Baptism

Concerned in our Bibles? You're 28 and we are on page 27

in the book, so you can turn there.

Does anybody need a copy of the lesson for tonight?

I we have a few copies of them. Maybe you forgot your book or

something. Anybody need a copy?

All right, buddy. Gary, one of the little girls

here, and Julie, anybody else? All right, very good.

We're going to jump into this. We'll see how far we get.

I've added a few things into it, so maybe you can take some notes

in the side along with this and some extra verses and things.

There's not so many verses that we need to have people

necessarily read tonight. But baptism is very

misunderstood by a lot of people.

I think maybe not once you become a Christian and, you

know, accept Christ as your Savior and then move on to that

step of baptism, but I think the world as a whole has, has very

much misunderstood baptism. And a lot of that is because of

religion. Religion has made baptism such a

huge important step and made it, you know, the, the salvation

experience. And it was never intended to be

a salvation experience. It's the next step after

salvation. And we're going to make that

very clear by the things that we talk about tonight.

So there are 7, sorry, 6 important questions about

baptism. We'll try to get to them

tonight. We'll see what happens.

If not, I'm not going to rush through it just to get to the

end unless we're close. And I don't want to keep you all

night. So we'll see what happens and

how far we get into this tonight.

But let's have a word of prayer and then we'll jump into it.

Father, again, we thank you so much for your goodness and thank

you for an opportunity we have to study your word.

I pray that it would be a help to us tonight.

And again, we thank you for all that you do for us in Jesus

name, Amen. I meant to mention this and I, I

forget often. I, I've thought about it several

different times. I know we have some of some of

you that are newer and maybe have never had this explained to

you before, how to find the verses in the Bible.

I know the easiest way is to just memorize the books and you

know exactly, you know how to get to it and what order they're

in and everything else. Sometimes you have tabs in

there, sometimes you don't. I don't have tabs in my Bible,

but it honestly the Bible most Bibles, in fact, I've never come

across one that did not have it. But it has a, a, a table of

contents, if you want to call it that.

But a list in the front of all the different books that are in

the Bible and I can't even find mine.

I have a huge my, my mine is a study Bible.

So it's got a really big section of study notes at the beginning.

But if you go to the front of your Bible, you'll see the list

of all the books of the Bible, all the Old Testament, 39 books

in the Old Testament and then all the books of the New

Testament, 27 books in the New Testament.

And all of them will be listed there in in order that they are

in the Bible. And then they'll be a little

page number next to each one of those.

There it is for me. But Genesis through Revelation

and like, let's just say my Bible says that the book of

Philippians is on page 1339. So you turn to page 1339.

If we're looking for actually, let me just do it with what we

have here. We have Matthew chapter 28.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

So to find Matthew 28, you'd go to the front, you'd find where

Matthew is. Mine says that Matthew is on

page 1055. So you turn to page 1055 and

then you look for chapter 28 and we're going to be looking at

verses 19 and 20. And that's how you find any of

the references in the Bible. And of course, the more you do

it, the easier it gets and the more familiar you are with where

they are in the Bible and what order they're in.

Every Bible is going to be the same if it's, especially if it's

a King James Bible. But all the books are always

going to be in the same order unless you have a chronological

Bible and then they'll be out of order just a little bit.

But easy to find still, but the exact same way.

So Matthew chapter 28 tonight. And the first question that we

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

have about baptism then is a very important one.

What is the meaning of baptism? Well, baptism #1 is the first

step of obedience after believing.

And that's obviously the the most important part of of what I

want you to get tonight. This is the first step of

obedience after salvation. Matthew chapter 28, verse #19

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

The Bible says, Go. You therefore and teach all

nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the

Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all

things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with

you all way even unto the end of the world, teaching baptizing,

teach all nations, baptize them in the name of the Father, Son,

Holy Ghost, and then teach them to observe all things.

So you have, you have salvation, you have baptism, you have

discipleship. Jesus commanded baptism, and the

believer is to submit to it as a step of obedience.

What is the significance of baptism?

Where we're going to talk about a few things, but literally

you're just getting dunked under the water.

Why do I have to get dunked under the water if it's not

washing my sins away? If it's not, if it's not getting

me closer to heaven, if it's not doing any of those things, why

do I need to do it? Well, the same reason we pray.

Jesus commanded us to do it. Prayer does not really make

sense to me in a lot of ways because God already knows what

we're going to be bringing to him.

He already knows what the answer is going to be, but He said to

do it. So we do it and it and he wants

to hear from us. He wants to have those

conversations. When I say that it doesn't make

sense, I understand what prayer is, but you know, God knows

everything already and He knows that we're going to pray to him.

He knows what we're going to say when we pray.

He knows that we're going to come and how often we're going

to come, but he still tells us to do it.

And so if it's a command that he gives us, then obviously it's

something that he wants us to do.

Baptism is the same way He tells us to do it.

So it's something that we should do and we're going to see the

significance of baptism here as we move forward.

First Corinthians, chapter 15. Let's turn over there.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

First Corinthians chapter 15 and we spent a lot of time talking

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

about this when we cover the section on the gospel.

Baptism not only is the first step of obedience, but baptism

is a picture of the gospel and very clearly in First

Corinthians 15 verse, well one through 4, but verse 3 and 4

especially. For I delivered unto you, first

of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died

for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was

buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the

Scriptures, it is a picture of the gospel.

It's a picture of the death, the burial, and the resurrection of

Jesus Christ, which again, it's sad that we even have to defend

immersion as a mode of baptism. It literally is what baptism is.

And we're going to talk about that in a little bit as well.

But you know, you don't. When somebody dies, you don't

just leave their body laying above the ground and sprinkle a

little dirt on them, right? Or even pour a cup of dirt on

them. Do you?

You dig a hole and you bury them in the ground.

That's what that's what death is.

That's what burial is. And baptism is a picture burial

and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And so it's another. That's the meaning of baptism.

The third thing that we see here under the meaning is that

baptism shows the believers identification with Christ.

The death, burial and resurrection is only associated

with Christ. No other religious leader rose

from the dead the way that Christ did.

So it is an identification with Christ.

Let's go over to Romans chapter 6.

Romans 6 · chapter mention

Romans chapter 6, Baptism shows our believer with him.

Romans 6 · chapter mention

It's symbolic of of our death with Christ and of our

resurrection to the new life that Christ has called us to as

Christians. And again, it's it's why baptism

cannot come before salvation. You don't have that new life

until you are saved. Romans chapter 6 and verse #3

Romans 6 · chapter mention

know you not? There's so many of us as we're

baptized into Jesus Christ, we're baptized into his death.

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.

So we're baptized in a symbol of a symbolic and symbol of his

death. And then we are raised the same

way that Christ was raised from the dead, raised up to walk in

newness of life and to be that Christian that God has called us

to be #4 then baptism is a public testimony before the

world that I believed in Christ and that I intend to live a new

life in Christ. It's an announcement of my

discipleship to Christ. Every baptism in the New

Testament was an event that was witnessed by other people.

And I think there's a few things here, you know, I've, I've heard

people say before, well, I'll get baptized, but I'm, I'm

really shy. So I don't want to do it in

front of anybody. I would rather just do it on a,

on a weekday when nobody's here. You know, people have asked me

that before. And well, I don't want to get

baptized because I really don't like getting up in front of

people. Well, it takes a little bit of

humility, right? That's, that's one of the

aspects of baptism as well. The whole purpose of baptism is

to let everybody know I am identifying with Christ.

And if you do it in a closet where nobody can see you, then

what's the purpose of the identification with Christ?

You are not letting anybody know that you've identified with

Christ. You're not letting anybody know

that you've been saved And you want them to know it, right?

It, it takes a little bit of humility.

I don't know, I don't know if Brian remembers this or not.

I was, I was young, I was probably 10 or 11 years old and,

and there was an older lady that had gotten saved and she wanted

to get baptized. And so she was up there in the

front and, and big church, you know, we actually had a

baptismal behind the stage there and they had a little curtain.

So the curtains opened up and she was standing there ready to

be baptized. And and you know, they kind of

give a little bit of her testimony and went to baptize

her. And she grabbed down to both

sides and she said, I don't want my hair to get wet.

And he said, well, if I'm going to baptize you, you have to get

your hair wet. And she said, I don't want to

get baptized then I don't want to get my hair wet.

And I was like, good, it takes a little bit of humility, right?

Especially for a lady that doesn't want to get wet, you

know. And so I, I say all that to say

that baptism is a public testimony to the world, as many

people. And I'm telling you this, I've,

I've seen this and maybe you've seen the video here before in

obviously in other countries, they don't have the luxury of

having a nice heated baptismal. Well, neither do we, but for all

the people who got baptized the last time, the heater was not

working the right way. But you know, they, they, it was

in Russia. And obviously, you know, Russia

is, is very cold. And the, the video comes on and

you just see these guys chopping into the ice and there's a

little sign sitting there. It's in Russian.

You can't tell what it's saying. They chop a hole big enough for

a person and for two people actually.

And here comes the pastor and here comes somebody down to get

baptized. Chopped a hole in the ice.

I mean, the ice was thick. And the, the interpretation in

Russian of that sign was basically I am committed or

something along those lines. This is, this is my dedication

to let people know, not that I'm getting saved, but that I am

saved, that I'll go to whatever lengths I have to go through to

make people, to let people know that I am identifying with

Christ. And that's, that's the meaning

of baptism. It is a picture of the death,

the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ #2 does baptism

make, make somebody a Christian? Does baptism make somebody a

Christian? Well, let me, let me look at it

this way. Well, let's read this first.

Let's let's turn over to Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

And then I, I want to explain a couple things here.

There's a vast number of people and this is, this is what I was

talking about really when I started.

There's a vast number of people that believe that baptism makes

you a Christian. Roman Catholicism teaches that

Catholics believe that. Greek Orthodox believes that the

Church of Christ believes that. Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims

typically believe that baptism makes you a Christian.

Certainly you could throw the Mormons in there.

They are getting baptized for the dead, for the people who

have who didn't convert to Mormonism before they died, you

can go into the Mormon temple as a card carrying Mormon and you

can get baptized for somebody who's already died.

So obviously they believe that baptism is, is necessary for

salvation, but it doesn't it, it does not mean that baptism is

necessary for a salvation. Personal faith in Jesus Christ

makes you a Christian. And, and I've said this many

times, true Christianity is not a religion.

It's not following a set of rules.

It's not doing things to hope to have a chance to get to heaven

someday. True Christianity is a personal

relationship with Jesus Christ. Baptism is just a picture and a

testimony of your faith. Water doesn't save us, right?

If, if, if baptism was necessary to wash away your sins, then it

would be reasonable to say that Jesus was a Sinner and needed to

be baptized to wash his sins away.

Why did Jesus get baptized? And I, I saw a children's book

that was, that was, was written by a Methodist and very, very

plainly it said Jesus, Jesus got baptized because he needed to

have his sins washed away the same way that we need to have

our sins washed away. His blasphemous as you can, as

you can get. Jesus was not a Sinner.

Jesus never sinned or he would have never have been able to

save us. Water does not have any power to

wash away your sins. There's nothing special about

water that has the ability to wash your sins away.

Only the blood of Jesus Christ can do that.

So to say that you can go down into the water, get baptized,

and then come up clean is such a misunderstanding of what the

Scripture actually is saying when it talks about baptism.

Baptism does nothing to save us. Only Christ can save us.

And to say that I need to be baptized in order to be saved is

saying that the death of Jesus Christ on the cross is not

enough. I need his death plus something

else, right? It's, it's, it's baptism is the

wedding ring, right? Baptism is just a picture.

I wear a ring because I want people to know that I'm married,

right? But if I take my ring off, it

does not mean that I'm not married, right?

I'm still married. I just wear it so that other

people know that I am right. I want, I want people to know

that I have a wife. I, I want people to know that,

that I'm not looking for somebody else, right?

And so on the day that I got married, I gave my wife a ring.

She gave me a ring. This is just the symbol of our

marriage, right? And that's exactly what baptism

is, right? I'm married whether I wear a

ring or not. I wear a ring because I'm proud

of the fact that I'm married and I want people to know it.

Salvation is exact. I mean, it is the exact same

thing. Baptism is just the ring that

you wear, if you will. Salvation happened.

I'm saved. I'm on my way to heaven whether

I get baptized or not, but I get baptized because I'm proud of

the fact that I've accepted Christ as my Savior.

I'm proud to identify with Christ, and I want people to

know that I have been saved and I'm identifying with Christ.

So I get baptized as the symbol to let people know that that's

the decision that I've made right now.

Here's the danger in putting baptism in front of salvation.

Let's just say that I decided that I'm old enough now, and I

feel like I should be at an age where I should be married.

So I walk down to the jeweler and I go and I buy a wedding

ring. And I pick out the one that I

want, and I stick it on my own finger.

And I start walking around telling everybody that I'm

married. No wife, no nobody at home

waiting for me. But I go to work and I say,

yeah, the wife wants me to go home tonight.

So unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to go out with you

guys. She's cooking dinner and I got

to get back home, Right? And you go home to an empty

house and, you know, you walk around, you're playing with it

in public. So people know that you're

married because you want everybody to know that you found

somebody for you, but you're not married.

And you know what's going to happen?

Eventually it's going to come out.

People are going to find out that you just bought a ring and

stuck it on your finger and pretended to be married.

And you don't actually have a wife, right?

That's what baptism is. Without salvation.

You can pretend all you want to to be a Christian and you can

show up at church and you can say, well, I can't do that

because Christians don't do those things, right?

And you can pretend all you want to, to be a Christian, but just

because you get baptized and pretend to be a Christian does

not mean that you are one. You've got to come to the

marriage alter 1st and get married to then put the ring on

your finger and wear it legitimately right.

And then the same way we come to Christ for salvation, and then I

get baptized as a way to say that I am this, you know,

getting baptized before salvation is putting the wedding

ring on before you've ever been married and trying to make

everybody else think that you're a Christian, trying to make

everybody else think that that that you've that you've done it

the right way. Trying to make everybody else

think that you know that you're under right heaven or whatever

else it is that you're trying to convince people that you know

that you're doing baptism can do nothing to save you.

The same way that going to a jewelry store and buying a ring

and put it on your finger makes you married, right?

It can't do anything for you. You putting that wedding ring on

does not make you married. It's just the symbol that you

are. And so, you know, you wouldn't

wear a ring without being married.

You shouldn't be baptized without being saved.

It's, it's just as simple as that.

That's the way that the Bible explains it.

Baptism is just a picture of salvation.

And so there's a lot of, there's a lot of religions out there who

say that you have to be baptized in order to be saved.

But that is putting the sanctification in front of the

justification, right? You're doing everything you can

to live a sanctified life, doing everything you can to live the

way that a Christian would live. But you've never been justified.

You cannot truly live a life of sanctification until you've been

justified, until you've experienced justification.

And an easy way to to understand what justification is, is just

as if I'd never sinned. I come to Christ.

I accept Him as the only payment for the penalty of sin that I

have to pay. He died on the cross to pay for

my sins. I come to him and I ask Him for

that forgiveness. I ask Him for that salvation

that only He can give me. I'm justified because now I can

stand before God just as if I'd never sinned.

That's how God sees me when he looks at me.

And then I can get baptized and then I can begin that process of

living a life of sanctification. I cannot do it in any other

order. Just like I can't live my whole

life not married and then get married at the end of my life

and pretend that I've been married my whole life, right?

Doesn't work that way. That's not the order that it

happens in. You get married, you put on the

ring, and then you work at your marriage, right?

That's how it goes. You get saved, you get baptized,

and then you work at living the way that a Christian ought to

live. Justification, baptism,

sanctification, that's the order that those things go in.

And baptism is the first step in that process after you've been

saved. So good works don't save us,

religious rituals don't save us. These things follow salvation,

but it is personal faith in Christ that saves us.

Salvation is a free gift of God's grace.

And in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8 and 9, it says, for by

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of

yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of

works, lest any man should boast.

If I could add even one word to it in order to be saved, that

means it's not a free gift. And by the way, if I can do

anything to lose my salvation, and that means I'm doing

something to keep it, I can't do anything to keep my salvation.

We're not on eternal security. We will talk about that, but.

Basically, to add anything to salvations, to say that Christ

is not enough. If I, if I have to accept Christ

as my savior and do this or anything else, that means that

his death alone is not enough. And that's a very, that's a very

serious accusation to make. It's Christ plus nothing or you

have nothing and that's that's baptism is literally just a

picture to show that. And by the way, that kind of

eliminates all of the arguments in favor of infant baptism,

right? If a bait if you baptize a baby

number one, I don't know if I've ever seen a baby actually get

immersed right. It'd be a pretty dangerous

thing. More than likely they they just

sprinkle a little water on that baby.

But if, if accepting Christ is a personal relationship with him,

how can a baby make a decision to accept Christ and have a

personal relationship with him when he has no idea what's even

going on? Right.

And, and for my entire salvation experience to be my mom telling

me that when I was a baby I got baptized and I have no knowledge

of it and no memory of it and no recollection of it.

That's a very dangerous spot to be in.

That's not a personal relationship at all.

If I didn't make the decision to initiate that relationship,

there's nothing personal about that at all, right?

It's just religion. And religion is very different

than relationship. The religion is the part that's

been added by man. The relationship is what was

initiated by Christ. So here's a couple verses.

Then what about Mark 1615 and 16?

And what about Acts 238? Because there are there are like

the Church of Christ and some of these other false churches that

claim that baptism is a necessary part of salvation and

they have the proof for it. Two of their favorites are Mark

1615 and 16 and Acts 238. So let's go look at those.

By the way, any perceived, any perceived discrepancy in the

Bible is just that. It's perceived there is an

explanation for all of it. And most of the time all it

takes is reading the Bible into context and comparing scripture

with Scripture. The Bible is not going to

contradict itself. So if it if it says one thing

and then it appears to say the exact opposite, it's not a

contradiction. It's your perception of what

that passage is saying. And Mark chapter 16 verse 15 and

Mark 16:15

16 is one of those. And he said unto them, Go ye

into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he

that believeth not shall be damned.

OK, sounds very much like the Bible is saying there that you

have to believe and be baptized in order to be saved, right?

Well, here we are taught that baptism is closely associated

with believing, but it is separated from salvation itself.

The Sinner is not damned because he doesn't get baptized.

He is damned because he doesn't believe.

And the wording is very precise and very important.

Baptism is an evidence that the person has truly believed.

Those who claim to believe in Jesus but refuse to be baptized

are not true believers. Jesus said that those who love

him will obey him. And we don't need to turn over

there. But John chapter 14 and verse 23

John 14 · chapter mention

says that now we're going to, we're going to talk about both

of these in a second, but let's go over to Acts 238 and look at

this. So we understand where we're

coming from. Believes and is baptized.

OK, That's that's, that would maybe sound like it's saying

that you have to be that you have to believe and you have to

be baptized in order to not be damned to hell, right?

Well, obviously the Bible is not saying that.

It's saying that belief is or unbelief is the damnation, not

the unbaptism or the not baptized.

Acts chapter 2 and verse 38. Then Peter said unto them,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus

Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the

gift of the Holy Ghost. The believer does not get

baptized in order to be forgiven for his sins.

He's baptized because he has been forgiven.

Think about it like this. If somebody says I need to take

some ibuprofen for a headache, are you going to take ibuprofen

in order to get a headache or are you taking ibuprofen because

you have a headache, right? It's a small word that word for

I need, I need some aspirin for my headache, right?

This is what the Bible look Acts chapter 2 and verse 38.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Everyone of you repent and be baptized, everyone of you in the

name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.

So their interpretation of that passage is repent, be baptized

so that you can have the remission of sins, right?

If I take aspirin for a headache, am I taking aspirin

because I want to get a headache or am I taking aspirin because I

have a headache, right? Repent and be baptized, everyone

of you in the name of Christ because of the remission of

sins, not in order to get the remission of sins, right?

That that word is very, very, very small, obviously, but it

carries a lot of weight to it. Repent and be baptized, every

one of you in the name of Jesus Christ because of the remission

of sins, not in order to get the remission of sins very small,

but obviously a very big difference.

So the expression for the remission of sins could mean in

order for your sins to be forgiven or because your sins

have been forgiven, right? And the same way that I

explained it, somebody can say, well, I think you're wrong.

I think what it's actually saying is this, well, let's look

over there. In Luke chapter 5, there's a

Luke 5 · chapter mention

similar expression that's used in the way of because your sins

have been forgiven. The exact way that I just

explained it, Luke chapter 5, Luke chapter 5, and verse #13

Luke 5 · chapter mention Luke 5 · chapter mention

This was a leper that was coming to be cleansed of his leprosy,

or Christ cleansed of his leprosy, and now he had to go

show himself to the priest. And so the Bible says, and it

uses the same exact phrasing here.

Luke 513 And he put for this hand Jesus, and touched him,

saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy

departed from him, and he charged him to tell no man, but

go and show thyself to the priest and offer for thy

cleansing, according as Moses commanded for a testimony unto

them. The leper was instructed to

offer himself to the priest. For thy cleansing mean that he

had already been cleansed by Christ, right?

It wasn't in order to get cleansed, right?

That same word. For for thy cleansing, go show

yourself to the priest in order to get cleansed.

Or go show yourself to the priest, because you have been

cleansed, right? It's the same word and you can

you can you could say that the interpretation could be made

both ways. Are you going to get cleaned or

you going because you're clean? Well, it's he's going very

obviously by the context of this passage, he was going because he

was clean. And I think the same exact

interpretation is what we find in Acts chapter 2 and verse 38

Acts 2 · chapter mention

because of not in order to. So we know that this meaning,

this is going on to the next page, page 28.

We know this is the meaning of Mark 16.

We know it's the meaning of Acts chapter 2 by comparing Scripture

Acts 2 · chapter mention

with Scripture. The apostle Paul said that it is

the gospel of Christ that saves Romans 116 for it is the power

of God unto salvation. And he taught that baptism is

not the gospel. By the way, then let's turn over

the First Corinthians chapter, chapter 1.

I want to give you a couple more verses here that we know for a

fact by the Word of God that baptism is not necessary for

salvation. It's not only that verse, It's

not only these verses that are left open for interpretation

that would tell us that baptism is not necessary for salvation.

And I think first Corinthians chapter 1 is one of the most

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

powerful verses that we have, really kind of the whole passage

there. But verse #17 actually, let's go

back. Let's go back into this.

Is Paul talking to the Corinthians there?

And he says this in verse 12. Now this I say that everyone of

you saith I am of Paul and I am of Apollos and I have Cephas and

I have Christ. Is Christ divided?

Was Paul crucified for you or were you baptized in the name of

Paul? I thank God, I thank God that I

baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius.

If baptism is necessary for salvation, do you think Paul

would be so thrilled that he never LED anybody to Christ?

I'm so thankful that I didn't lead any of you to Christ by

baptizing you. So thankful that none of you

came to know Christ as your Savior by being baptized.

They will Christmas and Gaius, those two, but unfortunately

they got saved because I baptized them, right?

It's it's it's ludicrous to say that Paul would be thrilled that

he didn't baptize any of them because baptism was a part of

salvation, right? He says, I thank God that I

baptize none of you but Crispus and Gaius, lest any should say

that I had baptized in my own name and I baptized also the

House of Stefanus. Besides, I know not whether I

baptize any other. But here's the important part

verse #17 for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the

gospel, not with the wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ

should be made of none effect. Do you see the important

distinction there at the beginning of verse 17?

Christ sent me not to baptized, but to preach the gospel.

If baptism was part of the gospel, then what Paul's saying

here is a is a contradictory statement.

Christ sent me not to preach the gospel, but to preach the

gospel. If baptism is part of salvation,

you have to say that, right? Baptism very clearly is not a

part of salvation. And Paul is very clearly saying,

my mission, what I've been given to do is not to go baptize

people. It's to share the gospel of

Christ. Very, very distinct between

sharing the gospel and seeing somebody get saved and then

seeing somebody get baptized. Let's, let's look in verse,

sorry, chapter 15, First Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

And we've already been through this.

We've already looked at all these things.

But here's this distinction again.

First Corinthians 15, one through 4, the gospel in a

nutshell. And I want you to see how many

times baptism is mentioned here. Moreover, brethren, I declare

unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also

you have received, and wherein you stand, but by which also you

are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless

you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first

of all that which I also received.

How? That Christ died for our sins

according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He

rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures.

And that ye must be baptized in order to be saved Doesn't say

that, does it? Because here's the gospel, the

gospel in a nutshell, and no mention of baptism anywhere.

Do you think if baptism was necessary for salvation, he

would have at least included it in the gospel in the places

where he gives us the gospel? Because baptism is not necessary

for salvation. Let me give you a couple other

verses. Let's go over to Luke chapter

Luke 23 · chapter mention

23. The one exception, baptism is

necessary for salvation. But there was 1 exception, Luke

Luke 23 · chapter mention

chapter 23. I'm being facetious obviously.

But verse #43 Jesus was hanging on the cross as he's dying, and

he's got 2 thieves on either side of him.

And one of them mocked and made fun of Jesus.

And but the other one, verse 42, said unto Jesus, Lord, Remember

Me when thou comest into thy Kingdom.

He recognized who Jesus was. And Jesus said unto him, Verily

I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in paradise.

Now, what you don't have in this passage is that they went and

undid the nails from that thief, brought him down off of the

cross, baptized him, and then put him back up on the cross so

that he could finish dying. That's not in the passage, but

we know that's what happened. No, it's not what happened, is

it? He didn't come off the cross,

get baptized, and then go back up on the cross so that he could

complete his salvation, right? No way that he came off the

cross. He died just a few hours later,

a few hours after this, he was, he was dead.

They broke his legs and he died, right?

He didn't have time to come off the cross and get baptized.

So did God make an exception for this thief?

He didn't have to come the way everybody else came because he

couldn't come off the cross and get baptized.

Or is baptism just not necessary for salvation?

I think it's more likely, right? Let's look at another one.

Let's go to Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10.

Acts 10 · chapter mention Acts 10 · chapter mention

Again, the way the Bible words, things matters.

And this is one of those circumstances where the way the

Bible words, this matters. Acts chapter 10.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

And Peter is preaching to the Gentiles here verse #43 well,

verse, verse, verse 42. Peter's in the middle of a of a

sermon. And he commanded us to preach

unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained

of God to be the judge of quick and dead.

To him give all the prophets witness, that through His name

whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.

While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on

all them which heard the word, and they of the circumcision

which believed were astonished as many as came with Peter,

because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of

the Holy Ghost, for they heard them speak with tongues and

magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man

forbid water that these should not be baptized which have

received the Holy Ghost as well as we and he commanded them to

be baptized in the name of the Lord, then prayed they him to

tarry certain days. Now I think this is an

interesting thing we read in Galatians chapter 4 that the

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

that the Holy Spirit is the mark of sonship, right?

The Holy Spirit coming into somebody's life is a mark that

they are saved and that they are sons of God, right?

In Galatians chapter 4 and verse 6 tells us that.

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

So the Holy Spirit, these people get saved, the Holy Spirit comes

upon them and then they get baptized, right?

So if baptism was necessary for salvation, there would be no

Holy Spirit that's coming upon these or they're or they

wouldn't have, they wouldn't have been saved, right?

The Holy Spirit came on a bunch of unsaved people.

It didn't happen that way. They were saved.

The Holy Spirit came up, came upon them, and then they were

baptized. Cornelius received the Holy

Ghost before he was baptized. So either baptism is not

necessary for salvation or the Holy Ghost came and fell upon

people who are not saved. And we know that that can't

happen because they're, they're still dead in their sins, right?

The Holy Spirit is what quickens us, makes us alive in Christ.

So either baptism is not necessary for salvation or the

Holy Ghost fell upon people who are not saved.

I don't think we can say that. Let's let's go to Acts chapter

Acts 20 · chapter mention

20. Acts Chapter 20.

Acts 20 · chapter mention

And verse #21 this is a verse that we focused on quite a bit,

on repentance and faith, testifying both to the Jews and

also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our

Lord Jesus Christ. Why was Paul not testifying of

them toward baptism, right? Or testifying to them of

baptism, If he's testifying of repentance and faith, If baptism

was necessary, shouldn't he also have at least mentioned that

he's testifying to them about being baptized too, Right?

It's because it's not necessary for salvation.

Let's go look at another one in Romans chapter 10.

Romans 10 · chapter mention

Romans chapter 10, Just kind of going through these in

Romans 10 · chapter mention

chronological order, but Romans chapter 10.

Romans 10 · chapter mention

And these are verses that are very familiar to you.

We use these often when we're sharing the gospel with

somebody. Verse #9 That if thou shalt

confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in

thine heart that got it raised him from the dead, thou shalt be

saved. Do you think that if baptism was

necessary for salvation, he would have said, Believe in

thine heart that got it to raise him from the dead, and are

baptized? Thou shalt be saved.

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, with a mild

confession is made unto salvation, and with baptism the

sins are forgiven. I mean, it would, it would be,

it would be very easy to put that in there if that's what was

necessary for salvation, right? It's not there.

But there's no difference between the Jew and the Greek.

For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon

him. For whosoever shall call upon

the name of the Lord and be baptized shall be saved.

It's not there, right? Whosoever shall call upon the

name of the Lord shall be saved. Baptism is there's, there's the

gospel in the nutshell again and again, no mention of baptism.

Let's try this. Let's go to 1st Corinthians

chapter 1. We mentioned this one already,

but since we're here and kind of putting these in a little bit of

chronological order verse #17 as we already read for Christ sent

me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, Why would Paul be so

adamant about not preaching baptism and making such a

distinction between that and the gospel?

Here's another one. Let's go over to Ephesians

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

Verse #13 In whom you also trusted.

After that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your

salvation. In whom also after that you

believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.

What is that sealing of the Holy Spirit?

Well, that is, I've got you in my hand, and nothing can pluck

you out of my hand. You cannot lose that salvation.

You are sealed until the day of redemption.

But what was the prerequisite for that?

Saved and baptized, right? No, baptism is not a part of

that. Saved.

You believe and you're sealed right Now baptism is that step

of obedience. It's necessary, but it's not

part of salvation. In whom you also trusted.

After that she heard the word of truth, the gospel of your

salvation, in whom also after that ye believed you were sealed

with that Holy Spirit of promise.

There is no mention of baptism in there, and for good reason.

You can write down first Peter chapter 3 and verse #21 as well.

1 Peter 3 · chapter mention

We'll, we'll, I'm going to move on because I want to finish

this. But that's a symbol of the

purification of our hearts. It's a picture of salvation

only. He's talking about the, the days

of Noah, how they were saved. But it's just a picture of that

purification of our hearts. Let's move on.

What is the mode of baptism? And I think for most of us, we

understand this. So I'm going to move through

this fairly quickly. But, and again he mentions this,

it's sad that we even have to discuss the mode of baptism

because the Bible is so clear about it, but we have to discuss

it because a lot of professing Christians practice sprinkling

and pouring. Scriptural baptism is immersion

in water or burial in water. 5 evidences here.

Number one, that's the meaning of the word, the word baptize.

It comes from the Greek word baptizo, which literally means

to immerse. So I'm going to immerse you in

water by sprinkling you. Doesn't make sense.

I'm going to immerse you in water by pouring water on your

head. That's not immersion.

Immersion can only happen by going under the water and

literally being immersed in it. The word means to immerse.

Or to dip #2 This was the manner in which Jesus was baptized.

Mark chapter 1. And again, we don't have to take

Mark 1 · chapter mention

the time to turn there because the Bible very plainly says he

came up out of the water. Why would Jesus go down into the

water to be sprinkled right? Why would he go down into the

water to have water poured on his head?

No, he came up out of the water and that's when the Holy Spirit

came down and rested upon him in the form of a dove and

everything else. This is also the example of the

early Christians. And let's turn over to here,

Acts chapter 8. Acts chapter 8, There's a

Acts 8 · chapter mention Acts 8 · chapter mention

candidate for baptism, and there's a preacher.

Acts chapter 8, verse #38 And he commanded the chariot to stand

Acts 8 · chapter mention

still. This is, this is Philip with the

Ethiopian eunuch. He commanded the chariot to

stand still and they both went down.

They went down both into the water, both Philip and the

eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they were come up out

of the water, so very, very plain, they went down into the

water. They came up out of the water

and he was baptized. He was immersed, he baptized

him. That word baptized is in the

Greek would literally have said to immerse, right?

He, he went down into the water, he immersed him and they came up

out of the water. And that's exactly what the

method was for all of the other early Christians as well.

The only reason for that would be to practice immersion.

Otherwise why would they both go down into the water?

That's me. And I'm just going to dump a

little cup of water on somebody's head and then you can

go in the water if you want to. I'm just going to get a little

cup and dump it on you, right? There's no reason for it unless

they were being immersed #4 This is the only mode that fits the

biblical meaning of the practice.

And I alluded to that already. You don't sprinkle a little bit

of dirt on somebody when they die.

You dig a hole, you bury them in the ground, right?

And that's exactly what the the whole purpose of baptism is, as

a picture of the death, the burial, and the resurrection of

Jesus Christ #5 immersion was the only mode of baptism in the

churches for many centuries. And this is interesting because

I've been in some of these places as well in Israel and

other places. But many ancient baptistries

testify to that fact. The most ancient baptistry in

Rome, for example, is a large pool that was obviously used for

immersions, right? As opposed to a little stand of

water that you see nowadays, you know, you go into a lot of these

churches where they're doing the baptisms and it's just a little

stand with a little bit of water in it, right?

Where they can kind of dip their fingers in it and, and sprinkle

you with that, right. I mean, that was, you don't find

that anywhere in these ancient churches, in these, in these,

you know, ancient early Christian churches, you don't

find evidence of that anywhere. You find evidence of a pool, you

find evidence of a of a rock tank, you know, a tank made hewn

into the rock and everything else.

Brother Cloud says I've stood in the baptistry and it comes up to

my waist. The same is true for an ancient

baptistry I've seen at a church in Ephesus.

So obviously, the way that they did it for many, many years,

turn over to First Timothy chapter 3.

1 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

First Timothy chapter 3. Who has the authority to

1 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

baptize? Well, the New Testament church

has the authority to baptize, right?

It's the Lord's chosen institution for this age, and

it's the House of God, the pillar and ground of truth.

First Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15.

1 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to

behave thyself in the House of God, which is the Church of the

living God, the pillar and the ground of truth.

Every baptism in the book of Acts was conducted by a

preacher. That's who has the authority.

The local church has the authority.

Not some parachurch organization, not some, you

know, extra ministry somewhere that's not under a local church.

The local church has the authority to baptize.

And then what follows baptism? Well, let's turn over to Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2. And this is obviously the very

first church. And they were saved at

Pentecost. And then obviously the Bible

says they were baptized. So the thing that follows

baptism is Christian service and holy living.

As I mentioned, there is justification, there is baptism,

and then there is sanctification.

And again, if you're not willing to take that first step and

follow Christ in obedience and get baptized, then you cannot

grow in your Christian life. You cannot grow in your walk

with God. You cannot grow in that

sanctification if you haven't even taken that first step or if

you won't take that first step of obedience that Christ has

commanded us to do. So the thing that follows

baptism in Christian is Christian service and holy

living. And we find that in Acts chapter

Acts 2 · chapter mention

2 and verse #41. Then they that gladly received

His word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto

them about 3000 souls, and they continued steadfastly in the

apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in

prayers. So that's the order, saved,

baptized, added to the church, discipled, growing.

That's that's Christian service and holy living.

And so the individual that takes baptism is testifying that he

has died to the old life and that he's going to follow Christ

as the Lord of his life or as the Lord of her life.

It's a very serious and solemn practice.

The Christian in the first church at Jerusalem, the

Christians in the first church at Jerusalem continued

steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in

breaking of bread and in prayers.

So it was a very serious thing that they did saved, baptized,

added to the church grow in their Christian life.

And that's the order that it has to be in.

And if you've never been baptized after you're saved,

then it's important that you do that.

Listen, there are some people who who who make a profession

or, or you know, don't even realize if they've gotten saved

or not and get baptized maybe even.

And then later on in their life, and many times it happens with

kids, they get saved at a young age and they start questioning

their salvation. Later on, they get that settled.

And I don't know if I was saved before, but I know I'm saved

now. Well, it's important to get

baptized on the right side of salvation.

If you got baptized before you were saved, you just got wet.

That's it, right? If you got sprinkled as a baby,

that's not a valid baptism. You just got wet.

That's it. It's no different than jumping

in the swimming pool, right? It's no, it's no different than

baptizing yourself in a bathtub or doing any of those kind of

things, right? If you're just getting wet.

I mean, we used to do that as kids, you know, when, when, when

we were real little, we, we all took a bath together, you know,

and, and we would practice baptizing each other in the tub,

you know, I mean, didn't, didn't, didn't do anything for

them, right? Didn't do anything because they

were just, they were literally just getting wet, right?

Baptism is done under the authority of the local church.

It's done by immersion, it's done after salvation, and it's

done in obedience to what Christ has commanded us to do.

He did it to show us what to do. He told us that we should do it

in obedience to His Word, and that's why we do it.

Not only that, it's a picture of the death, the burial, and the

resurrection of Jesus Christ. And it is an example and a

testimony to all the world that I know that I'm saved and I want

everybody else to know that I'm saved and I'm going to go on and

live for the Lord. I am raised to walk in newness

of life. There ought to be something

different about me after I get saved.

There ought to be something different about me after I make

a profession in front of everybody to let them know that

I've been saved by getting baptized.

Baptism cannot do anything to save you.

Baptism is a work like confession to a priest or like

doing the Holy Eucharist or saying Hail Marys or doing any

of those other things. It's a work just like all of

those things are. It cannot save you.

But once you have been saved, then baptism is that step of

obedience that every one of us should take to let everybody

else know, hey, I've been saved and I want you to know it.

I'm going to live for Christ. It's an important step, but but

it's not, it's not a step that is necessary for salvation only,

only the gospel, only accepting Christ as our Savior, accepting

his death on the cross, realizing that I'm a Sinner and

accepting that death on the cross is the payment for my sin.

Baptism is the step that comes after that.

Hope that's a help. Hope some of those verses will

help you maybe in in explaining that to somebody else.

And we'll we'll move on with into eternal security next week.

And I'm going to give you some questions about this next week

too. Let's pray.

Father, again, we thank you so much for your goodness to us.

Thank you for the opportunity to be here together tonight.

I pray that it has been a help to us.

I pray that you would use it in our hearts to help us maybe help

somebody else understand this and come to the knowledge of

Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, themselves and God.

I pray that if there is somebody in here that never has been

baptized after salvation, that they would take that step and

move forward in their Christian life and in their walk with you.

Thank you again for all you do for us in Jesus name, Amen.