A Place for Faith: Baptism

Last week someone said to me, “The first time I made a profession of faith I was just trying to get out of the house. I actually trusted Christ as Savior later in life. So I would like to be baptized, making my declaration of faith in Christ.”

Is baptism really this important? Do we need to worry about it all that much? Does it really matter? We need to revisit the Scripture. The Bible is our authority.

Baptism is A Place for Faith. Faith is trusting God and entrusting myself to God. People were baptized after they placed their faith in Christ. Philip baptized the Ethiopian man after he confessed Jesus as Lord. (Acts 8:35-38) Paul baptized Lydia after she trusted in Christ. (Acts 16:14-15) Paul baptized the Jailer in Philippi after he was saved. (Acts 16:29-33)

Baptism Declares Fullness:

Fullness means two things:

• Completion. You go under and you come back out. It is a statement of the completion of Christ in all aspects of my life—his sufficiency.

• Abundance. Baptism requires an abundance of water. In an arid land such as much of the Middle East, capturing and story water is of great importance.

We flew over parts of California that are desert. Yet when we came to a river we could see the green fields that were irrigated. Water makes all the difference.

The fullness of Christ. "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form." - Colossians 2:9

• Christ is complete deity in every way. He is God. He is not half God or a demigod. He is fully divine.

• Christ is abundantly supplied. He is the definition of abundance. He is overflowing with all the greatest qualities of life: love, joy, and peace.

My own fullness in him: "and in Christ you have been brought to fullness." - Colossians 2:10

• I am complete in Christ. That is, I am forgiven, brought into God’s family, given a new name and a new heart, and changed into a new creation.

• I experience abundance in Christ. He said, “I am come that they might have life, and might have it more abundantly.” - John 10:10

Baptism Declares Headship:

He is the head over every power and authority." - Colossians 2:10

The headship of Christ. Christ is in charge in this universe. God has given him all authority. One day we will stande before him to give an account of the things done in the flesh upon this earth.

He is head over me. Baptism is your declaration that no person or things rules over you—only Christ. Baptism is your claim that Christ alone is Lord over you.

• Circumcision in the Old Covenant was only for males in Israel. It was strictly a patriarchal society.

• Baptism in the New Covenant is for everyone, male and female, as well as Jew and Gentile, free or slave, “for you are all one in Christ.” This was a dramatic shift. The sign of the covenant no longer belongs exclusively to the patriarch. It also belongs to the matriarch, the girls as well as the boys.

• Paul describes this truth in Galatians 3:26-28: "So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

Baptism Declares Death:

"having been buried with him in baptism." - Colossians 2:12

The death of Christ. Christ died. When people die we bury them. Christ was buried. This is the meaning of baptism. I am declaring that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried.” - 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

• You must not just understand the death of Christ—you must enter into that death by faith.

• The death of Christ was the central event of our liberation and salvation.

My own death to the old life. I also die. “I am crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20). I am buried with Christ.

Baptism Declares Resurrection:

"in which you were also raised with him through your faith." - Colossians 2:12

The resurrection of Jesus. “If you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” - Romans 10:9

My own resurrection to new life: "If anyone is in Christ he or she is a new creation." - 2 Corinthians 5:17

• Baptism is your statement of faith in the resurrection.

• You are entering into his death by being baptized. You are also entering into his resurrection.

Baptism Declares Forgiveness:

"He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge." - Colossians 2:12-13

Jesus sends away my sin, down the drain. This picture of baptism is inevitable. As much as we teach that baptism itself does not wash away sin, but only faith in Christ, people still connect the washing away of sin to being plunged into the waters of baptism.

After the baptism Sunday we are going to pull the plug, and all that water will go right down the drain. It is inevitable, this connection of baptism with forgiveness. You will never make a stronger statement of faith in the forgiving power of the crucified Savior than when you are baptized.

He cancels my debt, nailing it to his cross.

 

•  Everyone comes to Christ with baggage. The children come with smaller and fewer bags. The adults come with heavier and more bags. But everyone comes to Christ with baggage—the baggage of sin.

• We cannot explain away our sin. We cannot absolve ourselves. We are saddled with guilt and shame until someone delivers us. This is why we all need a Savior.

• Jesus takes the whole list of our baggage—every moral failure, every lie, every sin. Our list is long, and it is complete. He takes the entire list and he takes it out of the way and nails it to the cross.
  

Baptism Declares Victory:

 

Jesus has disarmed all that held us captive.

• The victory of Jesus is complete. He has won it all. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. All authority is given unto him in heaven and on earth. Your baptism is the announcement of this victory in the middle of the present conflict. It is a statement of faith that in Christ the victory has already been won.

• Your baptism is your victory celebration. You have received Christ by faith. And in that act of faith you have received his victory over every evil force that seeks to put you down. Everything that once held you back and held you down—you are claiming victory over those chains as you go down into the water.

He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. It is an affront to the devil and all his cohorts.

• The death of Christ upon the cross was a terrible spectacle, a public assault upon the senses of sight and sound and smell. It was revolting and horrible both in visual shock of carnage dealt to the human body and the cries and pleas of the dying. Crucifixion was designed and intended to deliver this very shock and awe. All the conquered peoples of the Roman Empire, including the Jews, especially those stiff-necked Jews, were to look upon the Crucified One and tremble in fear before the power and resolve of Rome.

• Jesus turned that spectacle inside-out. He flipped it. He turned it upside-down.