Requirements for Baptism – audio

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Introduction

1. One of the Devil’s greatest tools is misinformation.

2. After all, he is the Father of lies – John 8:44

3. If he can convince people that they are saved when they really are not, then he has won.

4. One way that he accomplishes this is by “muddying” the waters in regard to baptism.

5. Today, let us notice some of the requirements for Scriptural baptism.

6. Before we get started, let me say that I have no one in mind in delivering this lesson.

7. Looking back at my life, I wish I had heard a sermon like this.

Body

I. BELIEF IS REQUIRED.

A. Mark 16:15-16 – And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”

1. Jesus puts belief on an equal footing with baptism.

2. That which we are to believe is the gospel.

3. The gospel is the story of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus – Romans 15:1-4

B. How does the devil use this to lead people astray?

1. Put simply, many are baptized who are not capable of believing.

2. We are talking about infant baptism.

3. These children grow up hearing about the necessity of baptism and feel that they are ok.

4. Without belief, baptism is meaningless.

C. Nowhere in the Scriptures do we have an example of infant baptism.

1. No infants are mentioned in Lydia’s household – Acts 16:15

2. No infants in the jailer’s house were baptized – Acts 16:33-34

II. REPENTANCE IS REQUIRED.

A. Acts 2:38 – Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

1. Speaking to people who had come to believe the gospel, Peter told them that they needed to repent and be baptized.

2. Peter puts repentance on an equal footing with baptism.

B. But what is repentance?

1. It is a change of behavior based upon a change of heart – 2 Corinthians 7:10

2. A wonderful example of repentance is given in Matthew 21:28-31.

C. Baptism without repentance does us no good.

1. There must be a mental decision on a person’s part to turn and serve God.

2. Granted… a new Christian does not know everything there is to know when he or she is baptized.

3. There are often things they are doing that they don’t even realize are sin.

4. But when God’s word convicts them of a sin in their life, they have already made the mental decision to turn from it.

III. PROPER UNDERSTANDING IS REQUIRED.

A. Acts 19:1-5

And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s baptism.” Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. – Acts 19:1-5

1. These individuals had been baptized.

2. Yet for some reason, they felt compelled to be immersed again.

3. What was that reason?

4. They had been taught incorrectly.

a) They had been taught by Apollos who knew only the baptism of John when he had passed through that area.

b) He had (At that point) not heard of Christ’s baptism.

B. How does the devil use this tool today?

1. Many, many people have been baptized but have been taught incorrectly.

2. I was brought up in the Church of Christ in Christian Union.

a) I was taught that baptism was an outward sign of an inward grace.

b) I was taught that baptism was simply a means of showing the world that I was already a Christian.

3. The Baptist church teaches that one is saved and then baptized to become a member of the Baptist church.

a) “Baptism is not essential to salvation for our churches utterly repudiate the dogma of baptismal regeneration”; but it is essential to obedience, since Christ commanded it. It is also essential to membership in the church which is his body” – Standard Manual for Baptist Churches. Pg.21.

b) Hence, it is easier to get to heaven than it is to get into the Baptist church.

c) Many Baptists don’t even realize that this is what their church teaches.

d) Yet many of these same Baptists convince their selves that (Despite being a member of a church that teaches otherwise) they were baptized for the right reason.

C. You cannot be taught incorrectly about baptism and be baptized correctly.

IV. IMMERSION IS REQUIRED.

A. Some Greek Definitions.

1. Baptidzo.

a) Thayer: To dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge.

b) Vines: Consisting of the process of immersion. To dip. Was used among the Greeks to signify the dyeing of a garment, or the drawing of water by dipping a vessel into another, etc.

c) Therefore, we see that baptism is an immersion.

d) The New Testament describes it as a burial.

(1) Colossians 2:12 – Buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

(2) Romans 6:4 – Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

2. Sprinkling is not baptism.

a) Greek as a word that means sprinkle.

b) Rhantizo : to sprinkle.

c) Hebrews 9:19-21 – For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.

d) If God wanted us to be sprinkled, He could have used this word.

3. Pouring is not baptism.

a) Greek has a word that means to pour.

b) Eckchuno : To pour forth.

c) Acts 2:17 – And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.

d) If God wanted us to have water poured over our heads, He could have used this word.

4. Sprinkling and pouring were not the original modes of New Testament baptism.

a) The first instance of its use was in 251 A.D.

b) A sick man by the name of Novatian who feared dying unbaptized had his friends lay bed sheets all around him and they poured water all over him in a attempt to baptize him.

c) This came to be called clinical baptism.

d) In 753 A.D., pope Stephen II legislated that in “cases of necessity” pouring water on the head was acceptable.

e) In 1311, a council of bishops meeting in Ravenna, Italy voted that either sprinkling or immersion was acceptable.

B. Someone who has been sprinkled on or poured on has NOT been baptized.

1. Yet, so many religious groups allow or even force people to forego immersion in favor of sprinkling or pouring.

2. These people will often tell you that they have been baptized when, indeed, they have not.

3. Once again, the Devil convinces them they are saved when they are not.

Conclusion

1. Have you met the above requirements?

2. Have you been SCRIPTURALLY baptized?

3. If not (Or if you are not sure)… don’t gamble with your soul.

4. Contact Us for assistance – Do it right and KNOW that you are saved.

Delivered on: August 5, 2012. Streetsboro.