| BAPTISM:
What It Does and Does Not Do – Introduction:A. It’s hard to read very far in the New
Testament without coming across a reference to baptism.B. But why? What is
it? What does it do? And what does it not do?I. Baptism: By What Authority?A.
In Luke 20:2, the chief priests and scribes asked Jesus a vitally important
question.1. Jesus used the opportunity to bring these men face-to-face with
the truth (20:3-4).2. Their blatant unbelief and hypocrisy were exposed via
their selfish reasoning (20:5-8).B.
And yet, there is a lesson here for us. Respect for God and his will
implies respect for authority.C. The
authority for baptism is not difficult to find in the New Testament (Matt
28:18-20; Acts 2:.38).II. Baptism: What Is It?A. From the Greek root baptizo
-to dip, immerse, submerge, plunge, overwhelm.B. Examples of baptizo abound in the New Testament
(Mark 1:9-1O; Acts 8:36-39; Rom 6:3-4).Ill. Baptism: What It Does Not
DoA. It does not irresistibly change
one’s (Acts
9:1-9, 17-19; 22:16).B. It does not miraculously alter the of one’s
life (Jonah 3:1-10; Matt 12:41).C. It does not supernaturally solve all of
life’s
(Acts 2:41; 4:4; 8:1-3).D. It does not magically immunize against (Ga/ 5:16-21)
or (Rev 2:10).E. It does
not guarantee as
one’s default destination (Rev 2:7; 3:5, 19-22).IV. Baptism: What It DoesA. It brings one into contact with the of Christ (John 1:29;
Eph 1:7; 2:13; 1John1:7).B. It puts
one Christ (Gal
3:26-29).C. It leads to being added by
the Lord to the of
Christ (Acts 2:47; Eph 1:22-23; 4:3-4).D.
It serves as a means of presenting oneself as an obedient to God (Rom
6:15-18).E. It remains as an indispensable step in the “obedience
of ” (Rom 1:5; 16:26;
1Pet3:20-22). |
