s initial profession of faith and is in fact the outward form that profession of faith takes, there is certainly a connection between baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, for Peter says to his hearers at Pentecost, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Moreover, Paul says, “You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead” (Col. 2:12). The statement that it is “through faith in the working of God” that this happens reminds us that there is no magical property in the act of baptism itself, which causes a spiritual result to come about, yet the verse also indicates that when faith accompanies baptism there is genuine spiritual work in the life of the person being baptized. As we would expect, sometimes great spiritual joy follows upon baptism—a great joy in the Lord and in the salvation that baptism so vividly pictures (see Acts 8:39; 16:34). Although we must avoid the Roman Catholic teaching that grace is imparted even apart from the faith of the person being baptized, we must not react so strongly to this error that we say that there is no spiritual benefit at all that comes from baptism, that the Holy Spirit does not work through it and that it is merely symbolic. It is better to say that where there is genuine faith on the part of the person being baptized, and where the faith of the church that watches the baptism is stirred up and encouraged by this ceremony, then the Holy Spirit certainly does work through baptism, and it becomes a “means of grace” through which the Holy Spirit brings blessing to the person being baptized and to the church as well. (Baptism will be more fully discussed in the next chapter.) Matthew 3:11: “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Mark 1:8: “I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Luke 3:16: “I baptize you with water; but he who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” John 1:33: “He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” ’ Colossians 2:12 12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. Now this truth is clearly symbolized in baptism by immersion. When the candidate for baptism goes down into the water it is a picture of going down into the grave and being buried. Coming up out of the water is then a picture of being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life. Baptism thus very clearly pictures death to one’s old way of life and rising to a new kind of life in Christ. But baptism by sprinkling or pouring simply misses this symbolism. Believer’s Baptism- A physical picture of a spiritual fact. 1. Only those who give a believable profession of faith should be baptized. This view is often called “believers’ baptism,” since it holds that only those who have themselves believed in Christ (or, more precisely, those who have given reasonable evidence of believing in Christ) should be baptized. This is because baptism, which is a symbol of beginning the Christian life should only be given to those who have in fact begun the Christian life. Acts 2:41 41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all. Acts 8:12 12 But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized. Acts 10:44–48 44 Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. 45 The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too. 46 For they heard them speaking in other tongues and praising God. Then Peter asked, 47 “Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” 48 So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days. Acts 16:14 As she (Lydia) listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. 15 She and her household were baptized Acts 16:32 32 And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. 33 Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. 2. The outward symbol of beginning the Christian life should only be given to those who show evidence of having begun the Christian life. The Effect of Baptism When baptism is properly carried out it brings the blessing of God’s favor that comes with all obedience, as well as the joy that comes through public profession of one’s faith, and the reassurance of having a clear physical picture of dying and rising with Christ and of washing away sins. Certainly the Lord gave us baptism to strengthen and encourage our faith—and it should do so for everyone who is baptized and for every believer who witnesses a baptism. Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation? While we recognize that Jesus commanded baptism (Matt. 28:19), as did the apostles (Acts 2:38), we should not say that baptism is necessary for salvation. To say that baptism or any other action is necessary for salvation is to say that we are not justified by faith alone, but by faith plus a certain “work,” the work of baptism. The apostle Paul would have opposed the idea that baptism is necessary for salvation just as strongly as he opposed the similar idea that circumcision was necessary for salvation (see Gal. 5:1–12). Galatians 5:2–6 2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. 4 For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace. 5 But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. 6 For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love. Luke 23:42–43 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” 43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Another reason why baptism is not necessary for salvation is that our being forgiven for sin takes place at the point of saving faith, not at the point of water baptism, which usually occurs later. But if a person is already forgiven at the point of saving faith, then baptism is not necessary for forgiveness of sins, or for the bestowal of new spiritual life. Baptism, then, is not necessary for salvation. But it is necessary if we are to be obedient to Christ, for he commanded baptism for all who believe in him. Age for Baptism How old should children be before they are baptized?” The most direct answer is that they should be old enough to give a believable profession of faith. It is impossible to set a precise age that will apply to every child, but when parents see convincing evidence of genuine spiritual life, and also some degree of understanding regarding the meaning of trusting in Christ, then baptism is appropriate. Of course, this will require careful administration by the church, as well as a good explanation by parents in their homes. The exact age for baptism will vary from child to child, and somewhat from church to church as well.

Baptism, What Does It Mean? Part 1 08/28/2016

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