Pastor Pat Edwards 2/11/2007
Grace Baptist Church in Bountiful, Utah

For Baptists, baptizing a person by sprinkling or pouring is about as satisfying as sprinkling a few drops of ice-cold milk on a warm-from-the-oven chocolate-chip cookie instead of plunging half of it into the glass. Or pouring a teaspoonful of fresh, hot coffee on your donut instead of immersing a good size chunk of it in the mug. Dipping the corner of your saltine cracker into your soup rather than crushing a handful and stirring it in is on the same level as well. There is something about saturating these foods in the appropriate liquid that adds immensely to our pleasure.

And if I would argue there is also something tremendously fulfilling about baptism by immersion that sprinkling or pouring just doesn’t come close to. There are some activities that should just encompass our whole self, that we should enter into with every fiber of our being. They should be vivid memories in our lives that we visit again and again.

After Chris and I have been separated by a trip or conference or sometimes just for the day a welcoming peck on the cheek isn’t enough; I need to wrap my arms around her, pull her close, bury my face in her neck and hold on for a good, long time. The same is often true when I greet many of you. If you’re comfortable with it I want to give you a "holy hug" as my brother or sister rather than some polite handshake from three feet away. The love and joy I feel calls for a grand gesture, for extravagance, for a bear hug. I love it when some of the guys in the church grab me in a bear hug and lift me clear off my feet. That’s the kind of emotion and whole-hearted participation I think baptism calls for. And I love it on The Antiques Road Show when they announce the family heirloom is worth $85,000 and the people start crying, whoop with joy or just keep repeating, "It can’t be true!" Or even when they just get a grin that spreads from ear-to-ear. It’s no fun when you get some cold fish in absolute control of their emotions politely and properly saying, "Well that’s very interesting. Thank you for the information."

Where’s the fun in that?

There’s nothing intensely theological in what I just shared and no specific biblical reference defining our emotions concerning baptism but I think you can see what I mean in Peter’s response when Jesus comes to wash his feet. "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." "Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"John 13.8-9 If it’s life with the Lord we’re talking about then the terms to use are full blast, whole hog, 110%, no holds barred.

There are biblical and theological reasons for baptism by immersion and we’ll get to those but I wanted to start today by reminding us where our hearts and emotions need to be. In our baptism we are declaring to the world that we love Jesus and he loves us and we’re committed to spending eternity together. Those of you who have been around here for awhile know that I compare baptism to a wedding ceremony. What has been private agreement between two people now becomes a public commitment. Family and friends are asked to come to the ceremony to witness the commitment and celebrate the love that made that commitment possible. The same is true for the act of baptism. Jesus and his new disciple are making public their love and commitment to one another.

Since we will witness two baptisms today let’s review what the Bible teaches about this practice. Here’s the why, what and how of Christian baptism.

Why are Christians baptized. There are several answers.

First we are baptized in obedience to Christ’s command. In Matthew 28.18-20 we read, Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Jesus commands his church to make and baptize disciples. He follows this command with another command, teach "them to obey everything I have commanded you." So if you believe in Jesus you will obey him and be baptized. And you will teach others to obey and be baptized. No excuses, no "if, ands or buts."

The second reason we are baptized has already been discussed. It is a public witness to believers and unbelievers that you are serious about Jesus being Lord and Savior in your life.

A third reason we are baptized is to receive a blessing. Obedience always opens doors to greater blessing in our lives. Disobedience blocks the flow of God’s grace into our lives but obedience keeps the flow coming. Obedience gets us walking with Jesus; it causes our footsteps to parallel or shadow his. Obedience means the Holy Spirit is not grieved or stymied by sin but he is given the opportunity to show us the next step of our journey with Jesus.

Now let’s look at the "what’s." What is baptism? What is so significant about it? First of all baptism is a symbolic expression of the gospel. In other words it’s the good news - just not in words. We can call it a one-act pantomime. Romans 6.3-7 makes the symbolism perfectly clear. "Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

Baptism is also evidence of moral cleansing but is not the method of cleansing. Acts 22.16 tells us, And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name. From a verse like this some argue that baptism washes sin away but time and time again the Bible makes no requirement for salvation other than faith in Christ and acknowledgment of him as Lord. In this verse that would be "calling on his name." 1 Cor 6.11 makes that even clearer. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Washing is a synonym for forgiven. Once we are forgiven we are sanctified (made holy) and justified (declared righteous) in the name of Jesus by the Holy Spirit of God.

If baptism were a requirement of salvation we could expect that it would be mentioned every time the requirements of salvation are listed but that isn’t the case. John 6.28-29; Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." In Ephesians 2.8-10, there’s no mention of baptism as a requirement for salvation: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." And In Romans 10.8-11 there is no mention of baptism being required for salvation. "But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

Finally baptism is an act of initiation. It’s not only our identification with Jesus but with his body on earth, the church. 1 Corinthians 12.13 states that. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. What was unseen before is now seen clearly. Those being baptized today are identifying with Christ’s church, the eternal church that spans heaven and earth, time and eternity; the universal church that includes all believers alive on earth today and the local church, this small body of believers known as Grace Baptist Church in Bountiful, Utah. Baptism identifies them as formal and visible members of Christ’s body, his church.

The final topic for consideration this morning is the how of baptism. Baptists (and many others) believe baptism is done by immersion instead of sprinkling or pouring. That’s why I named today’s sermon, "Dunked, Dipped but not Sprinkled or Dripped." Now that may sound just a little bit irreverent but it’s deliberately so. I want all of us to understand baptisms are a cause for celebration and merriment - again, just like a wedding. I also wanted to convey the fact that while the act of baptism is supremely important as a step of obedience, we’re not going to let the mode of baptism separate us from our Christian brothers and sisters. Because Baptists don’t believe baptism is essential for salvation we can politely argue the different interpretations of when and how and who.

Our arguments for immersion are basic and scriptural. The Greek word "baptizo" means "to dip, to plunge under, to submerge." Many of the biblical references make clear immersion was taking place. John 3.23, Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. Acts 8.38, And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Mark 1.9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

And finally as we read in Romans 6, this method symbolizes death, burial, resurrection. It literally shows what happens in the life of the believer when they come to faith. Church historian Bruce Shelley describes it this way, "Baptists believe the most fundamental truth depicted in the act of baptism is the spiritual union of the believer with the Lord Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection. To be ‘in Christ’ means to share spiritually in the saving acts of Jesus. The believer has died to his old life, his past is buried, and he has been raised with Christ to a new life under the Spirit’s control."

The last how is really who. Who should be baptized? At this point the answer should be obvious. Again to quote Bruce Shelley. "...baptism is a visible sermon about Christ’s death and resurrection and the faith of the candidate in that message. The faith of parents or godparents will not suffice. Baptism is about death and resurrection and only those dead to self and alive in Christ should receive it." Anyone who has called on the name of the Lord, trusted by faith in Him, confessed with their mouth and believed in their heart should be baptized. There are lots of different ways to say it and the Bible provides many of them but the bottom line is that baptism is only suitable for one who believes in Jesus. The only people baptized in the biblical narratives are those who have personally placed their faith in him. The same is true of the baptisms that will be performed today. These two people have shared their faith in Jesus with the board or me and they will profess it again in a few minutes. Naturally because of their ages and experiences there will be differences in the depth of their knowledge and understanding but both of them know Jesus is God the Son who lived a sinless life but chose to die on the cross to pay the penalty of their sin. They know he did that because he loves them and wants them to live a new and eternal life free from slavery to sin and filled with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.