Chapter 29: Of Baptism

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PARA 1 – Importance of Baptism

1._____ Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, to be unto the party baptized, a sign of his fellowship with him, in his death and resurrection; of his being engrafted into him; of remission of sins; and of giving up into God, through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of life.
( Romans 6:3-5; Colossians 2;12; Galatians 3:27; Mark 1:4; Acts 22:16; Romans 6:4 )

OUTLINE

Importance of Baptism

  1. Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament
    • Baptism never practised in OT, exclusively a NT ordinance.  Word ordinance (not sacrament) emphasizes no saving grace communicated in baptism as taught by RC.
    • Desire in every sinful heart to be on good terms with God without obeying God and continue in their sin, and frequently looks to church to make the arrangements for this.  Most often, baptism and the Lord’s Supper are seen as those channels through which grace automatically flows
    • Church must make it very clear that participation in baptism and the Lord’s Supper will not benefit anyone who does not truly repent of his sins and exercise saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
  2. Ordained by Jesus Christ.
    • Not invented or ordained by man/church.  Baptism is by direct command and ordained by Jesus Christ.
  3. It is sign
    • Very important to realize it is a sign.  The believer’s baptism is an outward sign  of an inward change.  A sign like Olympic gold medal/marriage ring.  He is winner not because he received the medal; he has received the medal because he was a winner.
  4. It is sign to the right participant
    • “unto the party baptized”. We often think of baptism as a statement made by the one being baptized, and so it is.  Bible emphasizes primarily as a sign to the believer. It is primarily a powerful statement made by God to the one who has trusted Jesus for salvation.
    • As vivid sign of redemption that God has enabled him to understand the gospel and respond and be saved.  For right participants, this is sign that they are truly children of God and heir of heaven.  The fact that the believer has died and risen again with Christ is a powerful encouragement to holiness and should serve as an encouragement to fight the temptations of sin and discouragement and fear.
  5. It is sign of believer’s union with Christ in death and resurrection 
    1. of his fellowship with him in his death and resurrection;  In baptism, a new disciple is plunged beneath the water and then lifted up again. This is a picture of death, burial and resurrection. It points to the amazing reality that the believer has died with Christ, been buried with Christ, and resurrected with Christ.  It is just as if believers obeyed when Jesus obeyed, and suffered for sin when He suffered for sin  Romans 6:3-5.   We are removed from cursed union with Adam and united to Christ.  So baptism sign represents the very heart of the Christian gospel.
    2.  of his being engrafted into him;  The word “engraft” is used of the process by which one living organism is implanted into another forming a single entity.  Those who embrace Jesus Christ in true repentance and faith become a part of Him.  The result of faith and repentance is union with Jesus Christ.  The believer is in Christ, and is considered one with Him.  Baptism is a simple yet stunning picture of the believer’s union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.
  6. Two Practical implications of union with Christ
    1. His sins are forgiven. “of remission of sins”  “Remission” means a releasing, a sending away.  They will never again come between God and the believer. Baptism is a picture of that reality.
    2. He has turned from sin to follow Jesus. “and of his giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of life.”  The believer in Jesus experiences a radical spiritual transformation. He turns from sin to obedience.  Paul describes this conversion experience as a death to sin (Rom 6:11) and a rising again to a new life of righteousness (Rom 6:13)
      • The Christian no longer lives in the old ways of sin.  Baptism becomes a powerful weapon in the believer’s war with his remaining sin.  It is a reminder of the public commitment made in baptism, a commitment to turn from sin and follow Christ
      • He is no longer the slave of sin. He does not have to obey the old sinful impulses anymore. He is a new man in Christ, and should act like a new man.

Summary:  Biblical significance of baptism. It is a sign. It points to the glorious reality that the believer is in saving union with Christ. And because he is in saving union with Christ, his sins are forgiven, and he is enabled and committed to live a life of obedience to Christ.

PARA 2 – Right individuals for Baptism

2._____ Those who do actually profess repentance towards God, faith in, and obedience to, our Lord Jesus Christ, are the only proper subjects of this ordinance.
( Mark 16:16; Acts 8:36, 37; Acts 2:41; Acts 8:12; Acts 18:8 )

OUTLINE

To whom should baptism be administered: The only proper subjects” of baptism are

  1. “those who do actually profess repentance towards God,
  2. faith in, and
  3. obedience to our Lord Jesus”.

Note:  No infant baptism commanded and followed in entire NT.  In each and every example (refer para verses), baptism is explicitly connected with an intelligent and positive response to the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.   Even baptism of John forerunner was not for infants.  Interestingly, John also made it clear that a claim of family membership was an insufficient response to the preaching of the coming Messiah; there must be a personal response of repentance, Luke 3:8.)

PARA 3 & 4-  Proper Method of Baptism

3._____The outward element to be used in this ordinance is water, wherein the party is to be baptized, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  ( Matthew 28:19, 20; Acts 8:38 )

4._____Immersion, or dipping of the person in water, is necessary to the due administration of this ordinance. ( Matthew 3:16; John 3:23 )

OUTLINE

Three aspects of Method

  1. Outward element.  The outward element to be used in this ordinance is water.
  2. The verbal expression.  “wherein the party is to be baptized, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”  Salvation is work of triuine God, and hence, glory given to all three. When a believer enters saving union with Jesus Christ, he also enters fellowship with the Father and the Holy Spirit
  3. The actual procedure.   Immersion, or dipping of the person in water, is necessary to the due administration of this ordinance.

Three scriptural reasons for immersion

  1. The meaning of baptism.   Greek word which is translated “baptize” means to immerse, or to dip; total immersion.
  2. Bible examples.    
    • Matthew 3:16.  Referring to baptism of Jesus, baptism took place in the River Jordan, and Jesus “came up immediately from the water”. 
    • John 3:23: “Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized.
    • Acts 8:36, 38.  For sprinkling, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians” (v. 27) would have some water on his chariot!  They stopped near river for immersion.
  3. The Biblical significance of baptism.  Saving union with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection can only be represented in immersion.  Is that not most vividly pictured when the candidate is lowered into the water, and then lifted out again? Is that not the most fitting picture of death, burial, and resurrection?

Let us be properly thankful to God for this picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us be faithful in its exercise in our churches, for the good of believers and the glory of God.

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