What is Baptism?

WHAT IS BAPTISM?
1 PETER 3:17-22 INTRODUCTION:
1. WHAT SAVED NOAH FROM THE FLOOD THAT GOD SENT TO DESTROY MANKIND?
2. WAS IT NOAH’S BELIEF IN GOD THAT SAVED HIM?
3. WAS IT NOAH’S OBEDIENCE TO THE WORD OF GOD?
4. WAS IT NOAH’S FAITH?
5. WAS IT NOAH’S BUILDING OF THE ARK?
6. OR WAS IT GOD’S GRACE THAT SAVED HIM?
7. I BELIEVE THAT WE CAN SAY “YES!” TO ALL FIVE QUESTIONS.
8. YES, IT WAS NOAH’S BELIEF IN GOD THAT SAVED HIM, FOR WITHOUT A STRONG
BELIEF IN GOD, NOAH WOULD HAVE BEEN JUST LIKE THE REST OF THE PEOPLE!
9. YES, IT WAS NOAH’S OBEDIENCE TO THE WORD OF GOD THAT SAVED HIM, FOR
WITHOUT OBEDIENCE HE NEVER WOULD HAVE BUILT THE ARK!
10. YES, IT WAS NOAH’S FAITH THAT SAVED HIM, FOR WE READ IN HEBREWS 11:7
“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with
fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he
condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by
faith.”
11. YES, IT WAS LITERALLY THE ARK WHICH WAS THE VEHICLE THAT SAVED NOAH!
12. AND YES, IT WAS THE GRACE OF GOD THAT SAVED NOAH!
13. NOW YOU MIGHT BE SAYING TO YOURSELVES WELL THAT ALL WELL AND GOOD,
BUT WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH US TODAY?
14. IT SHOWS THAT THERE WAS A PATTERN TO SALVATION IN NOAH’S DAY AND ALSO
IN OUR DAY.
I. FIRST, WE MUST BELIEVE IN GOD, OR WHY WOULD WE BE HERE WORSHIPING HIM?
A. WITHOUT BELIEF IN GOD THIS WOULD BE THE BIGGEST WASTE OF TIME, MONEY
AND EFFORT IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND.
1. IN ACTS 16:31 WE FIND THESE WORDS, “And they said, Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
2. THESE WORDS THE APOSTLE PAUL SPOKE TO A MAN WHOM PAUL DID NOT KNOW IF
HE WAS A BELIEVER IN GOD AND IN GOD’S SON JESUS CHRIST.
3. SO THE BEGINNING POINT IS BELIEF!
4. REMEMBER NOAH BELIEVED IN GOD OR ELSE WHY WOULD HE HAVE ACTED THE WAY
HE DID AND GO ABOUT BUILDING THE ARK?
5. DO YOU BELIEVE IN GOD?
6. AGAIN I SAY YOU MUST OR WHY ELSE WOULD YOU BE HERE?
II. BUT NOAH DID MORE THAN JUST BELIEVE IN GOD, HE LISTENED TO GOD’S
WORDS AND WAS OBEDIENT TO THEM.
A. IT IS ONE THING TO CLAIM A BELIEVE IN GOD AND QUITE ANOTHER TO LISTEN
TO HIS WORDS AND BE OBEDIENT TO THEM.
1. WE READ IN JAMES ABOUT THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN GOD, BUT DO NOT LISTEN TO
HIS WORDS AND ARE NOT OBEDIENT THEM.
2. IN JAMES 2:19 “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well:
the devils also believe, and tremble.”
3. IN ROMANS 10:17, WE READ, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God.”
B. IT IS ONLY IN GOD’S WORD THAT WE FIND OUT THAT OUR INDIVIDUAL SINS
SEPARATE US FROM HIM.
1. FOR WE READ IN ISAIAH 59:2, “But your iniquities have separated
between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that
he will not hear.”
2. IT IS ALSO IN GOD’S WORD THAT WE FIND WHO HAS SINNED IN ROMANS 3:23,
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
3. IT IS OUR INDIVIDUAL SINS WHICH SEPARATE US FROM GOD AND ALL WHO HAVE
REACHED AN AGE WHERE THEY KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
RIGHT AND WRONG AND DO WRONG THAT SIN AND EARN THE WAGES OF SINS.
4. FOR WE READ IN ROMANS 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
5. WE HAVE EARNED SPIRITUAL DEATH, ETERNAL DEATH, BUT GOD EXTENDS TO US
THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.
6. HOW THAN DO WE RECEIVE THIS GIFT?
7. KEEP THIS QUESTION IN MIND BECAUSE THAT IS THE QUESTION THAT WE ARE
TRYING TO ANSWER!
III. NOAH’S BELIEF IN GOD CAUSED HIM TO LISTEN TO GOD AND OBEY HIS WORDS
THIS EQUALS FAITH IN GOD.
A. REMEMBER HEBREWS 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please
him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
1. WITHOUT FAITH IN GOD, BELIEF THAT LISTENS AND OBEYS IT IS IMPOSSIBLE
TO PLEASE HIM!
2. REMEMBER THE WORDS SPOKEN IN ROMANS 6:23 ABOUT THE GIFT THAT GOD
GIVES, IT COMES ONLY BY FAITH, BUT NOT BY FAITH ONLY.
3. NOAH HAD FAITH IN GOD, HE BUILT THE ARK JUST LIKE GOD SAID, BUT WHAT
IF NOAH HAD NOT GONE INSIDE THAT ARK?
4. HE HAD BELIEF IN GOD, HE LISTENED AND OBEYED GOD’S WORD AND NO DOUBT
HE HAD FAITH THAT THE FLOOD WAS REALLY COMING!
5. BUT DID THAT FAITH ALONE SAVE NOAH?
6. I BELIEVE WE ALL UNDERSTAND THAT NOAH HAD TO GO INTO THE ARK TO BE
SAVED.
IV. IN THIS LIGHT WE CAN SEE HOW THE BUILDING OF THE ARK DID INDEED SAVE
NOAH.
A. WITHOUT A BELIEF IN GOD, NOAH WOULD NEVER HAVE LISTEN TO HIS
INSTRUCTIONS.
1. WITHOUT FAITH IN GOD NOAH WOULD NOT HAVE BUILT THE ARK.
2. WITHOUT BUILDING THE ARK, NOAH WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SAVED.
3. NOAH COULD HAVE THOUGHT, WHY DOES GOD WANT ME TO BUILD THIS ARK, IF HE
IS GOING TO DESTROY EVERYONE ELSE WHY DID HE CHOSE THIS WAY?
4. NOAH COULD HAVE THOUGHT GOD I WANT TO BE SAVED SOME OTHER WAY!
B. BUT NOAH DID NOT, ALTHOUGH HE TOOK HIM A LONG TIME TO BUILD THE ARK,
HE DID IT.
1. ALTHOUGH IT TOOK A GREAT EFFORT ON NOAH’S PART TO BUILD THE ARK, HE
DID IT.
2. HE BELIEVED IN GOD, LISTENED TO HIS INSTRUCTIONS AND FAITHFULLY OBEYED
BY BUILDING THE ARK.
V. BUT NOAH WAS SAVED BY THE GRACE OF GOD!
A. IF GOD HAD NOT TOLD NOAH ABOUT THE COMING FLOOD HE WOULD HAVE DIED!
1. IF GOD HAD NOT GIVEN NOAH THE INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO BUILT THE ARK,
NOAH WOULD HAVE DIED!
2. IF GOD HAD NOT HAD LONG PATIENCE AND SENT THE FLOOD ANY SOONER, NOAH
WOULD HAVE DIED!
3. IT IS EASY TO SEE THAT THE GRACE OF GOD INDEED SAVED NOAH.
4. JUST HAS IT IS WRITTEN IN THE SCRIPTURES, “For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of
works, lest any man should boast” (EPHESIANS 2:8-9).
B. SALVATION CAME TO NOAH JUST LIKE IT COMES TO MANKIND TODAY, THROUGH
FAITH IN GOD, BELIEF PLUS ACTION, IT COMES AS THE GIFT OF GOD’S GRACE.
1. FOR TODAY WE FIND THAT SALVATION IS ONLY THROUGH THE NAME OF JESUS
CHRIST (OR THROUGH HIS AUTHORITY) ACTS 4:12 “Neither is there salvation
in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved.”
2. REMEMBER ROMANS 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of
God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
VI. THE QUESTION BECOMES HOW DO WE RECEIVE THIS GIFT OF GOD, THIS GIFT OF
ETERNAL LIFE THAT IS THROUGH JESUS CHRIST?
A. WE MUST BE LIKE NOAH AND THE JAILER OF ACTS 16:31, WE MUST FIRST
BELIEVE IN GOD AND JESUS CHRIST.
1. JESUS SAID IN JOHN 8:24, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die
in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your
sins.”
2. BELIEF IS THE BEGINNING POINT, IT WAS THE BEGINNING POINT WITH NOAH
AND IT IS THE BEGINNING POINT WITH EVERYONE WHO IS SAVED.
3. THIS BELIEF MUST BE BASED ON OUR HEARING THE WORD OF GOD ROMANS 10:17.
4. YOUR BELIEF MUST NOT BE BASED ON SOME HUMAN BEING, BUT UPON GOD’S
WORD.
5. BECAUSE WE READ IN ROMANS 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that
believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
6. GOD’S WORD THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST CONTAIN THE POWER OF GOD UNTO
SALVATION TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE, THIS SALVATION IS THE GIFT OF ETERNAL
LIFE SPOKEN OF IN ROMANS 6:23.
B. JUST LIKE NOAH WE FIND TODAY THAT IT TAKES MORE THAN JUST HAVING A
BELIEF IN GOD AND JESUS CHRIST TO BE SAVED.
1. IT TAKES LISTENING TO HIS WORD AND OBEDIENCE TO ALL OF IT.
2. WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED TO NOAH IF HE HAD BUILT THE ARK OUT OF PINE
WOOD INSTEAD OF GOPHER?
3. AS HE DROWN HE MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT THAT GOD WAS WRONG IN PUNISHING HIM
BECAUSE HE DID PART OF GOD’S REVEALED WILL, HE BUILT THE ARK, WHAT
DIFFERENCE WOULD THE WOOD MAKE?
4. MANY TODAY THINK THIS WAY, THEY BELIEVE IN GOD AND JESUS CHRIST AND
THEY EVEN READ SOME OF THEIR BIBLES, BUT THEY ARE NOT OBEDIENT TO ALL OF
GOD’S REVEALED WILL.
5. JESUS SPOKE OF PEOPLE LIKE THIS IN MATTHEW 7:21-23, “Not every one
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say
to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in
thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye
that work iniquity.”
a. THESE WERE RELIGIOUS PEOPLE.
b. THEY WERE DOING MANY THINGS THAT WERE GOOD.
c. THEY CLAIMED TO BE DOING THEM BY JESUS NAME OR AUTHORITY.
d. YET, THEY WERE NOT DOING THEM ACCORDING TO GOD’S WILL, SO THEY WERE
TOLD TO DEPART AND CALLED WORKERS OF INIQUITY.
B. ALONG WITH BELIEF IN GOD AND JESUS CHRIST, JESUS ALSO SAID IN LUKE
13:3, “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
perish.”
1. WE MUST REPENT OF OUR SINS, TURN FROM OUR SINFUL WAYS AND TURN TO GOD
AND WALK IN HIS DIRECTION.
2. REPENTANCE IS MORE THAN JUST BEING SORROW FOR WHAT WE HAVE DONE.
3. FOR WE READ OF JUDAS WHO BETRAYED JESUS AND HIS SORROW FOR WHAT HE HAD
DONE IN MATTHEW 27:3-5, “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw
that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty
pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned
in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that
to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the
temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.”
4. HIS SORROW WAS OF THE WORLDLY TYPE, BUT PETER TRULY REPENTED FROM
DENYING JESUS, BECAUSE NOT ONLY WAS HE SORROW, BUT HE RETURNED TO JESUS
IN FAITHFUL OBEDIENCE AND PREACHED THE FIRST GOSPEL SERMON RECORDED IN
ACTS 2.
C. WELL, WE MIGHT THINK SURELY THIS IS ALL THAT GOD REQUIRES OF US TO
RECEIVE THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE?
1. BUT WE READ IN ROMANS 10:10, “For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
2. JESUS EXPLAINED THE IMPORTANCE OF CONFESSING HIM IN MATTHEW 10:32,
“Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also
before my Father which is in heaven.”
3. WHAT THEN ARE WE TO CONFESS?
4. WE HAVE THIS EXAMPLE IN ACTS 8:37, “And Philip said, If thou believest
with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
5. WE ARE TO CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE SON OF GOD.
6. FOR MANY PEOPLE IN THE RELIGIOUS WORLD THESE ARE ALL THE THINGS THEY
CLAIM GOD REQUIRES OF A PERSON TO BE SAVED.
7. THEY CLAIM THAT YOU MUST BELIEVE, REPENT OF YOUR SINS AND CONFESS
JESUS AS THE SON OF GOD OR AS MANY OF THEM PUT AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR.
D. BUT REMEMBER NOAH, HE RECEIVED SALVATION FROM THE FLOOD IN THE ARK,
WHICH WAS THE VEHICLE WHICH SAVED HIM.
1. WHAT IS OUR VEHICLE FOR SALVATION?
2. PLEASE LOOK BACK AT THE SCRIPTURE WE BEGIN WITH 1 PETER 3:20-21,
“Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God
waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few,
that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even
baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the
flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ:”
3. THE APOSTLE PETER BY INSPIRATION OF GOD SAID THAT BAPTISM IS THE
VEHICLE WHICH SAVES US NOW.
4. LOOK AT THE WORDS OF JESUS IN MARK 16:16, “He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
5. JESUS MAKES IT VERY CLEAN WHAT PART BAPTISM HAS IN OUR RECEIVING THE
GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE IN OUR BEING SAVED.
6. PETER ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST RECORDED IN ACTS CHAPTER TWO, THAT HAS
HE PREACHED THE GOSPEL TO THE JEWS THERE IN JERUSALEM WHO WERE ALREADY
BELIEVERS IN GOD, WHEN THEY ASKED WHAT THEY NEEDED TO DO WE FIND THESE
WORDS RECORDED “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” ACTS 2:38.
7. IN VERSE 41 OF ACTS 2, WE SEE THE REACT OF THE PEOPLE TO PETER’S
PREACHING, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and
the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”
E. WHAT IS THIS BAPTISM OF WHICH WE ARE COMMANDED TO DO, WHICH IS THE
LIKE FIGURE THAT NOW ALSO SAVES US, THE VEHICLE WHICH WE RECEIVE THE GIFT
OF GOD.
1. REMEMBER PETER SAID IT WAS NOT TAKING A BATH, THE PUTTING AWAY OF THE
FILTH OF THE FLESH.
2. IN ROMANS 6:3-4, WE HAVE THIS DESCRIPTION OF BAPTISM, “Know ye not,
that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into
his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that
like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father,
even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
3. BAPTISM IS TO BE LIKE A BURIAL, WHEN WE GO AND BURY OUR LOVED ONES, DO
WE THINK THEY ARE BURIED IF WE JUST SPRINKLE A LITTLE DIRT ON THE CASKET
?
4. NO, WE WOULD NOT CONSIDER THEM BURIED EVEN IF WE POURED SOME DIRT ON
THE CASKET!
5. WE DO NOT CONSIDER THEM BURIED UNTIL THEY ARE COMPLETELY COVER.
6. IN THE SAME WAY WE MUST COMPLETELY BE IMMERSED IN WATER TO BE
BAPTIZED.
F. BUT SOME MAY STILL NOT BE CONVINCED THAT BAPTISM IS THE VEHICLE IN
WHICH WE ENTER SALVATION AND THROUGH WHICH WE RECEIVE THE GIFT OF ETERNAL
LIFE OF ROMANS 6:23.
1. PLEASE TURN TO GALATIANS 3:27, “For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
2. BEING IN CHRIST IS WHERE SALVATION IS FOUND, IT IS WHERE THE GIFT OF
ETERNAL LIFE IS FOUND.
3. EPHESIANS 1:3 STATES THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING IN CHRIST THIS WAY,
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:”
4. WE ARE BLESSED WITH ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IF WE ARE IN CHRIST!
5. SEARCH YOU BIBLES, MY FRIENDS YOU WILL FIND THAT THE ONLY WAY A PERSON
CAN BE IN CHRIST IS BY BEING BAPTIZED INTO HIM!
VII. NOW, DOES BEING BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST, FOR REMISSION OF OUR SINS TAKE
ANYTHING AWAY FROM THE GRACE OF GOD?
A. NO!
1. ALL WE ARE DOING IS BEING OBEDIENT TO GOD’S REVEAL WILL.
2. DOES BELIEF IN GOD TAKE AWAY FROM THE GRACE OF GOD, OF COURSE NOT!
3. DOES THE FACT THAT GOD REVEALED WHAT SEPARATE US FROM HIM TAKE AWAY
FROM HIS GRACE?
4. NO!
5. DOES THE FACT THAT GOD EXPECTS US TO REPENT OF OUR SINS TAKE AWAY FROM
THE GRACE OF GOD?
6. NO!
7. DOES OUR CONFESSING JESUS AS THE SON OF GOD TAKE AWAY FROM THE GRACE
OF GOD?
8. NO, IN NO WAY!
9. SO HOW COME WHEN IT COMES TO BEING BAPTIZED SOME THINK IT ALL OF A
SUDDEN TAKES AWAY FROM GOD’S GRACE?
10. THAT SOME HOW THE VERY ACT OF BAPTISM BECOMES A WORK AND IF WE ARE
BAPTIZED TO BE SAVED WE ARE EARNING OUR SALVATION INSTEAD OF IT STILL
BEING FROM THE GRACE OF GOD?
11. GOD HAS COMMANDED BAPTISM FOR REMISSION OF OUR SINS (ACTS 2:38).
13. HE HAS REVEALED THAT BAPTISM IS A BURIAL (ROMANS 6:3-4).
14. GOD CLAIMED THAT THOSE WHO ARE BAPTIZED ARE BAPTIZED INTO HIS SON
JESUS CHRIST WERE ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS ARE TO BE FOUND.
15. AS PETER INSPIRED BY GOD, PUT IT “BAPTISM DOTH ALSO NOW SAVE US...”
16. THIS IS HOW WE RECEIVE THE GIFT OF GOD, ETERNAL LIFE THAT IS PROMISED
IN ROMANS 6:23.
17. IN THE BOOK OF ACTS WE FIND MANY EXAMPLES OF PEOPLE BEING OBEDIENT TO
GOD SUCH AS IN ACTS 22:16 “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be
baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
18. IF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST FOR REMISSION OF YOUR SIN,
YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE.
19. SO I ASK YOU THE SAME QUESTION THAT SAUL WAS ASKED IN ACTS 22:16, WHY
ARE YOU WAITING? ARISE, COME FORWARD AS WE STAND IN SING, CONFESS THAT
JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD AND BE BAPTIZED, WASH AWAY YOUR SINS IN THIS WAY
YOU WILL TRULY BE CALLING UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD.

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