Drivers buying or hiring a car can choose optional extras:
Satnav.
Air conditioning.
Cruise control. etc.
But none of these are vital to driving the car.
But a car must have:
An engine / motor.
A steering wheel.
Tyres.
These aren’t optional - they’re vital.
For believers, water baptism is like the - engine / motor / steering wheel / tyres:
It's not optional.
It’s vital.
#1 Mark 16:16a
16He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved ...
--> So Jesus made it really clear!
#2 Matthew 3:13-16
13Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptised of (= by) him.
14But John forbad Him, saying, I have need to be baptised of Thee, and comest Thou to me?
15And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now (= allow it): for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness (= to have our sins forgiven).
16And Jesus, when He was baptised, went up straightway out of the water …
A. Jesus taught by His own example that we need to be baptised.
B. He said that to have our sins forgiven (= ‘to fulfil all righteousness’ in v. 15) we must be baptised.
C. Jesus came up out of the water - v.16:
John the Baptist did not dab Jesus with water.
He immersed Him.
#3 John 3:3-5
3Jesus answered and said unto him (= Nicodemus), Verily, verily, I say unto thee (= I firmly assure you), Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.
4Nicodemus saith unto Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
Jesus told Nicodemus that to enter the Kingdom of God (= to be saved) we MUST be born of BOTH:
A. Water = being Baptised in Water.
B. The Spirit = having the Holy Spirit living within us.
(See the ‘Separated & Marked’ message on WholeCounselofGod.com for more detail on the Holy Spirit living in us.)
Further reading
Luke 3:21
John 3:22-23 & 26, 4:1-2
1 John 5:6
Acts 2:37-38 & 41
37Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins (= to have our sins forgiven),
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
…
41Then they that gladly received his word were baptised: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
--> So on the day of Pentecost, Peter didn’t just tell the people to repent.
--> He said: ‘Repent and BE BAPTISED’.
Repenting on its own is like having a car without an engine / motor - it doesn’t work.
Three thousand people obeyed Peter, and were baptised.
Why should anyone today, think that they know better than an apostle who had been with Jesus?
Acts 10:47-48
47Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptised, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we (= just as we have)?
48And he commanded them to be baptised in the name of the Lord.
At Cornelius’ house in Caesarea - Peter did not ask if they wanted to be baptised.
He commanded them to be baptised.
Illustration
Police directing traffic don’t say: ‘Stop the car if you want to - it’s your choice’.
They put their hand up - and command us to stop.
It’s the same with water baptism - it’s a command from God.
So Jesus & Peter both made it clear that we MUST be baptised in water.
This is what Ananias taught Paul in Damascus:
Acts 22:16 ~ And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptised, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Paul was then baptised.
He then went on to teach others to be baptised:
Acts 16:14-15
14And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us:
whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended (= applied herself) unto the things which were spoken of (= by) Paul.
15And when she was baptised, and her household, she besought (= sought the favour of) us, saying,
If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained (= persuaded) us.
Q - If Jesus, Peter & Paul all said that we need to be baptised, should we obey them?
A - Yes!
God is an all-knowing God of grace, and He knows if we’re physically / medically unable to be baptised:
The thief on the cross (Luke 23:42-43) was saved - but Jesus knew it was impossible for him to be baptised in water when nailed to a cross!
Similarly, if someone’s about to die and calls on God to be saved - there’s no time to be baptised.
But for the rest of us - WHAT EXCUSE could we give Jesus, if we disobey His CLEAR COMMAND to be baptised?
Luke 12:50 ~ But I (= Jesus) have a baptism to be baptised with; and how am I straitened (= impelled / constrained) till it be accomplished.
--> Jesus likened his forthcoming death on the cross to being baptised.
Further reading
Matthew 20:22-23 / Mark 10:38-39
Romans 6:3-5
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptised into Jesus Christ were baptised into His death?
4Therefore 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.
5For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.
Paul explained that:
If we go down into the water - we associate ourselves with the death of Jesus.
Then, when we come up out of the water - it shows that we’ll be resurrected: just like Jesus was.
We’re demonstrating that Jesus is our Saviour - to:
God
Ourselves
Other people
Illustration
If someone asks us - “Have you ever been to ... (a certain place)?”
Our answer’s either: 'Yes' or 'No'
There’s no fudged, middle-ground.
It’s the same with water baptism - we either have or have not been baptised:
Once we’ve been baptised - we know where we stand with God.
We have COMPLETE CONFIDENCE that we’ll go to heaven & have eternal life.
Hebrews 10:22 ~ Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Illustration
A bus / train / plane ticket is just a small piece of paper with some ink - but we need it to reach our destination.
In the same way, water baptism may seem like a small act - but it’s our ticket to eternal life!
Further reading
Luke 7:29-30
Galatians 3:27 then John 14:19
Colossians 2:12
1 Peter 3:20-21
20 ... in the days of Noah … eight souls were saved by water.
21The like figure whereunto even (= this symbolizes that) baptism doth also now save us …
--> The ark went into the water & then came out of the water - and the people in it came out safely.
--> If we go into & then out of the baptism water - it means that WE'RE SAVED.
Illustration
It’s like a football match:
The referee blows the whistle.
Straightaway - the players kick the ball.
There's no delay / no hanging around.
Acts 16:33 ~ And he (= the Philippian jailer) took them (= Paul & Silas) the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes (= wounds); and was baptised, he and all his, straightaway.
--> There was no delay between the jailer believing and being baptised.
--> We should be baptised AS SOON AS POSSIBLE after we believe that Jesus is our Saviour.
Example
An elder was teaching us about water baptism in a midweek, evening meeting.
One of the new believers suddenly announced that he needed to be baptised that night - he couldn’t wait until the church’s baptism service.
So the church gathered at the nearest loch (= lake) and the new believer was baptised an hour later in the cold, dark, winter night - he had the right approach to baptism!
Acts 9:17-18
17And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said,
Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
18And immediately there fell from his (= Paul's) eyes as it had been (= something like) scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptised.
--> Paul was baptised SHORTLY AFTER he met Jesus.
--> There wasn’t a long delay.
Once we believe in Jesus - we should be baptised as soon as possible.
Then we know that we have our ticket to eternal life.
This is what happened at Corinth:
Acts 18:8 ~ And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house (= household);
and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptised.
The Corinthians believed in Jesus.
They were then baptised.
Further reading
Acts 8:12-13
Q - Should we baptise infants?
A - Not until they’re old enough to believe for themselves.
Q - What if we were baptised as an infant, before believing that Jesus is our Saviour?
A - We should get baptised again, now that we've made that decision.
Acts 8:36-39
36And as they (= Philip & the Ethiopian eunuch) went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptised?
37And 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.
38And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptised him.
39And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he (= the Ethiopian) went on his way rejoicing.
--> The Ethiopian believed in Jesus, and knew he then needed to be baptised - there was no delay.
--> He went into the water & came up out of the water = He was IMMERSED.
Meaning of Biblical words
The Greek word ‘Baptismos’ means - ‘to Immerse under water’.
So does the Hebrew word ‘Tevilah’.
These words do not mean: ‘Being dabbed on our foreheads with water’.
So we need to go down INTO the water - then come up OUT of the water.
What did notable Christian leaders say?
Martin Luther - “I would have those who are to be baptised to be entirely immersed as the word imports and the mystery signifies.”
John Calvin - “The word ‘baptise’ signifies to immerse. It is certain that immersion was the practice of the ancient church.”
John Wesley - “Buried with Him, alluding to baptising by immersion according to the custom of the first church.”
Q - (Unless we have a physical / medical condition which stops us from being safely immersed in water), why should we alter what Jesus & the early church did?
Matthew 28:19 ~ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Typically we’ll be asked:
Q - ‘Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour?’
A - ‘Yes’
The person baptising us then declares:
‘I baptise you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.’
We’ll then be put under the water, and quickly brought up out of the water.
Just before we’re baptised, it’s good to give a short account of how we came to believe that Jesus is our Saviour - because this:
A. Helps non-believers to realise that they need to be saved.
B. Encourages believers, when they hear how we came to faith - God has many ways!
A. Jesus, Peter & Paul all made it clear that water baptism is vital - it’s not an optional extra!
B. We should be immersed in water.
C. We should be baptised as soon as possible after we believe.
I urge you to be baptised as soon as possible - then you’ll know that you have your 'ticket' to eternal life!
Amen