Baptism Into the Body of Christ — Anton Bosch

Alright, so we maybe just start again in Hebrews chapter 6, dealing with the foundation, and maybe at the end of this series you will know them off by heart. Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 1,. Therefore leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

And this we will do if God permits. Now we are going to deal with verse 2, the first one there, the doctrine of baptisms, and you will notice that it is baptisms in the plural. So obviously inferring that there is more than one baptism.

Now he doesn't tell us what the other baptisms are, or what all the baptisms are, and so we have to go to the various scriptures to see which they are. There are in fact four in my understanding, and this confuses some people sometimes.

They find it very difficult to understand how there can be four baptisms, but you will see them as we go along. The first one is baptism into Christ, the second one baptism into water, the third one baptism in the Holy Spirit, and the fourth one baptism in suffering.

The Four Baptisms and the Meaning of Baptism

Now we are going to deal with the first one which is baptism in Christ, but before we do that we need to just talk about this concept of baptism, because it is obviously fundamental to the next four weeks.

And the word is a confusing word because it is just like faith, it is a religious word. It is a word which has very clear religious connotations. And it is rather sad because of that we don't get a correct understanding of the meaning of that word and the way in which that word is used.

The word baptism is not an English word. It never existed in English until they came to translate in 1611 the Bible under the authorisation of King James into the King James Bible, or the authorised version.

And when they did that they came across this word in the Greek which is called, which in Greek is baptizo, and they now had to translate this word. Now that created a problem for them, because the word simply means to dip or to immerse.

That's all that it means. It has no religious connotations in its natural use in Greek. But if they were to translate it correctly, if they were to translate it immerse or to dip, that would create a problem for them, because they were not doing that, particularly as far as word baptism was concerned, because these were Church of England scholars and they were sprinkling.

And so immediately they had a problem. So if they translated this correctly, they would now have a problem because what they were doing and what they were translating were two different things. So they took the easy way out and what they did is they kept the Greek word and they simply anglicised it.

And so they changed it from baptizo to baptism and even if you look in the English it is spelt with a Z which would normally be spelt with an S, which shows how it came across from the Greek. Now that, as I say, creates a problem because now we have this religious word which some people associate with sprinkling, other people associate with immersion or with adult baptism.

Now we'll deal with that as we go along, but the sad thing is because of that confusion now, we lose out on some very important teaching the scripture has on other aspects of this great doctrine. Particularly this first one which we are going to deal with tonight which is the baptism in Christ and you'll see why this is important.

Baptism as Union and Identification With Christ

But I want to just read you a little piece which comes from Thaes and which deals with the origin of this word in the Greek language and the actual meaning of the word. Now Thaes quotes a Greek poet and physician, a man called Nicander, who lived about 200 BC.

And so this is in classical Greek writing and he says that this man has a recipe for making pickles. Now this is not a very sanctified thing, but obviously this is how the word is used, to make pickles.

And there are in fact two Greek words, the one is baptizo and the one is bapto. They are two different words based on the same root. Now you'll see the meaning and the difference between these two. He says that in order to make a pickle the vegetable should first be dipped, bapto, into boiling water and then baptizo or baptized in the vinegar solution.

Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution, but the first is temporary, the second, the act of baptizing the vegetable produces a permanent change. And so the one is just putting it in and out and the other one actually allows for it to remain there.

But you can see that in both of them very clearly the pickle is dipped in, it's immersed in either the boiling water initially or in the vinegar afterwards. Now here's a very important aspect that Thayer highlights and this is one of the reasons why I want to read this section from him.

He says when used in the New Testament the word more often refers to our union and identification with Christ than to our water baptism. Now that is very important because most people when they hear about baptism they immediately say water baptism, that's the thing that comes into mind.

Now Thayer who wrote a lexicon on New Testament Greek and is a respected scholar, he says no, in fact the most often times or the times when this word is most often used it has nothing to do with water baptism.

It has to do with baptism in Christ. Then he says when used in the New Testament the word more often refers to our union and identification with Christ than to our water baptism and he quotes Mark 16 .16.

He that believes and is baptized shall be saved. Now that's a very important verse because many people base a teaching on that called baptismal regeneration which basically says that unless you are baptized you are not saved.

You are not a true Christian unless you are baptized and they quote that verse saying that he that believes and is baptized shall be saved. But you'll see that Mark 16 .16 does not necessarily refer to water baptism.

It may very well be referring to baptism in Christ and he says Christ is saying that mere intellectual assent is not enough. There must be a union with him, a real change like the vegetable to the pickle.

And so what he is also saying is that bapto does maybe not make a major change but baptizo results in a change in the item that is dipped. And so there is just very quickly the difference between those words.

Romans 6 and Death to Sin in Christ

Now if we go to Romans chapter 6 you'll immediately see how this now becomes, how Romans 6 begin will take on new meaning for you I trust. Now Romans 6 is used by most people who teach water baptism to teach water baptism from.

Romans 6 in fact does not teach water baptism. It says nothing about water baptism in Romans chapter 6 and let's read the first four verses. Now do you see any reference to water there? It makes no reference to water at all and in fact it tells us clearly what we should be baptized into in this context.

We are not denying the principle of water baptism. We'll deal with that next week. But he says in verse 3 very clearly do you not know as many as were baptized into Christ. Now you see the problem because we have this word baptize which has these religious connotations, connotations of immersion, sorry of water.

But now if we replace that word baptize there with the word that should have been there which is immersed and we read it again. Now you'll see in verse 3 let's read verse 3 again it says or do you not know that as many as were immersed into Christ Jesus were immersed into his death.

Therefore we were buried with him through immersion into death. That just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father even so you also should walk in the universe of life. You can see that it takes on a totally different meaning and this in fact is the correct reading of that passage.

So what is Paul teaching here in Romans chapter 6? He is saying that we should be taken and be placed into Christ. The same way as you would take the pickle and you would put it into the vinegar. He says we must be placed into Christ.

Now obviously this is not a physical thing. This is not something that happens in the body. This is a spiritual thing that he is speaking about. You have to pick up the whole argument that Paul develops over several chapters here in the book of Romans and he is dealing with the whole process of salvation.

How do I actually get saved? How am I actually freed from the law? How am I actually freed from the issue that we spoke about before, dead works? How do I get rid of those things? How do I escape God's judgment?

And he says the only way I can do that is if I cease to exist. Because as long as I exist I am guilty of the law. As long as I exist I am worthy of God's judgment. But if I cease to exist the demands of the law upon me cease.

And he uses the picture of marriage and he says that if someone is married to someone the only thing that can break that marriage is death. Nothing else can separate. We know that we have divorce today and Jesus said that wasn't the plan from the beginning.

That wasn't the way that God designed it. But the only thing that can break that covenant between two people is death. And now he says in the same way the only thing that can break the hold of the law of the Old Testament upon us is death.

And so what needs to happen is I need to die. But unfortunately the problem is if I have to die physically I would be dead. And if I am dead I would be damned because I died in my sins. But he says what has happened and this is quite a complicated argument that he presents here.

But what happened is he says in fact he places us in God placed us in Christ. And when Jesus was nailed to the cross we died with Christ in God's reckoning. Now as I say this is maybe a little bit complicated but if you read these chapters you'll find that this is the argument that he presents.

And so we were placed in Christ. And so that when Jesus died we died. Which now released the hold of the law upon us. Which released the old judgments and condemnation that was against us from us. And when Christ rose again we rose again in him.

And this is the argument he presents. So that we can now be new people. So having confused you with that I trust that you'll just mull over that and just read these chapters. Read particularly chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7 of Romans and you'll pick up that picture.

But now you'll see what he is saying here then. In verse 2 of chapter 6 he says how shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Now he says as Christians as far as we are concerned as far as God is concerned we have died to sin.

Sin no longer has a hold over us. And he uses the picture of a slave and a master. And he says sin is no longer our master. What freed us from the hold of sin in our lives? Death. But now he explains how we died.

You do not know that as many of us as were baptized or put into or immersed into Christ Jesus were immersed into his death. Now I know that you may find that difficult to accept but that's what the word of God says.

And what we've got to do is we've got to accept some of these things by faith. And so when Paul says that when Jesus died when we were immersed in him and we died with him. And then he continued we have to believe that and accept that by faith.

Now verse 4 says therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life. So what does he say?

He is saying we were placed into Christ and we became one with him in his death and we became one with him in his burial and we became one with him in his resurrection. Now this is a spiritual picture and we say well how can that happen?

Christ died 2000 years ago I was only born 15 years ago. I'm still young you see. So how is it possible that that could happen? But remember that God is not bound by time. God doesn't operate in the context of time.

And so 2000 years ago and today and 2000 years in the future with God is now. It's all now. God has no past and present and future. God doesn't operate in the context of time. And so God is able to do that in his economy.

Salvation Through Being in Christ

And so what he presents here and let's now get more down to the more simple aspects of this having left you with something to chew on. And that is that there is just a simple process that we have been placed in Christ.

We have been immersed in Christ. Now that is very important for a number of reasons and this is very central to the teaching of the New Testament. It's essential first of all in order for us to be saved because the way we are because of our sinful nature because of the marks of sin upon us both physically and emotionally and spiritually and intellectually in every way sin has marked us and has scarred us.

And because of that we cannot enter into the presence of God. We cannot ever be acceptable in the presence of God. And so what God does is he makes provision for us to be placed inside of Christ. And within Christ we become acceptable to God.

So it's the same way as you take something that doesn't look very good and very acceptable and you wrap it up in a parcel. And now that thing becomes, it looks very pretty, it looks very acceptable because it's wrapped in something which is presentable.

But the problem is still inside. Now we know that our problem of sin, God is dealing with that and we will speak about that maybe a little bit in the future. But that's the only way we can be acceptable to God.

Jacob, Esau, and Righteousness in Christ

Now we have an illustration in the Old Testament which illustrates this very clearly I believe. And that is Jacob and Esau, two brothers. They were twins. Esau was born first and Jacob was born a few minutes later.

Because of the fact that Esau was born first he had the birthright. And so all of the blessings and all of the inheritance of the father would go to Esau. Jacob would get nothing. That was the custom in those days.

Now Jacob does a deal with Esau. He buys the birthright from Esau for a pot of stew. But the day now comes when the blessing has to be had from their father. And so they now go to, or Isaac now says look I've got to give the blessing.

And there is a problem now. Because now Jacob has legally bought this birthright. But his father is now going to give it. But his father will never give it to the younger son. He is going to give it to the older son.

But his father was blind. He probably had cataracts. And so he couldn't see anymore. And so what happens is Isaac says to Esau, he says go out into the field and go and kill an animal. He was a hunter.

And prepare me a meal. And when I've eaten I will give you the blessing. Now Jacob's mother hears about this. And she says to Jacob now look what we'll do is we'll go and kill two little kids, two goats.

They kill the goats. She prepares it just as Esau would have prepared it. She takes the skins of those goats and she puts them on Jacob's arms. Because Jacob was a smooth man the scripture says. He wasn't hairy.

Whereas Esau was a hairy man. She puts Esau's clothes on Jacob. And Jacob now comes before his father. His father can't see. He hears the voice. And he says but this is Jacob's voice. And he says come let me embrace you.

And he embraces and he smells the clothes. And he smells but this is Esau's clothing. He feels their arms and he says no but this is, this is, this is. He must have been very hairy for a goatskin to feel like what it was.

But so he says yeah this is, this feels like Esau. And he gives Jacob the blessing. Now many people say but Jacob was a crook then. Because he impersonated his brother. And on that basis he received the blessing.

But in fact what this teaches us is exactly the way in which we have to receive blessing from God. If Jacob appeared before God and he said hey before his father Esau and he says how's it father Esau here I am, I'm Jacob.

I want the blessing. You can imagine what his father would say to him. He'd say look I've got no blessing for you. The blessing is not yours. The blessing is your brother's. And that's what happens if we stand before God.

And we say but God I want blessings. I want eternal life. I want salvation. I want heaven. Whatever it is. And God says but you can't have it. Because it's not yours to have. And so what have we got to do?

We've got to come in another way. And I'm not suggesting that we come in a dishonest way. Because this is the provision that God has made for us. And so we come not in our own name. If we have to come and say hey Lord here I am whatever my name is.

God says I don't know who you are. You're a sinner. You're dead as far as I'm concerned. You don't count. But we come in the name of our brother Jesus Christ. And we say father and that's how we pray.

Every time we pray we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because if we pray in our own name we'll get nothing. But if we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus that makes it acceptable. But we come not only in his name but we come clothed with Jesus.

Placed inside of Jesus. And you'll see this teaching as it goes through in the New Testament. We'll go through quite a few more verses now. And so when God looks at us. Of course God is not stupid. God knows that we're inside thee.

But he finds his son acceptable. He finds it acceptable that we come in the name of his son. Clothed with his son's clothing. With his son's righteousness. With Jesus' righteousness. And obviously remember that animals have been killed and so blood had been shed.

In order for Jacob to have his arms covered. And of course blood has been shed on the cross of Calvary for us. So that we might be able to be acceptable before God. And so when we come to God for blessing or for whatever it is.

We come not in our own name but we come in the name of our brother in the same way. We come hidden in Christ. And the father looks at his son and he says I'm pleased with my son. And therefore I can give you a blessing.

And that's why works don't count. Dead works remember the first principle. Because it doesn't matter what I do. God's not interested in it. There's only one who ever pleased him. And that was his own son the Lord Jesus.

This is my beloved son he said on two occasions. In whom I am well pleased hearing him. And so there's very briefly the principle that he establishes here. Now also before we move on from Romans 6. You'll see another important thing about this aspect of baptism.

And that is the comparison to the death and the burial and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Now you'll see in water baptism the same picture. And so the person would go into the water, be buried and then come out on the other side.

It's a picture of a grave in the same way. Now if we go to Galatians chapter 3. And if you can't keep up that's fine. But we have quite a few scriptures I want to show you quickly. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 26.

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Now that's what we dealt with last week. We come by faith. We accept and we believe in the Lord Jesus. Verse 27. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Isn't that what we've exactly been saying? And so when I'm put into Christ I've put on Christ. And so the father doesn't see me, he sees Christ. And then verse 28 says. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

And if you are Christ then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. And so when God looks at me he doesn't see me as a South African or white or black or Greek or whatever it is. Because he doesn't actually see me.

He's actually seeing the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why he says it doesn't matter whether you were of Greek origin or of Hebrew origin. As far as God is concerned those things don't exist anymore because we are in Christ.

That is the way we come. And so you'll see again here the issues of faith. That we become sons in that process. And that we are baptised into Christ and thereby put on Christ. And so again that concept.

“In Christ” as the Source of New Life and Blessing

Now right through the New Testament about 150 times in the New Testament you'll find this phrase. In him or in Christ. Those two. Sorry and the third one. In me. Sometimes Jesus spoke about in me. In John chapter 15 he says abide in me.

And so remaining in him. So about 150 times you'll find this concept. So it's a very important concept in the New Testament. I'm going to just take you to a few. In fact quite a few. But I believe it's important that we now see the consequences of this quite complicated thought that I've presented to you.

Let's go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. A few books back. In fact one book back. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17. Therefore if anyone is in Christ. You see the same concept. If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation.

Old things have passed away. Behold all things have become new. It's a very well known verse. And so again he's saying we're not in Christ. I cease to exist. I become something new. I become someone new.

I become someone in Christ. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Another book back. And verse 2. The second verse. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 2. To the church of God which is at Corinth. To those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus.

Call to be saints with all who in every place call. Call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Both theirs and ours. And so just the concept here of sanctified or cleansed or purified in Christ. And so how am I cleansed?

I'm cleansed by the blood of Jesus. But I'm cleansed as I'm in him. And so again you see that all of my salvation is tied up in this concept. That I'm placed in Christ. And so I become a new creature in Christ.

I become sanctified or cleansed or washed or made holy in Christ. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And verse 22. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 22. For as in Adam all die, even in Christ all shall be made alive. And so not only does this concept deal with the process of getting saved.

It deals with the process of the end. And he says that even as in Adam all died, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. So what is my guarantee of the resurrection? Because Christ lives. And because he lives, I will also live.

This is what Jesus said. And so as we all died in Adam, we will all live in Christ. 2 Corinthians chapter 2. Jumping around a bit but a few pages on. 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 14. Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ.

And through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every prayer. 2 Corinthians 2 and verse 14. And so he leads us in triumph or in victory in Christ. So where is our victory? Not in our spirituality or in our spiritual vitality or anything that we happen to be.

Our victory lies in Christ. And so God leads us in victory in Christ. If I am outside of Christ, I am going to be weak. I am going to be defeated. And this is the problem. And so the devil can get to me if I am outside of Christ.

But if I am in Christ, I am strong. Because he has all power. He has all authority. And so I am absolutely victorious. Can be absolutely victorious. If I remain within Christ. And then let's go to Galatians.

Next book. Galatians chapter 2 and verse 4. But this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in who came in by stealth to steal out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus. That they might bring us into bondage.

Now this whole issue of Galatians speaks about spiritual bondage and law and legalism and people being manipulated and controlled by these things. But he is saying that we have been made free in Christ.

It is not a restrictive thing to be placed into Christ. It is in fact a liberating thing. And that goes back to the book of Romans which deals with the issue of the law and the way we have been set free from the law.

The next book, Ephesians chapter 1. And this is a wonderful one as well. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

So God has given us all blessings in Christ. Not outside, not anywhere else. And so again you will see that everything we have is to be found in Him. In the book of Colossians. Two books on Colossians chapter 2.

And the book of Colossians in fact has many, many times speaks about in Christ. All the different things that we have in Him. But Colossians chapter 2 and verse 6. As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.

And so it doesn't mean that I cease to live. Because we spoke about me ceasing to live. But Paul speaks about this and he says that I am not living anymore. But the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.

And so although I cease to have my own identity, I have now taken on Christ's identity. As far as God is concerned. But I still walk in Him. I still am alive and I am still progressing. But within Christ.

Not in myself anymore. Not in my own right or my own identity. But within Christ I continue to walk. And then also in Colossians chapter 2 and verse 10. A few verses down. He says and you are complete in Him.

Who is the head of all principality and power. And so my completeness and my perfection. Now remember let's just go back a little bit to the book of Hebrews chapter 6. And he says that we need to not lay this foundation.

Once we have laid the foundation what we need to do is go on to perfection. Now that word perfection means completeness or maturity. Now how will we become mature? How will we become complete? As we become more in Christ.

Because our completeness is to be found in Christ. Because it's not me any longer but it is Him. And as my identity becomes less pronounced. And His identity. His personality. His characteristics. His way of responding.

His values. As those things become mine. So I become more complete. Alright and then the last one. I'm not going to take you there. But John chapter 15 verse 4 I quoted already. Jesus says abide in me.

Remain in me. And so it's not something which we must do. Like the pickle is taken in the hot water and put in the hot water taken out again. But in fact we should be baptized into Christ like the pickle is in the vinegar.

And as long as that pickle is in the vinegar. That pickle is safe and it can last many years. But if part of the pickle sticks out above the vinegar it's going to rot. It's safe as long as it's inside there.

And so we need to remain in Christ. We need to abide in Him. And so there is that first aspect. And we want to now move on to another aspect. Of being placed into Christ. Or being immersed or baptized into Christ.

So the first aspect is a theological thing. Which really deals with the way in which I get saved. And the way that God sees me. No longer seeing me with my frailties and my weaknesses. And that's what gives us great confidence.

So that when I come into God's presence and I need something from Him. Sometimes we feel but I can't ask because I failed and I did so many bad things. But all of those things are dealt with. Because of the fact that God doesn't see my failures.

He sees the perfection of His Son the Lord Jesus. And His Son covers those things. His blood washes them away. And so we are able to come into His presence at any time. With confidence and with boldness.

Knowing that in fact He receives us. Because He receives His Son the Lord Jesus. Now let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. And we are not going to jump around much more anymore. We are just going to look at these two chapters in Corinthians.

Baptism Into the Body of Christ

And this is 1 Corinthians chapter 12. And so the second aspect now of being placed in Christ. Is that as far as the practical reality of living in this world is concerned. Spiritually in God's reckoning I have been placed in Christ.

But we can't see that. We don't really, we cannot really, that cannot really be made manifest in any way. But there is a way in which it is manifest. And that is that Christ is represented in the world by His church.

And so how do we see Jesus? In fact we see Him through the church. How do we hear Him? We hear Him through the church. In fact we should do. Now remember Jesus said to Paul on the road to Damascus. Paul said, but who are you Lord?

And Jesus says, I am Paul whom you are persecuting. But who was Paul persecuting? He wasn't persecuting Jesus. Jesus was in heaven. So who was Paul persecuting? He was persecuting the church. But Jesus made no distinction between Himself and the church.

He says, if you are persecuting me. He says, the church. He says, you are persecuting me. That is Jesus' statement to Paul. And in fact Jesus says in Matthew. He says that if you have done anything to the least of these my brethren.

Speaking about giving someone a cup of water. Or visiting someone when they are not well. Or when they are in prison. Or when they have a need. He says, if you have done it to the least of these my brethren.

You have done it to me. And so how do I relate to, how do I bless God? I bless Him by blessing the church. How do I, how do I, how do I love God? I love Him by loving the church. And obviously we have a personal relationship with Him.

But we also have a relationship with Him through the church. Through the body. Now you will see this concept here in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 13. And he says, for by one spirit we were all baptized into one body.

Whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free. And we have all been made to drink into one spirit. Now you will see the same word here, baptized. The spirit does the work. Now we will introduce you to that concept next week.

But there are three aspects very quickly to baptism. There is the person who is baptized. The candidate. There is the element into which is being baptized. And there is the person who does the baptizing.

Those are the three components or the three entities that are involved in the process. Now here you will see them very clearly here. He says, who does this work of baptizing us into Christ? It is the spirit.

It is the Holy Spirit that does it. It is not something I can do. It is not something any church can do or any minister can do. This is something that God does by His Spirit. So verse 13, by one spirit we were all baptized into one body.

And so that is the element into which we are baptized. The body of Christ in fact. And then who is the candidate? Of course it is the believer. The new believer here. Now you will see he speaks about one body.