Why do we Baptize?

If you would, go ahead and take your Bible and turn with me to Matthew chapter 28. We'll be there in verse 16 and 19. And then later in the message, we're going to be in Colossians chapter 2 starting in verse 11. Now I know through everyone at Kerbal, we didn't have our scripture reading like we normally do. We abbreviated our song service to have time for our testimonies. Those who are being baptized will give their testimonies at the end of the service. So we will pick up with our scriptures that will be in the message a little later on. So just have your Bible turn there.

Now I think most of you know that we have been making preparations for baptism. And we are baptizing this morning after the message. And we're going to baptize over in our fellowship hall. And then we're going to baptize another group October the 2nd as well. And one of the things that I wanted to do with our baptismal services is make it a celebration. That is why we are baptizing when we do normally have our first Sunday fellowship. If you're a visitor here, normally on the first Sunday of the month, we have a morning worship service. We go to the fellowship hall, we eat, we fellowship.

And I always make the joke, if you stay long enough, you can help clean up. And then we don't have evening services. We get a break. We get some rest. But we will baptize those who have been converted to Christ. And we will enjoy a time after of food and fellowship. And this is all centered around the fact that God is bringing lost sinners to faith in Christ among us. We're very thankful. And we need to see that this approach is thoroughly, thoroughly biblical.

On Wednesday nights, we have been learning in our study of the parables in Luke 15 that God and the angels in heaven are filled with joy and celebration when even one lost sinner repents and places their faith and trust in Christ. Jesus says in verse 7, "I tell you there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over the 99 righteous persons who need no repentance." And then if you're not quite sure, if you heard that over in verse 10, He says, "I'll tell you there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents." So in light of what we're studying there in Luke 15, church, I just want to call us to be biblical here.

And what I mean is this, when we're having folks come to faith in Christ and we're baptizing in that public profession of Christ, let's celebrate. Let's celebrate. And there's nothing wrong with doing that. Now in spiritual preparation for baptism, I have put before us two questions. Who do we baptize and why do we baptize? I answered or I sought to answer the question, "Who do we baptize last Sunday morning?" We will answer, "Why do we baptize this morning?" And these messages are primarily for three people. I used this language last week. I said I have three that are in my cross hairs, my target audience.

First and foremost, these messages are for those of us who are members here of Grace Life Church. We need to be reminded of what we believe about baptism and why. Today so many churches have devalued baptism, even moved away from what the Scriptures say about baptism. And so for us, this is a reminder of what we as a church believe and what we teach and what we practice in regards to baptism. And I said last week that what we are studying will give us a fuller understanding, a fuller understanding of the meaning and the purpose of baptism. So Grace Life Church, I challenge you to receive what we're studying together.

I challenge you to go back to the Scriptures. I'm giving you quite a bit and even study our church statement of faith because our church statement of faith does cover what we believe about baptism. And it's scriptural, it's biblical, thoroughly biblical. And also these messages are for those who are visiting our church. Some of you may have come from a church that has devalued and lost sight of biblical baptism and the meaning of baptism. This is very common today. So you may need a reminder here or you might need some biblical education here.

Some of you may have come from a different church tradition, which is a different belief about baptism and a different practice in regards to baptism. So you may need to understand why we believe and practice baptism the way we do as a Baptist church. And then third, these messages are obviously for those who are being baptized. All of you who are being baptized this morning, really you're getting a truckload. I know that. Many of you could say, "Pastor, you've told me this." And I know that I have told you this.

That's because what I have been sharing with you in these messages and what I am sharing this morning, I've been sharing this with them throughout our counseling time together. Now last week I said that baptism is a serious doctrine and that we have clear teaching from the scriptures that shows us what baptism is, how it should be done, how we should approach all of these things. And we also have clear teaching from the scripture that shows us the meaning and the purpose and the great significance of baptism. And I know that there are other churches and true believers that have different opinions and positions here.

But if we will all Baptists and non-Baptists alike, I'm speaking to all of us, if we will all get into the scriptures, we can understand the clear meaning, the clear purpose, and the significance of baptism. Now last week we looked at the question, "Who? Who do we baptize?" And we learned a lot in that message. As a matter of fact, one of our teenagers came up to me and said, "I did not know that New Testament baptism is not found in the Old Testament." I said, "You didn't know that?" She said, "I did not know that." If you think about what I shared with you last week, I really gave you a broad overview of baptism.

I did not give you a complete overview by no means. I know that. But I gave you a broad overview where I showed us three things, three basic things. First I showed us that baptism is seen and practiced in the New Testament, but it's not found in the Old. Of course, water baptism by immersion was a part of Jewish culture. That was when Gentiles were converting to Judaism. But they did not practice New Testament baptism, the baptism we see in the New, in the Old. And then second, we learned that John's baptism was meant to prepare the people for the coming Messiah and it was meant to point people towards the Messiah.

It was a transition from the Old and into the New. And it was meant to prepare people for Christ. Simply, it was meant to point them towards the Christ that was to come. And then third, I showed us from the Great Commission and on into the New Testament that we have what is correctly called believers baptism. We saw a pattern from the Great Commission on throughout the New Testament. In the New Testament, sinners, they heard the Gospel and through the convicting and convincing work of the Spirit in their lives, they believed savingly in Christ Jesus. And these sinners openly profess their belief in Christ and their conversion to Christ.

And after they believed, they were commanded to be baptized and they were baptized. And the pattern in the New Testament is clear. Let me repeat that. The pattern that we see in the New Testament is clear. Starting in Acts 2 when the New Testament church was born, when it was birthed here on earth and continuing all throughout the New Testament, sinners hear the Gospel, they believe in Christ savingly and then they are baptized as a public profession of their conversion to Christ. So the answer to that question is very easy to see if we simply pay attention to the Scriptures. And the Scriptures alone, who do we baptize? Believers.

We baptize those who have believed in Christ savingly and that's why we call it believers baptism. Now this morning we're really picking up with a part two because all of this goes together. I want to ask the question, why do we baptize? Why do we baptize? And I want to start by showing us that we are commanded to baptize. Those of you who take notes, you might want to write that down. We are commanded to baptize. We did see this last week but I'm not sure that we saw just how explicit and certain this command really is. And this command is found in the Great Commission. The Great Commission is found in Matthew 28 and in Mark 16.

Now this is where I would like us to turn to Matthew chapter 28. Let's look at verses 16 to 19. Matthew 28. Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw Him they worshiped Him but some doubted. And Jesus came and He said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." And notice this wonderful promise, "And behold I am with you always even to the end of the age." Now of course we should know what is happening here. Jesus was preparing His disciples for their role in their job as apostles and New Testament fathers. And He gave them several clear commands to prepare them for this work. Now we commonly know this as the Great Commission. Your Bible probably has some type of a heading there and that's good, that helps us.

But we need to see how these commands are given. And we need to see how they are ordered. Actually there is one major command and then there are three other commands that are really attached to and under the main command. And this may surprise some of you. The major command here is not go. The major command here is not go. Now I know what I just did. I know. I have just ruined some churches missions purpose statements. I know that. But the language tells us that the major command is not go. The major command comes from the main verb in the verses and the main verb is make. The main verb is make make disciples.

And last week I said that outright evangelism is not necessarily seen in the verse. Evangelism or conversion to Christ is implied and it is understood from the language. Basically the basic meaning of the language here speaks of one savingly believing in Christ for salvation and then becoming that learning and following disciple. See that's what a disciple is. A disciple is a follower of Christ. A disciple is a learner from Christ, a lifelong disciple.

So here the basic meaning of the language speaks of one believingly saving in Christ for their salvation and then becoming a disciple of Christ meaning that they are following Christ and learning from Christ all because they've been converted to Christ. I do this sometimes. We'll get into the verses and then I'll ask you to take a step back. But take a step back here with me. I really want you to see what we have. Jesus has been given all sovereignty, all power, all control. Notice Jesus has been given all sovereign authority by God, by God the Father which means that He is in complete control of everything. Go back to verse 18.

"And Jesus came and He said to them, 'All authority, you see it, in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.'" And notice, "Out of that authority, He," this is Jesus, "gives His disciples this supreme command, 'Make disciples.'" The main command is, "Make disciples." This is saying to His disciples something like this, "You be the instruments to bring men and women to saving faith in Christ and then become followers and learners of Christ." But notice how all of this fits together. Within this main command to make disciples, Jesus commands them to do other things. First He calls them to go.

Now the construction of the language here really reads something like, "As you are going or having gone." It's not a strong command, but it's more of an assumption. Simply Jesus was saying something like this to them, "As you are going out into the world, into this work which I have assigned to you, make disciples." While you're going into the nations like I have called you to go, make disciples. And then second, He calls them to baptize those newly born again disciples. Now this word "baptize" literally means to immerse in the water. And this would not have been a strange thing for the Jews to understand.

They understood baptism and immersion and baptism by immersion. They did not practice baptism by immersion like we see in the New, but they did practice a baptism by immersion when Gentiles were converted to Judaism. And also this word was used in many different ways in the culture. It simply meant to dip into the water or to immerse into the water.

So simply Jesus was saying something like this to His disciples, "As you are going out into the world, into this work that I have called you to, make disciples, baptize those disciples, make disciples and baptize them." And third, He calls them to teach those newly born again disciples all that He has taught them. Jesus did not stop with just make disciples. Here He is commanding them to teach those newly made disciples all the things that He had been teaching them. And remember He had been teaching them for some three years.

So simply Jesus was saying something like this to His disciples, "As you are going out into the world, into this work that I have commissioned you to, make disciples." That's the main command. Make disciples and baptize them and then you engage in the work of teaching them all things that I have been teaching you. You see, make disciples as you go, baptize those disciples and teach those disciples. Oh as Jesus was commissioning His disciples here for their work as apostles and New Testament church fathers, look at what He commanded them to do in this work. These commands are clear.

He says to them, "As you are going all into the world, into the nations, as I have commanded you to, make disciples." He says you are to be instruments of God to bring men and women to saving faith who then become followers of Christ and learners of Christ. He says when you make those disciples with the power and the help of God, you baptize them and you teach them. And we must understand that the great commission was not only given to the apostles, no. This commission was and is extended to all of the church, all throughout the church age. And folks we are in the age of the church. And the lesson for us here is simple. It's really simple.

The great commission tells us that we are commanded to baptize and Jesus gives this command to baptize how? With all authority. With all authority. Now next I want us to look at what baptism is. And here we will see that baptism is both spiritual and physical. Some of you are taking notes. You might want to write that down. You're looking at what baptism is. And baptism is both spiritual and it is both physical. Now first this spiritual baptism or the baptism that takes place at one's conversion to Christ.

Now in a clear but profound way the New Testament teaches that all true believers have been spiritually baptized or spiritually immersed into Christ and this great spiritual work takes place at the very moment that that believer is born again by a work of the Holy Spirit of God in them. We see this clearly taught in Romans 6.3. Paul says, "Do you not know that all of us," notice he's being very inclusive, "talking to the Roman church, do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" Now you might not know this but Paul was not speaking here of a physical water baptism.

The language is figurative. This language is a metaphor. We've seen Paul use this type of metaphorical language before. In our study of Ephesians chapter 4 verse 14 we saw where Paul used all types of metaphors. He said immature believers are tossed here and there by the waves of bad doctrine. Hear the metaphor? He goes on to say they are carried here and there by the winds of bad doctrine. Paul is using water, he's using waves, he's using wind metaphorically. We get that.

But here in Romans 6.3 Paul was saying that all of us who have savingly believed in Christ have been spiritually immersed or spiritually baptized into the person of Christ and even into his death. He says that all of us who have been born again and converted to Christ are spiritually buried with Christ in his death. We see this same thing in Matthew 3.11 where John the Baptist said that he baptized with water and remember he's pointing towards Christ. He goes on to say that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit. See that's what he's talking about and with the fire of judgment. But notice what happens from this spiritual baptism.

Oh you really need to see this, two things. As a result of this spiritual baptism all believers are united with Christ. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5.17 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the oldest passed away, behold the new has come." And Paul is saying that those who are spiritually baptized into Christ, they are united with Christ. They are in Christ. And also as a result of this spiritual baptism all believers are also placed into the body of Christ. That is the church. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12 "For in one Spirit, capital S, Holy Spirit, we were all baptized into one body.

Jews are Greeks, slaves are free, and all were made to drink of one Spirit." Paul is saying that those of us who are spiritually baptized into Christ are baptized into his spiritual body and that's the church. So we see that there is a spiritual baptism. This baptism takes place at the moment one savingly believes in Christ, all who are born again at the moment of their conversion they are spiritually baptized into Christ and even into his death, Romans 6.3. And as a result those spiritually baptized believers are united with Christ, united with Christ in his life, in his death, and even in his resurrection, 2 Corinthians 5.17.

And as a result of this spiritual baptism they are spiritually placed into the body, the body of Christ, and that is the church folks, and that's 1 Corinthians 12. Now a couple of things in application here. See folks this is mysterious for us. We can't put our hands on it. It's not tangible. See this happens at this wonderful moment when we are converted to Christ we are born again and this is a one time event folks.

It is experiential and those of us who have been born of the Spirit of God maybe we did not understand these things but as they are taught and they are explained the Spirit shows us yes that's what happened to you, that's what happened to you. And I can attest to that, that these things happen to me. But then second this physical baptism. This is the baptism that takes place at one's biblical profession of faith. Now in speaking of this spiritual baptism I did say that the New Testament teaches in a deep and a profound way that all who have savingly believed in Christ have been spiritually baptized.

You might have to dig that out a little is what I'm saying. Well with physical baptism the New Testament teaches in a clear and obvious way that the proper symbol of the internal work of conversion to Christ is physical baptism. The New Testament teaches that the correct symbol of the internal work of the believer being converted to Christ is baptism, baptism by immersion in water is believers baptism. Now at this point we need to see what physical baptism in the water, what it is. First physical water baptism is the believers public profession of faith that they have come to saving faith in Christ.

Physical water baptism is truly and biblically the believers public testimony, their declaration that they've been converted to Christ. I like how John MacArthur expresses this. This isn't profound but it just resonated with me. He says that water baptism is the outward post conversion demonstration of an inward reality that has already occurred at conversion. It's true, he's right. We saw this fact all through the passages in the book of Acts that we went through last week. I know we zoomed through them.

Starting from Acts 2 we see that when sinners profess conversion to Christ their public profession of the inner reality of having been converted to Christ was what? It was public baptism by immersion in water. But second physical water baptism it symbolizes several things. Just like John the Baptist baptism, believers baptism does represent a repentance from sin and a turning to God but it is more. Physical water baptism is the believers public affirmation of Christ and their identification with Christ, his death, his burial and his resurrection.

It is even the believers public declaration that they possess a new life in Christ by the powerful work of God in their life at conversion. It truly is the believers public profession and declaration that they are in union or together with all of these things. Paul says in Romans 6, 4, listen to this language, "We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father we too might walk in newness of life." Here Paul is saying that the believer publicly identifies with Christ's death, with his resurrection and he identifies with a new life that can only be found in conversion by Christ.

Colossians 2, 12, Paul says, "Having been buried with Him in baptism in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised Him from the dead." Here Paul is saying that the believer publicly declares that he or she is identifying with Christ in death, in a new life that can only come through what? The powerful work of God in the life. This leads us to the third thing and that is physical water baptism is baptism by immersion. First of all the word baptism in the original language it means immersion and all of the language used in the New Testament to speak of baptism, it speaks of immersion.

Finally the language indicates immersion and there is no other word or term in the New Testament to speak for baptism that isn't an immersion in water. And then notice something else. How all of this symbolic language that we have, that we see and we study, it tells us that baptism is a baptism of immersion. If physical baptism represents our spiritual baptism of being buried with Christ in baptism just like in a grave, well then how can water baptism be anything but immersion?

If physical baptism represents our spiritual baptism of being buried with Christ just as Christ was buried in an earthly grave, then how can water baptism be anything but immersion? Simply all of the language in the New Testament associated with baptism whether referring to physical baptism or their spiritual baptism it points to a baptism by immersion in water. There just isn't any other form of baptism in the New Testament scriptures. So we see physical baptism. Physical baptism is the believers biblical profession of conversion to Christ and all that's happened in the life at conversion.

Then faith comes first and then physical baptism takes place as a public profession of that conversion and this physical water baptism represents numerous things. Baptism says that the professing believer is identifying with Christ, identifying with his death, with his burial and his resurrection. Baptism says that this professing believer is proclaiming, they're proclaiming that they have a new life in Christ, how? by the powerful working of God in their life.

Simply when one is being baptized the old self is being buried with Christ in baptism and coming out of that water is a new person, a new person in Christ that is raised by Christ to live a life with Christ. So what is the lesson here? We must understand what physical baptism is. It is our legitimate biblical profession of faith and it professes that we are identifying with all that Christ did. Really it's so much. Now take a step back and take note of what we've seen about baptism. We've clearly seen in the Great Commission that there is one major command and three other commands associated with that one command.

I know there's somebody here that probably thinks, "Pastor, I'm not so sure about that go command. You go study it on your own, you'll see." But Jesus was telling his disciples, "As you're going into the nations as I have commanded you make disciples, make disciples. And as you're being used as instruments of God to bring those lost sinners to saving faith, baptize them and teach them all the things that I've commanded you." And listen folks, this isn't the great suggestion. This isn't the great suggestion. Nor is this addressed to a particular part of Christ's church.

This is addressed to all of his church and there is no way that we can see this otherwise. Remember what Ephesians 4 or 5 says? Paul said there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. Let's find our baptism from the Scriptures. That's what I've been trying to do here. We also clearly saw that baptism is spiritual and physical. Spiritual baptism takes place, oh, the moment one believes in Christ, at the moment of their conversion, believers are spiritually baptized into Christ, even into his death. And as a result, they are united with Christ in his life and his resurrection.

And as a result, they are spiritually baptized, oh, into this wonderful thing called the body of Christ the church. Spiritual baptism takes place after one savingly believes in Christ. And this baptism is the believers true biblical profession of faith. This is their public testimony and declaration that they've been converted to Christ. And this baptism symbolizes so much. The water symbolizes the grave and the believer is identifying with Christ's death and resurrection and oh, coming up out of that water. This symbolizes new life and the believer is declaring that they have a new life in Christ that can only come why, how?

By the powerful working of God. And this baptism is a baptism in water by immersion. Simply the symbolism of the believers union with Christ in his death and the burial and the resurrection of Christ clearly points to baptism by immersion. Now this brings me to the title of our message. You know the title of the message. Why do we baptize? Why? First of all, because Christ has commanded us to. You might say, "Pastor, you've told us he's commanded us numerous times." Well, don't we always need to be reminded that we're commanded? In his supreme authority, you know what the text says? Christ has commanded his church to do these things.

This is the great commandment. This is not the great suggestion. And also because it is the believers true profession of faith. Believers baptism is the believers public declaration that they've been converted to Christ. Notice what it represents. Here's where I want us to turn over to Colossians 2. I did read one of these verses earlier. Sometimes I want you to put your eyes on these verses. Colossians chapter 2 verses 11 and 12. Of course, some of you know this passage. Paul reaches back to Old Testament circumcision to make a point. He says, "In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands." Spiritual.

"By putting off the body of the flesh," that would be the old man, "by the circumcision of Christ," that's all spiritual. "Having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God." Now here Paul is not referring to a physical circumcision, no, but a spiritual circumcision. Paul is referring to the new birth when spiritually that sinful part of the man is cut away, how? By the powerful working of God. And here in baptism it is a picture of the burial of that sinful man that has been cut away by that powerful working of God.

And not only is the sinful man cut away by God, but the new man in Christ Jesus is powerfully raised to a new life in Christ. Look at how both of these messages all come together. Who do we baptize? Believers. Those who have savingly come to faith in Christ. That's who. And why? Because we are commanded to. It's our true biblical profession of faith and it symbolizes and it pictures that we've been buried with Christ, we've been raised with Christ to a new life. This is all through faith in the powerful working of God. Now at this point I want to point out what has been happening for some of you, many of you.

The Holy Spirit has been taking the truth of God's Word here and he has been giving you what? A fuller understanding of what biblical baptism is. That's what's been happening. The Spirit has been illuminating the Word here and giving you what? A fuller and a fuller understanding of these things. And because of the clear teaching of the Scripture, we have all been realizing more and more the seriousness of baptism. This truly brings us to a place of obeying what is clearly seen in the Scriptures. We must obey. It is a commandment. It's not a suggestion.

Last week showed us how what we have studied shines against the black backdrop of what we see in so many churches and in our church culture. We have all seen believers' baptism be abused in so many ways. Look folks, if it's done in a way that's not from the Scripture, it's an abuse and that is so black. But this morning, notice how what we have studied shines against the great void of so much ignorance here. So many are horribly ignorant of the clear teaching of Scripture regarding baptism. And honestly, there's no excuse for us. Why? Because we've been studying these things. They've been put out before us.

And if you are ignorant here or you came and you needed some education here, the Lord has met your need here. Now I want to begin to wrap this up by speaking to my target audience. Remember I said the three groups. First, Grace Life Church of Brookhaven. We are commanded to do these things and that's what we're doing this morning. We are simply being obedient to the clear teaching of Scripture. Even having a celebration, yes. And second, if you're a guest here, we want you to understand who we are doctrinally.

You can take our statement of faith if you need to and you can read what we believe and teach about believers' baptism after each statement, Scripture. After each statement, Scripture. It's a great tool here. And look, it comes out of the Scriptures. And I'll say this to you. If you found something there that is an error, the men of our church would get together, examine it, and if it's not in line with the Scripture, we'll change it. Why? Because the Scriptures are supreme. But remember what I said last week. We are a Baptist church. Again, I say this in a little humor. Sometimes I get asked, "Are you a Baptist church?

Are y'all a Baptist church? You don't have Baptist in your name." I get that. We are a Baptist church, doctrinally, and how we practice baptism. But we are also conversionists. Oh, we believe in biblical conversion. We believe and teach the biblical pattern is conversion to Christ. Men and women and young people come to faith in Christ, and after that, they go through believers baptism. And all this is historically what Baptists have always believed. Now as I close, I want to narrow it down to my last group.

Those of you who have recently come to faith in Christ, some of you are getting baptized this morning, and some of you are getting baptized the first Sunday of October. But listen, in participating in believers baptism this morning and next month, you will be professing publicly in and through the baptismal waters. You will be saying that you've been buried with Christ, and you've been raised with Christ, and you've been given a new life in Christ, and all through, all through what? The powerful working of God in your life. After our question this morning, why do we baptize? And I believe I've answered the question. I believe I have.

So let's pray, as we always do. Let's commit these things to the Lord. But we're not going to close this morning with a closing hymn or a closing song of worship. We're going to close by allowing those who are being baptized to come down front, and they're going to give their testimonies real quickly. And then we'll transition to having our baptism. So let's pray, and let's close out the message.