The Sacrament of Baptism: more than just a symbol!

With Rev. Brian Moseley

It is a Spiritual proclamation by physical obedience.

Like circumcision, it is a declaration of identity, servanthood, citizenship, and spiritual inheritance.

 

1.   It is a command, an act of obedience, and a preparation to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

 

Acts 2:38 ESV

³⁸ And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 3:16-17 ESV

16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

 

2.   It is a covenant like marriage.

Colossians 2:11-12 ESV

¹¹ In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, ¹² having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

 

1 Corinthians 6:17 ESV

¹⁷ But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

Ephesians 5:31-32 ESV

³¹ “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” ³² This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

3.    It is our identity in spirit as belonging to Jesus Christ with His seal.

Romans 6:5 ESV

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

 

4.   It declares to all of earth and the spiritual realm, our victory over death through and with Jesus. It is spiritual warfare! At our Salvation we proclaim Him as our Savior, and at Baptism we proclaim him as our Lord!

 

1 Peter 3:18-19 ESV

¹¹⁸ For Christ also suffered^[a] once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, ¹⁹ in which^[b] he went and proclaimed^[c] to the spirits in prison,

 

5.   It carries us through death like the Arc did for Noah and it gives us a good conscience.

 

1 Peter 3:20-22 ESV

²⁰ because^[a] they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. ²¹ Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

 

6.   It cleanses us of the seal of death in the spiritual realm.

 

Acts 22:16 ESV

¹⁶ And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

Romans 6:4 ESV

4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Matthew 28:18-20 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”