WATER BAPTISM: WHY?

So much confusion has arisen over baptism and what part it plays in the Christian life. Many feel that baptism does nothing toward our salvation. Some even testify that nothing really happened when they were baptized. In many cases, that is true. There is a great difference between what the scriptures says takes place and what the believer actually experiences. This is what we wish to speak into.

In order to evaluate the benefit of water baptism it is essential we see how God evaluates it and forget what man has done to it in unbelief and ignorance. Like all experiences in God it is necessary that we enter in by faith. If we tell people baptism will do nothing for them, how will they exercise faith. If we tell them baptism is just a public testimony and nothing more, how will they exercise faith. Since faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the word of God, our only method of building up the person’s faith is by carefully using the scripture.

My thesis is this: Faith and understanding are necessary to experience all that God says baptism does. Faith is generally connected to the spirit and understanding is connected to the soul. Therefore man must be born again and the spirit functioning before man can exercise faith in his baptism. Baptism before the born again experience is nothing, because no faith can be exercised. Baptism before there is any understanding of God’s word can produce very little because faith is based upon God’s word, not upon a ritual of getting wet.

One reason some people testify that baptism does nothing is simply because the power released in baptism is not manifested immediately. Baptism is a birth and the full benefit is only experienced in growth. For continual growth we must exercise continual faith. Therefore we must begin in a full assurance of faith in God’s word and then hold to that faith until the maturity of our baptism is realized. Paul says it this way: Reckon yourself dead ( until the death is actually experienced).

Some churches have taught a doctrine that salvation is complete when we accept Christ as personal Savior and receive forgiveness of sins through the blood of Calvary and are born again. If this were true, baptism would be redundant and unessential. Maybe just a testimony as an outward sign of an inward change. Some incorrectly teach that we baptize into the church. We find nothing about this in scripture.

One of the errors of the liberal church is they have not understood the blood of Calvary must be received by each believer by faith, for the forgiveness of their sins, personally. One error of the evangelical church is they have only seen the personal application of the blood for forgiveness of sins but nothing more. The error of the fundamental church is they have declared baptism to be something less than what God’s word says it is. Some pentecostal churches have declared baptism to be some sort of testimony. Some very orthodox churches feel if we place any emphasis upon water baptism, we are depreciating the blood of Jesus Christ. If we just understood that man needs more than just the forgiveness of his sins it would put baptism in the proper perspective.

Our hope is that this outline will show that baptism is not an option, it is not a testimony, it is not an outward sign of an inward change. Rather baptism provides for the believer, who has faith, very definite experiences. At the conclusion of this study we will list at least 10 spiritual provisions the believer should receive in water baptism.

ROM 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? ROM 6:2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? ROM 6:3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? ROM 6:4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. ROM 6:5 For if we have become united with {Him} in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also {in the likeness} of His resurrection, ROM 6:6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with {Him,} that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; ROM 6:7 for he who has died is freed from sin. ROM 6:8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ROM 6:9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. ROM 6:10 For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. ROM

6:11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Outlining the book of Romans is helpful to see how baptism is related to other basic experiences. From Rom.1 to chapter 5:11 we see the whole problem of sins and how God handles the sin problem through the blood of Jesus Christ. From Rom. 5:11 to chapter 8:39 we see the problem of the sinner himself. Thank God he can be forgiven through faith in the blood of Jesus, but the person himself is still a sin factory. This is the root cause of recurring sins. Even though the person has been forgiven, he is still participating in what he has inherited from the first Adam. His sins are forgiven but his nature is still wrong. The next step in our deliverance is to get entirely free from the first Adam.

But how to escape from all the fallen nature of the first Adam is the next question. It should be clear that changing our clothes is not the solution. Joining the church and reforming our life style will not release us from this sin factory we inherited from the first man. God’s solution is we must die, be buried, and be resurrected into a whole new life in Jesus Christ.

Because of man’s fallen state, he must be REGENERATED. That means brought back to a NEW GENESIS. Back to the innocence and cleanness of the first Adam before he fell in the book of Genesis. In other words, man must be more than forgiven, he must literally start over again. Even though he is forgiven he is still attached to the first Adam. Immediately following repentance and the born-again experience this attachment to the first Adam must be severed.

The first Adam was not all that God designed him to be. Since Adam was created to be like God he was given moral choice or some call this “free will”. Adam was told by God what he could eat of and what he could not eat. It was up to Adam to decide whether to obey God or to determine what he, himself, wanted to do. From this we understand that Adam would be involved in his own development by making certain moral choices. When Adam made his first moral choice to disobey God and decide his own path, his development towards God’s eternal purpose ceased.

True development can only be realized when we give ourselves to do the whole will of God and to bring honor, glory and joy to God’s heart. Only as we rightly discern the purpose of God and live our lives with one goal of fulfilling God’s eternal purpose can we rightly relate to the present world, to our family, to our jobs and to our salvation.

One of the identifying marks of the first Adam was that he chose to do his own will and to live for himself. Even though Adam was sinless, innocent, pure and created in God’s own likeness and given God’s own image, he chose to live in God’s creation, use God’s provision, enjoy God’s sunshine but live unto himself. This is the same curse that plagues much of the church today. We take the power of the cross, the cleansing of the blood, the forgiveness of our sins and receive our reconciliation to God and then live just for ourselves and do our own will. It should be obvious that this influence and nature of the first Adam must be dealt with in the believer. I won’t say “in the new believer” because we see that nature in believers of all kinds. We recite the verse that all things have become new but then live in the same old way.

It is easy, because of the pressing demand for more workers, to send out laborers into the harvest that have not made the transition from the first Adam to the Last Adam. We are not speaking about not being born again or not receiving the Holy Spirit or not knowing the doctrines. We are speaking about making the transition from living to satisfy ourselves and attain to a position and fulfil our goals, to living wholly to bring joy to God’s heart and fulfilling His purpose. The characteristic of the first Adam that we are emphasizing is “ doing his own will” and living his own life, just for himself.

Because God’s goal is much more than man’s redemption, he must make a provision to sever man’s connection with the first Adam. The first Adam is called the “old man”. The last Adam is called “the new man”. Since we cannot participate in both the first Adam and the Last Adam, we must die in the first Adam, be buried and be resurrected into the Last Adam. God is only dealing with two men. The first Adam and the Last Adam. Jesus Christ has purchased the redemption of all who are in the first Adam. Through His blood, all who are in the first Adam can be forgiven of their sins by faith alone. When we receive forgiveness of sins our spirit comes alive and we are born again. As the living and abiding Word of God comes into us we are born again. We are once again spirit, soul and body. We are sinless, clean, pure and innocent. We stand righteous before God in the same way the first Adam was while in the garden. We have become a new creation and are, in effect, back in the garden state. However Romans 7 reveals that even in this state we are subject to the desires of the flesh that were inherited from the first Adam. There is now a definite desire to please God but something is pulling the other way and presses us to do our own will and live for ourselves.

To say that Paul is speaking of himself before he was “saved” is to miss the whole context Romans 5 to Romans 8. Paul is relating the plan of salvation in more complete form than just Romans 5. The Evangelical Church has taken a few verses from Romans 5 and Romans 10 to present a “gospel of salvation”. Some have ignored Romans 6 and others have ignored Romans 6 , 7 and 8 as they relate to God’s plan of redemption. If everything was complete in Romans 5 what purpose is there in Romans 8. Romans 7 shows us the problem facing those who are born again. Romans 6 shows us God’s provision and Romans 8 shows us God’s solution.

If we understand the personal experience of Romans 7 we should see the need of Romans 8. If we see God’s goal is not just forgiveness of sins but being led by the Holy Spirit we should see the foundation of Romans 6. If we understand the problem of getting a church to participate in Romans 12: 1&2, we should see how Romans 1 through Romans 11 is fundamental to Romans 12. Romans 12:1-2 is just as much a part of God’s plan of salvation as Romans 5. Romans 5 has been presented as “the plan of salvation” and Romans 12: 1-2 as just for those who are after rewards in heaven.

If there is just one plan of eternal salvation and it is presented in Romans 1 to Romans 15, there will be a lot of people disappointed. It is certainly true that forgiveness of sins is through faith only because that is all man is capable of doing in his fallen state. However it is also true that every true believer is expected to do the will of God in the same way the first Adam was expected to do the will of God. Why should God require the first Adam to do his will and fulfill His purpose and not require us to do at least the same? The standard answer is that now we are living under “grace” and are not required to do anything but believe and do our own thing, please ourselves and try to get God to do what we want Him to do. “Grace” has come to mean that God is here to serve us. Now we pray to tell God what to do. Even the first Adam had a better revelation than that!

Many people testify to the present reality of the fullness of Christ but few ever personally experience that reality. Many testify to the finished work of Christ on the cross but few know the personal experience of the cross in daily life. Many testify to a past experience of “salvation” but know very little about the daily experience of that salvation coming to full maturity within them. When it comes to crisis, there are fewer believing, believers. “My righteous ones shall live by faith”. That means daily and not a past experience of “faith”.

Was the only purpose of Jesus Christ being born into this world as a man to provide fallen man with forgiveness of sins or was it to restore man to fulfill God’s eternal purpose? My thesis is that forgiveness of sins had to be provided so that man could fulfill God’s eternal purpose. Forgiveness of sins was not the goal but a means to the goal. ROM 14:7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; ROM 14:8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. ROM 14:9 For to this end Christ died and lived {again}, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 2CO 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 2CO 5:15 and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

Until the whole church no longer lives for themselves but lives wholly for Christ and to do His will, the purpose of Calvary has not been fulfilled. This has nothing to do with rewards but has to do with God’s original purpose. The old Adam, in the pulpit, has insisted he was right all the time. Man should take his “salvation” and do his own thing unless he is after some rewards. Once you have become a child of God, like the first Adam, you can’t lose that status. Once saved always saved! The old Adam still thinks he did the right thing. The Devil is inspiring that lie again. “You shall not surely die”! The preacher, who is living in Romans 7, is still looking for an excuse. God has given the solution in Romans 8 but the flesh is still hostile.

If this is all true, then Romans 6 is a crucial chapter in fulfilling God’s purpose. Of course the Blood and redemption must be a reality before Romans 6 has any power to deliver. Also faith must still be actively working. We must point out here very clearly that Romans 6 is not the solution outside of the reality of Romans 8. These two chapters are speaking of the same goal and should be seen together. Romans 6 is the preparation for Romans 8. Romans 7 is the result of not going on to Romans 8.

Romans 6 is not the whole revelation of water baptism but is that section that deals with the old Adam and his sin factory that remains after forgiveness of sins and the new birth. We must remember that God’s eternal purpose was established before man was created and preceded the fall of man. God’s purpose was in His heart and in His foreknowledge before creation and was set into motion at the creation. Man was created to fulfill God’s purpose. God’s plan will not be complete until man fulfills His purpose. The first Adam did not do it and now cannot do it. That includes all those born of the first Adam or that participate in his nature or character. Forgiveness of sins is the first step in the restoration but certainly not the final step. The old Adam in each one of us must be dealt with and destroyed or done away with. Why? For the forgiveness of sins? No! So we can fulfill God’s eternal purpose! This old Adam, with his old nature, is the road block that keeps us from fulfilling God’s purpose. Those who hold to the doctrine that “all things are made new” when we receive Jesus Christ as savior, have not objectively observed the church in present experience.

ROM 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? Paul’s teaching here is focused upon those who are born again but continue in sin. God’s unbounding grace was used as an excuse to live in continuing sin. Go ahead and do it because God will forgive you out of His grace. Paul refuted this error by saying ROM 6:2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

When did we die to sin? ROM 6:3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 2CO 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; When Jesus Christ died on Calvary, He died for the whole human race. He was God’s acceptable sacrifice for sins of men. His blood cleanses the sins of all those who believe. Faith is required to be forgiven. Now, in Romans 6 forgiveness of sin is not in view but freedom from sins. Freedom comes through death. Once we are dead, we are freed from sin. God’s method is to include us in Christ and His death. Therefore, we are baptized INTO CHRIST JESUS and we are BAPTIZED INTO HIS DEATH. ROM 6:7 for he who has died is freed from sin.

To say that baptism does nothing for man is gross ignorance. Following Paul’s doctrine of baptism he sums it up in verse ROM 6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, ROM 6:13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin {as} instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members {as} instruments of righteousness to God. From this we see that the properly baptized believer must take an ongoing and active part in his baptism by a daily faith. Our baptism is a past event but the result of our baptism is a daily faith in our death with Christ.

Baptism then is a burial. Death is not complete until there is burial. We don’t just leave dead people laying around. God ordained that the corpse should be buried before sundown. When the burial is complete, that person’s life has reach it’s final conclusion on this earth. Baptism is the conclusion of our old life in the first Adam.

ROM 6:4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Being dead and buried is a proper conclusion for the old Adam and his sin nature. However, we are no good to God or to His eternal purpose if we are just dead and buried. Now we must be resurrected into a whole new kind of life that first Adam rejected and knew nothing of. That Life was found in the Tree of Life which Adam rejected. This is the (ZOE) Life of God. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by the Glory of the Father. ROM 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you. The Glory of the Father is the Holy Spirit who raised Christ from the dead. This same Holy Spirit also raises us from the dead and imparts to us this ZOE Life of God. To insist that we receive this Life before resurrection which follows this death and burial is to close our eyes to scripture.

ROM 6:5 For if we have become united with {Him} in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also {in the likeness} of His resurrection, Baptism is being united with Him in the likeness of His death. This is not speaking of receiving Him as Savior as some teach. Without death there is no need of resurrection. However, if we are united with Him in the likeness of His death we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection. That means we will be raised up into newness of Life by the Holy Spirit.

ROM 6:6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with {Him,} that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; ROM 6:7 for he who has died is freed from sin. Our old self, that was born of the first Adam, was a slave to sin. Sin was a nature that inhabited our body. Sin was a part of our person and we could not ever be free from it. God ordained that the soul that sinned should surely die. No escape and no exceptions. ROM 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned-- The sentence of death is upon all men because all have sinned. Thank God we can choose the day of our death and get on with living for God. The day we die is the day we are freed from sin. We are not speaking about forgiveness of sins but being freed from the body of sin inherited from the old Adam. If that body is done away with, we are freed from the slavery to sin. We can still sin if we want to but we don’t have to. If we go on sinning it is because we want to and not because we have to. The slavery is broken in proper water baptism because a personal death has taken place. Burial brings the slavery to a final conclusion.

ROM 6:8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ROM 6:9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. It is appointed to man to die once. We can’t die twice. Therefore, once we die, death has no more power over us. There is a fear of death up until the time we die. After death passes, fear also passes. After we die, death is no longer master over us. Death brings the fear of death to a conclusion.

ROM 6:10 For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Death brings a conclusion to sin, once for all. The popular concept is that after we are born again God no longer sees our sin. He just looks at Jesus and declares us righteous with His righteousness. Romans 6 is about victory over sin and not about forgiveness of sins. This is about being dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ROM 6:22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. One problem is with those who want to be freed from sin but are not willing to be enslaved to God. Doing your own thing will sooner or later end up in sin.

Romans 6:14 to 23 has to do with sin and how we get free from it. This is not speaking about forgiveness of sins but victory over sin. The wages of sin is still death. Even if you believe in Jesus.

The first part of Romans 7 is continuing the same thought and teaching of Romans 6. To accept the chapter division as a whole new and separate thought clouds the revelation of water baptism. In this teaching, Paul uses the doctrine of marriage from the old covenant to show another aspect of what happens in baptism. ROM 7:2 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. ROM 7:3 So then if, while her husband is living, she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress, though she is joined to another man. God’s plan is one woman with one man and one man with one woman. Outside of that relationship God calls it adultery.

ROM 7:4 Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God. We not only have to die to sin but also to the law that defines sin. Before we participated in Jesus Christ, we were under the laws of God for fallen man. We cannot divorce the law or ignore the law. However, we can die to the law. When we are dead, the law no longer has jurisdiction over us. Just being dead to the law is not the solution to God’s eternal purpose. If we are going to be fruitful for God we must be married to another. That is to Jesus Christ who has raised from the dead. Baptism must result in our producing fruit for God through our union with Jesus Christ in resurrection. We are not resurrected into some heavenly realm so we can do our own thing. We are resurrected so that we might be joined to Him who raised from the dead. Single Christians are not in God’s plans. We must be married to the law or to Christ. The law refuses to die so we can be married to another! What then is the solution? We must die and that frees us from the law.

ROM 7:6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. Before we can serve God in the Spirit we have to first get free from the law. Otherwise we will always be bound to the letter. This is not a small or isolated problem in the church.

If our death, burial and resurrection, that is supposed to take place in baptism, does not place us into the reality of the Spirit, we will be bound by rules and regulations. He who walks in the Spirit has no need of rules and regulations. Those who continue to walk in the flesh must have rules and regulations. This is the curse of rejecting the fullness of the Holy Spirit and not moving into Romans 8.

To sum up Romans 6 we could say that even though we are forgiven of past sins, we will still be a slave to sin as long as we are still alive to the nature of first Adam. The only way of escape is to die, be buried and to be resurrected into a different kind of Life. After we are dead, we are freed from sin. Death brings to a conclusion our slavery to sin. Once we have truly died in baptism, the fear of death is brought to a conclusion. If we have died with Christ and been buried in baptism, we cannot die again! The purpose of water baptism is to die to the past and to live for the future. It should result in freedom from slavery to sin and it should result in being enslaved to God. Baptism should birth us into a life of obedience to God. We were once obedient to sin but now we must become obedient to God. We were slaves to sin but now we must become slaves to righteousness. That is the difference between the old life and the new Life. If we refuse to be enslaved to God we will experience the reality of Romans 7. Then we need to relegate Romans 8 to the millennium. Water baptism will do what it is supposed to do if we are dead, buried, resurrected and enslaved to God. The real goal of water baptism is to married to Jesus Christ in resurrection.

1CO 10:1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 1CO 10:2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 1CO 10:3 and all ate the same spiritual food; 1CO 10:4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. 1CO 10:5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. 1CO 10:6 Now these things happened as examples for us, that we should not crave evil things, as they also craved. 1CO 10:7 And do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “\ The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play. \” 1CO 10:8 Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. 1CO 10:9 Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. 1CO 10:10 Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 1CO 10:11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

Each of these experiences that Israel had in coming out of Egypt and entering into Canaan are types, shadows and examples for the Christian life. Egypt is a picture of the world system. Pharaoh is a picture of Satan. Moses is a type of Christ. The cloud is a picture of the Holy Spirit. The Red Sea is a picture of baptism. As long as Israel was on the west bank of the Red Sea they were still in Egypt and therefore under the authority and the control of Pharaoh. The only way of escape was through the Red Sea. As they approached the banks the cloud that was over them came down and passed back over them, immersing them in the cloud. They were baptized in the cloud. When Moses struck the waters with his rod, the waters parted and stood up like a wall. PSA 78:13 He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; And He made the waters stand up like a heap. They passed through the Red Sea as it stood up and were baptized into Moses.

As long as Israel was in Egypt they were under Pharaoh’s authority. When they passed over to the wilderness, they were baptized into Moses’ authority. The authority over their lives changed at water baptism. We are not baptized into Moses but into Jesus Christ and at baptism we come under His authority. The authority over our life changes from Satan to Jesus Christ at baptism. At baptism we come out of the world system and begin our walk into the purpose of God. Like we saw in the other verses in 1 Cor 10 there are many things to discourage us and cause us to fall. God said” The enemies that you see today, you will not see again forever”. Pharaoh’s army was destroyed at the Red Sea. Still there are many other enemies waiting.

Israel was saved by the blood and they were saved by the water. They were saved by the manna from heaven and they were saved by the water out of the rock. However, they craved evil things, they were idolaters, they acted frivolously, they acted immorally, they tried the Lord, and they grumbled and complained against God. 1CO 10:11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. We may have had many experiences in the provision of God but still have several character faults and defects. As we continue to walk into the purpose of God, it is necessary for God to adjust and change many things in our lives.

1PE 3:18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, {the} just for {the} unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; 1PE 3:19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits {now} in prison, 1PE 3:20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through {the} water. 1PE 3:21 And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you-- not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience-- through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Noah and the ark along with the flood is another picture of water baptism, for us. In the days of Noah the earth became so corrupt because of the gross sins of the people that God could no longer look upon it. He decided to destroy the inhabitants with water. God judged the world through Noah, a man who was righteous in God’s sight. God’s plan was not to do away with mankind but to judge sin. God could destroy the old and preserve the Adamic race through Noah. Therefore, God told Noah to build an ark for the saving of his family. Noah built and preached. 2PE 2:5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

The world mocked but the rains began and the waters began to rise. Noah and his family were in the ark and it says that God shut the door. In the days of Noah 100% of the people were baptized. Most drowned because they were baptized outside of the ark. Only those who were inside the ark were saved. This shows us that all who are baptized outside of Jesus Christ are still lost. Baptism is “Into Jesus Christ”.

As the water rose, the ark began to float. The earth was under water. However, the water receded but the ark did not rest again in the old land but had traveled to a whole different land. When Noah and his family came out of the ark they walked out into a completely new life. The old things had disappeared.

In this same way, baptism now saves us. It is not just a washing of the flesh but it is an appeal to God for a new, clean conscience. The conscience comes alive and begins to function again following water baptism. A good conscience is requisite for us to identify hidden sins and to avoid the snares of the Devil.

There is another picture for us in the Tabernacle of Moses that is revealed in the Laver. EXO 40:12 “Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. EXO 40:13 “And you shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him and consecrate him, that he may minister as a priest to Me. EXO 40:14 “And you shall bring his sons and put tunics on them;

This was the initial washing as the priests were preparing to approach God for service. The garments were placed upon them following this washing. The anointing followed the garments. In addition to this cleansing there was the continual washing each time the priests passed the laver. EXO 30:18 “You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base of bronze, for washing; and you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. EXO 30:19 “And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet from it; EXO 30:20 when they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, that they may not die; or when they approach the altar to minister, by offering up in smoke a fire {sacrifice} to the \Lord.\ EXO 30:21 “So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they may not die; and it shall be a perpetual statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations.” Following the initial washing there was the continual washing. Not of the whole body but just the hands and feet. Once they were clean, they only had to wash their hands and their feet. EPH 5:26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, EPH 5:27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless. Once we have been baptized, there is the continual washing of water with the word. This washes our doing (hands) and our walk (feet).

GAL 3:27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Baptism is into Jesus Christ. When we are “ IN CHRIST” we are clothed with Christ. The Amplified Bible says “ have put on Christ as a garment”. The Priests were clothed with the new garments following the initial washing in the Laver. The dual experience of the Christian life is first “ Christ in us” and then “us in Christ”. Christ in us is our born again experience. Baptism is “Us in Christ”. JOH 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, {even} to those who believe in His name, EPH 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love EPH 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, 1JO 2:28 And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. 1JO 3:24 And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. John had the insight to recognize that to abide “in HIm” requires that we keep His commandments. He also saw that we must abide “in Him” if we are going to be ready for the coming of the Lord. We are baptized “into Him” but it is by obedience that we abide “in Him”. He abides “in us” but we also must be diligent to “abide in Him”.

COL 2:12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. Baptism outside of faith in the working of God produces very little in our lives. The resurrection that is supposed to follow death and burial requires faith in the working of God. Babies can exercise no faith, make no decisions and demonstrate no obedience in the baptism. Therefore they cannot qualify for baptism. Baptism should set us into God’s purpose.

LUK 7:30 But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John. Surely, the baptism of John was a very little thing in the eyes of the Pharisees and the lawyers. John seemed to be some kind of radical that dressed in strange clothes and ate strange things and lived in the wilderness. They were the Theologians of their day. Never the less they cut themselves off from the purpose of God simply by refusing John’s baptism.

MAR 16:16 “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. We have never been authorized to tell anyone they are saved before they are baptized. ACT 2:38 And Peter {said} to them, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ACT 22:16 ‘And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’ Faith is not a passive and dormant thing. Faith is action. Faith without a following action is dead faith. True faith in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ will result in baptism. Baptism is the action that expresses our faith.

HEB 10:22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled {clean} from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Baptism then is not a public testimony. It is not an outward sign of an inward change. It is not a baptism into a church. It is not a ritual. It is not a ritual bath as in other religions.

Baptism is designed by God to produce something real and eternal in our lives. We cannot take the next step into God’s eternal purpose without a valid baptism.

(1) Baptism is an immersion into the death of Jesus Christ.

(2) Baptism is an immersion into a death to sin.

(3) It cuts us loose from the old nature of first Adam.

(4) It destroys the “body of sin” or the sin factory.

(5) It is a burial into death.

(6) It is the preparation for resurrection.

(7) It frees us from slavery to sin.

(8) It frees us from the fear of death.

(9) We are freed from sin so that we can be enslaved to God.

(10) Death and burial sets us free from the law so we can serve in newness of the

Spirit.

(11) Baptism is our escape from the world system.

(12) Baptism loosens us from Satan’s authority.

(13) Baptism brings us under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.

(14) Baptism is another step into God’s purpose.

(15) At baptism God provides us with a good conscience.

(16) Baptism is our first obedience to the word of God.

(17) At baptism we are clothed with Christ (as with a garment).

(18) Baptism brings to a conclusion all that was before so that in Christ Jesus all

things can become new.

(19) Baptism is one of the foundations of the Christian life.

(20) God will not permit us to go on to maturity until the foundations are complete.

Heb 6:1-2

Until we can accept the fact that baptism is essential and exercise faith in all the provision of God released in baptism, we will not be able to exercise faith to experience all the benefits of baptism. This has been the experience of too much of the church. Since very little was experienced, she has developed a doctrine that nothing much happens in baptism. Therefore, baptism can’t be very important. The church acknowledges that baptism is one of the “sacraments” of the church so we must do it sometime. Before faith or after faith is irrelevant.

Of course we should know it is not “the water” that does the work but it is our faith working through our obedience that grasps the promises of God to bring them into our experience. Repentance prepares the heart to believe what God has said will happen. Baptism outside of repentance and faith produces nothing and nothing happened in baptism is the testimony of many.