Sermon Tone Analysis

Today I am going to start a basic Christianity Course.

First I am going to cover two topics: Baptism and Membership and then I will review the what, why, when and how of salvation and then go over some Baptist Principles.

Let’s see how this goes.

Today we are going to look at Water Baptism.

Let’s have a look at few bible verses, as this is our authority in faith and doctrine:

Why should we be baptised?

As a first step of obedience in walking out one's faith, a new Christian should most definitely be water baptised because the Bible commands it!

We are not being baptised in order to please our friends, family or pastor.

It is not because we are a Baptist Church or because we believe in baptism.

We are not trying to follow any religious reasons or traditions.

We get baptised because Jesus is our example:

And because we are commanded to:

Disciples of Jesus in the New Testament church were baptised to proclaim their total allegiance and commitment to Jesus, regardless of the consequences.

For a first century Christian, this meant identifying with Christ even unto death, since many of them faced severe persecution.

Let's look at some other examples of water baptism in the New Testament:

All the biblical accounts agree: water baptism is for those who believe.

Yes, even a child who is old enough to understand the significance of repentance and faith in Jesus can be baptised.

But there is no scriptural basis for infant baptism.

How can you be baptised into One on Whom you do not believe?

Baptism is an act of faith by one who chooses to identify his life with Christ, and a baby is not yet able to make such a choice.

Being baptised is not a matter of feelings but obedience to God.

There is no waiting to see if you understand better or are a better Christian.

It is when you have repented and received Jesus as your saviour.

It is as soon after your commitment as you have opportunity.

There is never any waiting time in the Bible between becoming a Christian and being baptised.

The fact we have any time between these two is because of tradition which is not biblical.

In all the examples I have given and in all the examples in the Bible it was always immediately after coming to faith in Jesus.

According to the Bible, water baptism is a symbolic act whereby a new Christian identifies with Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.

Water baptism is a public profession of a person's repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and a way of giving outward testimony to an inward work of God.

You now have the ability to communicate with God, hear His voice, love and obey Him, overcome sin, and walk out your salvation by faith.

We read in:

Water baptism symbolically identifies us as new creations in Christ.

By going down in the water, we illustrate that our old man is dead to sin and buried by faith in Christ.

As a result, we are free from our old master Satan.

By being raised up out of the water, we show that our new man is raised by the Spirit and made alive by faith in Christ.

We die to live again:

Water Baptism cannot save us.

Now I know that this is taught in a number of Churches especially Roman Catholic and many Anglican Churches as well as other fellowships: they normally allude to Christening and make out that if you’ve been done then this will save you when you die.

But it is not true for only faith in Christ can save us who buries us with Christ and raises us to newness of life.

As we can see - faith in Jesus ensures we are not condemned - not christening or baptism.

But water baptism does help us understand the spiritual truth that according to our faith, our old man is dead in Christ and their new man is alive in Christ.

What if I was baptised as a baby?

A new believer only needs to be baptised once; when they become a Christian.

But it is not biblical to baptise babies for they do not understand and if that is you then you need to now be baptised as a believer.

The actual baptism itself follows the instructions found in

When God baptises you into Christ, you become part of the Body of Christ, which is the worldwide family of God.

It affirms that we are united with God’s family, also known as the Church.

We are one with the catholic church.

Catholic does not mean Roman Catholic but the word catholic means universal.

We are part of the universal church, past, present and future of those on the earth and those already with Jesus, so of all time and of every place.

And so, next time, we’ll start to look at what it means to be part of the Church.