A Few Thoughts about Baptism

Positions

B1 Immersion which signifies identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Romans 6:4-5 NIV 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. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

B2 Pouring which signifies the gift of the Holy Spirit in believers. All believers have the Holy Spirit in the tabernacle of the recreated heart.

C1 Acts 2:33 NIV Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.

C2 Acts 10:45 NIV The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles.

C3 Romans 5:5 NIV And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

C4 John 1:33 NIV And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.'

C5 See also Romans 8:9, Romans 5:5, 1 Corinthians 1:22, Galatians 4:6, etc.

B3 Sprinkling which signifies the purifying the conscience.

C1 Hebrews 9:13-14 NIV The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

C2 Hebrews 12:22-24 NKJV But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

Questions at baptism

B1 Have you sinned by breaking the 10 Commandments?

B2 Do you agree that God is angry and will punish sin?

B3 Have you confessed you are a sinner and have repented.

B4 Have you asked God to forgive your sins?

B5 Have you placed faith into Jesus Christ alone for salvation?

B5 Do you renounce the works of the devil?

B6 Do you agree to study the Bible, pray, and plan to live the Christian life with God’s help?

Baptism

B1 A testimony of being under the leadership of Jesus Christ.

C1 Israel by going under the sea (going on dry land in Exodus 14:21-22) acknowledged Moses as God’s anointed leader. Israel going through the Red Sea are signifying they are leaving the worldview, lifestyle, religion, etc. of Egypt. 1 Corinthians 10:2 NIV They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

C2 Christians (those who have become believers by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone) now acknowledge Jesus as leader of the church. We have died to the world’s lifestyle, worldview, and the authority of the devil (1 John 3:10 and John 8:44). Romans 6:3 NRSV Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

B2 A testimony of have a cleared conscience coming from being regenerated.

C1 1 Peter 3:21 NLT And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

C2 Hebrews 9:13-14 NIV The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

We are in Christian. Think of it as a set; Christ is the set. We are a member of that set, that is, in Christ. We become a member of Christ by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. See Luke 18:9-14.

Articles

B1 What Questions Should be asked and answered at one’s baptism?

B2 Three Questions (Wesleyan)

B3 Is baptism required for salvation?