Introduction
As we noted earlier, in the matter of our
relationship with God through Jesus Christ, there are three critical steps –
essential elements that underpin the relationship. So far, we have looked at two of them:
repentance and faith. We come now to the
third step: baptism. And like the other
two, baptism too contains three elements: death, burial and resurrection. Apostle Paul wrote concerning this that, in
coming to trust in Christ, we die to
self; he also said that, in baptism, when Jesus was buried, so were we and when Jesus was raised from the dead, so were we: death, burial and resurrection.
Through repentance and faith, we come to participate in Jesus’ death,
burial and resurrection. This is the
teaching of Paul.
Perhaps the reason so many struggle with baptism
is precisely because it is a humbling experience and its symbolism is so final
and uncompromising.
Yet, whatever way we look at it, the attitude
of the first apostles towards baptism – and their practice of it – were considerably
different from our own today.
The Apostles’ Practice
The two scriptures we looked at earlier, Acts
2:38 and Acts 20:21, show us clearly what the first apostles required as the
foundation of Spirit life — repentance, faith, Jesus’ baptism and receiving the
gift of the Holy Spirit.
In fact, the persistent call throughout Acts —
and the gospels for that matter — is the call to be baptised. It was not regarded as on optional
extra. Rather, it carried as much
significance then as it would today for a Muslim in a Muslim country to undergo
Christian baptism.
Peter and Cornelius (Acts 10 & 11)
Peter (a Jew) finally gave in to the Lord and
went to the house of a non-Jew to share the good news with them. In his message, Peter ...
·
First
explains to the audience that faith
is necessary for the forgiveness of sins (10:43).
·
But,
while he was still speaking, the Holy
Spirit came on all who heard the message (10:44).
·
And
the result was speaking in tongues and praising God (10:46) as it had happened
at Pentecost (see Acts 2:4)
·
So,
Peter ordered them to be baptised
in the name of Jesus Christ (10:48).
·
Then
later in Jerusalem, Peter is called upon to explain what had happened for it
was unheard of before that Gentiles (non-Jews) could receive the promises of
the gospel, especially the gift of the Holy Spirit. In his explanation, Peter concludes that God
had “granted them repentance unto
life” (11:18).
The Necessity of Baptism
Much debate has gone on as to whether baptism
is necessary for salvation. This has
resulted in some people turning the issue around and saying that if baptism is
necessary, then it is the means of salvation.
Such a twist cannot be justified.
We have seen that the first apostles believed,
taught and practiced that it was necessary and that that was consistent with
what Jesus had taught them. It is an
important part of the process of regeneration because of what it means,
and spiritual birth without it means that the process is incomplete.
We cannot therefore say that it is the means of
salvation because we already know from scripture that the means of salvation is
the power and activity of the Holy Spirit applying the work of Christ in
response to repentance and faith.
What we can say is this: Baptism is
inseparable from the total process whereby a person is renewed by the Spirit
and introduced into God’s family and into the Body of Christ.
Like any door, the door of salvation has four
sides, but no single one of them is what saves you; the door must serve as a
complete unit for anyone to enter the house.
Baptism and Obedience
There is no doubting that baptism is a matter
of obedience. It was a command given to
all new disciples of Jesus. The first
apostles saw it as a non-negotiable element in conversion and so they included
it in their proclaiming of the good news of Jesus.
But more than that, the apostles were given a
mandate — a command — from Jesus himself to baptise the disciples they
made. The commission to the leaders
included the command to baptise, and the good news they proclaimed included the
command for new disciples to be baptised.
It is an inescapable issue.
The Symbolism of Baptism
There is no doubt that baptism is a symbol. Read
Romans 6
This chapter clearly sets out the symbolism of
identification with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. When Jesus died, he died for all;
when he was buried, he was buried for
all; when he was raised, he was raised for all. This is the symbolism. New life in Christ requires the termination
of the old life and the beginning of a new life. This is why we use the expression Jesus used:
you must be born again – a second
birth – he said to Nicodemus.
But it is much more than symbolism alone! Our sin requires the penalty of death, but
God had mercy on us and accepted the death of Jesus as sufficient for us. We cannot now cheerily accept his
substitution without thought.
“We
died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death? 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.” (Rom 6:2-4)
“In the
same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Rom 6:11)
Applying it personally, the act of baptism
itself dramatises my identification with Jesus.
When he died, I died; when he was buried, I was buried; when he was
raised, I was raised. We need to understand baptism as actual
participation in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
That’s why the gospel of Jesus is unique in all
the world. That’s why real
Christianity is not a religion, but a way of life. It is a way of living each day before God as
Jesus lived. God reckons the death,
burial and resurrection of Jesus to my account.
So I can stand before Him as one having met all His requirements — IN
CHRIST.
Regardless of how we are baptised or how much
water is used, the scriptures are clear on one thing: before anything else,
baptism is death and resurrection! (see Luke 12:50 - Jesus speaking of His
death and resurrection.) That is the
message of Romans 6: in our baptism, we are buried with him into death and we were raised with him into life.
A couple of
thought-provoking questions ...
´ If water is removed from your
concept of baptism, what do you have left?
´ What if we used no water at all, but
instead lowered the candidate into a coffin-sized hole in the ground and
brought him/her out again?
This was the understanding and practice of
baptism of the first apostles, and however we do baptism, it must
mean that when Jesus died, I died; when Jesus was raised from the dead, I was
raised from the dead. How can that
be? It can only be because:
þ
We
have humbly accepted God's appraisal of our failure and weaknesses and Jesus'
perfect salvation and …
þ
We
have abandoned ourselves completely to His mercy for Him to save us - i.e. repentance
towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
He has pursued us to arrest us and bring us to
Himself, and we have not resisted arrest because we know that His intentions
are totally good and just and honourable.
Baptism is Our Appeal to God
1 Pet 3:21
“And
this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also--not [by] the removal of
dirt from the body but [by] the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves
you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ...”
C Baptism is more than a symbol.
C Baptism is more than an act of obedience.
C Baptism is more than a disciple’s death and resurrection.
C It is his appeal to God that he is clean and that he shares in the
righteousness of Jesus, like Abraham our fore-father!
As we re-define spiritual birth according to
Apostolic standards, we can no longer separate baptism from conversion and we
can no longer separate baptism from the proclamation of the good news of Jesus. Baptism is the acid test of a person’s
repentance and faith. But remember, it
is not the water that makes it baptism.
The Jews practiced circumcision, but, as Paul
said, it’s not circumcision that makes one a Jew; it is living a circumcised
life that makes one a Jew. Likewise,
says Paul, it is not being dunked in water that makes one a child of God, it is
living the baptized life: entering into the death, burial and resurrection of
Jesus.
The church has failed to teach and practice
baptism like this. Consequently, there
are many people who have been dunked in water or had water poured or sprinkled
over them, but who have never really entered into what baptism is all about (much
like the Ephesians in Acts 19). Like
those disciples in that story, they have only ever received the baptism of John
the Baptist, the herald of Jesus, not the baptism of Jesus. They were baptised a second time and after
that, they received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
This matter of the “gifts of God” is what comes
next.Cheers,
Kevin.
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