Why We Baptize

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Well, as I’ve already mentioned this morning, we’re celebrating Baptism Sunday today, and that doesn’t mean that we’re only able to baptize people on one specific day out of the year. Well, I’d be thrilled if we had people come forward every Sunday for baptism, wouldn’t you? So it’s not just today that we’re able to do it.

Today is just a day that we’ve picked out to emphasize the importance of baptism. We had one person come forward for baptism, and we planned for several weeks to allow others the opportunity to join in while the baptistry’s full and while the water’s warm, although I found out this morning the water’s not warm. It’s room temperature, and I warned them, though, don’t let that dissuade you.

It’s not super cold, but I warned them that, hey, it’s not as warm as we thought it was going to be, but however long you’re in there, I’m going to be in there longer, so just deal with it. Now, over the last several weeks, I’ve told people repeatedly to talk to me if they needed to be baptized. And I never want to twist anybody’s arm, but I want to give everybody the opportunity who needs to be baptized to be baptized, because baptism is important.

Some people put it off because of physical ailments, but we have ways of working around that. We’ve got a chair back there in the baptistry. We can raise and lower you in.

We have ways of working around that. Some people put it off because they’re afraid of being put under the water or held under the water. Or they’re a little apprehensive about not knowing how it works.

I’ve warned Madeline how long I hold her under is directly related to how she’s behaved this week. Not really. And we’ve got a cinder block in there for her to stand on because she’s short.

And Dawn saw that and said, is that to hold me under? Greg said, great, he’s seen the cinder block. Don’t show him the chains.

All right, so here I’m telling you, it’s important to get baptized. Come forward, and I’m giving you every reason not to be. Some people are just afraid of the water or they’re apprehensive, not knowing how it works.

When I trusted Jesus as my Savior, I held off on baptism for about eight months because I was scared of being dunked underwater. But it was really when I realized the importance of it that I went ahead and just faced my fear and did it. And I can walk you through it and explain every step ahead of time and make sure you feel as comfortable as possible.

We believe that baptism is an important step of obedience to Jesus Christ for the believer. And so we want to help anyone who needs to take that step and hasn’t to take that step. And there’s still an open invitation today.

At the end of my message this morning, we’re going to stand and sing together. And during that time, if you feel the Lord leading you to be baptized this morning, it’s not too late. Just because we haven’t scheduled it doesn’t mean it’s too late.

While we’re singing, you come forward and visit with me about it. We’ll talk about it and figure out a way to work it out. You may not have come prepared with a change of clothes or a towel.

That’s okay. We have some really stylish robes you can wear. Nobody thought that was funny.

They are really stylish, and we’ll find you a towel. We can make this work. But if you sense God leading you toward baptism at all, come visit with me today at the end of the service.

Now, since we’re placing so much emphasis on baptism this morning, though, and on celebrating baptism, I wanted to take a few moments this morning to explain what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, especially if this is new to anyone out there. I realize that in this group we’ve got people that have been Christians for 50, 60 years maybe. We’ve got people who have been Christians just a short time.

So this may be new to you. And there are a lot of misconceptions out there about baptism, and we have to make sure that we’re clear about it when we’re celebrating something this important. We have to make sure that we’re clear in just exactly what it is that we’re doing.

And I’m delighted that I’ll have the opportunity to baptize my oldest daughter in a few minutes. And I’ll admit that we waited maybe longer than we should have to go ahead and go forward with baptism because I was so determined to make sure she truly understands what it is she’s doing. And so over the last weeks and months, I’ll quiz her.

I’ll walk into her room randomly and ask her about her relationship with Jesus. I’ll wake her up in the morning and ask her what baptism means so I can get her while she’s groggy and see if she really knows the answer. The joys of living in a preacher’s house, right?

But it’s that important. It’s that important. that I wanted to make sure she understood.

We need to understand what this means. Those who’ve already come forward for baptism today have done so for one reason, and it’s because they’ve told us they believe in Jesus Christ as their one and only Savior, and they want to tell the world that they believe in Him as their one and only Savior. It’s not a way to ensure that they get to heaven.

It’s not just so that they can join the church, although that is part of it, but that’s not really what it’s for. It’s not just to complete some cultural rite of passage. It’s to tell the world of their faith in Jesus Christ. That’s what baptism is for.

If you’ll turn with me to Colossians chapter 2, Colossians chapter 2, we’re going to look at a few verses that touch on salvation and baptism this morning. Now, Colossians chapter 2 isn’t the only biblical text that speaks to salvation and baptism. As a matter of fact, it’s not even the first passage that I would use to preach on this subject.

I had a whole other message prepared this week until toward the end of the week. At the end of the week, I sensed God leading me to move to Colossians 2 and trim it down. I got the whole other message ready.

Two days ago, God says, why don’t you switch? Thanks a lot, God. But we’re obedient when he tells us to do things.

So let’s look at Colossians 2, 9 through 12. Colossians 2, verses 9 through 12. And I want to talk to you about those few verses for just a couple of minutes this morning because they reflect what’s supposed to take place in people’s hearts during these initial steps in their journey with Jesus.

Now the passage starts in verse 9 by talking about who Jesus is. And it says, The entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ. Now, for every believer, there was a place and time in our lives when we came to realize that Jesus Christ is more than just a man and more than just a teacher. For each of us, there was that realization.

For the true believer, there was that realization that Jesus Christ is everything He claimed to be. What He claimed to be, Jesus claimed to be God the Son in human flesh. On top of everything else he said and taught, he claimed to be God the Son in human flesh.

And he backed that claim up every day of his life. He taught things that were beyond the imagination, but beyond the human imagination’s ability to dream up. Jesus performed miracles that we just couldn’t duplicate.

People just couldn’t do them. Jesus supernaturally transformed the lives of everyone around him and he produced lasting change in people. Jesus Christ fulfilled the prophecies and the promises and the pictures that God had placed throughout all the Old Testament and Jesus Christ even foretold his own death his own crucifixion and his resurrection and then he did rise from the dead three days later just like he said he would just like he promised and as believers we recognize those of us who trusted in Christ already we recognize that he was no ordinary human teacher.

All right? He was so much more. He is, in fact, God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, in human flesh.

And though he walked among us as a man, he is every bit as much God as the Father and the Holy Spirit are. He’s every bit as much God. And this verse teaches that all the attributes of God are found in Jesus Christ because he is God.

All right? He is God the Son. And if Jesus really is God the Son, who died for our sins, and who proved it by rising from the dead, then He’s worth following.

He’s worth following with your whole heart throughout your entire life. He’s worth it because of who He is. The entire fullness of God dwells in Christ bodily.

He’s the fullness of God wrapped up in human flesh. Now verse 10 says, You have been filled by Him. You have been filled by Him who is the head ruler and authority.

Now Jesus rules and reigns over all things and he comes to take up residence within the believer to fill our lives and to transform us according to his will. What Jesus has done for us though is not limited to just the crucifixion and resurrection that took place 2,000 years ago. He leads us now.

He changes us now. He’s our Lord and Savior today. He’s still in us today every person who trusts in Jesus as their savior and begins to follow him as their lord will be changed by him today we can’t help it and we’ll continue to see that change throughout our entire lives as we walk with him now there’ll be some days where we don’t live up to to his will for us anybody else have those days where you’re not exactly what Jesus wants you to be okay I have those.

We’ll have days like that, but overall the course, the trajectory, the overall direction of our lives will be one of him changing us. As years go by, Jesus will transform us to be more like him as he fills our lives and leads us according to his will. He changes us and leads us to be more like him.

And we see in these verses that he’s more than just a human teacher. No human teacher could change us like that. He’s more than just a human teacher.

He is a Savior worth trusting and a Lord worth following. And that brings us to verse 11. So much more I want to say on these verses, but God told me to keep it short this week so we’d have time for baptism.

Don’t y’all wish God told me that every week, right? That brings us to verse 11 where we see that Jesus is the only one who can cleanse us. He’s the only one who can cleanse us.

He’s the only one who can cleanse us, who can change us, and who can make us acceptable to God. The Apostle Paul said in verse 11, You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ. Now in the Old Testament, circumcision was considered to be a way of cutting away things that were unclean parts, and it was a sign of someone being a part of God’s covenant with Israel. Okay?

It was both of those things. putting away of uncleanness and a sign that you’re part of the covenant. It was a sign that that person belonged to God.

But this verse points to a circumcision not done by hands. All right, elsewhere the Bible calls this the circumcision of the heart in the book of Romans. And that’s what we need because the Bible teaches that an outward religious ritual, including circumcision and including baptism, that it’s powerless to actually bring us closer to God.

It’s powerless to do anything to bring us closer to God. No matter what we do to cleanse ourselves outwardly, whether it’s circumcision, whether it’s baptism, whether it’s any other ritual, there’s still an uncleanness in our hearts called sin that keeps us separated from God. There’s this cleanness in our hearts that needs to be cut away and needs to be cleared out.

The heart needs to be circumcised, and Jesus is the only one who can make that happen. That’s why this verse, verse 11, calls it the circumcision of Christ. He has to cleanse us. He has to cleanse our hearts.

We can’t cleanse our hearts by being good and trying to live right, because no matter how hard we work, no matter how hard we work, we can’t eradicate the sin that’s in our hearts. It’s there for all of us. And maybe you think you’ll be all right with God because you’ve gone to church.

I mean, you’re here this morning. Maybe you think you’ll be all right with God because you’ve gone to church or because you’ve given money or because you’ve tried to live right or even because you’ve been baptized. Maybe you think you’ll be all right with God because of one of those things, but it doesn’t work that way.

It doesn’t work that way. Nobody here is right with God just by being here. All right?

Nobody is right with God by being baptized. When we start baptizing people here at the end of the service, that’s not going to save any of them. All right?

Those things don’t address the sin in our hearts. Being here just makes us church-going sinners. Being baptized just makes us wet sinners.

Okay? Doesn’t do anything to address the problem of sin. our sin problem has to be dealt with and Jesus is the only one who can do it.

We’ve all sinned. We’ve all disobeyed God in our actions, our attitudes, our thoughts, our words. And because God is holy, he can’t just tolerate our sin.

And because God is just, he can’t just excuse our sin. Now the fact is we’re separated from God by our sin and we’re destined to spend eternity in hell separated from him. And we’re unable to do anything to save ourselves, to rescue ourselves from that fate.

Because He’s holy and just, God has to punish sin. It has to be done. But because He’s loving, because He’s loving, He made a way to punish our sin that didn’t involve us being separated from Him in hell for all of eternity.

He did that. That’s why Jesus came to earth. He came to take responsibility for my sin and for yours.

He came to take responsibility for our sins and die on the cross. in our place. And so he shed his blood and died to pay the full penalty for our sins and to bear the full punishment that we deserve.

But now because those sins are paid for, because Jesus has paid for those sins, God offers us complete forgiveness and eternal life with him if we’ll seek his forgiveness and believe that Jesus Christ provided it in full on the cross. Religious rituals and good works will never bring us closer to God. But a Savior who died for our sins and rose again absolutely will.

Some of you may realize this morning that you’ve sinned against God. And you may realize, you may know deep down that you’re not right with Him. Even sitting here this morning, you may realize you’re not right with Him.

And maybe you’ve tried everything you can to fix it, but you still feel distant from God. Now, it’s time to stop believing the lie that you can somehow fix that yourself. And it’s also time to stop believing the lie that it just can’t be fixed at all, and you just have to remain separated from God forever and just accept that that’s the way it is.

Instead, we need to believe God’s Word when it says that Jesus Christ, God the Son, came to die in your place so that you could be forgiven. Quit believing these lies and believe what God’s Word says, that Jesus Christ can save you and reconcile you to a holy God. In just a few moments, we’re going to stand and sing together.

And if you have questions about that, about what Jesus did for you, you’re more than welcome to come forward during that time. We have any number of people, including myself, who’d be glad to tell you more about Jesus. We’ll do our best to answer any questions you may have about Jesus or help you find the answer if we don’t have all the answers figured out, which is a good likelihood.

But we can at least tell you more about what Jesus did for you. But there’s nothing magical about the front of the auditorium here. There’s nothing magical about the church building.

There’s nothing magical about walking down the aisle. All right? If you know you’ve sinned, and you know you need a Savior, and you believe that Jesus died to pay for your sin in full, and you believe that He rose again to prove it, if you believe He’s your one and only Savior, He’s your only hope, then right where you are this morning, you can pray and ask God’s forgiveness.

And He promises He’ll provide it. You can come forward if you need to. But that doesn’t save you.

Right where you are, you can trust Christ and ask God’s forgiveness. You just need to understand. This is key.

You just need to understand that you won’t earn salvation. You won’t earn salvation by trying to live right. You won’t earn salvation by trying harder or by undergoing some religious ritual. That salvation comes by believing that Jesus died for you and by asking God’s forgiveness while trusting entirely in Jesus Christ to provide that forgiveness.

He’s the only way. He’s the only way. But if baptism doesn’t save us, then why do we bother with it?

Why do we make such a big deal about it? Verse 12 explains that. It says, When you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

Now you see, baptism is a picture of what Jesus did for us. When dunking somebody in the water represents how Jesus died for us and was buried. And then raising somebody back up out of the water, which we almost always do, almost always remember to do that part, that represents how Jesus rose up out of the grave.

Now among the earliest Christians, baptism was a serious step. because Christianity was persecuted in those days. You could lose your freedom.

You could lose your livelihood. You could even lose your life for being a Christian. But these people believed so strongly, hear me on this, they believed so strongly that Jesus was their Savior that they were willing to put their lives on the line to obey His command and tell the world.

They were willing to do whatever it took. We go through baptism first because Jesus commanded us to, but secondly, as it outlines in this verse, we do it because we want to tell the world that Jesus died to pay for our sins and rose again to prove it. It’s a way of saying to the world publicly, I believe in Jesus and I belong to Him.

It’s our public declaration of faith. It doesn’t save us, but it testifies to the world about our faith in the One who did. Now, if you have questions about Jesus, you are still, as I outlined earlier, you are still invited to come forward when we stand.

We’d love to tell you more about Jesus. But if you’ve already trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior before today, and you need to follow up with baptism, maybe you’ve put it off, maybe you’ve, I don’t know what your reasons might be, but you need to follow up with Him. Maybe it’s been years, and you’ve still never taken that step of obedience to publicly tell the world by baptism, we’d be thrilled to talk to you as well.

There are thousands of reasons. There are thousands of reasons to put off getting baptized, but not one of those reasons to put it off is as important as the reason to do it. You hear me on that?

Not one of those reasons to put it off is as important as the reason to do it. Today, today is a great day for every believer to be obedient to what Jesus has called us to do and to tell the world that we believe in him, to say it publicly in the way he told us to, to tell people we believe in Him. Don’t put it off any longer.

Come and say to the world, I believe.

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