5 Basic Facts about Baptism

let's talk about five basic facts about water baptism now this is a Christian tradition that's been around for over 2,000 years but maybe you're a brand-new Christian or you've been a Christian for a while and you just don't really fully understand what water baptism is about or it seems just a little weird to you so here are five things every Christian should know about it number one water baptism is God's idea you know again it seems a little strange maybe maybe to think you know why would we need to do something like that it seems so out of the ordinary to be immersed in water I mean that's what baptism is is you're being immersed in water and you're coming up out of the water seems like kind of a strange ritual but it was God's idea in the first place in fact Jesus himself commanded that his disciples whenever they invited someone to pursue God and that person would say I want to do it I want to become a Christian Jesus said those people should be baptized Matthew 28 it says this Jesus speaking therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit so baptism in water was God's idea Jesus talked about it himself while he was on the earth so that should catch our attention and should make us want to learn a little bit more about it so here's the second fact water baptism doesn't save anyone you know Jesus commanded that we be baptized if we're going to pursue God but he also makes it clear throughout the word throughout the Bible that it is not a ritual that saves anybody so don't get that confused maybe you've heard about that some churches might teach this that you have to be baptized in water and that's one of the things that you need to do if you want to be accepted by God and if you don't check that one off then then sorry God won't accept you and then there are some other things you have to check off as well or God won't accept you and that's just not the way it works the Bible makes it very clear that the way we are saved the way we start a relationship with God is by trusting in Jesus for our salvation and so there's nothing that we can do that can save us so water baptism is important and even 2,000 years later we should understand it and we should do it but it's not the level of importance that some people might teach it's not something you have to do to be saved well then why would you need to do it that's the next fact baptism is an act of practical obedience see as Christians when we come to faith in Christ and we're saved by grace and we become children of God the next thing that we do is we say well how can I honor you in my life God you know and so baptism is one of those really practical sort of almost first steps where God says well here's a practical thing you can do you should be baptized in water and so water baptism is one of those initial signs of practical obedience it's showing to God it's demonstrating to God hey I'm willing to come to you on your terms not just on my terms you know if God asked us to you know grow a beard I'd grow a beard it doesn't say that in the Bible though if God said that you've got to grow your hair out really long I would have done that or if God says you gotta wear certain clothes or whatever it doesn't say any of those things but it does say on just a real practical point that you should get baptized in water and so I say okay if God wants me to do that I'll do that so today God wants me to be baptized and tomorrow there'll be more for me to obey here's the fourth fact baptism identifies us with Christ and the church so that's sort of the significance of this ritual when we're being baptized where we're identifying ourselves with Christ so we're saying you know Jesus when he died and rose again a baptism water baptism is a symbol of that we'll see that in the next fact but we're identifying ourselves with Christ we're saying I want to follow you Jesus but but more than that we're also identifying ourselves with his church the body of Christ you know God's people now maybe it's a local church that you're a part of that certainly is a part of it but even in a broader sense it's the entire church every person who's ever put their faith in Christ in the history of the world you and I are a part of that and water baptism identifies us with the church and with Christ Romans 6 says it like this or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus and baptism we joined him in his death so see in that verse we see two things we're identifying with Christ and his death but we're also identifying with one another because notice the word we we were baptized we were baptized we so it's a group thing it's a community thing it's it's part of it's part of identifying with the church at large and here's the last fact baptism is a symbol of our new life so we have this new life in Christ and that's the beautiful symbolism of baptism we go down into the water and that symbolizes death to our old way of living and we come up out of the water and that symbolizes life a new kind of living now that we live to honor God from here on out Romans 6 says for we died and were buried with Christ by baptism and just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory espouse of the Father now we also may live new lives so bottom line baptism is important and if you're a pursuit of God and you haven't been baptized you should certainly talk about it and do it

Channel: PursueGOD Video

Views: 192,666

Rating: 4.7009563 out of 5

Keywords: Bible, Jesus, God, Christianity, pursuegod, pursuit, discipleship, groups, small groups, mentoring, mentors, study, baptism, water baptism

Id: TDt_yX-DX4s

Length: 5min 31sec (331 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 22 2015