Sermon
Foundations Of Faith: Baptism
Sermon Outline
ME
Everything we do has two parts.
The results and what those results mean to us.
Think about your signature.
At the most basic level, it’s just your hand putting ink on paper.
You and I spent most of 1st grade learning it.
The results of your signature have tremendous weight.
Signing the papers for a place to live.
Signing a marriage license.
Signing an employment agreement.
Signing a speeding ticket.
The action is simple, but what the action means can be enormous.
There is nothing particularly powerful about putting ink on paper.
The power is the reality that the signature represents.
Baptism is like this.
On the surface, someone gets into water.
Somebody lowers them and then brings them back up.
We clap. They dry off.
If that’s all baptism was, it would be a pretty strange thing to do.
Transition
However, baptism takes an invisible decision and gives it a visible moment, and it's a key part of a solid foundation of faith.
WE
Sometimes the most helpful way to see a small part of the picture is by making sense of the whole picture.
At a high level, the goal of the foundations of faith has one objective: maturity to follow Jesus.
That is the common denominator they all serve.
We can further break down the foundations of faith into three categories: Internal, External, and Eternal.
This should be a concise slide that follows the three areas of foundations of faith.
Repentance from dead works and faith in God is something that is deeply personal and an internal decision.
Baptism and the laying on of hands for prayer is an external expression.
Resurrection and eternal judgment are eternal consequences.
Today we look at the external foundations of the faith. These are only possible in progression after the first two.
If you haven’t repented and don’t have faith in God, then water baptism simply is not for you.
Why has baptism been one of the universally accepted moments of Christian life throughout the ages?
Sure, at different times and in different traditions, the practice of baptism may look different, but its presence in the discipleship journey predates even church services.
It is, however, listed as a foundation of faith. Why?
GOD
Surrendered To Baptism
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19 NLT
The connection between baptism and living a life for Jesus is the starting place of why this step of faith has endured throughout church history.
Jesus gives a clear progression: Make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey.
Look at how the progression also happens with Hebrews 6.
Repentance says, “I’m turning to Jesus.”
Faith says, “I’m trusting Jesus.”
Baptism says, “I’m following Jesus.”
This is the main reason we don’t participate in infant baptism.
Not that if you were baptized as an infant or you have participated in infant baptism, I don’t take it to be sinful.
We just don’t see the qualities required for baptism to be present.
The person being baptized is required to repent and be teachable.
Infants, if anything, are not repentant of their deeds.
Thus, we as followers of Christ, as soon as we can understand it, submit ourselves to baptism.
Not because baptism saves us, but because Jesus has saved us and told us to follow him with this step of faith.
Transition
If you think about it, every baptism has three parts.
Surrender. Into the water. Out of the water.
We as individuals surrender to baptism the moment we asked Jesus for forgiveness and physically the moment we let someone plunge us under water so that we can be…
Baptized Into Faith
To be clear, baptism is to identify with Jesus.
“Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death?” Romans 6:3 NLT
The fact is, baptism is not about water. If it was just about water, then every summer we would be celebrating revivals at pools across the nation that people in masses went underwater and came back up.
Baptism is about going through a process that identifies us with Christ, the process of submitting to the will of God to become who God is calling us to be.
The symbol of baptism is an external declaration of a new inner spiritual reality.
Like a marriage, the ceremony is wonderful, but it’s what is happening between the couple that is the actual substance of the moment.
When we are baptized, we are saying that we have joined Christ through a symbolic death to sin.
Why would we have to go to such extreme measures? Why would we have to die to sin? Couldn’t we just ignore it?
The power of sin is real. The draw of sin is real.
If left alive, we will try to get out of sin what was meant to only be fulfilled by God.
And so the symbol of baptism isn’t to wash away our sins, but to die to our sins.
Look at how the word of God connects baptism and death.
“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.” 1 Peter 3:21 NLT
“What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.” Acts 22:16 NLT
Transition
But baptism is not just about death to sin. It is about being…
Baptized Into New Life
“For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.” Romans 6:4 NLT
If we look throughout the Bible, we see that water doesn’t represent anything good normally. In fact, most often it is associated with the most difficult moments of people's lives.
Underwater is an unsurvivable environment. Just like a life lived in sin on an eternal scale and even a temporal scale is not survivable.
And so baptism plays to that narrative.
Only God can conquer the depths of the sea, and only God can bring life out of what seems like loss.
Look at a few examples:
Noah and the flood.
Noah and his family only survive the judgment of the earth because of God’s provision.
Moses and the Red Sea.
The sea trapped them, yet God made a way.
Paul and the shipwreck.
The sea disrupts his journey, but the plan of God prevails.
Baptism puts us into the biblical story: what should have been a grave becomes, by the power of God, a doorway into new life.
Where sin should have resulted in my death, God made a way for new life!
YOU
If you have been baptized, remember what you have been baptized to.
“Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.” Romans 6:5-6 NLT
We are no longer slaves to sin.
That is not who I hope to be. In Christ and symbolized by baptism, that is who I am.
We now live in a post-Christian nation.
All the studies tell us that is the direction we’re going in.
For the first time in 2000 years, Christianity faces a new frontier.
For 2000 years it’s always been a pre-Christian people that was being engaged by the gospel.
Now, as much as, if not more, than ever, we must live a life of alignment with Jesus, and we must declare that alignment through baptism and every day of our lives.
If you haven’t been baptized and you’re a follower of Christ, it’s time to take that step.
Surrender to his call.
Go under the waters and confront the reality of sin.
Come out of the water into new life.
If you haven’t been baptized, you should ask yourself the question:
How would God feel about me being baptized?
What might that look like?
In closing, turn to Matthew 3:17:
Acceptance: This is my
Affection: Dearly loved
Affirmation: Who brings me great joy
If you haven’t been baptized, you need to pray about why that is.
It’s time.
You can write it on a connection card
Or register online.