Baptism
Baptism, when it follows hearing the gospel, good
faith, repentance from the heart, and confession of belief, is the
transition from being unsaved to being saved. The Bible knows no such thing as Christians who have
not been baptized. While the
entire journey of accepting God’s grace is critical, baptism is the point
at which we get into Christ and accept his spiritual benefits including
remission of our sins.
Without baptism, we are still lost.
Baptism marks
the point at which we become a new creature. It is illustrated and compared to Jesus’ resurrection
in Romans chapter 6. After
Jesus died on the cross, he was buried. On the third day he rose in a new body that was
different than what he had before.
At the appointed time, he went to Heaven to sit at the right hand
of God. In the same way,
before we are baptized, we are an old person. We still have our sin. In spite of belief, repentance and confession, we are
still spiritually dead. We
have not yet accepted God’s grace on His terms. But when we are buried in baptism, the old person dies
and sin is buried, then we are raised spiritually new. Our sin is gone
and we are in Christ. We
have identified with His resurrection and therefore can look forward to
our own. Baptism is the
change from moving toward
Christ and actually being in Christ.
Sometimes people
object to baptism as a work.
In Old Testament terms, a work is something you do to earn your
salvation. In the New
Testament, when works are considered negative, this same definition is
being used. There is a
difference between a work and action. Every thing we do to come toward God, whether belief,
repentance, confession or baptism is an action. None of these actions cause God to owe us salvation.
It is a free gift. Rather,
they are all His terms for accepting His free gift. We must obey if we are to receive
the gift. That is not works,
because we have not earned anything.
Acts 2:38 Then
Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins”
Mark 16:16 “He who believes and is baptized will
be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”
1 Peter 3:21
“There is also an antitype which now saves us--baptism (not the removal
of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward
God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
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803-548-7762 Update Line: 803-548-5521
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