Pastor Larry Kirk
2004
Text: Romans
5:1-2; Romans 6:1-4
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"What Is Baptism And Why Does It Matter?" (Audio) - July 11, 2004 Text: Romans 5:1-2 & 6:1-4
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“WHAT IS BAPTISM AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?”
Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Romans 6:1-4 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized 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.
I recently heard an interesting story about a man who decided to be baptized after watching the movie “O Brother Where Art Thou?” This man, a relatively young husband and father of three, had recently started going to church. He had heard a lot of Christian teaching but nothing seemed to settle very deeply in his heart. One night while watching the movie “O Brother Where Art Thou?” there's a scene where these three escaped convicts running from the law stumble into the middle of an outdoor riverside baptism. They find themselves surrounded by music and dozens of almost otherworldly figures moving slowly through the woods and down to the river to be baptized. In the background Allison Krause is singing: “O brothers lets go down. Down in the river to pray.” The movie doesn't quote the Bible or give any careful explanation of the meaning of baptism, but this man found that the image of baptism in the movie moved him. The impression I got from the story is that it wasn't just a superficial feeling, but rather that the images in the movie somehow touched the man deeply. He decided that he wanted to really settle the issue of his commitment to Christ and he wanted, as part of his commitment, to express his faith in baptism.
I don't know exactly what in the movie scene had such an impression on that man. I think that even though this movie is kind of artsy and even sarcastic most of the time, the image of baptism as a sign and symbol of cleansing, rebirth, and renewal still comes through with power. That is an image and a picture that resonates in the hearts of many people. The unique beauty of baptism is that it is a powerful picture that you not only look at, but you take part in. You actually do something that Jesus himself did. John the Baptist, if you remember, baptized Jesus. Baptism is something that Jesus experienced and baptism is something that Jesus told his followers to do as part of following him.
The neatest thing about baptism for believers in Christ is that it is an outward symbol that you experience. You yourself know that what is being felt and seen and experienced physically is a picture of something that has actually happened within you spiritually because of the grace of God.
Baptism is an important outward symbol of the gift of grace we receive through faith in Christ.
It's important to know that when the apostle Paul gets to the subject of baptism in Roman 6 he has already explained in the book of Romans that our peace with God and our righteousness in God's eyes does not come through any works that we do but through faith in Christ alone.
In Romans 5:1-2 we read: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. What this makes clear is that baptism is not a religious ritual by which we make peace with God. Peace with God comes by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Our faith is not in baptism, but in Christ alone.
When Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross it was the most powerful act of love the universe has ever witnessed. He not only suffered the physical agony of crucifixion, but the spiritual agony of the judgment of God. He died as our Savior, in our place, paying for our sins. When he died he said: “it is finished.” His resurrection from the dead is the proof that God accepted what he had completed. There is nothing that any of us can add to what he did for us on the cross.
Our faith should never rest in or rely on the things we do for God, not even in the good things like baptism that are commanded by God. Saving faith is faith in Christ alone as our Lord and Savior
It's our faith in Christ that we express in baptism
In Acts 16 there is the story of a man who came to the apostle Paul and asked: “What must I do to be saved?” That is a very straightforward question and a question the Bible takes very seriously. The answer that Paul gave in Acts 16:31 is this: "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household." (That does not mean that if he alone believes his whole household will be saved. It means that what applies to him applies to the whole family.) As they all believe they will all be saved. Notice what happened in Acts 16:32-33 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. Belief in Christ leading to baptism as an expression of faith is the pattern that you find repeatedly in the Bible.
· Faith in Christ is the essential element in receiving Christ and the gift of new and eternal life that he brings.
· Baptism is the external expression of faith that is expected of all true believers.
I think one of the best modern life analogies of baptism is the wedding ring. In some wedding vows when you slip the ring on the finger of your loved one you say: “With this ring, I thee wed.” Now what does that mean? Does that mean that the essence of a marriage relationship is formed, created, born out of the exchange of a small band of metal? No. Taken literally, the phrase “With this ring, I thee wed” makes it sound like the ring does it all. Putting a ring on someone's finger doesn't cause you to forsake all others and commit to that one person in faithfulness and love for the rest of your life. The ring is really the outward symbol that expresses and seals the covenant promise that you make when you marry. The promise is what makes the marriage. The commitment without the ring would still make you married, but the ring without the promise makes nothing.
In our culture giving the ring and making the vow or promise is so connected that we sometimes speak of them as if they are the same thing. Not always. In some wedding ceremonies we say, I give you this ring as a symbol (or a token) of my vows. In others we simply say, “With this ring I thee wed”. We understand both ways of saying it. The way the Bible sometimes speaks about baptism is like this: Sometimes inwardly believing in Christ as your Savior and outwardly expressing that belief in baptism is so linked as part of one conversion experience that the Bible doesn't worry about drawing a line somewhere between the belief that actually receives salvation and the baptism that outwardly symbolizes salvation.
Galatians 3:26-27 says “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” Notice how clearly it tells us that it is through faith in Christ that we become the children of God. But, in the very next verse, baptism is so linked to faith in Christ as the expected outward expression of faith in Christ, that he says for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. When we ask “What is it exactly that saves you?” “What is the essential thing?” the answer throughout the Bible is that it is belief in Christ. But, baptism is the expected expression of that belief.
What the bible consistently teaches is that....
Everyone who believes in Christ should be baptized.
Think about what is happening here in the book of Romans. Paul is writing to a group of Christians he has never visited or known personally. He is trying to answer some very common everyday questions they have about living as people who have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. But when he writes to them as believers in Christ he assumes, as foundational, the fact that they have been baptized. He doesn't even consider the idea that there could be such a thing as an unbaptized Christian.
Look at Romans 6:1-3: What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? “Should we believers in Christ continue living sinful lives since God forgives us by his grace anyway?” The apostle Paul says, “No, of course not. That would contradict the meaning of your baptism.”
Paul is confident that all of the Christians in Rome have been baptized. When he wants to make an important point about how to live the Christian life what he does is he reminds them of the meaning of their baptism. This has meaning for all of them because as Christians they have all been baptized. When he says, in verse 3, “don't you know” he is using a figure of speech. He is saying: “Of course you know this, this is basic to your Christian faith.”
It's the same way throughout the Bible. Whenever the New Testament speaks of Christians, unless they have just become Christians, it assumes they have been baptized. Why? Because baptism would be the first step of discipleship in which the essential element of faith would be sealed and confirmed and expressed outwardly in life. It should be no different for us today.
Sometimes we ask the wrong questions. Sometimes people ask me: “ In order to be a Christian do I have to be baptized?” That's the wrong question. It's like a man asking a woman “In order to marry you do I have to put a ring on my finger?” Technically the answer is no. The ring is not the essential thing. But if there isn't some physical or medical reason not to wear that ring, and you claim to love that woman and want to be married to her, why wouldn't you want to wear that ring as a symbol of your love and commitment? If you really refuse the ring could it mean that the love you profess is false?
It's the same theologically (spiritually) with God and your relationship with him. If you ask, “ In order to be a Christian do I have to be baptized?” theologically the answer is "no." Please understand that. But understand also that that is the wrong question. Do you believe that Christ is your Lord and Savior? Do you understand that he calls all who believe in him to be baptized in water as an outward expression of faith in Him? If so, why would you possibly refuse to be baptized if you really believe in Christ? Can you imagine someone hearing the preaching of the apostles' calling them to repent and receive Christ and be baptized and saying something like, “This is good news, Christ died and rose again for my redemption I will repent and receive Him as my Lord and Savior, but I'm definitely not going to be baptized, even though I know that baptism is clearly commanded by the one that I'm now calling my Lord and in whom I am claiming to trust for my eternal life.”
Don't put your faith in Baptism. Don't think that because you were baptized you are a true Christian. Be sure that you have received Christ as your Savior. You may remember me telling you how I asked some children one time: “What if there was some man who was lonely and he wanted to be married so he went out and just bought a ring would that make him married?” One of the children said: “No, you have to have a girl.” In the same way, when it comes to baptism, you have to have the Savior. You receive the Savior through faith. But if you have faith in Christ, don't diminish the importance of baptism as the sign and seal of your relationship with your Lord and Savior. If you claim to believe in Him, if you call Him Lord, then do what he says. Be baptized as an expression of your faith in Him and as a sign and seal of his grace in you.
Baptism is a sacrament of grace that empowers you for the rest of your life with Christ
The word “sacrament” comes from Latin. It means an oath of allegiance. In Christian faith a sacrament is simply a religious act or ceremony established by Christ as a symbol of spiritual truth.
To say that baptism is an empowering sacrament doesn't mean that it works magically. But it does mean that it matters. When Romans 6:3 says, Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? It is saying that this truth that you pictured in your baptism can and should empower you for the life you are living today. Baptism is not just a ritual you perform and then forget. The Bible keeps calling Christians to remember their baptism and think about the implications of baptism for daily life.
Your baptism reminds you to live your life as a one who has received amazing grace.
I read a letter recently from a woman who was writing about her experience of baptism. She told how in the baptism service in her church there was a large wooden cross on the platform. The pastor asked people who were going to be baptized to write down some of the sins that weighed on them and when they came up to be baptized they were to take that piece of paper and pin it to the cross. The idea was that this would impress on the people the Bible's teaching that when we have received Christ our sins are nailed on the cross with Christ and fully paid for by his sacrifice and death. So they were to take this piece of paper, with their confession of sin all folded up, stick it on the cross and then turn and come to the pastor to be baptized. She said that she was so afraid to write down the sin that bothered her the most. She said she couldn't remember ever being more afraid. She wrote as tiny as she could on that piece of paper one word. The word that she wrote was "abortion". That's what weighed on her the most. She was so afraid that someone would open that paper and read it and find out that it was her that she almost walked out. But she didn't. When her turn came she walked up and pinned that piece of paper on the cross and then turned to the pastor who was going to baptize her. She said:
He looked me straight in the eyes and I thought for sure that he was going to read this terrible secret I kept from everybody for so long. But instead, I felt like God was telling me, “I love you. It’s okay. You’ve been forgiven.” I felt so much love for me, a terrible sinner. It’s the first time I really felt forgiveness and unconditional love. It was unbelievable, indescribable.
Do any of you have a secret sin that you would never want to write down on a piece of paper out of fear somebody might open it up and find out? If so, God wants you to understand that through Christ the weight of guilt and shame from that sin is washed away. He wants you to know that, and it’s one of the purposes of baptism. God choose water baptism not because water is magical but because water is a perfect means of communicating the cleansing power of God's grace.
The story is told about the baptism of King Aengus by St. Patrick in the middle of the fifth century. Sometime during the baptism, St. Patrick leaned on his sharply pointed staff and accidentally stabbed the king’s foot. After the baptism was over St. Patrick looked down at all the blood, realized what he had done, and was shocked. He asked the king why he hadn't said anything. The king said, “I thought it was part of the ceremony.” (Knowing the Face of God, Tim Stafford, p. 121ff)
I don't think anyone in our day would expect pain to be an intentional part of a baptism. We know it's not supposed to hurt you. But do we go far enough in understanding the heart of God? Do we understand that what God has given us in baptism is a symbolic experience of the invigorating cleansing of his healing grace? Do you know that He intends for you to enjoy it and rejoice in what it means and find strength in the grace it pictures so powerfully?
Most people tell me that when they are baptized they feel cleansed and invigorated. We know the water doesn't actually cleanse our sins. It's faith in Christ that brings the real cleansing. But it seems that God gave us in baptism an experience that creates a physical and emotional feeling of cleansing and newness to teach us how we can and should feel spiritually in light of what his grace has actually done in our lives from the inside! Why did God do that? Because he wants us to feel the freedom of forgiveness that He gives us in Christ. You don't have to be a strong person or a good person to become a Christian. But you have to receive cleansing. Christ offers you that cleansing through faith in him. He asks you to picture that cleansing in your baptism.
The cleansing that we picture in baptism is absolute. It's not just cleansing for past sins but for present and future sins as well. As a Christian you are given a new birth and a new self, but the old self still lives on in your life and you have to battle with the reality of sin, selfishness, and unbelief throughout your life. What baptism so powerfully pictures is that that the old self that still lives in the sinful and selfish desires that battle within you, that person and nature has already been put to death and buried in God's eyes. That's a very radical and complete kind of cleansing and renewal.
This is truly amazing grace. Not only are my sins forgiven in Christ, but what sometimes seems like another person inside me who battles with God's authority, compromises convictions, gives into selfish or shortsighted impulses, resists loving others, and hates correction and criticism is already dead and buried in God's eyes. God sees a new person raised up to live a new life. That's amazing grace.
Do you live your life as a person who has received that kind of amazing grace? Do you know how you can know if you are living your life as a person who has received this amazing grace? By how gracious you are with others. How well you do at sharing Christ love with others when you see their sins and failures. The clearest test in the Bible as to whether you are living in the freedom of forgiveness and the love of Christ is the love and grace and kindness you show to others especially when they sin against you. Do you live your life as a person who has received that kind of amazing grace? Do you get it? God wants you to get it. He gives us baptism as a sacrament of grace so that the truth of his grace will sink into our hearts.
Your baptism reminds you to live your life as a one who is radically surrendered to the Lordship of Christ.
Romans 6:4 says: 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. Baptism pictures the whole person dying and rising again to a whole new life in which Christ is Lord.
One of the most interesting baptism stories I've ever heard is the story of the baptism of Ivan the great. The story is that Ivan the Great was the tsar, the ruler of all of Russia during the Fifteenth Century. He brought together all the warring tribes into one vast empire--the Soviet Union. He was a fierce warrior and a brilliant general. But he was single and had no heir. His advisors were afraid if anything happened to him the kingdom would fragment into chaos so thy found him a wife. She was the beautiful daughter of the king of Greece. She was also a member of the Greek Orthodox Christian Church and Ivan could not marry her unless he was baptized. He agreed to do this. He traveled to Athens Greece with 500 of his most elite fighting men, his personal palace guard. They were all going to be baptized with him. The church assigned 500 priests to give Ivan and his men a one on one pre-baptism crash course in Christianity. The Eastern Church baptizes as we do by immersion so when the day for the baptism came 500 soldiers and 500 priests and Ivan and his priest walked into the Mediterranean Sea to be baptized. Then as the priests began to baptize them, each soldier reached to his side and withdrew his sword. Lifting it high overhead, every soldier was totally immersed-everything baptized except his fighting arm and sword. The point that Ivan and his men were making is that they would not submit their sword arms to the Lordship of Christ and the kingdom of God. They kept for themselves and for their kingdom an unbaptized arm.
The unbaptized arm. What a picture of a very common approach to Christian life and faith. Baptism pictures the submission of the whole person to the supremacy of Christ as Lord. Don't try to hold on to an unbaptized arm, mouth, sex life, checkbook or even a single unbaptized attitude.
Sure, through faith in Christ we have forgiveness that washes away every flaw. Baptism pictures that but it also, at the same time pictures radical submission to the Lordship of Christ.
Baptism pictures dying to the old life weighed down by the guilt and shame of unforgiven sins and failures, to live the new life of complete forgiveness and cleansing that is received and claimed.
It pictures dying to the old life of rebellious foolishness that created such vulnerability to addictive temptations, to live a new life of glad surrender to the Lordship of Christ in the details of life.
It pictures dying to the old life that looked for happiness in earthly circumstances, to a new life that find happiness in the presence and the promises of God and the confident hope of eternal life with Him.
It pictures dying to the old life that was excessively fearful about earthly dangers, and living a new life of surrender to God's perfect providence and trust in his faithful mercies.
It pictures dying to the old self-centered life to live a new God-centered life.
Baptism pictures both a tomb and a womb. It's a picture of a tomb in which the old person is buried and a womb from which a new person is born again.
Do you clearly see what baptism means? Will you live out in practice that truth that it pictures? That's the life to which God calls you. Let's live that life in all it's radical newness so that the power of God's grace that we picture in the act of baptism will be the reality of our lives.