Baptism

What is it and why we do it | Stefan Van der Merwe

The significance of baptism cannot be overstated. In the protestant churches it is understood to be one of only two sacraments that the Church holds two. First being the Lord’s Supper that Pastor Caleb taught on last week and Baptism being the second.

A sacrament can be explained as a symbolic ritual through which God delivers the Gospel. It is accepted through faith.

Churches like the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church both have seven sacraments which are mostly the same but they have their differences too.

The reason why the protestant church only has two sacraments is because we understand a sacrament to be a symbolic ritual commanded by Christ Himself and confirmed by the command or practice of the Apostles. This rules out foot-washing (as example) which, though done by Christ, is neither commanded by Him (He only says: “do as I have done to you”), nor confirmed either by the command or example of the Apostles.

But let us take a deeper glance into the practice of Baptism today and hopefully we can get a better appreciation for this significant sacrament.

Baptism as an first act of faith/obedience

The primary reason for baptism today is because it was a command given to us by Jesus himself. We read in Matthew 28:19:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

In these words of Jesus we see that those who make the decision to become followers of Christ (that is what a disciple is), through faith, should take the next step…which is baptism.

Apostle Mark also says:

“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved..” (Mark 16:16)

Putting your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is the first and most important step towards baptism. Without faith, there can be no baptism. Faith then requires action, because scripture through the apostle James teaches us that

“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead” (James 2:26).

Baptism can therefore be said to the first act of obedience in our newfound faith in Jesus Christ. I could therefore ask the question: “Do you believe in Jesus Christ and want to be His follower?” If yes, show it, by getting baptized.

Why is this so important you could ask? This brings me to the second point:

Baptism signifies the washing away of sins

Baptism in itself does not take the sins of man away, but becomes a symbolic practice of one whose sins has been forgiven by God.

Hence Peters’ command to a crowd he addressed in Jerusalem:

“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”

Acts 2:38

We see here that not only faith but also repentance precedes baptism. And indeed repentance of our sins. The bible teaches us that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and the only way to be freed from this burden of sin is by accepting the substitutionary (meaning in my place) death that Jesus died and repenting of your sins.

In plain words, repenting means accepting that you are a sinner and asking God to forgive you your sin.

As water washes the body of dirt, the water in baptism therefore symbolises the washing away of our sins.

This brings us to the next point..

In Baptism we identify with the death and resurrection of Christ

To overcome sin (not His sin, but ours!), Jesus Christ took our sin upon himself and died! In this way he overcame the power and hold that sin has on our lives.

The bible speaks about a new creation: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Cor 5:17)

There is a legend of Martin Luther, that, during a serious illness, the Evil One entered his sickroom and, looking at him with a triumphant smile, unrolled a big scroll which he carried in his arms.

As the fiend threw one end of it on the floor, it unwound by itself. Luther’s eyes read the long, fearful record of his own sins, one by one. That stout heart quailed before the ghastly roll.

Suddenly it flashed into Luther’s mind that there was one thing not written there. He cried aloud: “One thing you have forgotten. The rest is all true, but one thing you have forgotten: ‘The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.’ ” And as he said this, the Accuser of the Brethren and his heavy roll disappeared.

In other words, Martin Luther remembered that all that the Devil had on that scroll of his, was sins of his past life. They were accusations against the OLD Martin Luther, not the new one that is a new creation in Christ.

Baptism reminds us of this extraordinary change that takes place in our lives when we make the decision to follow Christ and are freed from our sin. We become a new creation in Christ. The old is there no more.

As you go down into the water and come back up with baptism we are reminded of this change and it is this change that gives us the future hope that all accusations that the devil might level against us will all be rendered merely frightening tactics that hold no power over you.

Baptism signifies being united with Jesus Christ

In the book of Galatians Apostle Paul writes to the churches in the province of Galatia the following:

“for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ”

Gal 3:27

Paul uses the analogy of “clothing yourselves with Christ” in other place too:

Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.

Romans 13:14

Fredrick Beuchner helps us gain some insight from a story he tells called “The Happy Hypocrite.” It’s a story about a man who was born with an awful facial deformity …

He grew up alone and lonely. When reaching adulthood, he decided to move from his town to begin a new life. On his way he discovered a beautiful mask that fit him making him look handsome. At first the mask was uncomfortable and he was afraid that people would find out who he really was, but he continued to wear the mask everyday.
In his new hometown, he made many friends and fell in love. But one day a wicked woman from his old home came to his town and discovered this man’s true identity. In front of his friends and fiancé, she forced him to remove his mask. When he removed the mask, it revealed a handsome face. His face had conformed to the mask.
Becoming like Christ is analogous to this. Go ahead and put on Christ. At first it may feel unnatural or uncomfortable, and maybe you may think, “Who am I trying to fool?” But everyday just keep putting on Christ and everyday you will grow to look more like him.

Every day we are to “put on” Christ, and when we do, the Holy Spirit works at transforming us to be more and more like Jesus:

Baptism is therefore the start of this new and wonderful journey with Christ, where everyday you become more and more like Him.

Baptism signifies unification into the body of Jesus Christ

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body.

1 Cor 12:12–13

Becoming a follower of Christ, means becoming part of a greater family of believers that share the same common belief and share the same value system.

If someone tells you that being a follower of Christ is easy, he is surely mistaken, and that is why Baptism also reminds us that not only are we united with Christ, but also united with fellowship of believers. Does the word fellowship ring a bell?

Let’s take a quick look @ our “OIF LOGO” again.

The “F” in OIF stands for Fellowship!

Initiation into this fellowship you could say starts with baptism.

As a fellowship we grow together (that’s what the green symbolises in our logo). For that reason God has also given the church spiritual gifts to all members. Gifts that differ from each other in order to edify the body of Christ and help it to become more and more like Jesus every day.

As a fellowship we are also devoted/committed or faithful to one another because of the love that we have for one another. The blue in our logo symbolises this faithfulness and love we have for one another.

And lastly..

Baptism also signifies or is linked with receiving the Holy Spirit

We read in Acts 2:38 Apostle Peter said:

“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”

From this verse we could almost come to the conclusion that receiving the Holy Spirit follows the sacrament of baptism, but a little later in Act 10:47 we see Peter writing the following regarding heathen people who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit the same way as the Jews have:

“Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have”.

The Apostle John (14:16–17) recalls Jesus as saying:

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever — 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

In the book of Acts we also read that Jesus once told his disciples:

“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with (Or in) the Holy Spirit.”

We see from these verses that Baptism is linked with the Spirit of God that lives inside of a follower of Christ. Whether he enters a man before he is baptized or after should probably not be that much of a discussion but that He is part of us and in us is of now small significance.

There is much more to say about this topic but we can have that on another day.

Conclusion

It was the deplorable practice of Charlemagne to force all those he conquered to become Christians. Into the rivers and lakes near the battlefield he drove his defeated enemies to be baptized. Thus thousands of Saxons were made to profess the Christian faith. Naturally it did them little good because they did not know what they were pledging and they had no desire to accept it.

One scheme Charlemagne hit upon to persuade the Saxons to be baptized peacefully was to give every convert a clean, white shirt. So numerous were the requests for these shirts that the supply ran out, and the newly-baptized began receiving instead a coarse yellow shirt. This was not so attractive, as we gather from the disdainful remark of a Saxon chieftain who was offered a yellow shirt: “I have been baptized already twenty times and received white shirts. I refuse to be baptized any more and will have nothing to do with a religion that is so stingy with its clothes.”

We also know very well the history of Vladimir the Great that got baptized in 988 and then proceeded to baptize not only his family but also ordered and eventually forced his subjects to accept baptism too.

By God’s grace we will not repeat the mistakes of our ancestors and we will continue to serve the sacrament of baptism in the way that we have learned it today!

Amen!