The Meaning Of Baptism

Introduction

Our study this morning will commence in 1 Peter chapter 3, verses 13 through 22. We’re not going to be looking at this context in a lot of depth, but just to get the flavor of what’s going on and then to focus our attention on the last verse or two of this section. This lesson is the result of some thoughts I’ve been entertaining for a period of time. Just a few things for you to consider this morning. Peter is writing to believers who are under the threat of persecution. And thus he asks, who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good. Do not fear that intimidation. Do not be troubled. And then one of my favorites in 1 Peter, the verse 15 of 1 Peter 3, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.

Regardless of the circumstances that you face or the opposition and difficulty, our mission is quite clear. Just as we have been sanctified by Christ, that is set apart unto him for his service. We are saints. We are to be holy. We have been marked by God as belonging to him. Just as we have been sanctified and drawn out of the defilements of the world. This is the one passage in the New Testament that speaks of us doing the sanctifying. As we are to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts. That is, we’re to make a place for him because he made a place for us. Make a place for him in your hearts. Hold on to that. Hold on to him regardless of the external pressure that comes your way.

And it’s interesting that what flows out of this is an example of salvation in the Old Testament. Where Noah and his family are saved through water or by water. Notice the context of opposition that no doubt Noah dealt with in his time. And how that as he persevered in the building of the ark and following God’s plan, while it only meant the rescue of eight souls, they were nonetheless the saved ones despite such opposition. Like Noah. Water was extremely significant in our deliverance and our salvation. And that’s where Peter goes when he says, and corresponding to that, verse 21, baptism now saves you. Listen, Bible student, do not belittle the role of baptism in God’s salvation. And I know I’m not talking to this audience so much, but so many students throughout the world belittle the role of baptism in our salvation.

God’s plan for water and our cleansing. Baptism now saves you. This is significant. Not the removal of dirt from the flesh. You think he’s not talking about water baptism, then why mention that? It’s not a physical washing of your bodies. It’s not the removal of dirt from your flesh, like hopefully you do in the shower on a pretty frequent basis. But an appeal to God. That’s what our baptism is. It is an appeal to God for a good conscience, the cleansing of the inward person. It’s an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. What gives our baptism validity is the death and resurrection of Jesus. Thus we have confidence when we’re immersed into Christ, as we are immersed in water, that we are rising unto a new life, just as he rose from the dead and is now at the right hand of God, and that’s where our hope is centered, having gone into heaven after angels and authorities and powers have been subjected to him.

More on that in a future sermon. Immersion in water in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins is taught clearly in the New Testament and foreshadowed in the Old Testament. On the basis of all that Christ is and all that he did in the name of Jesus, based on the fact that he is King of kings and Lord of Lords and is our Savior at the right hand of the Father on high.

This is what the New Testament clearly and abundantly teaches. And may I suggest to you that this is one of the great distinguishing marks between what we believe as Christians and what Christians throughout our world believe.

And when we look at these passages like 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 21, and we look at what seems so abundantly clear on this subject, the question is often raised in our minds: how are people missing it? How do so many people not teach what 1 Peter 3 21 and other passages clearly say? Misguided theology. And listen, tradition is a powerful thing, even among us. Ignorance and rebellion. To name a few reasons. If you want to know why this very obvious and clear teaching of the New Testament is rejected, may I suggest that a lot of it is incorporated in these three reasons. People who are teaching things to prop up their theology that is not consistent with the New Testament. And because people have done these certain religious things in their family for years and years and years, and people whom they respect believe and practice these things.

And so it’s the powerful sway of the comfortable and the familiar. Be careful that does not become the overriding influencing factor in what you embrace and believe religiously. Because it’s what we’ve always done, it’s what we’re comfortable with. And then, as biblical ignorance grows, people are dependent upon teachers, often whom are not telling the truth. As people are not familiar themselves with the information of Scripture, the will of God, and then ultimately, it’s a lot of times just the fact that people want to do what they want to do. And they rebel. Let us understand that when we were baptized, when we are baptized, we are making an appeal to God for cleansing. 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 21 makes that clear. We are making an appeal to God to cleanse our inner person of the awful wretchedness of sin.

We just sung that. And he carried our sorrows. Borrowing heavily, of course, from the imagery of Isaiah 53. He carried my sorrows. It is by his stripes, it is by his oppression that I can come into the presence of God. The wretchedness of our sin that had imprisoned us and would destroy us. If not, and only because of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the blood that he shed for us. I was going to mention this verse last week, and it totally slipped my mind in the preparation of the material. It was actually in the beginning stages that I talked about incentives for everyday faith. I was going to mention this verse and forgot, so I’m going to include it now. It applies to both last week and today.

2 Corinthians 8 and verse 9. What a powerful verse. And it’s spoken in the context of how the Corinthians are being admonished to give to meet the material need of the saints in Judea. But it is the motivating factor in our response to God, or one of the significant motivating factors. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor. That you, through his poverty, might become rich. Thanks be to God for his marvelous gift. And that in baptism we are receiving mercy that could not otherwise be received. We are receiving mercy for our misdeeds as we appeal to God. And we listen to the Spirit’s instruction and comply. And thus, when we do this, we are committing ourselves to the Spirit’s leading of our lives.

This is not just satisfying a religious requirement where that awful thing that I’ve heard about, sin, is taken care of, and here I am, I’ve arrived. Well, you have, but it’s just the beginning. By one spirit we’re baptized into one body. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 13. And now there are implications as to how we’re going to live and how we’re going to operate among the Lord’s people. We have signed on to the Holy Spirit’s leading in our lives. We are to be filled with the Spirit, Ephesians 5 and verse 18 says.

Though Jared Bowman is no longer with us, and he is now working with those folks in Centerville.

He is more communicating with me now than ever. He’s got so much time on his.

I think he read the whole Bible in one week. And is talking to me about it through text. And what do you mean by responds? Like, look, dude, I’ve got sermons to prepare here also. But he was actually helping me. He was actually, and you’re laughing because you know Jared. He was actually helping me with these thoughts. And we were talking about the significance of baptism. And he came up with a little phrase, and he just said it just in passing. That’s it. That’s it. That the occasion of baptism is an occasion of majestic awe. And I like that expression. It is not dissimilar to the birth of a child. Those of you that have been present at the birth of your children or someone else’s children, know what a spectacular moment that is.

It’s almost speechless. It’s riveting. It’s incredible. And that’s what our baptism into Christ is like. It is the emergence into a new life. It is profound. It is overwhelming. It is unlike anything else. And when this glorious moment occurs in your life, eradicating, as I said, and as I will say momentarily again, the awfulness of sin, there are three significant things associated with this act that I want to draw your attention to briefly as we speak of being cleansed from our sins.

1. Heaven's Attention Is Riveted on This Event

I’ve always loved that song since I was a little kid. Probably should have had Dean lead that one. Cleansed, raised, purchased, out of our sin and purchased unto a new life, redeemed unto the Lord. Three things I want to share with you quickly that happen as we’re baptized into Christ. Number one, heaven’s attention is riveted on this event. And there’s so much I could say about this. We learn from Luke 15 and the parables of lost things, the lost coin, the lost sheep, the lost son, that on each occasion when what was lost had been found, what resulted? There was rejoicing in the presence of the angels of heaven. Luke 15, verse 7, Luke 15, verse 10. And while that phrase is not repeated in the story of the prodigal son, what happens?

There’s a celebration. The son who is lost has been found. He’s come home, and they killed the fatted calf. There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents. And I might suggest to you that repentance sort of stands as synecdoche in that story. And I know that’s a figure of speech, a word that represents figure of speech. Where a part of something stands for the whole. When somebody repents, as we’ll see in the conclusion of our lesson, when somebody repents, they are turning from an old way of life unto a new and better and God prescribed course. And so while repentance is not baptism, one who has made such a turn will listen to the Holy Spirit’s instruction and be immersed for the forgiveness of their sins.

You get somebody who truly repents, and they’re going to embrace the instruction of God and the Holy Spirit and do what follows. And that’s why Paul, or Peter, rather, in Acts 3 and verse 19 says, repent and be converted. Repentance is not the whole of the story, but it will lead to the rest of the story. Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, and times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Again, indicating point one. Heaven’s attention is riveted. And the reason why I make this point of all the things that happen in the world that men make a splash about and write about and chronicle for history. God looks at history from a totally different perspective. You know what the Bible is?

This is the ultimate book of history from the perspective of heaven, not the perspective of men. I don’t know of any extra-biblical source that mentions the lives of Hananiah, Mshael, and Azariah.

And you’re going, who are those guys? Now, some of you know to whom I refer. I like calling them by their Hebrew names, because that’s often overlooked in the story of Daniel. And we call them most often, even with our little kids, by their Babylonian names. What if I were to say Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Well, oh, yeah, I know those guys. Same guys. But I give them their Hebrew names, which were given to them to honor God. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. I know Daniel uses both of them, but they’re not mentioned in the annals of history outside the Bible, as far as I know. But I want to tell you, it’s God’s history that matters. And the faith of those three men and the event that happened in regard to the fiery furnace was significant history that God wanted his people to know.

And while when somebody is baptized into Christ, it’s not going to find its way into the local newspaper here in Tomball or the Houston Chronicle is not going to report the number of baptisms. The fact is heaven is a lot more concerned about this than a lot of things that get reported. I find it interesting that when the disciples came back from being able to cast out demons, they were so overwhelmed by that.

Which was elliptical. He said, not merely rejoice over this, but even more rejoice what? That your names are recorded in heaven. I love that verse. Luke chapter 10 and verse 20. And I will just say, as a concluding thought here on this point. If someone is baptized into Christ, the attention of heaven will be riveted on that event. Everything will be on the edge of their spiritual seats in heaven. As they peer down upon this. But it’s not just this. It’s the people of God as they perform acts of submission and obedience to God. Heaven’s attention is riveted on this place today. As we strive to be in every sense the people of God. That’s why all of this is important. And from a historical perspective, and really God’s perspective is the only one that matters.

These are the most significant things that are occurring today in this world. But here’s the second point, and one that I really want to draw our attention to, and I mentioned by way of introduction. Oh, I had another point about living in view. I just saw it on my paper. Back to point one, real quick. Living in view of what heaven sees is an important way to live your life. Hebrews 4.13 and 6.10. Write those verses down. Hebrews 4.13 and 6.10. All is open and laid bare before the eyes of him with whom we have to do. There is no creature hidden from his sight, the Hebrew writer says. We ought to live our lives in view of what heaven sees. He is not unjust to forget our work and labor of love.

2. How Undone: The Ugliness of Our Sin

Hebrews 6 and verse 10. More on that tonight. Live in view of what heaven sees. Point number two. This is the part of this sermon that I really want to draw your attention to. I want you to focus with me for a minute. Something that I think can be overlooked. How undone. You know when Isaiah sees the Lord and all of his holiness, he says, I am undone. I have unclean lips. I live among a people of unclean lips. You know what baptism is saying? I am completely undone and without hope. And God did something to make coming into fellowship with Him possible, a holy God. And we must never move far from the fact that our immersion into Christ is about the horrific and wretched condition and the ugliness of our sin.

It ought to be a very sobering thing as we consider it. And how long did it take God to provide this means of rescue? Centuries. Millenniums. In order to arrange the fullness of times that Paul talks about in Galatians 4, to provide this remedy that would picture the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, where we die to sin and our sins are washed away and we rise to walk in the news of life. It took him centuries arranging circumstances and working through men to provide the solution that we could not provide. Don’t ever forget that in our baptism into Christ, that we’re dealing with the eradic the eradication of sin’s effect in our lives, and we could not do it ourselves.

And that this is not a celebration of me. It is a celebration of him and what he has done, his goodness, his compassion, his mercy, the lifting of a horrific burden. And while I have acted wisely and obediently and need to be encouraged for what I’ve done, it is God who deserves the greater glory. And it ought to be something where we are compelled to immense gratitude. As Paul says in Colossians 2, as you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, firmly rooted and now being built up in him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, overflowing with gratitude. Verse 12. Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead, and when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.

3. God's Will Is Done

And so all I would say about this majestic awe, sin’s ugliness, trumped by the blood of Christ and the mercy and kindness of our God. And I would say finally that what happens when one is baptized into Christ is God’s will is done. And I make this point from the baptism of Jesus.

Even though Jesus did not have a need to be baptized from the standpoint of cleansing, John preached a baptism of repentance, that is the turning away from sinful acts and a consecration of oneself to God. Jesus didn’t really need that from the standpoint of misdeeds because he had done nothing amiss. He did no sin, neither was there any guile found in his mouth. And John knows that when Jesus comes to him, he says, I’m not worthy to untie your sandals.

You should be baptizing me. What did Jesus say to that? Permit it at this time to fulfill all righteousness. I think there’s at least two things that are going on there. Number one, he says, permit it at this time to fulfill all righteousness, because just as our baptism is an emergence unto a new life, his baptism signaled his emergence onto the public stage and his public ministry. It was the beginning of Jesus going about teaching and working miracles and doing signs and presenting himself as the Messiah of the Old Testament. So it marked a beginning for him. But secondly, and I think maybe even more importantly, Jesus knows that all who would follow him, all who would be recognized by him as his disciples would be baptized in water for the forgiveness of their sins, in likeness of his death, burial, and resurrection.

And as we said in a sermon not very long ago, he did first what he calls us to do. He submitted to baptism to lead the way for us, because that’s what we would do to become one of his. God’s will is done. It’s what God has instructed us to do. And once we have done that, once we have emerged unto this new life, we are not done. We have need of endurance, the Hebrew writer says in chapter 10 and verse 36, so that when we have done the will of God, we may receive what is promised. Majestic awe.

Conclusion

And when he talked about his mission of preaching this gospel in Acts 26 and verse 18, when he talked about what his purpose was, he says, it is to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the dominion of Satan under the grip and control of the devil, under the dominion of Satan to God, his dominion, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and lo and behold, the unworthy likes of us, not just forgiveness, but an inheritance. Reminds me of the prodigal son story. An inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me. This is God’s salvation by grace through faith. And faith is the fuel of it all. It is faith that leads us to repent, to turn from a sinful course.

It is faith that leads us to confess our belief in Jesus, and it is faith that causes us to be immersed, the final and culminating step in God’s plan to save us from our sins. We believe. And I talk about this all the time because it’s really impressed me in recent years that people will come to be baptized, and their tears will be flowing. As I remember Kayla just a few weeks ago. Tears are flowing, knowledge of what we’ve done, crime against God, rebellion. And then we’re immersed in water, and people come up out of the water, and they rejoice.

Majestic all.

Out of darkness and into his marvelous light, we have received the forgiveness of our sins. Are you living God’s will for your life? And that’s the question as we sing the invitation song to invite your response. Won’t you come while we stand and sing?