Christian Baptism

Text: Matthew 28:16-20

Thesis: To show ideas about baptism that are taught in the New Testament that the religious world often ignores.

Introduction:

1. A web site described a TV commercial in which a car was towing a water skier across a

Lake. At the end of the commercial, according to the site, these words “Professional driver on closed course. Please do not attempt this in your car, it may void your warranty.”

2. Manufacturers are quick to state their disclaimers. They want you to know they’re not responsible if you don’t use their product as it was intended to be used.

3. Does the same apply to the Bible? Is it possible that we might not use it the way God intended us to use it? Would there be a problem, or would God just overlook the error?

4. One doctrine in which we might see this principle at work is what the Bible teaches about baptism, specifically Christian baptism. Let's see what the Bible really says.

Discussion:

I. Is There More Than One Kind Of Baptism?

A. If someone asked, "Is there more than one kind of religion?", the answer would be "Yes". But is there one religion that is acceptable to God? Again, the answer would be "Yes". We must carefully study to find out what that one acceptable religion is.

B. Other kinds of baptisms?

1. Mat. 28:19 - Jesus, in His Great Commission, commanded His followers to baptize others. If that were all the information we had on baptism, we might be looking at many possibilities on what God desires.

2. (2 Kings 5:14) - Naaman was commanded to dip seven times in the Jordan River. But that was specifically for cleansing of his leprosy. Does this kind of "baptism" apply to us?

3. Under the law of Moses, there were many situations for which ceremonial bathing was commanded. Again, is this what we are to follow today?

4. Mat. 3:11 - John the Baptist stated that Jesus would baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Is that what we're to understand about Christian baptism?

C. (Eph. 4:5) - One fact we must keep in mind as we study this question is that Paul affirmed there was but "one baptism". We've just noticed that there have been other baptisms mentioned. But Paul's point was that for Christians there is only one kind that God has commanded. And the New Testament doesn't leave us in the dark on this.

II. Characteristics Of Christian Baptism

A. Christian baptism is a burial:

1. In many churches today, a "baptism" is nothing more than a sprinkling or a pouring of water over a person's head. That's all some people know of the concept.

2. Vine's Dictionary of New Testament Words gives this definition for baptizo: "to dip, [it] was used among the Greeks to signify the dyeing of a garment, or the drawing of water by dipping a vessel into another, etc. For baptisma, the noun, he says: "consisting of the processes of immersion, submersion and emergence" (pp. 96,97). It is thought that the practice of sprinkling was originally substituted for those who were ill. Eventually, it became a common mode of baptizing someone.

3. Acts 8:38,39 - Such a view of baptism doesn't work in this instance. Both Philip and the eunuch went down into and came up out of the water. The eunuch was immersed, something unnecessary if baptism could also mean sprinkling.

4. Col. 2:12 - Paul declared that we were buried with Christ in baptism, and from this we were also "raised" with Christ from the dead. The allusion is clearly to Jesus' burial, a total enclosure of His body by the earth.

5. Everette Ferguson, in Early Christians Speak, quotes from several ancient Christian documents, and then draws this conclusion: "The ordinary practice of baptism in the ancient church was immersion. Such is the consistent testimony of the sources from the New Testament until later times. ... These writers clearly describe or allude to a total submersion of the body." (p. 47)

B. Christian baptism is for believers:

1. Again, it's common practice in many denominations to baptize (sprinkle) infants. When someone says they have been baptized, they may not remember anything about the event; in fact, they did not consent to being baptized.

2. Acts 16 - Is this a Biblical practice?

a. v. 33 - Defenders will point to this occasion when the Philippian jailer and "all his family" were baptized. They argue that this must have included little children, even though they're not mentioned in the passage.

b. vv. 30,31 - But when the jailer asked what he had to do, Paul's first response was that they should believe. More teaching led to their being baptized.

3. Mk. 16:16 - Jesus told His disciples that belief preceded baptism.

4. Gal. 3:26,27 - How do we become children of God? By faith in Christ Jesus, which will then lead us to be baptized.

5. In addition to passages like these that link faith to the act of baptism, there is also the clear NT teaching that children are innocent at birth. There is no need to baptize a child; they're already safe, according to the teachings of the Bible.

C. Christian baptism is for the remission of sins:

1. Here again many denominations go astray. They will adamantly deny that baptism has anything to do with forgiveness, but is instead for confirmation. Is this right?

2. Rom. 10:13 - Many will point to this verse, and say that merely calling on the name of the Lord is what saves us.

3. Acts 22:16 - But Saul was told how to call on the name of the Lord - by obeying whatever the Lord commanded (in this case baptism). Words alone are not enough.

4. Acts 2:38 - Peter told the audience at Pentecost to repent and be baptized "for the remission of sins". But what does that phrase really mean?

5. Matthew 26:28 - Jesus stated that His blood had to be shed "for the remission of sins" - the same phrase in the Greek. We know what Jesus had to do; why do we find it hard to understand what we are to do?

D. God has given plenty of information about Christian baptism. Are we heeding it?

Conclusion:

1. (2 Kings 5:14) - Do we have to worry about being precise on this question? Did Naaman

have to go to the specified river, and dip the specified number of times? Certainly. But it

was well worth his effort to closely obey what God had told him through Elisha.

2. Christian baptism will release us from our debt of sin! Why should we quibble over things

that have been clearly revealed? To receive the benefit, let us be careful to do just as the

Lord has taught us.