Lesson 2
Growing In Grace – Lesson 2 Print out here
Baptism
“Then they that gladly received His word were baptized; and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” -Acts 2:41
This verse tells us that those who believed on the day of Pentecost were baptized following their salvation. Every believer should be baptized following his salvation. We have several Biblical reasons that make baptism important.
THE IMPORTANCE OF BAPTISM
Christ is our example – Matthew 3:13-17.
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself was baptized. He said to John the Baptist, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Baptism was important to the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is to be our example so that we can follow in His steps (I Peter 2:21). Under The Meaning of Baptism we will consider the meaning of Christ’s baptism a little more in detail.
Christ commands us to be baptized.
In the Great Commission that Christ gave, we find that the Lord required the church to baptize those who believed. “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). This commission to the church commands that Christians go to witness to the world. The church is to baptize the converts, and those converts are to win others and see them baptized.
The disciples of Jesus practiced baptism.
“When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (Though Jesus made and baptized not, but his disciples)…” (John 4:1-2)
The early church practiced baptism.
1. The Jewish converts in Jerusalem – Acts 2:41
“Then they that gladly received his word were baptized.” Those who heard the Word and received Christ were baptized.
2. The converts in Samaria – Acts 2:12
“But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.”
3. The Ethiopian eunuch converted and baptized – Acts 8:38
“And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch/ and he baptized him.”
4. Saul converted and baptized – Acts 9:18
“And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith and arose, and was baptized.”
5. Cornelius and his house – Gentiles converted and baptized – Acts 10:48
“And he [Peter] commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.”
6. Philippian jailer and his family saved and baptized – Acts 16:33
“And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes: and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.”
7. Ephesian disciples saved and baptized – Acts 19:5
“When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
8. Corinthian believers baptized – Acts 18:8
“And many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.” In I Corinthians 1:14-15 Paul said that he baptized a few converts in Corinth. He revealed that the Corinthian church did baptize converts but that they did not need to be divided over the personality of the preacher who baptized them.
9. Roman believers baptized – Romans 6:4
“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism unto death.”
10. Colossian believers baptized – Colossians 2:12
“Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him.”
THE MEANING OF BAPTISM
Baptism is an identification with Christ.
As the believer is put under the water, he pictures the death and burial of Christ. As he comes up out of the water, he pictures the resurrection of Christ. “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). Baptism is a testimony to those witnessing by the baptizing that this believer is trusting Christ in His death on the cross for sin and in His resurrection from the tomb for a life of victory. Baptism pictures our identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.
Baptism is similar to a wedding ring.
A Wedding ring does not make us married. It is simply a symbol to the world that we are married. It is a symbol that the person married belongs to someone. Baptism is a symbol to the world that we are married. It is a symbol that the person married belongs to Someone – that we belong to the Lord.
Baptism is a step of obedience to God’s direct command. It is a public testimony of salvation in the blood of Christ as we trust in His death, burial, and resurrection (I Corinthians 15:1-4).
Then baptism is a public testimony that we want to live for Christ in the new life we have in Him (Romans 6:1-6). It is also a means of blessing, for it surely adds joy to our salvation decision.
Baptism does not save.
We are not saved by baptism. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you are on your way to Heaven whether you get baptized or not. Only the blood of Christ can redeem – not the water of baptism. Baptism is the outward symbol of the inner work which has already taken place in the one who has trusted Christ.
Christ was baptized.
Though He gave us an example through His baptism, Christ was baptized for an identification different from ours. He went out to John and was baptized in the Jordan River. John was baptizing men who confessed they were sinners and who repented of their sins. When Jesus came to John, He identified Himself with sinners. It was a picture of what He would accomplish at Calvary when He was baptized with death for our sins. When Jesus told John, “Suffer it be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness,” He was announcing that the only way that there could be righteousness would be through His death, burial, and resurrection. He opened His earthly ministry with baptism, which pictured the fact that He would become identified with sinners, take their sins in His own body (I Peter 2:24), and pay the penalty of death for those sins on the cross. He closed His earthly ministry with His death on the cross. He came to die for us, and this is shown as He opened and as He closed His ministry.
THE MODE OF BAPTISM
The only scriptural baptism is that which uses immersion. The very Greek word for baptism, “baptizo,” means “to dip, to plunge under, or to submerge.” The scriptural expressions such as “much water” (John 3:23), “down…into the water” (Acts 8:38), and “coming up out of the water” (Mark 1:10) give proof that baptism is by immersion.
The only baptism that can picture death, burial, and resurrection is immersion. “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
THE TIME OF BAPTISM
Baptism to be scriptural must follow salvation.
In Acts 8:36, 37 the Ethiopian eunuch asked Philip, “See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?” Philip answered, “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.” The eunuch had to believe before he could be baptized. The one requirement for baptism is that a person be saved before he is baptized.
Therefore, baptism of infants who are not old enough to believe is totally unscriptural. Baptism is for believers only. Please note again the verse at the head of this chapter – “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41).
Also, a person who was baptized before he was saved is not scripturally baptized. I was put under the water when I was twelve years old. Then I was saved when I was twenty-one years old. I realized that my being immersed before I was saved was not scriptural baptism, and I requested baptism after I was saved, you are not scripturally baptized, and you need to be identified with Christ in baptism followed salvation.
Baptism must precede church membership.
The three thousand saved and baptized on the day of Pentecost were added to the church. Baptism is the first test of obedience after salvation. A believer gives testimony by his baptism. If he refuses to testify for the Lord to baptism, does he deserve to be recognized as an obedient disciple? We dare not pick the ways we will testify but take the Scriptures as the rule for our testifying.
AFTER BAPTISM, WHAT THEN?
Romans 6:4 gives the answer: “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Baptism should be followed with a new walk. We should have transformed lives so that the world can see the difference. This should involve our church fellowship, our stewardship, and our Christian growth.
I close this lesson with a quote by the late Dr. M. R. DeHaan in his booklet, Water Baptism:
“In the early days of the church… baptism was a declaration that the believer was definitely identifying himself with that group of people who were called Christians and were despised and hated. To be a Christian meant something. To identify yourself with those who were called Christians meant persecution, maybe death; it meant being ostracized from your family, shunned by friends. And the one act which was the final declaration of this identification was BAPTISM. As long as a man gathered with Christians, he was tolerated, but when once he submitted to baptism, he declared to all the world. I BELONG TO THIS DESPISED GROUP, and immediately he was persecuted, hated, and despised. In baptism, therefore, the believer entered into the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ. A person might be a believer and keep it strictly a secret and thus avoid unpleasantness and suffering, but once he submitted to public baptism he had burned his bridges behind him.”
Growing In Grace – Lesson 2 Print out here
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Gif Credit to Source: Jimmie Tullis at ebibleteacher.com
Sarah H. Williams
/ March 22, 2016YOU ARE NOT SAVED UNTIL YOU ARE BAPTIZED. READ MARK 16:16
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Christians Are Us
/ March 22, 2016Sarah, I’m sorry if I did something to make you yell at me (ALL CAPS) but I’m sorry if I did.
Mark 16:16 [KJV]
“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
I’m not sure if you read Lesson 1 or 2 for that matter if you still have a misconception about Works-based Salvation v. Faith-based Salvation. Had you read at least the whole of Lesson 2, then you would have a decent idea why baptism CAN’T be part of the salvation process.
But, I have your attention right now, I hope, and I will continue to, hopefully, understand the concept.
If you look up all of the handful (if that) of verses that substantiate your claim, you will notice that believing or faith or something to that idea will ALWAYS preceed baptism.
Secondly, if you look up all of the references in the whole Bible regarding righteousness or salvation or anything of that sort, you will notice that there are around 2000 instances that have nothing to do with baptism.
If you truly do have a strong faith in God – enough to proceed with this encounter – then you should know that God is perfect! Right? I’m hoping you say yes to this. And, you should know that Jesus is the Second part of the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and thus he would be perfect as well even though He lived a lifetime on earth, yet without sin? Right? Again, say Yes or this whole thing doesn’t work… 😉
If all of your answers were Yes, then you will also know that The Bible is God’s Holy Word and everything in it is without fault and is there for a reason, whether we know what it is or not.
Then, if you take all of your scriptures and compare them to the ones that say nothing about baptism, they would have to be taken off the board. Why? Because, God cannot lie and if there is any part in the Bible that contradicts another part then one of them is wrong. Centuries of scholars have gone through every book that even is thought to be from that time frame and compared them all together and came up with the Bible that we know now (at least the KJV) and the other books have been pushed to the side, although some still like to dip into them when it serves their purposes, but it never ends up working out for them.
If you are telling me that baptism MUST happen to be saved and there are all of these other references that have nothing to do with baptism, then one of them is wrong. What does that mean? That means that everything that you have ever been taught, and everything that I’ve been taught, and everything that the other “Christians” have been taught has been for nothing and we believe a lie and most of all, We HAVE NO ETERNAL HOPE OF HEAVEN!!! What would life be worth? There would be no real reason to live!
Something else to think about is; What about the thief on the cross next to Jesus that believed in Jesus and Jesus told him that that night he would be together with Jesus in Paradise? Did Jesus lie to man? Did our God lie?
I’m done for now. Please let me know what you think and what your final conclusion might be after reading all of this. I’m always up for discussion as long as you don’t YELL AT ME!
It is all by, through and for His Blood,
God Bless you, Sarah
–Mark
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Rev. remember Rimai
/ March 9, 2015yes, its really helpful to our bible study. I would like to work with you in the future and equip more young people through his words.
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Christians Are Us
/ March 11, 2015Thank you for your kind words, Rev., I pray that our content can be very beneficial to your ministry. If you have any further questions, please use my contact form that you can see at this address https://christiansareus.com/about/contact-us/. I am attempting to continue making this blog more and more beneficial to you and our other readers. If there is something that I am missing that you would like to see, please let me know what it is and I will attempt to make it happen.
God bless you,
–Mark
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