Why We are Baptists (Part 2)

Welcome to the Ruled Church Podcast. This is my beloved son with whom

I am well pleased. He is honored and I get the glory. And by the way, it's even better because you see that building in Perryville, Arkansas?

You see that one in Pechote, Mexico? Do you see that one in Tuxla, Guterres down there in Chiapas? That building has my son's name on it.

The church is not a democracy. It's a monarchy. Christ is king. You can't be

Christian without a local church. You can't do anything better than to bend your knee and bow your heart, turn from your sin and repentance, believe on the

Lord Jesus Christ, and join up with a good Bible -believing church and spend your life serving

Jesus in a local, visible congregation. The Ruled Church Podcast.

This is the second part of a two -part series that we put out there on why we are

Baptists. It's just a second sermon from myself, co -host Alan Nelson, pastor of Providence Baptist Church.

Just trying to keep this at the forefront of our minds. We believe these truths and we don't think that they determine who is and who is not a

Christian. Nevertheless, we think the truth regarding baptism is important enough to defend and to adhere to rightly for the glory of Christ, for the good of the church.

We hope you're edified by this message. To God be the glory. Here we go.

I invite you to turn in your Bibles to Ephesians 4. As we've entered into this chapter in our study through this book of Ephesians, we know that these first six verses, that it's an exhortation of Paul to the unity of the body of Christ.

Paul tells us that we're to walk worthily of the calling to which we've been called. All this theology that we've gone through in Ephesians 1 -3 has a practical application for the way that we live.

And now we've spent a couple weeks here in verse 5. One Lord, one faith, one baptism.

And I preached last week on why I am a Baptist. And I want to start this week by reminding us of our

Christian unity in the truth. Tom Schreiner, a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, comments that true

Christians have a shared doctrinal commitment to the fundamental truths of the

Christian faith. True Christians have a shared doctrinal commitment to the fundamental truths of the

Christian faith. I want to give you some names. R .C. Sproul.

Jonathan Edwards. John Calvin. George Whitfield.

Kevin DeYoung. Stephen Charnock. Martin Luther.

Joel Beakey. Carl Truman. Thomas Watson. I could go on.

John Owen. I could go on and on. These are all men, most of whom have gone on to be with the

Lord, who hold to some form of infant baptism. And yet, they're still

Christians. They have had, in fact, not only are they Christians, all these men that I've named have had some sort of impact, if not major impact, on my own walk with the

Lord. So what I'm saying is, with these men, we share doctrinal commitment to the fundamental truths of the

Christian faith. And yet, it also remains true that these men that I've named, and others of course, have a significant error when it comes to baptism.

And so I want you to understand that it's not my desire to try and pretend, in these two sermons, as though Baptists are the only

Christians out there. But I do desire to show you why I am a Baptist, and why all

Christians should seek to be Baptists. They should seek to forsake the man -made traditions when it comes to infant baptism.

I don't want you to be a Baptist just because your parents were, or your grandparents were.

I want you to be a Baptist because this is what the Bible teaches. And so this morning, it's my desire to present you the truth of baptism.

And so today we continue from Ephesians 4, verse 5. And I'm just going to call this sermon very creative here.

Why I am a Baptist, Part 2. So, Paul says, So the context of Ephesians 4, verse 4, 5, and 6 is

Paul is teaching us about the unity that we have. And in this we see there is one baptism. Last week we saw that baptism is given to us as a visible symbol.

That is, the new covenant, which is ratified in the blood of Christ, has established water baptism as an outward sign and symbol of an inward reality.

An outward sign and symbol of an inward reality. So, like the

Lord's Supper, it represents something. And we started our journey by looking at three things last week that baptism signifies.

First, resurrection. Again, our own confessional statement, the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.

It says, Baptism signifies resurrection.

Secondly, regeneration. Martin Lord Jones preached, I would say especially, Now again,

I say, it is a sign and a seal. I do not become regenerate as I am baptized. I only have a right to be baptized because I am regenerate.

Baptism tells me that I am regenerate. It certifies to me that I am born again, that I am united to Christ, and that the

Holy Spirit dwells in me. It is the sealing of that to me. It is God's way of giving me a pledge.

That was the doctor, Martin Lloyd Jones. So what I'm saying is there is an incontrovertible connection between the ordinance of believer's baptism and regeneration.

So, regeneration is an inward reality and it's performed by the sovereign work of the

Holy Spirit through the gospel. Water baptism is performed by the local church to those already born again as a symbol of what has happened to the new believer.

And then thirdly, we said, resurrection, regeneration. Thirdly, we said, baptism signifies renewal.

That is, the blood of Christ. As we sang that first song, did you catch the third verse or the final verse that we sang?

Plunge in today and be made complete. Glory to His name. Plunge into what?

The baptistry? No, plunge into the fountain of the blood of Christ. It is the blood of Christ, as it were, that renews our souls and cleanses us from all sin.

And then water baptism is a symbol of that. So I told you last week that we had eight points. We covered three.

Resurrection, regeneration, renewal. Now today we're going to cover five. And as we cover these,

I want you to consider the greatness of the gospel. Guys, baptism is a beautiful thing.

Baptism is a beautiful picture that God has given us. And when we think about baptism, we ought to think about the glory and the wonder of the gospel.

Baptism is a beautiful picture. It's not just something... Sometimes baptism, we can be kind of ho -hum about it or trivialize it, but it's a beautiful picture of the gospel that God has given us.

And so as we think about baptism today, I want you to glory in the gospel. And I also want you to glory in the goodness of God.

How good and wise and loving and wonderful is a God who has given us such an ordinance as the ordinance of baptism.

So, first point today, fourth point overall. What does baptism signify? Relocation.

Paul says there's one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Paul is dealing, of course, with Christian unity.

Baptism is an outward symbol that this brother or sister has now been relocated.

I'm not talking about a physical relocation. You don't go through baptism and warp to some different geography or whatever.

Instead, it is that this brother or sister has been transferred out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light.

So when we baptize a person, we are saying to the best of our ability that we believe this person has already been baptized by the

Holy Spirit and this person has been already transferred from death to life from the domain of darkness, from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.

For example, do you remember Ephesians 2, 1 through 3? I'll read that real quick. Where Paul says,

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you walked following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

In other words, when we were unbelievers, we were living in the kingdom of darkness. We were followers of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

We lived in that realm. We loved that realm. We were active participants in the kingdom of darkness.

But when we have come to Christ, God has transferred us out of the kingdom of darkness and He has relocated us into the kingdom of His Son.

And baptism is a symbol of this. In baptism, we see that we leave the kingdom of darkness and now we are living in the kingdom of light.

So Martyn Lloyd -Jones uses the analogy of a wedding ring. You know,

I do not have to wear this wedding ring in order to be married, right?

If I take this wedding ring off, I set it right here. Am I still married? Yes, I'm still married.

This wedding ring is not what brought about the union between myself and Stephanie.

But what then, as we think about this symbol, what then does this ring do?

Well, a few things. One, it signifies that I'm taken, right?

I belong to another. I am no longer my own.

So similarly then, water baptism marks us out as being not our own.

Water baptism marks us out as we belong to another. Now I live gladly in union with Stephanie.

This ring is a picture of that. Baptism is a picture of our relocation in that now we live gladly in the kingdom of Christ for His glory.

Before our baptism, or before our salvation, I should say, we were in the kingdom of darkness.

But after our salvation, we're in the kingdom of light. Baptism signifies this. Think of it this way.

In our baptisms here, we have our candidates read their testimony, don't we?

And I love that. It encourages me. And I think this is good. I think it's edifying. But also know this.

In one way, baptism is God's testimony for the believer.

In the visible sign of baptism, God is saying, I have relocated this person out of darkness and into the kingdom of light.

So resurrection, regeneration, renewal, relocation. Next, baptism signifies our resolve.

Now we're getting to some things that we are saying in baptism. Baptism signifies our resolve.

I could have used the word repentance here. Baptism doesn't necessarily, so if you've been baptized, it doesn't necessarily mean that you have repented for sure, right?

Lots of people have been baptized, but they haven't repented. But baptism is to be a sign of our repentance.

Now, we've got to do something this morning because this is a big verse that comes up with certain people, particularly with the churches of Christ.

But I want you to turn to Acts 2 .38. I can't talk about baptism and repentance without mentioning or talking about,

I guess I should turn there as well, Acts 2 .38. Stephanie and I, most of you know this, we used to live in DeWitt.

And when we went to Stuttgart, upon entering Stuttgart from DeWitt, there is a huge, beautiful Church of Christ building.

And at the top of that building, in huge letters, you can see it, I'm sure, from the whole town, it feels like, it says at the top of that building,

Obey Acts 2 .38. Now, what does Acts 2 .38

say? Let's read it together. Acts 2 .38.

Peter says, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the

Holy Spirit. So some people want to say, well, there it is, cut and dry. Let me read it again. Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the

Holy Spirit. So, this sermon, this morning, is not on Acts 2 .38,

but I do want to mention a couple of things. First, let me say this. Some make a grammatical argument here.

I'm talking about people who are Baptists, make a grammatical argument here, and I do think it's warranted.

It shows that water baptism is not the mechanism for the forgiveness of sins. That is, this text,

Acts 2 .38, is teaching to be baptized on the basis, not for the mechanism of forgiveness of sins, but on the basis of forgiveness of sins.

Not that water baptism is what forgives you. I think that that's an important argument. I think grammar matters.

I think that we should do that. However, let me say this. I think that it's even simpler than that, and I want to put it this way.

You don't have to be a Greek scholar in order to understand Acts 2 .38.

I actually think any average Bible reader could understand this if they would just read the

Bible in its context. For example, Curtis Vaughn says, Peter had challenged his audience to accept

Jesus as Messiah and Lord. Their baptism in the name of Jesus Christ would be a public acknowledgment that they had done this.

So that is, baptism is an outward evidence of true repentance. I read this quote just a couple days ago.

Brian Payne says, The most crucial context of any verse is the whole

Bible. The most crucial context of any verse is the whole Bible. Now, I want to teach you something real quick as we look at this verse,

Acts 2 .38. How far do you really have to read to find out that heart, rot, faith, and repentance is the key here?

Well, you have to read a whole other three verses to get to verse 41. Verse 41 says this.

Look at this order. So those who received his word were baptized and there were added that day about 3 ,000 souls.

What is the order here? First, they received his word. First. Then what happened?

Then they were baptized. And then you have to read a whole other 25 verses to get to Acts 3 .19,

which says, hopefully you're already in Acts 2, so you can easily get to Acts 3 .19. Acts 3 .19

says this. Repent, therefore, and turn back that your sins may be blotted out.

Right? Repent. Nothing about water baptism there, right? Repent, therefore, and turn back that your sins may be blotted out.

Now, I'm a big fan of Bible verses. But let me also say this. Do you know that Bible verses,

I'm talking about the numbers, they were not inspired by God.

When Peter was writing or when Luke was writing, nobody wrote verse 1 and then wrote a sentence.

Verse 2 and then wrote a sentence. Verses have come in later in order to help us find a passage quickly and those sorts of things.

And the danger of Bible verses is this. You can look at a Bible verse separated from its context and you can try to build a theology based on that Bible verse apart from its context.

But guys, a Bible verse apart from its context is not where we're to get our theology.

We are to understand the Scriptures in their context. So what I'm saying is, if the average person will just read the

Bible in its context and trust the Holy Spirit, they would not be confused on this matter.

If we really want to obey Acts 2 .38 in context, then we will preach to people to repent and believe the gospel and in their faith they will be justified and forgiven of their sins and as a sign of their repentance, they ought to be baptized by immersion.

In fact, I could go so far as to say this in conjunction with that verse. Refusing to be baptized, and I don't know if anyone here that is saying this today, but if you're here this morning and you've been converted, but now you're refusing the sign of baptism, well, that may actually indicate that you have not repented.

You see, in Paul's day, it would have been easy for the Jews to say they believe Peter's message. What do we need to do to be saved?

Oh yeah, yeah, I believe all that, right? But Peter was showing that true repentance produces fruit and fruit will lead to a person willing to publicly identify with the

Lord Jesus Christ in baptism. So, baptism is a sign of our repentance, but it's also a sign here, what

I started out this point with, of our resolve. What do I mean by that? It's a sign of our resolve in the sense that it's declaring before others our allegiance to follow

Christ and to trust His promises for His glory. That is, when you are immersed in the name of the

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, what you are publicly saying to the congregation is, I have decided to follow

Jesus. You are saying, I am resolved no longer to linger, charmed by the world's delights, right?

I am resolved to follow Christ. As Sam Waldron notes, it is the teaching of Scripture that baptism symbolizes a saving response to the gospel.

When you are baptized, it is symbolizing your resolve to follow Christ. Sam Renahan puts it this way, baptism is a two -way declaration.

On the one hand, it is God's visible promise that all who are in His Son are new creations by virtue of their union with Christ in His death and resurrection,

Romans 6, 3 -5. And on the other hand, it is the individual's profession of faith in those very promises, 1

Peter 3, 21 -22. In other words, Renahan is saying, baptism symbolizes what

God has promised you, but it also symbolizes your belief and trust in these promises.

In baptism, there is God giving you a sign of His goodness, His promises, like the rainbow, for example.

Think about the rainbow for just a moment. The rainbow is not a cause of God's promises to come to fruition.

In other words, the rainbow is a symbol of God's promises. When you see the rainbow, you are reminded of God's promises to us.

So too in baptism. When we participate or see baptism, we are reminded of God's promises.

But then it also symbolizes your resolve to follow the King. In baptism, you are publicly saying,

Jesus is my only suitable and all -sufficient Savior. Savior. Do you remember how in 1 Corinthians 11, do you remember how

Paul says that when we participate in the Lord's Supper, we are proclaiming the Lord's death until He comes?

That is, and I always sort of give you this tongue -in -cheek, I say when we take the Lord's Supper, which by the way, is next

Sunday, so when we take the Lord's Supper, I always kind of say tongue -in -cheek, you preached a good sermon today.

Well, what am I saying? I'm saying by your participation in the Lord's Supper, you are preaching the necessity and sufficiency of the broken body and shed blood of Christ.

In a very similar way, when we are baptized, we are proclaiming before others

Christ and Him crucified and our desire to follow

Christ. He is my Lord, He is my Savior, He is my King, and I will follow

Him come what may. Because there's one Lord, one faith, verse 5,

Ephesians, back in Ephesians 4, verse 5, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. This baptism signifies resurrection, regeneration, renewal, relocation, resolve, sixly, reception.

There's one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Tom Schreiner notes, believers share the common experience of baptism, which is the induction into the

Christian faith. The indication that one has left the world behind. So, this is something here that all

Christians agree on, and that is, baptism is a sign of receiving one into the covenant community, if you will.

But Baptists, as we saw last week, so, when someone is baptized, they are now part of the covenant community, is what that's symbolizing.

But Baptists rightly understand that only believers are in the new covenant.

Jeremiah 31, we talked about. So, Conrad in Bayway says this, baptism is the

God -ordained way of joining with the people of God in public witness and testimony to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In that way, baptism is the manner in which a person becomes a part of a local group of Christians.

Baptism is symbolic of our reception, our reception by the church. In other words, our Baptist faith, the message says this, baptism is a prerequisite.

Baptism is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership.

Why can you not be a member of Perryville Second Baptist Church unless you have been biblically baptized?

Because in baptism is where we are saying that this man or woman is a brother or sister in Christ.

Right? And we know that at least to the best of our ability, because he or she has submitted their life to Christ and is signifying such through this ordinance.

So, baptism is a sign of the church's reception of a brother or sister.

Through the Spirit's work, we're saying they have been united to Christ and the body of Christ at large.

And then in water baptism, they are signifying this union, but also a unity with believers in the local church.

Sam Renahan, again, says it this way, when a church agrees to baptize an individual based on their profession of faith, that baptism publicly places the name brother on that person.

And they bear the name until the church removes it. 1 Corinthians 5 .11. So, you understand, for just an example, let me say it this way.

You understand that not every person who wants to be baptized should be baptized.

Like, if someone just walks in and says, hey, Perryville Second Baptist Church, will you baptize me? If you think that our response should be, hey man, fill it up, let's do it right now, then you misunderstand this ordinance.

This one baptism is only for those who have been born again. And it's the church's responsibility then, under the authority of Christ, to only baptize those who give a credible profession of faith.

This doesn't mean, and we could take this too far, it doesn't mean that we need to give someone a seminary exam and say, if you cannot pass this exam, you cannot be baptized.

That's not what we mean. But we do mean that before a person is baptized, they must be able to give a credible profession of faith.

They need to understand the Gospel. There needs to be evidences of change in their life and their hating sin.

They're not perfect. None of us are perfect, right? But we begin to see that they have truly desired to follow

Christ. They understand what that means. They've counted the cost. And they want to see

Jesus as King over the nations. And they want to follow Him wherever He leads as we sang that song this morning.

The footsteps of Jesus. So this means, if we only baptize those who give a credible profession of faith, it means we don't baptize infants.

And it means we should not baptize we should not baptize children who are too young to give a credible profession.

And we should not baptize adults who do not give a credible profession.

We only baptize believers. Because when we baptize someone, this is what we're saying to the world.

When we baptize somebody, when we immerse someone in that baptistry, we are saying this to the world. That's what a

Christian is. You want to see a Christian? Look at this man. You want to see a Christian?

Look at this woman. Look at how they live. Look at the things that are important to them.

This is what it means to be a believer. When we baptize someone, we are saying to the world, look at what a

Christian is like. And if we baptize someone, and that person later gives evidence that they're not born again, through willful and continued unrepentant sin, then it's our responsibility before God as a church to withdraw fellowship.

That's what church discipline is. Paul says there's one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

And in this context, we're reminded that baptism is to be a symbol of unity in the one

Lord and one faith. And so if someone departs from the unity of the truth or the unity of the faith, it's our duty to withdraw fellowship.

So as a Baptist church then, we take baptism very seriously. It's why we only allow people to join the church who are willing to be biblically baptized or who have already been biblically baptized.

And biblical baptism is by immersion. And it's not looking to the water as a work or the ground of our forgiveness, but only

Christ. There's one Lord, one faith, one baptism. So we don't, by the way, as a church, we don't re -baptize people.

We don't re -baptize people. If we re -baptize someone, we're doing it wrong. Listen closely.

If someone has gone through infant baptism or if someone has gone through some sort of baptism where they see it as a work or someone has gone through a baptism before they were converted, they haven't actually been baptized biblically.

And so as a church, we don't re -baptize. We what? We baptize. So we seek to baptize people properly.

And if they have been sprinkled or were immersed before their conversion, they've not been baptized. And so what they need to do is follow the

Lord in believers' baptism. So baptism then is intricately connected to our belief in regenerate church membership.

We are baptizing persons whom we believe have been regenerated, have been born again, and are celebrating their union with Christ and also with us as fellow believers.

In one sense, I'll say this. We're giving a visible approval as a church of this person's profession of faith.

Do you understand that? Jesus says, and we don't have a long time. We could go on this forever.

Jesus says that He gives the keys of the kingdom to the church.

And so when the church baptizes a person, in one sense, don't take the analogy too far, but when a church baptizes a person, they're saying in one sense they're putting on the wedding ring and they're saying, you're in.

You are part of the bride of Christ. And we are promising in this to love you and to look after you and to watch over this brother or sister.

Obviously, there's a temptation here to go further on a tangent of church membership, but I'll refrain. Let me just say this.

As you consider this precious gift of the ordinance of baptism, it's my exhortation this morning that we take this ordinance seriously.

So a couple of applications here before we move on to the next point. Are you biblically baptized?

Has your baptism followed your regeneration? Has your baptism followed your conversion?

You must follow the Lord here and not reject the teaching of this truth. Fourthly today, seventhly overall, baptism signifies resurrection, regeneration, renewal, relocation, resolve, reception.

Seventhly, this is a shorter point, it signifies return. Paul says there's one

Lord, verse 5, one faith, one baptism. Baptism reminds us of the

Lord's return. I don't know if you caught this last week, but the 1644

First Lenten Baptist Confession said that one thing baptism signifies is this, listen closely, that together with the confirmation of our faith, that as certainly as the body is buried under water and rises again, so certainly shall the bodies of the saints be raised by the power of Christ in the day of the resurrection to reign with Christ.

In other words, think about this beautiful picture. One of the things that we see in baptism is not just a picture of new life now, but we also see that one day our bodies are going to be raised again.

Just as the body is raised up out of the water, we believe and we are professing in baptism that our bodies are going to be raised again by the power of Christ when

He returns. In one sense, baptism is saying a new world is coming, a new body is coming, the

King is coming. In 1 Corinthians 15, this is very odd, but in 1 Corinthians 15, the church at Corinth was getting baptized or some of the people of the church at Corinth, they were getting baptized on behalf of people who were already dead.

And that was crazy and that was absurd, and Paul did not affirm that at all. It was one of the problems with the church.

But Paul's argument is that baptism is a sign of our bodies being raised again with Christ.

No, you can't be baptized on behalf of the dead, but you can understand that your own baptism is a symbol of your own coming resurrection and return of Jesus when

Jesus returns. Again, this is why sprinkling doesn't make sense. This is why immersion of the body into the water and bringing the body back up out of the water is the only biblical mode of baptism.

So, resurrection, regeneration, renewal, relocation, resolve, reception. Eighthly and finally, here we are, after two messages on this, baptism signifies a reminder.

Paul says there's one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Here's the question that I'm asking right now.

Why does Paul remind us of our baptism? Of all these things that he says, you might think that baptism is not that important, and why would it even be mentioned here?

Right? Like, the Lord's Supper is not mentioned here, but of course, we know that it's important. But why would he mention baptism?

There is one body and one spirit. Okay, all that's important. Just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one

Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, who is over all, through all, and in all.

Why does Paul remind the Ephesian church, why does Paul remind them of their baptism?

Well, here's why, I think. And I'll say it in the way of William of Breckle. He says, if you are a believer, and if the principle of spiritual life is to be found within you, it is especially your duty to make good use of your baptism.

How do you make good use of your baptism? I'm going to give you three ways.

Three ways that we need to be reminded of our baptism so that we can make good use of it.

Three ways. First, safety. Paul says there's one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Now I want to be very careful here. I'm not saying that if you have been baptized, you most definitely are in the new covenant.

No. It's not true. However, in our baptism, there is, from the

Scriptures, a measure of comfort that we are to take. We are to look at our baptism and consider all that I've preached about for two weeks.

When you look at the baptism, when you remember, if you're a Christian and you've been baptized, think about your baptism right now.

And be reminded that it signifies resurrection and regeneration and renewal and relocation and resolve and reception.

And when you think about that, it ought to bring you comfort. These are the things our baptism points to.

God has given us this beautiful and visible symbol and reminder for a reason. You ought to put it to good use.

When you are discouraged in your faith, when you're trying to fight sin, when you are concerned about world events, remember.

Remember who you are in Christ. Remember. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Remember our unity in the Christian faith. Again, consider for just a moment your wedding ring.

You have a discouraging argument with your spouse. Later, you look down, and you see your wedding ring.

And you're reminded of the beauty of marriage. You're reminded of your commitments. You're reminded of your love for your spouse.

You're reminded of your spouse's love for you. All in this symbol that you wear on your left hand.

So too, similarly, in baptism then, we are reminded of these things except in the

Christian life. So when you think about your baptism, you should be reminded of God's love. You should be reminded of Christ's work.

You should be reminded of who we are in Christ. You should be reminded of our commitments and our resolve.

You should be reminded of our commitment to the local church. You should be reminded, as Paul speaks about in the context here, of the unity that we have in Christ.

Listen, are you discouraged this morning? Well, I'm asking you to remember again the Gospel as dramatized in the ordinance of baptism.

I'm not asking you to cling to the waters. How foolish would that be? I'm asking you to cling to what the waters point to.

Just like in the Lord's Supper, you're not clinging to the bread and the fruit of the vine.

You're clinging to what those things point to. The body and blood of Christ. Similarly, when I'm telling you to remember your baptism,

I'm not saying cling to the waters. I'm saying cling to what the waters point to. Namely, the finished work of Christ.

Make good use of your baptism. Secondly, make good use of your baptism by remembering it, because remembering it is also for our sanctification.

Look at Ephesians 4. Our safety, our sanctification. Look at Ephesians 4 verse 24. Go down to verse 24 where it says, to put on the new self created after the likeness of God and true righteousness and holiness.

Paul exhorts the readers to put on the new self. So in baptism, we have symbolized taking off the old man.

And we have symbolized putting on the new man. And now, listen, it is our fight every day to continue to do this.

Every day, we continue to mortify the deeds of the flesh. Every day, we continue to look to Christ and seek to walk in newness of life.

If you remember your baptism, because this is kind of a weird sort of phrase from people, but some people talk about remembering your baptism and what they mean is a life of antinomianism.

That just means you don't have to obey what the Bible says. You live however you want.

Basically, it means you live in unchecked rebellion if you want, but you're clinging to your baptism as your hope.

If that's you this morning, like if you say, I'm just out here living like the world and I love the world and I'm not really interested in the things of Christ, but hey,

I've been baptized. You're clinging to that, then you're foolish. Because that is not the purpose of baptism.

If that's you, frankly, your baptism is worthless because you're not born again.

But for those who have been born again, our baptism serves as a reminder of who we are so that we continue our growth in the

Lord Jesus Christ. Let me give you another analogy. I don't know if you've seen the movie The Patriot or not. And The Patriot's got

Mel Gibson and he plays the role of, what's the guy's name? Benjamin Martin. And his son,

I won't ruin the whole story in case you haven't seen it, but I will tell you, the revolution succeeds and America becomes a nation.

But Benjamin Martin has a son named Gabriel Martin. And throughout the movie, Gabriel Martin is sewing this

American flag. And it's kind of like a symbol in the movie that even in the midst of despair and defeat, you have this flag, this beaten up flag that's being sewn the whole movie.

And even in the midst of despair, this flag symbolizes what the patriots are fighting for.

And then at the end, the last battle, if you will, looking at this flag that now

Mel Gibson is attached to a pole and he's running with it and iconic, but it's looking at that flag.

People look to that flag and it's looking at that flag that reminds them what they're fighting for and it turns the battle, if you will, and they end up winning that battle.

So in a similar way, what am I saying? I'm saying we look to our baptism to remember what it is we're fighting for.

We look to our baptism to be reminded that this fight is worth it. We look to our baptism to remember that we are going to press on in the faith.

That we are going to keep following Christ. That we know Jesus is coming back. That we know Jesus is sovereign over the nations.

That we know that Christ is King and we're going to live for Him. And we're reminded of these things in the midst of despair and discouragement and when things are going on around the world that we're just not sure what the future will be for us or for our children or for our grandchildren.

We can look back. We can remember our baptism and we can say, we're fighting for the Kingdom of Christ.

Not the kingdoms of this world, but for the reign of Christ over the nations.

So let your baptism remind you of safety and sanctification and finally, let your baptism serve as a reminder for this.

And you might think I'm just trying to pull a neat little alliteration here, but hear me out on this one.

Safety, sanctification, soul winning. Paul says there's one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Let me tell you something, saints. Baptism ought to remind you that God saves people.

He saved you. He is building a people. He is building

His church. He is coming again. And so, in one way, our baptism ought to serve as a great motivation to share this one faith.

There's one Lord, one faith, one baptism. To share the Gospel.

To call all who will hear to come to Christ and to look to Him and to be saved. To turn from your sins.

To see that in Christ, you will be transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of life.

To see that in Christ, you will pass from death to life. To see that in Christ, you will be received into the body.

That there is salvation in no other name but Jesus Christ. Turn from your sins and believe

His Gospel. In baptism, we are reminded of His death and burial and resurrection for our sins.

And so we take that message to the nations. Christ Jesus is

King and He saves. By His death and endless life, Jesus saves.

Jesus saves. The text says there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Shout it from the rooftops. Post it on Facebook. Share it at work.

Share it in your home. Pass out a tract. Meet with a friend. Send a letter.

Jesus saves. Jesus saves. Our baptism ought to be a very visible reminder to us that God saves sinners through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

He saved you, right? And He can and He will save others.

So let our baptism be one of our motivations for this great work of sowing to our neighbors and to the nations.

How wonderful is this ordinance of baptism.

Resurrection. Regeneration. Renewal. Relocation. Resolve. Reception.

And a reminder. First, I think in way of application, I can't preach this message without asking you first, do you follow the

King? Do you understand that on a day like this, on a morning like this, in a sermon like this, there is an opportunity for you to turn from your sins and put your faith in Christ?

Do you understand that there's an opportunity for you today to be a follower of Christ? Jesus who shed

His blood as a ransom for many. Jesus who is our great High Priest.

Jesus who is the Prophet and the King. Jesus Christ will save your soul today if you will but come to Him in repentance and faith.

Do you follow this King? Look to the Son in faith and live.

See Christ as your only suitable and all -sufficient Savior. And then, don't say, don't say, don't say that you're a committed follower of Christ.

And yet you're not going to publicly identify with Christ Jesus in believers' baptism.

Friends, if you've come to Christ, maybe you've come to Christ today. Maybe you've come to Christ under the preaching of the

Word today. If you've come to Christ in repentance and faith, then I strongly encourage you to follow the

Lord in believers' baptism. Talk to me. Talk to your parents.

Talk to a godly counselor. Search the Scriptures and see that those who've come to Christ ought to follow the

Lord publicly in believers' baptism. Okay, another application is this, and that is for believers.

Believer, and I'm assuming it's Sunday morning, you're here at church.

You could have been anywhere else today. It's warmer today. You could have been at the lake. You could have been wherever.

But you're here. Are you making good use of your baptism? Are you comforted by the

Gospel? Are you fighting sin? Are you loving and committed to the local church?

Are you sharing the Gospel with others? These are all ways that we make good use of baptism.

How silly and foolish and frankly, if I may use the word wicked, would we be to dismiss such a beautiful ordinance like believers' baptism?

To say, oh, I've been baptized, but then you're continuing to live in sin or show lack of concern for sharing the

Gospel. Friends, I'm saying to you this morning, make good use of your baptism. God has given us this one baptism for a symbol of unity and for these things that we've talked about the last two weeks.

And so as a church, we ought to love this ordinance. If you really believe the church is the building, the church is the house, the church is what

God's doing, this is His work. If we really believe what Ephesians says, we are the hoemos, the masterpiece of God.