7 Common Questions On Water Baptism

today i want to speak to you on the subject of seven common questions about water baptism seven common questions about water baptism and let me go over them with you what is the meaning of water baptism is water baptism commanded in the bible what is the biblical method for water baptism who should be water baptized when should i be water baptized should i be water baptized a second time surprisingly many people have sent that question in to me and we'll deal with it when we get to it but it's a good question is there a time if you've backslidden or been away from the lord in coming back to christ like some people renew wedding vows should i be baptized a second time and then the seventh question we're going to answer in this study today is water baptism necessary for salvation now these are not the only questions that have been sent in to me on the subject of water baptism but by and large they are the most common questions just before we open the bible and begin to read and study let's take a moment to pray heavenly father once again as we open up the sacred scriptures we humble our hearts in your holy presence i thank you for every hungry heart for each and every listener is listening because they have a desire to learn more about god to learn more about the bible and the truths that it speaks to us in these final days in which we live i pray that you might anoint my mind and my body and my spirit i depend upon you for all that i have and all that i am and i pray that the quickening power of the holy spirit would be present even today i pray for every life and every listener i pray that not one single person would be absent in eternal eternity's mourning but i pray that each and every one of them would serve the lord every day of their life without compromise and i pray that you'd give them victory over every trial every temptation everything that they may face let the victory of the lord jesus christ be their portion now we'll be careful to give you the praise and the honor and the glory for we ask it all in the name of jesus and all god's people said amen if you have your bible let's go for a beginning text into the gospel of matthew and matthew chapter 28. matthew chapter 28 beginning to read at verse 18 and reading through verse 20 in this study i'll be reading out of the new living translation matthew chapter 28 verses 18 through 20 the bible says jesus came and told his disciples i have been given all authority in heaven and on earth therefore go and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit teach these new disciples to obey all the commands i have given you and be sure of this i am with you always even to the end of the age in the church world the subject of water baptism historically has been a subject of both controversy and debate and i want to be sensitive because as i begin the study i'm aware that there probably will be many of you who are listening to this study and you may hold a differing view that has been taught to you by a spiritual leader that you respect and it might be a little difficult to realize as you learn from the bible today that perhaps some of the things that you were taught are simply not supported by the scriptures but i also want to give you an assurance that i have no desire to attack denominational views i have no desire to arrogantly attack the traditions of perhaps a denomination or a church that some of you may have been raised in but as always with all matters of faith listen very carefully this is very very important because this is one of our guiding principles given to us from the scriptures as with all matters of faith the decisive issue is simply what does the bible say the decisive issue is not what a denomination has taught the decisive issue is not what church traditions have taught the decisive issue is what does the bible say in other words scripture alone is our authoritative standard for learning and that's what we're going to do i always tell people and i hope you feel this way but if you're going to be a proper student of the bible you need to adopt what is oftentimes called the berean attitude well what is the berean attitude well let me take the time to show it to you go into the bible into the book of acts and the 11th chapter 17th chapter acts chapter 17 and go down to verse 11. and if they've never been taught this let me reveal to you the berean attitude acts 17 verse 11 and the people of berea were more open-minded than those in thessalonica and they listened eagerly to paul's message they searched the scriptures day after day to see if paul and silas were teaching the truth what a fascinating verse of scripture because it it gives us a comparison between two churches two types of christians the comparison is made in acts 17 11 between the christians and the church at berea and the christians at the church in thessalonica and the scripture commends the berean christians you might actually say that the bible is showing us here that the bereans were a better breed of christian and it tells us why look at it again number one they listened eagerly to paul's message the bible says that they were open-minded and listened eagerly but upon this premise the bible said they searched the scriptures day after day to see if paul and silas were really teaching the truth that's the attitude that i hope all of my students will adopt i hope that all of you who follow our ministry as i endeavor to do myself will adopt the berean attitude of being open-minded don't be close-minded don't feel like you know it all don't feel because somebody teaches something and you've never been taught that before that you're just going to be disagreeable you should have a spirit of humility you should be open-minded you should be teachable but you should be sure that everything is inspected and proven by the standard of god's holy word with that said let's get into our seven questions question number one what is water baptism exactly what is water baptism water baptism is a public outward testimony that indicates a personal inward faith that's one of the best definitions i can give to you for water baptism let me give it to you again and in your notes write it down water baptism is a public outward testimony that indicates a personal inward faith the word baptism in the bible is translated from a greek word baptismal and it literally means to immerse or submersion the greek word baptismal translated in our english bibles when a christian is baptized it's actually symbolic of three things and this also is very important included in your notes water baptism is symbolic of three main things number one it symbolizes our willing identification with jesus christ in his death his burial and his resurrection symbolism number one in water baptism it symbolizes our willing identification with jesus christ and his death his burial and his resurrection go into colossians chapter 2. galatians ephesians philippians colossians chapter 2 and verse 12 the bible says for you were buried with christ when you were baptized and with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of god who raised christ from [Music] the dead when you are immersed in the waters of baptism it is a public testimony in other words your baptism is going to be done in front of an audience whether it's a local church or it's done publicly at a river but it is a public testimony that symbolizes the death and the burial of your old sinful life and your old sinful nature when you come up out of the water it is a symbol that you are beginning a new life by the power of christ's resurrection number two it symbolizes our identification with christ's church it symbolizes our identification with christ's church let's go to first corinthians and the 12th chapter first corinthians chapter 12 verses 12 and 13 the bible says the human body has many parts but the many parts make up one whole body so it is with the body of christ some of us are jews some are gentiles gentiles simply means not jewish some are slaves some are free but we all have been baptized into one body by one spirit and we all share the same spirit we need to be constantly reminded as to the importance that the bible places upon being identified with christ's church one of the reasons why many believers fall away from faith is they get detached from the importance of being identified with the holy church god never intended for you to be an island god never intended for you to be a christian all by yourself hidden away god's plan is for us though we come from many backgrounds to be a part of one body though there are many parts in that body the holy church christ church is necessary for faith and for fellowship thirdly it symbolizes our cleansing from sin water baptism symbolizes our cleansing from sin water baptism of course is done in water and water symbolizes cleansing let's go in the bible to first peter and the third chapter first peter chapter 3 and go down to verses 18 through 21. first peter chapter 3 verses 18 through 21 christ suffered for our sins once for all time he never sinned but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to god he suffered physical death but he was raised to life in the spirit so he went and preached to the spirits in prison those who disobeyed god long ago when god waited patiently while noah was building his boat only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood and that water is a picture of baptism which now saves you not by removing dirt from your body but as a response to god from a clean conscience it is effective because of the resurrection of jesus christ so i spent a little more time on that first question because i want you to understand biblically what is water baptism and what does it symbolize question number two is water baptism commanded in the bible well as we study the new testament and of course if you're a new student of the bible the book of acts is a pattern and a model for the church of the lord jesus christ and not that there aren't other types and patterns and things that we learn in the new testament that are equally relevant to the church but the book of acts is a model book for the course and the actions of the church of the lord jesus christ and throughout the book of acts we read how that the early church gave supreme importance to water baptism these early christians placed a strong emphasis upon water baptism because jesus had both established and commanded water baptism in the great commission now by the way my text today is the great commission if you want to include that in your notes at some point as a believer you need to know that when you hear the phrase the great commission it refers to matthew chapter 28 verses 18 through 20. and the answer to the question is what are baptism commanded the answer is yes and we see it in the great commission in matthew 28 and 20 the bible says teach these new disciples to obey all the commands i have given you jesus said in matthew 28 and 20 that all new believers all new disciples must be taught the commands and water baptism was a command look at verse 19 therefore go and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit so listen very carefully water baptism is not a personal choice water baptism according to the bible is a command given to us by jesus christ himself question number three what is the biblical method for water baptism and here is where some people may raise eyebrows and some may even be offended but again as i taught you earlier everything we do in our study together we start in the bible we stay in the bible we finish in the bible we take these questions bring them into the light and the standards of god's holy word and dissect them piece by piece so that you can better understand so when i ask you what is the biblical method for water baptism some of you that have a church background and not all of you do but some of you perhaps were raised in a certain church or a certain denomination and they had their own way of doing water baptism and as you may discover today some of those methods are not biblical methods they were methods that became denominational methods and the traditions of the church but again church traditions and denominational views must all bow to the authority of what does the bible say there are three common modes of water baptism throughout church history and in the traditional church and they are immersion full immersion sprinkling not immersion and pouring where water is actually poured out upon the believer being baptized those are the three common views that most churches historically have embraced full immersion sprinkling and the pouring of water but immersion is the most accurate meaning of the original greek word found in the original text the greek word for baptize baptismal was often used in their language it was used to describe a ship that had sunk it was used to describe a person who had drowned but in every single instance the original greek word baptismal inferred full immersion not sprinkling and not pouring immersion also best represents the biblical truths that i mentioned to you that are symbolized by water baptism and perhaps of most importance historically is immersion full immersion was the method that was used in the bible by the early church they didn't sprinkle and they didn't pour water they always used full immersion when jesus was baptized by john the baptist he was baptized in the jordan river obviously john didn't have them wade out into the river to be sprinkled he fully immersed them in the waters of baptism however listen carefully however i don't believe that the mode of baptism should become an issue that divides the body of christ there are some things that i would call secondary doctrine and we should never divide over secondary things we should be true to what the bible teaches fundamentally but i don't believe that it would please god that the church be divided over the mode of baptism it might be interesting to note that in the great commission when it comes to understanding the methodology of water baptism the method listen carefully the method that best describes the biblical pattern if you're going to ask the question and use the bible as your source not church tradition not denominational creed but if you're going to use the historicity of the bible as your primary source the methodology of water baptism was full immersion and in the name of the father the son and the holy ghost now there are some who believe in baptizing only in the name of jesus and some of you perhaps have heard of jesus only doctrine which i do not subscribe to but there are people that believe that when people are baptized if they're not baptized in the name of jesus alone they're not even saved they won't even go to heaven but that is not a biblical idea that can be supported not at all so again the most biblical method of being baptized was full immersion in the name of the father the son and the holy ghost question number four who should be water baptized well every born-again believer should be baptized every born-again believer should be baptized and let me add this only born-again believers should be baptized so in summation every born-again believer should be baptized and only born-again believers should be baptized look at mark's gospel and the 16th chapter and the 16th verse anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved but anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned so we see the standard in the bible anyone who believes and is baptized so the qualification for being baptized in water was you had to be a believer so every born-again believer should be baptized and only born-again believers should be baptized number five when should i be water baptized maybe you're a new believer and you've not yet been water baptized or have not had the opportunity or maybe the church that you attend rarely if ever does water baptism and i would say if if you attend a church that rarely if ever obeys the commandment of jesus to fulfill the ordination of water baptism that might be a red flag and i'll just leave it at that when should i be water baptized if we're going to look to the pattern that was established in the early church once again and as recorded in the bible then believers should be baptized in water as soon as possible after their conversion when should you be water baptized as soon as possible after your conversion let's go back into the book of acts as i've taught you today the book of acts is a model of church behavior and it's applicable even for today acts chapter 8 and go down to verses 34 through verses 39. acts chapter 8 verses 34 through 39 the eunuch asked philip tell me was the prophet talking about himself or someone else so beginning with this same scripture philip told him the good news about jesus and as they rode along they came to some water and the eunuch said look there's some water why can't i be baptized he ordered the carriage to stop and they went down into the water and philip baptized him when they came up out of the water the spirit of the lord snatched philip away and the eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing in the new testament water baptism followed belief in christ as one of the first evidences of true faith in many churches today evangelistic appeals are are followed by a statement i even do this in many of our lost lamb events in fact all of our lost lamb events at some point you'll hear me say in answer to the question why are you asking us to come forward publicly because i ask people in all of our lost lamb events to come forward publicly but i ask the question you may wonder why why am i asking you to come forward publicly because everyone that jesus called in the bible he called publicly every apostolic sermon in the book of acts the people were called publicly billy graham used to say there's something about doing it publicly that seals it and makes it sure and i always ask people in our lost lamb events have you ever made your own personal and public commitment to christ and i may ask that of you today have you ever personally and publicly repented of sin and asked jesus christ to be your lord and savior if you don't have peace with god if you're not sure that your heart is right with god in just a few moments as we close this time of study together i'd like to have the privilege of praying with you and today you can make peace with god biblically and know that your sins are forgiven and that you're right with god but in the new testament they didn't have churches and people weren't asked to come forward in a church service publicly water baptism was their public identification of faith in the early church and in the new testament in other words they didn't have aisles to walk down and kneel at an altar and pray with an evangelist or a pastor in the early church there were no churches there were no isles there were no fancy buildings like we have in many parts of the world today for christian churches their public demonstration of their commitment to conversion was done publicly through means of water baptism now some churches allow for a period of time for instruction about water baptism and if you go to your pastor and say you know i've never been water baptized and i need to be water baptized because i'm a christian and i've never been taught the importance of this but i was listening to tiff shuttlesworth and and he impressed upon me that biblically was a command by christ and that every believer should be water baptized as soon as possible and i've neglected that and i want to get water baptized as soon as possible now your pastor might say well in our church we have a series of classes that we would like for you to take first well i'm not saying that that's wrong many times pastors want to be sure that you understand the seriousness of the commitment that you're making through the act of water baptism they may want to allow for a period of time to see the fruit of your conversion or whatever their reasons might be i'm not going to judge them all i'm going to say is that biblically there is no teaching required to be water baptized if your church has teaching that's between your pastor and you but biblically there's nothing in the bible that says you have to do a four part bible study on water baptism before being baptized and i know of some churches and i've been in some churches that they have water baptism services every sunday morning if somebody is saved in the sunday morning service their water tank their baptismal tank is always filled and they baptize people immediately now some people think that to be strange but if you're going to compare to the bible those who are baptizing people immediately are actually closer to the pattern of the bible than those who have a water baptism once a year or once a quarter or after a series of teachings have been completed that's not the biblical pattern as soon as possible after your conversion now i need to touch one other thing in this aspect of this question and that would be concerning infants and children you said everybody should be baptized every believer should be baptized as soon as possible well what about infants and children well what does the new testament show us what was the pattern in the book of acts what was the pattern in the bible in the new testament listen carefully in the new testament every single instance of a person being water baptized and their identity was given they were always an adult did you hear me again going back to the pattern of the bible every single example every single instance in the new testament in the book of acts where we see water baptisms carried out and the names are people are identified in every single instance it was an adult there are no examples in the bible of infants and babies and children being water baptized we dedicate children we dedicate infants and babies but we don't baptize we don't water baptize biblically infants and babies and children we do listen carefully when they come to an age of being able to understand what it means to be a christian and that age may vary you know when i was growing up though there was not a a particular number given in the bible it was common that you had to wait until you were 12 years old to be water baptized i don't know who established that as the qualification but when i was growing up in the circles that i was growing up it was pretty common that you had to be 12 years old before you were water baptized my father who was a pastor he's gone home to be with the lord but my father baptized me when i was 12 years old at the first assembly of god in kenosha wisconsin which is where he was pastoring at the time and so i can tell you that i was well aware of what salvation was before i was 12. i understood the implications of christianity and conversion and water baptism and the seriousness of that before i was 12 but it was suggested that i wait till i was 12. so i don't give 12 nor do i give any number as the proper number before someone can be baptized in their youth all i say is that they have to have a spiritual maturity to understand the significance of the repentance of sin the receiving of christ and what biblical conversion really means when they're able to give a good definition of all of those things then they're mature enough to be water baptized question number six should i be water baptized a second time now with the thousands of responses that come into our ministry and questions and private messages and emails and so on it has been asked of me several times through the years should i be water baptized the second time because you know i gave my heart to the lord when i was young i was water baptized but all through college and all of my adult life i backslid i was away from god i wasn't living a christian life and now that i've come back to god should i be water baptized well it may be surprising to you to discover that there's actually an instance in the scripture of people being water baptized a second time and like i said some of you might say what but actually in the bible there is an instance of believers being baptized a second time and let me show you that go into the book of acts and the 19th chapter acts chapter 19 the apostle paul encountered some men who had been baptized by john the baptist but they had left palestine before they had ever heard about jesus they were baptized by john we have no reason to doubt that that baptism wasn't sincere but they had left palestine before they had ever heard the gospel of jesus christ let's read acts chapter 19 go down to verse 1 and i'll read through verse 7 while apollos was in corinth paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached ephesus on the coast where he found several believers did you receive the holy spirit when you believe he asked them no they replied we haven't even heard that there is a holy spirit then what baptism did you experience he asked and they replied the baptism of john paul's right there this is speaking of john the baptist and john the baptist did full immersion water baptism and that's what these men had submitted themselves to verse 4. paul said john's baptism called for repentance from sin but john himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later meaning jesus verse 5 as soon as they heard this they were baptized in the name of the lord jesus then when paul laid his hands on them the holy spirit came on them and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied there were about 12 men in awe so this provides a clear biblical example for a person who was baptized listen carefully before they came to genuine faith in jesus christ whether it was as an infant or as an adult but it shows us that if you were baptized through any means whether it was full immersion whether it was through sprinkling as a child or the pouring of water as an infant or as an adult if you were baptized prior to fully understanding what it meant to repent of sin and receive jesus christ this is a biblical pattern that teaches us that you should be baptized a second time because of your genuine faith in christ that did not exist in that first baptism now again listen very carefully because i don't want there to be confusion on this there is no indication in the bible none there is no indication in the bible and no example in the bible of a believer who had received jesus christ ever needing to be rebaptized the way for restoration for a believer who has fallen from faith is found in 1st john chapter 1 and verse 9 if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness so for someone who's wandered away from faith or someone who's backslidden and they come back to faith after a period of time you're not supposed to be water baptized a second time the way of restoration for a believer is first john 1 9. you confess your sins you come back to christ you trust him to forgive and to cleanse and to restore and lastly and i close with this the seventh question is water baptism necessary for salvation now again this is a controversial question and i will warn you that there are some heretical views erroneous views who actually teach that you're not genuinely saved unless you've been water baptized but again anyone who teaches that water baptism is necessary for your full conversion is in error it is not supported by the bible water baptism is not an act of salvation water baptism is an act of obedience and let me show you why because for me to say is water baptism necessary for salvation and to ask that question and to tell you that there are groups that teach that and to say that they're teaching heresy and false doctrine and not back it up i think you know me better than that i would never ask a question like that and not go to the bible so let's do that let's go into ephesians chapter 2 ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 and 9 in the new living translation reads god saved you by his grace when you believed let me say that again god saved you by his grace when you believed and you can't take credit for this it is a gift from god salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done so none of us can boast about it so the bible is clear that we're saved through faith by grace alone not by secondary acts of obedience let's also go into first corinthians and the first chapter first corinthians chapter 1 verses 13 through 17. these are the words of paul first corinthians chapter 1 verses 13 through 17 has christ been divided into factions was i paul crucified for you were any of you baptized in the name of paul of course not i thank god that i did not baptize any of you except crispus and gaius for now no one can say they were baptized in my name oh yes i also baptized the household of stephanus but i don't remember baptizing anyone else for christ listen carefully for christ didn't send me to baptize but to preach the good news and not with clever speech for fear that the cross of christ would lose its power the apostle paul made it clear that salvation is a response of faith to the gospel and not to the act of water baptism and this passage is irrefutable for those who say you have to be baptized in water and you're not saved until you've completed that secondary act after repenting of sin and receiving christ the thief on the cross next to jesus had no time to be water baptized and yet jesus told that thief who repented in the basic simplicity of faith today you'll be with me in paradise and he was not water baptized we also have no record in the bible of jesus ever baptizing anyone stop and think about that and i've always wondered is it possible that god the father who gave us the holy scriptures by the holy spirit penned by those who were given that inspiration is it possible that the reason why jesus never baptized anyone is so that no one would ever be able to say that salvation is dependent upon water baptism because if water baptism is necessary for your salvation then you've got a very awkward difficult time explaining why did jesus never baptize anybody jesus never baptized anyone and it's a very awkward omission in his ministry if it was necessary for salvation so the brief answer to that is water baptism necessary for the fullness of your salvation no your salvation is by faith and by the grace of god alone not by works not by secondary obedience but i would say this if you're a believer and the truth of water baptism that i have shared with you today has been revealed to you but you refuse to be water baptized out of rebellion or inconvenience or you don't like to be in cold water or whatever your feeble excuse might be i don't think i'd want to stand before god in judgment day and try to explain to him that you rebelled against the commandment of his son jesus for the bible says to him that knows to do right and does it not to him it is sin so we might dare go as far as to say that if you understand the significance of water baptism but you refuse to do it out of sheer rebellion then that my friend is sin and you don't want to stand before god with unrepented sin in your heart on judgment day so today i've done my best obviously these are not the only questions that have come in on water baptism but these are the seven most common questions that have come in to me on the subject of what does the bible say about water baptism and with the scriptures and the help of god i've tried to answer them let me conclude by asking this are you a real believer because as you've heard me say a thousand times or more there is nothing more important in all of the world than being ready to meet the lord when he comes and he's coming very soon the most important thing that you can do with jesus is to receive him as lord and as savior some of you that might be listening to me maybe you've never made your own personal commitment to christ others that might be listening maybe you're away from the lord you're not living in victory over sin but sin is living in victory over you and you've strayed the prophet isaiah said all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned everyone to our own way but you can come home today and you can pray with me right here right now would you do that if you need to repent of sin if you need to make peace with god if you need to come back home and re-examine your faith wherever you might be pray with me right now just say heavenly father today as i was listening to the bible you were speaking to me down deep in my heart i want to be a real christian i want to live ready to meet the lord i desire to have an assurance of my salvation i repent of my sin and i'm trusting today in your grace and in your mercy with the blood that jesus shed upon the cross cleanse my mind my body and my spirit and make me holy in your eyes this day i receive jesus christ as my lord and my savior and i vow that i will live for him all the days of my life in place of my weaknesses give me your strength fill me with the holy spirit and give me the power to be what you've created me to be in jesus name amen

Channel: Tiff Shuttlesworth

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Keywords: Tiff Shuttlesworth, tiff, Jesus, God, Prophecy, America, United States, Salvation, KJV, King James Version, How do I study the Bible, Bible accuracy, Which Bible translation is the best, Parable, sower, rocky, baptism, catholic, communion, catechism, confirmation

Id: YqAJj7qMv6k

Length: 48min 30sec (2910 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 08 2021