In his effort to encourage the Ephesians church to strive for unity and peace
in the spirit Paul reminds them that the basis for this
unity: the fact that they equally share the body of Christ in the
present. They share a similar past.
Which was their calling to Christ through the gospel.
And they also share a similar future or hope of heaven something that
Kendall was talking about during his communion
devotional. He also mentions (Paul does)
that they all have together confessed the same Lord,
believed the same teaching (the faith), and received or
experienced the same one baptism.
Now we can understand that the one Lord is Jesus and the one faith is the
teaching about Jesus as the Son of God who died on the cross for our
sins and was resurrected on the third day. But why would
Paul (or the Holy Spirit for that matter)
insist on including baptism in this equation. I get the one
Lord I get the one faith. But why did he mention the one baptism?
I believe that the one baptism reference was included because at that time there were many
baptisms as well as many reasons for baptism.
And so my lesson this morning I'd like to define the one biblical baptism that Paul is
talking about here and the many purposes that the New Testament gives for
its administration. So by the time someone who is
reading the Bible gets to the Book of Acts chapter 2.
And reads about Peter's Pentecost Sunday sermon and the tremendous response, when
3000 people come forward and are baptized. That person has
read about several types of baptisms and water rituals.
Not only among the Jews but the Pagans as well. So there were a lot of
baptisms at the time that this was written. For example,
1. The Pagan Religions Pagans purified themselves with
fire, with incense and with blood.
But their most common purification ritual was with water. For example water
purification was required by those who were initiated into the mysteries of Isis
the Egyptian female goddess of nature and magic.
The Greeks had special priests called the Karthartai and
what they did is they specialized in water purification rites.
And so baptism or immersion in water as a symbol of purification was not
exclusively a Jewish thing or a Christian thing, it was used by
Pagans as well at that time. Secondly, You had the ritual washing of the Jews.
Remember what I'm talking about now, all the different kind of water
things going on at the time that Ephesians was written. So you had the
ritual washing of the Jews. The Jews however had been using water in their
purification writes for at least fifteen hundred years before Christ.
There was the ceremonial washing commanded by God of Aaron and his sons
before they put on the sacred garments of the priesthood and began their priestly duties.
Read about that in Leviticus 8:5-7.
There were also the ritual washings or the ablutions. There was a full
body immersion in a Mikvah (a Mikvah was a bath)
which was the forerunner of today's baptistery. This was required in
situations where a person was considered impure. For example, a woman after her
menstrual period or a new convert to Judaism would be baptized
in a Mikveh (a purification rite with water) in order
to return to a pure status required for entry into the temple.
In the New Testament, there are several
references to the ceremonial washing of hands and utensils by the Pharisees (Mark 7:4).
So the people of Jesus's time (as well as pagans) were familiar with the concept of
water purification rituals of various kinds. Then you have
another baptism (a significant one) the baptism of John the Baptist.
John the Baptist is unique among the prophets for several reasons:
He broke the silence that had existed for four centuries since the
time of Malachi, the previous prophet through whom God spoke.
He is also the last of the Old Testament prophets arriving in ministering before the New Covenant
was established by Christ. He was chosen to be the one who
proclaimed that the long awaited Messiah who was spoken of in the past
by other prophets was finally here. The other prophets said one day in the
future the Messiah will come. But when John the Baptist showed up he said no no no no.
Now he's here now he's coming it's imminent. So he was the one that did that.
This is an interesting part. He also
married the message of the coming of the Messiah and His kingdom
with the requirement to repent and be baptized. As a prophet
he was the first to marry those two concepts together.
He also previewed the fulfillment of God's plan to redeem men from sin
through faith in the coming of the Messiah Jesus
expressed in repentance and baptism.
It was a new response to God that replaced the old system of
animal sacrifice and mediation by the priests and the leaders of the temple. In the
past those who wanted to come to God had to come through the Jewish system and in the Jewish
system a man, for example, had to be circumcised, he had to be baptized, he had to offer
sacrifice and then he was placed among God's people.
But now John the Baptist comes along and he says no no there is a new system now. Those who are
coming to God they need to repent, yes, they need to be baptized but there's no longer an
unnecessary sacrifice. The sacrifice is going to be offered by Jesus.
And then there's another baptism. Again that people were aware of at that
time and that was the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
Aside from the water baptism that he called on people to receive, John also
spoke of a baptism with the Holy Spirit that the Messiah would
administer when he came. And I think it's important to read this passage he says, "As for me I baptize
you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is
mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove his sandals. He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire." - Matthew 3:11
So as a prophet John was signaling that the promises made by
the earlier prophets like Joel for example (Joel 2:28-32)
who said that one of the things that would accompany the arrival of the
Messiah was a greater manifestation of the Holy Spirit's presence
and power. So in previous times the Holy
Spirit would empower select individuals like prophets and kings and
judges and He'd give them certain abilities and power and great
faith in order to do God's work. The promise of the prophets
was that when the Messiah would come not only a precious
few would have the spirit for a short amount of time to render special
service. No no no. When the Messiah came everyone
would receive the Spirit of God and have Him all of the time.
Some would do signs and wonders and they would be empowered to do those things.
But everybody would receive the Spirit and the Spirit would stay with them.
We don't understand when we read Acts 2:38, we usually concentrate on the baptism
part and the water part (which is fine) but the people who were actually hearing the message
of Peter understood that the promise of the
prophets that one day they would all receive the Spirit equally
that promise was about to be fulfilled.
So we see this prophecy fulfilled in the book of Acts in two ways.
First the Apostles and many disciples received empowerment through the
Holy Spirit to perform miracles in the service of the Gospel. So we see
examples of that people empowered to lay hands on people and
heal them or speak in tongues. We see that kind of empowerment.
And then in Acts 2:14-21 Peter even explains that the miracle of tongues that
he and the other Apostles were performing was actually a fulfillment of those
promises made in the Old Testament about the spirit.
And also in Acts 2:38 in his preaching
Peter insists that Jesus is the Messiah and those who believe
this and repent of their sins and are baptized or are immersed in His name will
be forgiven their sins. Yes, that wasn't the new message. John had
been preaching that, repent, be baptized. That wasn't a new message. The new
message was: and they will receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
thus fulfilling the prophecy that He would be poured on
all of the people both great and small, men/women
rich/poor, slave/free. Everybody was to receive
the Spirit of God. So John the Baptist combined his preaching about the
coming of the kingdom and the Messiah with a call to repent and be
baptized. Now I want to make a note about the form of baptism here just so
that it's clear. Throughout history there has been a debate about the
form of baptism. Three forms have been practiced.
three forms have been practiced: 1. Immersion in water.
2. Pouring with water (a little receptacle of water being poured over the head of the individual).
3. Sprinkling with water (Usually babies are sprinkled with water).
Each of these methods have a specific Greek word used to describe them. For example,
To pour - "Ekcheo" means to pour out.
A specific word that describes a specific action.
To sprinkle - "Raino" means to sprinkle.
"Baptizo" is to immerse, the immersion or to submerge.
You have a word that represents each different
type of baptism that has been practiced.
When the New Testament mentions the word 'baptism' it is
simply transliterating the Greek word "Baptizo" into the English word "Baptize."
Now stay with me here is a little bit of a language explanation.
So if you were to literally translate John the Baptist's name,
you would call him "John the Immerser"
not "John the Pourer" or "John the Sprinkler" because they didn't use those
Greek words to describe him. They use the word "Baptizo"
So whenever Jesus or the Apostles called on their audience to
respond to their message they would encourage them to repent and be immersed
in the name of Jesus Christ. So if you were present in
Jerusalem on Pentecost Sunday those 2000 years ago
you would have witnessed 3000 people being immersed in the large pools
of water that were present near the pilgrim gate where Peter
preached his sermon. Some people will say, "well why
don't we just use the word immerse?" The reason the translators
transliterated the word "Baptizo" instead of
translating it into the word "immersion" is because they did not want to
offend the many religious denominations that had been using sprinkling and pouring
as their motive baptism for many years. And whose support they
needed to distribute their version of the Bible when it was finally printed.
Some newer translations, however, the International English Bible for example,
now do not transliterate the word they actually translate the Greek word
"Baptizo" into the correct English word using the word "immerse."
So there's a little sideline that I'm giving you here. If you wonder
'what's the debate about?' Well that's the debate. So we've talked about four
different individuals: 1. Pagan Religions, 2. Ritual Washings, 3. John the Baptist
4. Baptism with the Holy Spirit. And now: 5. The Baptism of Jesus.
So during His ministry, Jesus more or less succeeded John's
ministry and after John was executed John's disciples then followed
Jesus as John had instructed them. Jesus followed the
form of John's ministry, what did he do? He preached, He immersed those who
responded. However the content and the authority of His message was
different: He preached that the kingdom and the Messiah were here and
those who wanted into the kingdom needed to be baptized after
His crucifixion and resurrection.
He charged His Apostles to continue this ministry of preaching and baptizing with
the backing of his full authority (Matthew 28:18).
"All authority has been given to Me and Heaven on Earth." So when he tells them go out and make
disciples baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, He is saying
I have the authority to give you the authority to go out and do this.
So the fullness of the message was going to be preached: forgiveness of sin,
full indwelling of the Holy Spirit, membership into the kingdom
or into the church, and eternal life. All of these were offered to those who
believed in Him and expressed that belief in repentance and full immersion in water.
That's what we refer to as baptism (John 3:16, Acts 2:37-42).
So I get to my point here.
Therefore, when Paul the Apostle refers to the one baptism in
Ephesians 4:5, he is confirming through
inspired writing that despite the fact that his readers may be
aware of several baptisms, they may be aware of the
baptisms of the mystery religions, they may be conscious of the
water rituals of the Jews or the baptism of preparation preached by
John or the baptism with the Spirit fulfilled at Pentecost,
There now remain only one baptism authorized by God
given by Jesus and preached by the Apostles.
And that is full immersion in water done to express a person's
sincere repentance and belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
And this baptism leads to forgiveness and eternal life.
So some people are now thinking, "yeah ok, great title, The Baptism Wheel, where's the wheel?"
Well here's the wheel.
I'm always amazed when I hear someone ask if baptism is
necessary for salvation or does one have to be baptized in
order to become a Christian. Based on what we have looked at this
morning the answer to that question is a resounding, "yes."
John the Baptist, Jesus and then the Apostles all preached the necessity of
baptism in the process of salvation otherwise what would be the purpose of it?
In the New Testament baptism (or immersion in water) to express one's faith is always
connected to salvation but in the passages where baptism appears
the idea of salvation is described using different words and images.
I have found that an effective way to convey this pattern of
teaching is to use what I call The Baptism Wheel. You have a picture of that in your
handouts there just to make it easy to follow along. Let me explain to you some of the you
know some of the diagrams some of the graphics here. The middle of the wheel the focus of
the wheel is salvation.
That's where we want to get to salvation. OK. The spokes are the
methods are the way in to salvation. The different reasons
for salvation and the blue part is the action of baptism.
It's the access point of salvation.
Let me show you how this works. I'm going to read
10 passages very quickly you will see, that are talking about
salvation. That's the point of them. But they use different terms or
images to describe salvation.
But note the one thing that are all of these passages will have in common.
And that will be baptism.
Shall we start Matthew 28:18-20 and I've already read this,
"And Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, 'All authority has been given to be in heaven and on earth.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and lo,
I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
So how is salvation described here? Well Jesus is describing it as becoming a
disciple because who else is saved? Is a disciple one who is saved? Well of course.
Can you be a disciple and not be saved? So salvation in Matthew 28
is described in terms of becoming a disciple. All right let's keep moving, Mark 16:
"He who has believed in has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieve
shall be condemned." Salvation in Mark 16:16
is described as obedience.
Because this is a command. Those who believe in are baptized will be saved. Those who
disbelieve will be lost. So it's obedience.
So the ones who obey they're the ones who are saved, are they not?
I mean if you've obeyed the gospel you have salvation.
You're one of those who have been saved.
What have you obeyed?
The command: believe and baptize.
I'm saved.
Another one.
John 3, "Jesus answered and said to him (to Nicodemus) 'Truly, truly I said to you
unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.' Nicodemus said to Him, 'how can a man
be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time
into his mother's womb and be born, can he? And Jesus answered, 'Truly truly I say to you unless
one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
So how is Jesus describing salvation here? He's describing it as a "born again" experience.
So who are the saved?
The ones who are "born again" by the water and the spirit. Those are the ones who are saved.
What water? The water of baptism, that water.
Another passage Acts 2:38a, "Peter said to them repent and let each of you be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin."
Are you getting with me now.?How is salvation described here?
As forgiveness of sins. In other words, who who are the saved? Well the ones whose
sins are forgiven. Those are the ones who are saved. I mean if your sins are not
forgiven, can you be saved? Well of course not. If your sins are forgiven aren't you the saved?
So in Acts 2:38a, the Bible describes salvation.
It doesn't mention the word salvation. It simply says the ones who are
forgiven, those are the ones who are saved. I keep going Acts 2:38b, he says,
"...repent and be baptized each of you in the name of Jesus for the
forgiveness of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
How is salvation described here? Well it's described in terms of the indwelling
of the Spirit. Who are the saved? Well the ones who have the Holy Spirit within them.
Let's keep going. Another passage Acts 22:16. "Now why do you delay?
(Ananias says to Paul) Get up and be
baptized and wash away your sins, calling on His name." Wait a minute. How is
salvation described here? Well as those people whose sins are washed away.
Who are the saved? The ones who have their sins washed away. When do they
get their sins washed away? Well when they're baptized. Another passage.
Romans 6:3-4, "Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have
been baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism
into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father so we too might
walk in the newness of life." Who are the saved? Those who have been buried with
Christ and resurrected with Christ. Those are the ones who are saved. How can you be
buried with Christ and resurrect with Christ and be lost? Well no, you're saved.
How are you buried with Christ? In baptism of course. Another passage,
Galatians 3:27, "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have
closed yourselves with Christ." How is salvation referred to here?
Well it's referred to as "putting on Christ."
Notice they never mention the word salvation. It's a metaphor, it's an
image, it's a description but it always means the same thing. It's always talking
about salvation. So how does Paul describe it in Galatians 3:26-27?
He describes salvation as "putting on Christ." Who are the saved?
Will the ones who put on Christ. Where did they put on Christ? In baptism
Another passage, Colossians 2:11-12,
"and in Him you were also circumcised (in Him, Christ)
you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands in
the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having
been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with
Him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead."
So how is salvation described here? The ones who received the circumcision of Christ.
He cuts away the old man and the new man comes up. Who are the saved?
According to Colossians the ones who have received the circumcision of Christ. Where do they
receive the circumcision of Christ and when does this happen? Paul says it right in the same verse.
Well in baptism that's where. Another passage, I Peter 3:21 the last passage,
"Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you -
not the removal of dirt from the flesh (not just a purification rite),
but an appeal to God for a good conscience - through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ." So who are the saved? How is he describing
salvation here? Will the saved are the ones that have a clear conscience.
And where is that conscience cleared? In the waters of baptism.
I mean it's no stretch. They always mention baptism. Every single one of
these passages. So let's draw a few
conclusions here based on the ten scripture, ten!
In the Bible 1 is enough, 2 confirms. I've just given you ten.
I could give you more but I figured I've only got two hours.
Conclusions: A. Baptism is a key part in the process of salvation.
I like to say process of salvation because salvation is a process. It began in Genesis
through the Old Testament prophets through Christ the Messiah coming and dying on the cross and the
preaching of the gospel. It's a process.
I've given ten scripture references that deal specifically with
salvation and in every single passage baptism is central to the process.
That's called context. That's biblical context.
We know
it is the sacrifice of Jesus that pays for our sins not the act of baptism.
It's not baptism that pays for my sins.
Jesus died on the cross but God has given us baptism
as the common physical expression of our faith
when we confess Jesus and repent of our sins.
Every single person throughout history who has believe that Jesus is the Son of God,
has repented of their sins, have expressed that faith in baptism.
Not by snapping their fingers, not by walking on coals, not by saying
a bunch of words - by baptism. Why? I give you ten
examples from the New Testament that require it, that's why.
So people may doubt baptisms roll in salvation but the Bible is crystal clear about its:
Manner - Immersion in water.
Purpose - The Biblical expression of our faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
Conclusion #2 There is one baptism. Yes,
it's in the water, it's by immersion based on our faith and repentance -
that one baptism. But there are many reasons.
A personal story.
I was baptized in 1977 in November. It was cold. There was no heat in the
water. That's why I remember the date. I accepted to be
baptized because of Mark 16:16.
Because of Mark 16:16. I had been baptized as a baby, I was Catholic. I was an
altar boy. I was in seminary. So I was fully sprinkled when I was a baby.
I was even immersed once by a by a group you know because I wanted to be
part of their group.
But the more I studied the Bible,
the more I understood that my baptism as a baby
(and the stuff that I had been doing before) was not the baptism that was being described
in the New Testament. I did believe. And now I
wanted to obey the Bible command.
So as I say in November '77, I confessed my belief in Jesus, repented of my
sins and I was immersed in response to His command. I tell you this
story in order to make the following point: on the night I was
baptized in obedience I still remember Jim Medar with his Bible
open to Mark 16, and it was did you do that?
And I went, "No I didn't do that. And I want to go to heaven. I don't want to
be you know those who disbelieve are lost. I don't want to be lost. I want to go to heaven. I believe."
He says, "all right what are you waiting for?" Here's the thing.
On the night that I was baptized I was not aware that I would be receiving the
Holy Spirit on that night also. I hadn't been taught that yet.
Or that I was putting on Christ or that this was an appeal to God for a clear conscience
or that I was being circumcised by Christ. I didn't know any of those things.
I simply understood and believed that those who obey Jesus: believe
and be baptized. They would be saved. And I wanted to be saved.
Now as I continued to study, I discovered that at
baptism I also became a disciple, was born again,
received forgiveness and the Holy Spirit, washed away my sins,
was buried and resurrected with Jesus, put on Jesus, received circumcision of Christ,
appeal to God for a clear conscience. I found all those things out as I went along.
I understood that the Bible describes salvation using many different
terms and images but it is always the same salvation and it is
obtained and always the same way faith, repentance, baptism.
Now I didn't have to be rebaptized every
time I discovered a new feature or a new blessing connected to my salvation.
It would have been baptized 10 times or more. And that brings me
to my final conclusion:
3. Salvation requires a biblical reason and a biblical baptism.
People sometimes question their salvation experience: was I too young?
Did I do it for the right reason? Here's what I counsel people
to consider when this issue comes up. Ask yourself two questions:
1. Was I baptized for a biblical reason?
I mentioned ten biblical reasons in
my sermon this morning and there are probably others if you look for them.
For example the Philippian jailer asked what he had to do to be saved.
The reason for his baptism is that he wanted salvation (Acts 16:25).
What's interesting is that's the only passage there that actually
mentions the word salvation. The others are metaphors and
images for salvation. If what led you to baptism
is Biblical then you have an acceptable and legitimate reason for your baptism.
If on the other hand the reason for your baptism cannot be supported biblically,
for example: I was baptized when my parents brought me to be baptized when I was a baby.
Well go through the New Testament and you will not find that is a biblical reason.
Or you did it to please your parents or you did it to please your husband or your girlfriend or your buddy.
Or it was your birthday or everybody camp did it.
Everybody was doing it at camp, I figure what a way to
finish out a great camp week. And the girl I like, she was baptized a figure why not.
As sincere as those reasons might be.
They are not Biblical reasons. If you're not sure just
ask somebody to help you find out. Don't be afraid it's too important to let something like that
just float around in the air.
In the event that you were immersed for a reason other than a bible one you should
consider being rebaptized
with the proper understanding of what you are doing and there is a precedent for
this in the Bible it's you think God thought of it in advance it's amazing.
He may have thought, you know what, I gave to ten clear
Scriptures but just think it was clear enough. I'll give
them an example. So in Acts 19, Luke describes a situation where a
dozen men at Ephesus were rebaptized by Paul because they had originally
been immersed (the proper way) in preparation for the coming of the kingdom
(John's baptism long after John was dead and gone).
This reason, although a spiritual reason,
although a sincere reason, was no longer a valid reason
because John had died. Jesus had
been on the cross and resurrected Jesus it was His baptism.
Once Paul taught them more completely, they were rebaptized
for a valid biblical reason. I don't read in the Bible where it says.
"You know, you guys meant well, so good enough."
I don't read that. "Oh close enough. I'll be back next year. When's your birthday?"
You know what a hassle it is to baptize 12 grown men?
This is not about word games here or splitting hairs, it's about the
willingness to humble oneself and obey God according to His word,
not our opinion, not how we feel, not how my mom used to think.
Finally the second question I encourage people to ask, when they're not sure, I don't want to make you
unsure, I want to make sure that if you're sure you remain sure.
The other question is this: 2. Was I baptized in a biblical way?
This is the easier question to figure out since the Bible is very clear about the mode of baptism.
First of all the grammar, the Greek
word in which the New Testament was originally written.
The Greek word means to immerse. It doesn't mean to
poor to sprinkle to splash.
It means to immerse. The imagery
connected to baptism points to a burial (Romans 6).
We're buried with Christ. Is this buried?
Is this buried? This. That's buried. The imagery
and the history also confirms it.
Archaeologists working on early church buildings and meeting places
find that in each place the early New Testament churches had
elaborate and well decorated baptistry is designed for full
immersion baptism.
These archaeologists don't have an axe to grind. They're not "Church of Christ"
Archaeologists. Some of them are not even Christians. They just like archaeology.
They like old things.
You may have been baptized in a variety of ways
but if you have not been immersed in water you have not received the baptism
that Jesus himself received. And for me that's the strongest argument
there. Jesus was immersed. Who am I to question?
Who am I to change? And the one that He commanded and
it is the one that the Apostles practiced in their ministry. So there
may have been some confusion in the church when Paul
penned his letter to the Ephesians. He wanted them to
remain united and hold to the one body and spirit and hope and
Lord and faith and baptism and God
that they had initially been taught and believed. Much is different in our
time in society but we like the Ephesians must also maintain unity among
ourselves and faithfulness in what we believe and what we teach.
Today just as in the first century, there are many different reasons and
modes of baptism that are being taught and practiced.
Our task... Are we still New Testament Christians?
Are we still restoration Christians? I mean is that idea a dead thing
or is that who we are? If we're New Testament Christians our task
is not to denounce or judge other people for what they teach and practice.
God will do this in His good time.
Our mission is to teach and practice the one baptism that Jesus,
Peter, Paul and all of the other Apostles taught and administered.
Now if you want more information, I'm ready. I've got a hand out three pages long that if you like to
go down into the weeds for this kind of stuff. I'll be happy to provide
you that information. In the meantime, if you have not received
or if you have questions about the one biblical baptism mentioned in Ephesians
4 then I encourage you to come forward now. If you have questions
to contact myself or any of the preachers, the ministers, anyone here will
be happy to study with you and answer any of your questions. My goal this morning was
to just get us to think a bit, review. Make sure that we are right
with God because we have done what He has asked us to do in His Word. If you have any
reason to come forward at the moment then we encourage you to do so now as we stand and as
we sing the song of encouragement.