Baptism: Do This First
When children form clubs, they often have an act of initiation into the group as well as a team bonding ritual that they do more regularly afterwards. They might ask new members to wear a silly hat for a day or say an oath or pledge of some kind (“cross my fingers, hope to die …”, etc.). And they might require all members to use a special code language in their meetings or a secret password or door-knock pattern to get into the clubhouse.
Cultures, organizations, all sorts of groups that people form as adults are like this, too. As humans, we find meaning and value in agreeing upon certain behaviors as distinct and special to our groups. Such initial acts signify entrance into a group and ongoing acts signify ongoing participation in and commitment to the group. These group actions establish group identity and belonging, emphasize and preserve shared beliefs and values, provide a sense of stability, and draw people closer together.
From the first century to today, churches have practiced two special and distinctive acts, which we call baptism and communion (or the Lord’s Supper or Lord’s Table) and we do these things not only because we agree to do so but because Jesus himself told us to do them. In our current preaching series, we will consider what the Bible teaches about these two special commands of Christ to the church, which we call “ordinances.”
First, let’s remind ourselves of what the church is. When we began our “Cherishing the Church” series, we defined the church as “a growing group of people who follow Christ together by faith.” This group of people is first worldwide, consisting in a spiritual sense of all people who follow Christ by faith. But it is also local, consisting of smaller groups of people who are committed as followers of Christ to one another. And it is these smaller groups, which we call churches, that practice baptism and communion together.
To cherish the church as Christ cherishes the church, we should not only do these two things as a church, but we should do them with seriousness attitude and understanding heart. Today, we will hear what the Bible says about the purpose and practice of baptism.
Baptism is a special practice of the church.
Baptism was not something that carried over from the Old to the New Testament. Jesus introduced and commanded to his followers.
Jesus commanded it.
In some of his final teaching before returning to his throne in heaven, he said:
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 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 things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matt 28:18-20)
As our God, king, and Lord, Jesus tells us to do this, and he puts his authority behind it. He tells his followers to help other people become followers of him. Another way of saying this is to he calls his followers to help other people to also become a part of the church. And the way we do this is through showing and teaching them the good news about Christ. In doing so, we are to teach them to obey Christ in baptism first and then to obey everything else he teaches after baptism.
New believers submit to it.
Two difficulties that we have today are (1) infant baptism on one hand and (2) delayed baptism on the other.
Infant baptism occurs when a baby is baptized before they can understand the gospel and believe on Christ. Not only is this contradictory to how gospel salvation occurs, this practice is never taught or mentioned in the Bible.
Delayed baptism on the other hand occurs when a person believes on Christ for salvation but puts off being baptism for a long period of time. Sometimes a church requires this delay so that the person can learn more about the Christian life first or sometimes the person delays because they are afraid to get in front of people or want to wait until they are more serious somehow.
But throughout the NT, the pattern of who and when people were baptized is clear and consistent. People who could understand the gospel and who believed the gospel were baptized soon after they believed the gospel.
Those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. (Acts 2:41-42)
So, people understood the gospel, believed the gospel, and were baptized. Only after they were baptized did they go on to grow in their Christian faith. Baptism was the first step of obedience of a new believer.
One other detail to note here is that baptism is not something a new believer “does.” It is something that a new believer submits to or “has done” to them. This is important because baptism is a key litmus test to determine whether a person has genuinely believed on Christ. If a person claims to believe on Christ as God and Lord but refuses to be baptized afterwards, the church is unable to take that person’s claim of faith seriously. This does not mean that this person is not a believer, but it does mean that the church is not able to receive them as a genuine believer and member of the church until they are baptized.
The church witnesses and affirms it.
Baptism is not a private event which a person does to themselves or by themselves. There must always be another member (or more if possible) of the church present to witness the baptism. This is because baptism serves as a public declaration of a person’s faith in Christ and commitment to Christ’s church. Throughout the New Testament, the pattern we see is a leading member of the church doing the baptism.
So, in summary, baptism is a special practice of the church which Christ commands of all his followers. We are to be baptized by the church soon after we believe on Christ and the church is to affirm and witness our baptism, welcoming us into the church with them. This is the practice of baptism. But what is the form and meaning of baptism?
Baptism means immersion.
The word baptism means “immersion,” and to baptize means “to immerse.” Other possible translations are to dip or submerge, as when we dip dirty dishes into the hot sudsy water in the sink or when a submarine goes below the surface of the ocean.
From early in church history, some churches moved away from this practice, which unfortunately gave way to wrong patterns and traditions over time. One of these changes was replacing baptism by immersion with other means, such as sprinkling or pouring.
The first reference to baptism by means other than immersion is found in the Didache (written about 120 to 150 AD). Baptism by pouring was viewed as an acceptable alternative only when it was not possible for the candidate to be immersed, with the first instance of this mentioned in about 250 AD for a believer wanting to be baptized but who was bed-ridden and about to die.
But like infant baptism, neither sprinkling nor pouring appear anywhere in the NT. Even Martin Luther acknowledged this at first, but he eventually relented and retained infant baptism. The word baptism (Greek word baptize) always and only means to immerse. It is both sad and surprising, then, that many churches failed to do as Jesus commanded.
In the 1500s, many people realized the errors of the Roman Catholic Church. We call this the Reformation. Men like Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, and more came out from Catholicisim to call people back to faith in Christ alone, not by works, and to the authority of Scripture, not the pope. This was the right decision, but in doing so, some also realized the importance of baptizing believers by immersion instead of sprinkling infants and calling that baptism.
Sadly, Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and other Protestant Reformers not only retained infant baptism but persecuted people who insisted on believers’ baptism by immersion. They called such people “Baptists,” not as a denomination, but as a way to mock people who taught believers’ baptism by immersion.
They imprisoned many Baptists, but tortured and killed many, too. One Protestant said of Baptists, “He who immerses shall be immersed,” and “They like immersion, so let us immerse them.” Stories are told of how they would strap Baptists to a chair and dunk them into the river repeatedly, or force their faces underwater until they gasped for air, or even in some cases bind their hands and feet and throw them into deep water to drown.
Such treatment of Baptists, especially pastors, continued in Europe and spread to America, from the early 1500s to the late 1700s, so about 200 years. Despite this struggle over this important teaching of Christ, Baptist churches (and others) have upheld the importance of baptizing only believers and of doing so by immersion. Why is this important? The simple answer is that “the Bible says so,” but there’s more to it than that. Here's a brief summary of key reasons why baptism by immersion is important.
It portrays salvation by grace through faith.
When a person is baptized, then entrust themselves to another person (usually the pastor or man of the church), who then places them under the water and brings them back up again. This pictures how God saves us by his own act of grace, we do not save ourselves.
It portrays our union with Christ.
Paul explains this in Romans 6:3 when he says that we were “baptized into Christ.” The moment we believe on Christ, we are not sprinkled with Christ, we are placed into Christ completely. We become entirely one with him and become a full child of God as a result. Sprinkling our pouring does not illustrate this truth accurately.
It portrays the death of our old self.
Paul says how we are “buried with Christ through baptism into death” (Rom 6:3). By being submerged under water, we are reminded not only of Christ’s death for us but of the death of our old self with him. Only baptism by immersion reflects this death and burial.
It portrays the beginning of our new life.
And only baptism by immersion reflects the resurrection of Christ from the grave and our resurrection to new life with him. Rom 6:5 says, “If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” Sprinkling and pouring do not show what this new life is like very well.
It portrays our cleansing from sin and guilt.
Baptism by immersion also portrays the complete and total cleansing of our souls of sin before God. Acts 22:16 explains how baptism illustrates God “washing away your sins” when we call upon his name. Though sprinkling can represent cleansing to some degree, what would any parent tell their child if their child decided to “sprinkle” the supper dishes instead of washing them or to “sprinkle” their heads with water instead of getting a bath? Baptism by immersion is the best way to illustrate the total cleansing that Christ provides to those who believe on him by faith.
It portrays our union with one another.
An overlooked significance of baptism by immersion is that it illustrates our union with one another. Just as we are completely immersed into Christ, so we are immersed into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit so that we are part of the same body of Christ together. Only baptism by immersion pictures how deeply we are connected to one another in the church.
It portrays our submission to Christ as Lord.
Finally, baptism by immersion portrays our total submission to Christ. There is something helpless and vulnerable about baptism by immersion unlike any other mode. And there is something impactful and powerful about portray such complete submission and trust in Christ in this way.
All of this being said, though baptism doesn’t save a person from sin, as the first formal, public act of submission and obedience to Christ, it is important. This step is important because it gives a person a God-given opportunity to make very clear their submission to Christ and commitment to his church. After all, if a person claims to believe on Christ as God and Lord, then do they really view God this way if they refuse to obey him on this first and important command?
How should we respond to the command of baptism?
As followers of Christ, how should we view the role of baptism in the church?
Every follower of Christ must be baptized.
This means that we should encourage and teach anyone who says that they believe on Christ to demonstrate that faith through baptism – by immersion. So, if you believe on Christ as your God and Savior, this is what you need to do next, as soon as possible. If your only “baptism” experience was an infant baptism or else another baptism sometime before you genuinely, knowingly believed on Christ, then obeying Christ through believer’s baptism by immersion is something very special that you need to do.
Every baptized follower of Christ must witness and affirm one another’s baptisms.
If you are a follower of Christ who has submitted to believer’s baptism by immersion, then praise the Lord! It is now your responsibility and privilege to be present and affirm, to witness and celebrate the baptisms of other believers as they occur. Look forward to these opportunities at Brookdale and be present for them as much as possible. Throughout history and still today in many difficult places in the world, people risk their lives to be baptized. While this may not be the challenge we face in the U.S. today, the choice to be baptized is still very significant.
As a pastor, I’ve found that the people find getting in front of people for their baptism to be challenging, esp. with increased levels of social anxiety and fear. I’ve even baptized a mother of an adult child who delayed her baptism for decades because she was afraid of water. Furthermore, I’ve recognized that in a culture such as Fargo-Moorhead has, it takes a lot of courage and humility for people to be baptized by immersion because doing so makes a statement to others that infant baptism isn’t the teaching of Christ. That can feel mean or uncaring, even though it isn’t, and we don’t like to make people feel that way. We need to enthusiastically support everyone who gets baptized into our church, realizing that it’s a big step for them!
We also need to regularly witness baptisms because they remind us of our own baptism and of the many gospel truths and spiritual realities that baptism illustrates for us.
Every baptized follower of Christ must teach others to follow Christ, including baptism.
Finally, as Christ said in Matt 28:18-20, all of us who are baptized followers of Christ are called by Christ to teach other people to follow Christ by faith, encouraging them to be baptized into the church and to then obey Christ in all other ways. This is not just the privilege of pastors but of every baptized believer. May you have as your spiritual goal to pursue this with prayer and passion. May God guide and enable you to help other people in the Fargo-Moorhead community come to faith in Christ and to announce their faith publicly through baptism and enter into the church, to follow and serve Christ together with us.
If you have any questions about this message or would like to inquire about believing on Christ and/or being baptized, please let me or Pastor Will know. We would be extremely glad to help you!
Discussion Questions
Cultures, organizations, all sorts of groups that people form as adults are like this, too. As humans, we find meaning and value in agreeing upon certain behaviors as distinct and special to our groups. Such initial acts signify entrance into a group and ongoing acts signify ongoing participation in and commitment to the group. These group actions establish group identity and belonging, emphasize and preserve shared beliefs and values, provide a sense of stability, and draw people closer together.
From the first century to today, churches have practiced two special and distinctive acts, which we call baptism and communion (or the Lord’s Supper or Lord’s Table) and we do these things not only because we agree to do so but because Jesus himself told us to do them. In our current preaching series, we will consider what the Bible teaches about these two special commands of Christ to the church, which we call “ordinances.”
First, let’s remind ourselves of what the church is. When we began our “Cherishing the Church” series, we defined the church as “a growing group of people who follow Christ together by faith.” This group of people is first worldwide, consisting in a spiritual sense of all people who follow Christ by faith. But it is also local, consisting of smaller groups of people who are committed as followers of Christ to one another. And it is these smaller groups, which we call churches, that practice baptism and communion together.
To cherish the church as Christ cherishes the church, we should not only do these two things as a church, but we should do them with seriousness attitude and understanding heart. Today, we will hear what the Bible says about the purpose and practice of baptism.
Baptism is a special practice of the church.
Baptism was not something that carried over from the Old to the New Testament. Jesus introduced and commanded to his followers.
Jesus commanded it.
In some of his final teaching before returning to his throne in heaven, he said:
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 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 things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matt 28:18-20)
As our God, king, and Lord, Jesus tells us to do this, and he puts his authority behind it. He tells his followers to help other people become followers of him. Another way of saying this is to he calls his followers to help other people to also become a part of the church. And the way we do this is through showing and teaching them the good news about Christ. In doing so, we are to teach them to obey Christ in baptism first and then to obey everything else he teaches after baptism.
New believers submit to it.
Two difficulties that we have today are (1) infant baptism on one hand and (2) delayed baptism on the other.
Infant baptism occurs when a baby is baptized before they can understand the gospel and believe on Christ. Not only is this contradictory to how gospel salvation occurs, this practice is never taught or mentioned in the Bible.
Delayed baptism on the other hand occurs when a person believes on Christ for salvation but puts off being baptism for a long period of time. Sometimes a church requires this delay so that the person can learn more about the Christian life first or sometimes the person delays because they are afraid to get in front of people or want to wait until they are more serious somehow.
But throughout the NT, the pattern of who and when people were baptized is clear and consistent. People who could understand the gospel and who believed the gospel were baptized soon after they believed the gospel.
Those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. (Acts 2:41-42)
So, people understood the gospel, believed the gospel, and were baptized. Only after they were baptized did they go on to grow in their Christian faith. Baptism was the first step of obedience of a new believer.
One other detail to note here is that baptism is not something a new believer “does.” It is something that a new believer submits to or “has done” to them. This is important because baptism is a key litmus test to determine whether a person has genuinely believed on Christ. If a person claims to believe on Christ as God and Lord but refuses to be baptized afterwards, the church is unable to take that person’s claim of faith seriously. This does not mean that this person is not a believer, but it does mean that the church is not able to receive them as a genuine believer and member of the church until they are baptized.
The church witnesses and affirms it.
Baptism is not a private event which a person does to themselves or by themselves. There must always be another member (or more if possible) of the church present to witness the baptism. This is because baptism serves as a public declaration of a person’s faith in Christ and commitment to Christ’s church. Throughout the New Testament, the pattern we see is a leading member of the church doing the baptism.
So, in summary, baptism is a special practice of the church which Christ commands of all his followers. We are to be baptized by the church soon after we believe on Christ and the church is to affirm and witness our baptism, welcoming us into the church with them. This is the practice of baptism. But what is the form and meaning of baptism?
Baptism means immersion.
The word baptism means “immersion,” and to baptize means “to immerse.” Other possible translations are to dip or submerge, as when we dip dirty dishes into the hot sudsy water in the sink or when a submarine goes below the surface of the ocean.
From early in church history, some churches moved away from this practice, which unfortunately gave way to wrong patterns and traditions over time. One of these changes was replacing baptism by immersion with other means, such as sprinkling or pouring.
The first reference to baptism by means other than immersion is found in the Didache (written about 120 to 150 AD). Baptism by pouring was viewed as an acceptable alternative only when it was not possible for the candidate to be immersed, with the first instance of this mentioned in about 250 AD for a believer wanting to be baptized but who was bed-ridden and about to die.
But like infant baptism, neither sprinkling nor pouring appear anywhere in the NT. Even Martin Luther acknowledged this at first, but he eventually relented and retained infant baptism. The word baptism (Greek word baptize) always and only means to immerse. It is both sad and surprising, then, that many churches failed to do as Jesus commanded.
In the 1500s, many people realized the errors of the Roman Catholic Church. We call this the Reformation. Men like Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, and more came out from Catholicisim to call people back to faith in Christ alone, not by works, and to the authority of Scripture, not the pope. This was the right decision, but in doing so, some also realized the importance of baptizing believers by immersion instead of sprinkling infants and calling that baptism.
Sadly, Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and other Protestant Reformers not only retained infant baptism but persecuted people who insisted on believers’ baptism by immersion. They called such people “Baptists,” not as a denomination, but as a way to mock people who taught believers’ baptism by immersion.
They imprisoned many Baptists, but tortured and killed many, too. One Protestant said of Baptists, “He who immerses shall be immersed,” and “They like immersion, so let us immerse them.” Stories are told of how they would strap Baptists to a chair and dunk them into the river repeatedly, or force their faces underwater until they gasped for air, or even in some cases bind their hands and feet and throw them into deep water to drown.
Such treatment of Baptists, especially pastors, continued in Europe and spread to America, from the early 1500s to the late 1700s, so about 200 years. Despite this struggle over this important teaching of Christ, Baptist churches (and others) have upheld the importance of baptizing only believers and of doing so by immersion. Why is this important? The simple answer is that “the Bible says so,” but there’s more to it than that. Here's a brief summary of key reasons why baptism by immersion is important.
It portrays salvation by grace through faith.
When a person is baptized, then entrust themselves to another person (usually the pastor or man of the church), who then places them under the water and brings them back up again. This pictures how God saves us by his own act of grace, we do not save ourselves.
It portrays our union with Christ.
Paul explains this in Romans 6:3 when he says that we were “baptized into Christ.” The moment we believe on Christ, we are not sprinkled with Christ, we are placed into Christ completely. We become entirely one with him and become a full child of God as a result. Sprinkling our pouring does not illustrate this truth accurately.
It portrays the death of our old self.
Paul says how we are “buried with Christ through baptism into death” (Rom 6:3). By being submerged under water, we are reminded not only of Christ’s death for us but of the death of our old self with him. Only baptism by immersion reflects this death and burial.
It portrays the beginning of our new life.
And only baptism by immersion reflects the resurrection of Christ from the grave and our resurrection to new life with him. Rom 6:5 says, “If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” Sprinkling and pouring do not show what this new life is like very well.
It portrays our cleansing from sin and guilt.
Baptism by immersion also portrays the complete and total cleansing of our souls of sin before God. Acts 22:16 explains how baptism illustrates God “washing away your sins” when we call upon his name. Though sprinkling can represent cleansing to some degree, what would any parent tell their child if their child decided to “sprinkle” the supper dishes instead of washing them or to “sprinkle” their heads with water instead of getting a bath? Baptism by immersion is the best way to illustrate the total cleansing that Christ provides to those who believe on him by faith.
It portrays our union with one another.
An overlooked significance of baptism by immersion is that it illustrates our union with one another. Just as we are completely immersed into Christ, so we are immersed into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit so that we are part of the same body of Christ together. Only baptism by immersion pictures how deeply we are connected to one another in the church.
It portrays our submission to Christ as Lord.
Finally, baptism by immersion portrays our total submission to Christ. There is something helpless and vulnerable about baptism by immersion unlike any other mode. And there is something impactful and powerful about portray such complete submission and trust in Christ in this way.
All of this being said, though baptism doesn’t save a person from sin, as the first formal, public act of submission and obedience to Christ, it is important. This step is important because it gives a person a God-given opportunity to make very clear their submission to Christ and commitment to his church. After all, if a person claims to believe on Christ as God and Lord, then do they really view God this way if they refuse to obey him on this first and important command?
How should we respond to the command of baptism?
As followers of Christ, how should we view the role of baptism in the church?
Every follower of Christ must be baptized.
This means that we should encourage and teach anyone who says that they believe on Christ to demonstrate that faith through baptism – by immersion. So, if you believe on Christ as your God and Savior, this is what you need to do next, as soon as possible. If your only “baptism” experience was an infant baptism or else another baptism sometime before you genuinely, knowingly believed on Christ, then obeying Christ through believer’s baptism by immersion is something very special that you need to do.
Every baptized follower of Christ must witness and affirm one another’s baptisms.
If you are a follower of Christ who has submitted to believer’s baptism by immersion, then praise the Lord! It is now your responsibility and privilege to be present and affirm, to witness and celebrate the baptisms of other believers as they occur. Look forward to these opportunities at Brookdale and be present for them as much as possible. Throughout history and still today in many difficult places in the world, people risk their lives to be baptized. While this may not be the challenge we face in the U.S. today, the choice to be baptized is still very significant.
As a pastor, I’ve found that the people find getting in front of people for their baptism to be challenging, esp. with increased levels of social anxiety and fear. I’ve even baptized a mother of an adult child who delayed her baptism for decades because she was afraid of water. Furthermore, I’ve recognized that in a culture such as Fargo-Moorhead has, it takes a lot of courage and humility for people to be baptized by immersion because doing so makes a statement to others that infant baptism isn’t the teaching of Christ. That can feel mean or uncaring, even though it isn’t, and we don’t like to make people feel that way. We need to enthusiastically support everyone who gets baptized into our church, realizing that it’s a big step for them!
We also need to regularly witness baptisms because they remind us of our own baptism and of the many gospel truths and spiritual realities that baptism illustrates for us.
Every baptized follower of Christ must teach others to follow Christ, including baptism.
Finally, as Christ said in Matt 28:18-20, all of us who are baptized followers of Christ are called by Christ to teach other people to follow Christ by faith, encouraging them to be baptized into the church and to then obey Christ in all other ways. This is not just the privilege of pastors but of every baptized believer. May you have as your spiritual goal to pursue this with prayer and passion. May God guide and enable you to help other people in the Fargo-Moorhead community come to faith in Christ and to announce their faith publicly through baptism and enter into the church, to follow and serve Christ together with us.
If you have any questions about this message or would like to inquire about believing on Christ and/or being baptized, please let me or Pastor Will know. We would be extremely glad to help you!
Discussion Questions
- Does it seem good to you that God instituted Baptism as an act of initiation? Is this an empty ritual or a profound practice?
- Could we replace Baptism with another initiation method?
- How can we help someone who claims to be a Christian, but does not feel ready to be baptized?
- What does one’s willingness to submit to being baptized (or, in other words, having this “done to them”) say about their attitude?
- How does viewing Baptism as a public declaration, rather than a private event, help us to enjoy a Biblical sense of community? Does this help us combat individualism?
- Were any of the reasons for the importance of baptism by immersion new for you? If it resonated with you, please explain.
- Is there something beneficial in the awkwardness of being baptized? Both the awkwardness of it in general, but also in the cultural context of the Fargo-Moorhead area?
- What are some benefits of watching someone else be baptized?
- If discipling someone means “doing deliberate good to help someone follow Christ,” can we disciple someone without encouraging them to be baptized?
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