13th September 2015
The Ordinances: We believe in the baptism of believers in water in obedience to the command of Christ and the commemoration of Christ’s death by the observance of the Lord’s Supper until His return.
We continue looking at the two ordinances Jesus gave us. Last week we looked at communion (in the first service; if you attend the second service please read the blog and download our podcast).
Today we look at water baptism by immersion. We baptise by immersion for several reasons:
- It is what baptism means: baptizo (verb) is used by the Greeks to describe the dying of a garment. It shows us that the one baptised is changed, not be the water, but by Christ.
- A baby cannot be baptised: it is a decision made a a person who is convicted of their need for Jesus and therefore is a decision that requires understanding of the gospel.
- It signifies membership of the global Church. Acts 2:38: Peter replied, “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Baptism Speaks of levels of discipleship:
1. Obedience:
Baptism was commanded by Jesus for all who follow Him to participate in. In one sense it is not optional.
Matthew 28: 18-20: Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’
Within this Great Commission is the entreaty to baptise people. It is part of being a Bible believing Christian that we would be baptised. It is not optional.
So often we vacillate over this. We put it off. We find all kinds of reasons not to be baptised. Intrinsically we know that if we are to be baptised we are putting Jesus first.
That means that there is a warfare involved in baptism. The enemy does not want the Church to be an obedient Church. The devil is happy enough for us to come to a church each Sunday and not take it seriously.
If we claim to love Jesus and be recipients of His love then we would obey Him.
John 14:23-24: Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
He states these words in answer to a question of whom He would reveal Himself to. Love for Jesus is shown through the fruit of obeying Jesus.
In one sense this is the lowest from of relationship. We do it because He is the boss and it is a display of love, even though it is obedient love. If you are baptised out of obedience, it is good. It is better than not being baptised. Do not put it off for years though! Delay and deferment eventually become disobedience.
There are other reasons to be baptised too:
2. Commitment
Luke 9: 23 Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
Jesus is talking about the manner of His death when He says these words. He is talking about the need for an unwavering commitment, every day, of those who want to follow Him.
Following Jesus is the best thing anyone can ever do. It is a life full of adventure, challenges and hope, of victories and triumphs. It is also a life of difficulties of walking a narrow road, of putting God’s plan first, of serving others and, yes of persecution and even martyrdom.
Commitment for Christ is for the brave! It is for those who accept the message of the gospel, that we are sinners fallen short of God’s standards. God, though, in His great love sent Jesus to live perfectly and to die in our place, taking our punishment. Being raised to life by the Spirit, Jesus shows victory over sin and death. Therefore we can follow Him with confidence.
It is still a daily commitment. For many I have baptised over the years I have seen baptism seal their commitment to God. It is as though being obedient and making a public commitment to Jesus transforms them. Why? Because it challenges the status quo in our life. It takes us from plodding along in our walk with Him into running the race. It means we declare the words of the old song:
I have decided to follow Jesus,
I have decided to follow jesus,
I have decided to follow Jesus,
No turning back, no turning back!
Baptism is an act of obedience and a demonstration of commitment but it is also:
3. Surrender:
Luke 9: 24: For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.
Again Jesus talking about how He would die but also about how follows of Him will be treated. There is something of surrendering our lives to Jesus here. We recognise our lives are not our own.
Paul speaking of sexual purity says:
1 Corinthians 6: 19-20: Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.
See also:
Acts 20:28: Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God,[a] which he bought with his own blood.
1 Corinthians 7:23: You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings.
1 Peter 1:18-19: For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
Our lives before Jesus should ones of complete surrender because we acknowledge that we do not belong to ourselves any longer. We are more than mere followers, we are disciples.
A follower walks the same path as one ahead. A disciple imitates the manner in which they walk.
In baptism we are publicly declaring that we are disciples.
Romans 12:1-2: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Surrounding ourselves is an act of free will. We do so willingly before God We are surrendering two main areas for God as living sacrifices: our bodies and our minds.
In other words, surrender and sacrifice must be complete, not partial.
Water baptism declares this surrender. Although surrender must happen daily we declare we are surrendering from this moment onwards and will continue to do so.
4. Relationship (identification):
When we are baptised we are saying we are in a relationship with Jesus. To be honest the word relationship has been weakened and cheapened in our society. People talk about relationships that are disposable or with inanimate objects. We use the word relationship is a psychological sense, not a Biblical one.
Relationship speaks of identifying with someone or something. So in it’s weakest sense I could say I have a relationship with my sons, but that would not describe the DNA of that relationship: they are my sons.
When we are baptised an identification is declared. it has already taken place at repentance, but is now declared to those present, and to the heavens too.
This identification is described for us:
Romans 6:3-7: Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
Our relationship with Jesus is shown in our identification with Him at baptism.
The water signifies the death that Jesus went through, the grave. By being baptised by immersion we are saying we are dying to our selves.
Coming up out of the water represents Christ’s victorious resurrection. We are saying we have been raised to a new life in Jesus.
Baptism declares our old lives are over and new ones in Jesus have begun. It is a declaration of relationship and identification with Jesus.
5. Hidden:
Galatians 3:26-27: So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Clothing hides things, right! When we are baptised it is a picture of being in Christ too. It means He is pictured as surrounding us, hiding us.
“Baptism is an illustration of what it means to be "in Christ." Being placed into Christ when we are saved is like being placed into water, completely covered. We are not seen except through the water, as we are not seen by God except through Christ. When God the Father sees us, he sees us in and through the filter of Christ.” (Doyle Welborn).
Wrapping This Up:
We are having our next baptism service on Sunday 4th October. Please let us know if you’d like to be baptised.
The real question is: “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptised?” (Acts 8:36b).
Remember:
- It’s an act of obedience in response to Jesus’ command.
- It’s an act of commitment showing that we are following Jesus as a disciple.
- It’s an act of surrender showing our lives are not own any more.
- It’s an act of identification of the new relationship; the old life has gone and the new has come.
- It’s a picture of the hiddenness we enjoy in Jesus.
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