Believer's Baptism

Q: What does the Bible say about believer's baptism?

Believer's baptism is a public confession affirming that Christ alone is our salvation. Believer's baptism is an ordinance instituted by the Lord, symbolizing the believer's public confession that salvation is through Christ alone. In Romans 6, it illustrates how we are united with Christ in His death and resurrection, signifying our faith that we are sinners saved by His grace. This act depicts what Christ accomplished on the cross and his resurrection, representing our immersion into His death, burial, and rising to new life.

Q: How do we know baptism is for believers only?

Scripture shows that baptism follows belief, as seen with the Ethiopian eunuch and other examples in Acts. The New Testament consistently supports the view that baptism is intended only for those who believe. In Acts 8:37, Philip states that a person may be baptized only if they believe with all their heart. Moreover, there are no examples in Scripture of an unbeliever being baptized, and infant baptism is an erroneous practice stemming from misunderstandings of the New Covenant.

Q: Why is baptism important for Christians?

Baptism serves as a declaration of faith and a symbol of the believer's union with Christ. Baptism is crucial because it publicly affirms a believer's faith in Christ and symbolizes the spiritual reality of being united with Him in His death and resurrection. It signifies that the believer's sin nature has been buried and that they now walk in newness of life. This public confession also represents commitment to the gospel and the community of believers, marking them as part of Christ's body.

You know, I'm looking at that psalm. That whole psalm is about the works of the Lord that he has done. And I don't know why the translators added that word, his commandments, in that last verse. It says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all they that do. Why not just leave it there? A good understanding has everyone that does fear him. His praise endures forever. The whole psalm's about his works and his praise and his glory. It's why they added commandments, I don't know. All right, brethren, let's get to our text. Let's go to Luke chapter 12, Luke chapter 12. Verse 50. Luke 12, verse 50. The Lord Jesus is speaking, and he says, I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straightened till it be accomplished? My subject this morning is believer's baptism.

Early April, something got me to thinking about when the Lord first began revealing himself to me. And I remember for a time there, I believed the Lord, but I didn't know what to do next. I wanted to tell people I believed him, but I didn't know what to do. And it got me thinking about preaching a message on believers' baptism. And then, of course, Wednesday, when I saw the service with Brother Gabe, preaching on baptism, and he baptized his daughter, Sophie, and Isabella, it really moved my heart. And it made me really, I went back to this. I've worked on it several times, but I went back to it Thursday. and then Friday and Saturday. And I want to just preach a message on believers' baptism.

What is our confession in baptism? What is our confession in believers' baptism? What is baptism? What is it and what is it not? And what happens after you're baptized? These are some things I want to look at. To put it simply, water baptism is an ordinance of the Lord in which a believer is publicly confessing that Christ alone is all our salvation. That we are the sinner and Christ alone is all our salvation.

We're trusting him. We're committed to him. to his gospel, to his people. He has saved us, that's what we're confessing. All glory and praise to him alone. But right here, we see what our confession in baptism is. We're confessing publicly that Christ, we're confessing that in what we're doing, in the way we're doing it, we're showing a little picture of what Christ did for us, what he did for his people.

He says here, I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straightened till it be accomplished? The baptism that our Lord speaks of here was the cross and the judgment of God. The Lord Jesus was baptized on the cross. He was baptized on the cross. He was immersed in the just judgment of God. The waters came in unto his soul. He said that in the Psalms.

The waters have come in unto my soul, over my head. Our Lord Jesus is the only man that ever walked this earth since the fall that was a perfect man. No other man ever walked this earth who was a perfect man. God never spoke from heaven about any other man and said, I am well pleased with this one right here. And that's what he said about his son. I am well pleased. Our savior was absolutely perfectly holy and everything he did was perfectly righteous. You couldn't get better than our savior. You can't get better than our savior. And this one who knew no sin, knew why he came to this world. He knew why he was born into this world. He came to save his people from our sins. That's why he came. He knew he was born to die. And he knew what death he was going to die.

That's why he said, how am I straightened till it be accomplished? Nobody ever suffered what our Savior suffered. Isaiah said his visage was marred more than any other man. And it says, and that's how he sprinkled many nations. That's how he saved his people.

The Lord Jesus is the spotless lamb of God. The spotless lamb of God. He is that lamb Abraham spoke about when he said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb. He's God. He's God providing himself. And he's the lamb God provided. He is God providing himself a lamb. John looked at him and said, behold, the lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world.

Nobody ever took sins away but him. And he took away the sins of the world. He took away the sins of his people everywhere in this world. He went to that cross and he bore the sin of his people. That's the only way he could have the justice poured out on him. He had to be made sin because he's spotless. His whole purpose is manifesting God's holy character. God will not condemn an innocent man. God will not justify a guilty man. God is the just judge.

And so the Lord Jesus was made sin for us, and then that was shameful enough to him, to be made what he hated, to be made what he was not. That was shameful enough to him. But to do it before the father that he loved with perfection, the father he served in perfect fidelity, and then the father to pour out just judgment on him, That's what he was bearing when he cried out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And he vindicated God. He said, but thou art holy, and I'm a worm and no man. He was bearing that to satisfy God's justice.

That's how men talk about wanting to keep the law. That's how the law was kept. That's how the law was honored. He will magnify and honor the law. He will magnify and honor the law, Isaiah 40 said. That's what he did. And he did it by laying down his life.

The love, love is the fulfillment of the law. There's the perfect love of the law, him laying down his life for his father and for his people. Being the one guilty in the place of his people so that God the father can be just and justly pour out condemnation on him so God can justify his people. And then love to his people, he's the one who's gonna robe them in his righteousness and robe them in his, or come and give them a new holy heart, and he's gonna be their salvation and their acceptance with God. He did this in perfect love and that's the fulfillment of God's law. That's what God's law is saying it demands.

Perfect love to God and perfect love to his people. That's what he did. And when he gave up the ghost, while he was suffering that, he's immersed in the judgment of God. And then when he gave up the ghost, his body was immersed in a grave. buried in a tomb. And then he came out of that grave and he ascended to the Father and he sat down at God's right hand. And his people were in him in everything he did.

Go with me to Colossians 2. Colossians 2. When we go into that watery grave, and that's what the baptismal pool is picturing, it's a watery grave. And when we go into that and go under that, we're confessing, I was in Christ, I was immersed in the just judgment of God when he was, when he was baptized on the cross. When he was buried, my old man, my old sinful man, my body of sin was destroyed. And we're saying when we come up out of that watery grave, we're saying when Christ arose, I arose in Him.

I rose in Him. Colossians 2. Colossians 2 verse 12, it says, all God's elect were buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead. That baptism right there is not talking about water baptism, that's talking about on the cross, we were baptized with Christ, baptized with Christ, buried with him then in the grave, and we rose with him, and it was all through the faith of the operation of God who raised him from the dead. That's what we're picturing when we go into that watery grave and when we come out of that grave.

That's the confession. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. And the only way that I kept the law was in Christ. I was condemned and I died in him and I rose in him. And I'm seated with him at God's right hand. My old man was buried, dead, gone. I'm raised with him. Before the law, that old sinful body of sin has been destroyed.

Let's go to Romans 6. He says in verse one, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? That's what people say when they hear the gospel. If I believe like you, I just sin all I want to then, so grace will abound. That's not what we're saying.

Look, God forbid, how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore, we're buried with him by baptism in death. That's what we're picturing in our water baptism, that we died in him.

That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. For if we've been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is free, justified from sin. Now, if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing Christ Being raised from the dead, dieth no more. Death hath no more dominion over him, for in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's what we're saying. I'm dead to sin because I died in Christ, and I'm alive to God because I rose in Christ. All right. So this is our confession in baptism. Christ is it. Christ is all. Christ is all. He justified me. He sanctified me. I'm risen and seated with him.

Now, what baptism is not and what it is. Let's talk about what it is not and what it is. Baptism is not for unbelievers. Seeing what this confession is, that should be obvious. It's not for unbelievers. Unbelievers can't confess what we just talked about because they don't know Christ. Scripture never shows an unbeliever being baptized. Scripture never shows parents baptizing unbelieving children, ever.

He said, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned. He that believeth. Crispus was the chief ruler in the synagogue, and he believed on the Lord with all his house. That doesn't mean that he just went and and baptized all his children because he believed, that's not what that means, that means all his house were God's elect who Christ redeemed, who this Lord regenerated and gave them faith and they believed on Christ. And it says, and it says, and many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized. It's for believers.

You can't confess somebody you don't know. You can't confess somebody you don't believe. Where did infant baptism come from? Where did that come from? Infant baptism is the Presbyterians misunderstand Colossians chapter 2 that I just read to you. They think that baptism is new covenant circumcision. That's what they think. that baptism, water baptism, is new covenant circumcision. Under the old covenant, God commanded that a baby be circumcised at eight days old.

That picture, Romans 4 is so clear on this, that picture to how that God had circumcised Abraham in the heart and given him faith in Christ. That's what it pictures. You get the picture, an eight-day-old baby's helpless, just like we're helpless. We can't believe on Christ. We're dead in sin, and he has to come and take us and create life in us and circumcise the heart so we can believe.

But they think that circumcision is now baptism, and so they sprinkle infants. The eight-day-old, they sprinkle infants. But not only is circumcision not now baptism, sprinkling is not baptism, neither one. But here's where they get it, here's where they get it.

It says in verse 10, Colossians 2.10, you're complete in Christ, which is the head of all principality and power, in whom, not what you do, in Christ, but what he accomplished, in whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands. That means without our hands. Christ did it. Here's what it means.

He put off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. On the cross, we just saw, he put away our body of death, our defiled body. Under the law, he put it away. And it says, and then it says in verse 12, buried with him in baptism, not water baptism, the baptism he was immersed with on the cross. And then it says, wherein also, we're still in Christ now, we're not doing that, wherein also you're risen with him after he came out of the grave through the faith of the operation of God who raised him from the dead. And then it says, now here we come to you and you, dead in your sins. You didn't do anything. Hath he quickened together with him? You were dead in the uncircumcision of your flesh, in your defiled, filthy flesh, and he come and quickened you together with Christ.

And he said, And he made you know he's forgiven you all trespasses. And he blotted out, by Christ's blood, he blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us. And he took that law out of the way, nailing it to his cross. In other words, he fulfilled it all.

And so he goes on to say, so don't let any man judge you for not engaging in ceremonies, and for not observing days, and for not observing meets and Sabbaths, because they all pictured Christ. And now you know him. And here's the ironic thing is, men get their ceremony of sprinkling babies from a scripture that's saying, don't you do that, because you believe Christ. See?

The point of this is, brethren, it takes God to give us a heart to know him. He has to come and circumcise us in the heart. Christ circumcised us on the cross. He put, it's just a picture of the filth of the flesh being put away. That's what he did on the cross. And then he has to come do it in our heart or else we can't believe.

You know, that's just one, that's just one falsehood. Think of the falsehoods in this world. We would worship anything, any idol, anything whatsoever unless God come and reveal Christ in us. And all of these things are just men trying to work their way to God. That's all we were in our flesh was Pharisees wanting to work our way to God.

Be honest with me, when you went to these scriptures before God saved you, what did you go to these scriptures for? To find something you could do to save yourself. Is that not right? Christ told the Pharisees, you search the scriptures because you think in them you have life. You think your act of searching the scriptures and you think that you can find something in there they tell you to do and by that you can have life. And he said, and they are they which testify of me and you will not come to me. that you might just have life freely without your work.

You won't do that. No man will. No man will. We have to be given this heart by Christ. So baptism does not save you. It does not. It's never saved anybody. Baptism never saved a soul. Baptism does not justify you. It does not regenerate you. It does not sanctify you. It does not wash away your sin.

Christ does all that. God does all that. Peter said to them on the day of Pentecost, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Well, doesn't that say baptism remits our sin? No, he's saying, repent from that kind of vain notion and from all your works and from everything that you think brings you to God, and come and be baptized because, that's what the word for it means, because your sins have been remitted, because Christ remitted your sin.

And you shall receive the Holy Ghost. The only way you're gonna believe is if you've already being born again of the Spirit. That's the only way. You can't bear witness to somebody you don't know, and you can't know him without faith, and you can't have faith unless you hear about him, and you can't hear about him unless Christ sends you the preacher and gives you the heart to believe. That's what the Scripture said. What does he mean then, and you will receive the Holy Ghost? He said in Ephesians 2, after that you trusted Christ, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

It just simply means this. It's not a second work that the Spirit does. It just simply means that when the Lord Jesus has given you faith and the Spirit of God has regenerated you and brought you to Christ, He makes you know that you are preserved in Christ Jesus. He's never going to let you go. He makes you know it. He already knows it, but He makes you know it. that you're kept by the power of God unto salvation ready to be revealed. The baptism was pictured in Noah's, in the ark in Noah's day. Noah's ark pictures what baptism pictures.

Who was in that ark? Who God purposed to be in that ark? Who God put in that ark? who God shut up in that ark. That's who was in that ark. And then it had never rained and there's Noah believing God, he's building that ark and preaching to folks that you need to be in this ark. He's preaching, he's preaching Christ to them. You need to be in this ark. And one day God's put him in that ark and he sealed that ark up with pitch all over, within and without.

That word means atonement. And the rains came. God opened the heavens and the rains came. And he opened up the springs below and the rains came up from below. And that ark was immersed in the flood of God's judgment. That's what that was, God's judgment.

And everybody on the face of the earth died, including Noah and everybody inside that ark. The difference was that they were in the ark. But that was God's judgment falling upon everybody. Noah deserved death just like the people on the outside of the ark. But God gave him grace. Noah found grace in God's eye, and God put him in that ark.

And when that flood came, the ark bore the judgment for Noah. whereas the rest of the people were outside of the ark, and they had to bear the judgment themselves, and they died. If you meet God, I'm doing to you right now what Noah was doing for 120 years every time he hammered a nail.

I'm preaching righteousness to you, and I'm telling you, get in Christ. The flood's coming. It's coming, and if you're not in Christ, They're going to be eating and drinking, marrying, and just planning and having a big time. And all of a sudden, Christ is coming.

Just like it was in that day. They were doing whatever they were doing, having a big time, ignoring everything Noah was saying. We got time to deal with that later. That's what you're saying. When you walk out of here in unbelief, you're saying, I got time to worry about that later.

What is that? A raindrop. They'd never seen that before. You'd never seen God's judgment either. And when it comes, here come another one, here come another one. Now we'll get in the ark. No, you won't. It's too late now. You should have listened when Noah was preaching to you for 120 years. You can't get in the ark now. I'm telling you, get in Christ now. Believe on him today. Today's the day of salvation. You might not make it to the end of this day. The rain might start falling today. But that ark was immersed in that water, and the only reason Noah survived that judgment of God is he was in that ark. And the only way we're gonna survive the judgment of God is being in Christ.

He already bore it for his people. And Peter said, he said, The days of Noah, the ark was being prepared, eight souls were saved by water, and he said, the like figure where unto baptism doth now save us. It's a picture of our salvations. He said, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it doesn't put away the filth of the flesh, Peter said, it's the answer of a good conscience toward God.

That's what baptism is. We're confessing that We were baptized and saved by Christ and went in that immersion and came out in the resurrection of Christ. That's what we're saying. And we're at the right hand of God right now, seated in him. And God, Christ purged our conscience. So we have a good conscience toward God, not guilty because we're in Christ. And we're confessing that in baptism.

That's what we're trying to tell the world in baptism. Christ is salvation. The best message you'll ever hear preached was preached Wednesday night when both them girls went in that water and came up out of that water. They were declaring, Christ alone is salvation. All right, how do I know if I should be baptized? How do I know?

That Ethiopian eunuch says they came to a certain water, Philip had been preaching this gospel to him, and Eunuch said, here's water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, if thou believest with all thine heart, you may. And he answered, and he said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And Philip said, stop the horse. and they came down out of that chariot and he baptized him in the water. What does it mean to believe Jesus Christ is the son of God?

What does that mean? It means to believe he is salvation and I have no other salvation but him. I can't do one thing. I'm a sinner that can't save myself. The only salvation I have is Christ. That's all. His name's Jesus, he shall save his people from their sin. He said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. His name's Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. He's the Christ, the anointed of God, the only one God looked to do the saving. He's the Son of God. He's God. Everything he accomplishes is eternal. And he's a man, Jesus. He's the God-man, one mediator between God and man.

He's the way, he's the truth, he's the life, and there is no coming to God but by him. Now, the only way a sinner believes is to be born of God, and that's when we confess him. There's only one requirement. If you believe with all your heart, you may. Faith, that's it, faith. What's the evidence you've been saved? Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The only way we can see Christ is by faith, and the elders obtained a good report. One way, they believe God. They believe on Christ, and it's his gift.

It's all of him. We're denying ourselves totally. We're saying we didn't do anything. That's what we're saying in believers' baptism. I've had people come to me and say, I say, why do you need to be baptized? Well, I believe the doctrine of election. I believe predestination. I believe perseverance of the saints. Doctrine didn't die for anybody. Doctrine never saved a soul. Anything that's between a sinner and Christ is what they're looking to. That's anything between a sinner and Christ is what they're depending on for their salvation. The Lord has to take everything out of the way. He nailed the law to the cross. He took everything out of the way, so there's nothing between him and his child, and he comes to you in person, and he makes you to know what he did for you.

And you say, him, him. That's all I have, him. Believe him, trust him. And something else you're confessing in believers baptism, You're saying that everything else you ever trusted in, your religion, your works, yourself, everything about you, you have no confidence in it. You count it, but don't. Everything. And that's important.

I've had people, you know, somebody asked me, they say, if I was baptized when I was in false religion, should I be baptized again? My question is, were you really baptized? The only way you're really baptized is if you believe on Christ in spirit and in truth, and you're really confessing the true and living God. That's the only way.

Anything else is just going swimming. If he's given you faith to trust him, what you're saying when you come there, when they came and were baptized, The scripture says they came being baptized confessing their sins. They were confessing, not necessarily audibly, but confessing everything that I ever put confidence in before is false. It's vanity, it's dumb.

Christ is my only hope. And when a man won't confess Christ in baptism, it's because He really thinks he was saved back there when he was in that falsehood. The Lord alone can grant us repentance. And repentance is turning from everything but the Lord Jesus Christ. But once you're baptized, it's only done one time. We don't baptize again and again. We don't dedicate, rededicate, and all that junk. You're baptized one time.

And we're confessing, we're committed to Christ, to his gospel, and to his people. We're walking in newness of life. We're being led of the spirit, trusting him to bring us all the way to glory. All the way to glory. I think that's all I've got for you. Yep, that's all I got for you. All right, brethren. All right, Brother Adam.

Believer's Baptism

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about believer's baptism?

How do we know baptism is for believers only?

Why is baptism important for Christians?

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About Clay Curtis

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Believer's Baptism

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about believer's baptism?

How do we know baptism is for believers only?

Why is baptism important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Clay Curtis

Comments

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