I will begin this discussion stating that salvation does not come from water Baptism, but by the blood of Jesus shed at Calvary.
Hebrews 9: 22
... Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Tomorrow we will look at the role of blood concerning cleansing and covenants and redemption.
Today we are looking at Water Baptism as it is a picture God gave us of the spiritual baptism He performs in us at the moment of Salvation.
Ephesians 2: 8-10
(8) For by grace you have been saved through faith; and not that of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
(9) not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
(10) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we could walk in them.
We are not saved by water baptism, which is a work we do in obedience to His commandment. We are saved by God's grace, which is His free gift, giving us the good that we can never earn or deserve, by our faith, our believing that Jesus took our death that we deserve. Then, when we have been saved, we are to do the works God planned for us to do.
I Peter 3: 20-21
(20) God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood.
(21) 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. (NLT)
Here Peter says that water is the picture of the spiritual baptism, the immersion into the body of Christ, not the physical water that can remove dirt from the body. We are to act out this picture in response to the clean conscience we have from being washed and cleansed in the blood of Christ, which He proved worked by His Resurrection from the dead.
Colossians 2: 11-14
(11) And in Him you were all circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;
(12) having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
(13) When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
(14) having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the Cross.
Here Paul talks about the spiritual baptism right in the middle of his talk about the spiritual circumcision. Several things happen all at once at the moment of our salvation. This is when we realize we're sinners against God, and we deserve the execution death Jesus suffered; and understand that God loves us so much that He sent His own Son to take our death on the Cross, and we let Him do it, as though we're the only one; that's when God saves us.
Then the blood Jesus splattered on the sides of His altar, the Cross, washes us clean of all sin. Being clean now, God sends His Holy Spirit to live in our spirit, causing it to come alive, and since God the Spirit cannot dwell in the presence of sin, He immediately "circumcises" or cuts the connection between our sinful flesh and the new Life in us, which breaks any addiction, and gives us a new power to choose to do right, instead.
Romans 6: 1-7
(1) What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?
(2) May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
Since the Holy Spirit cut the chains that held us to the sinful urges, we don't need to do those things any more.
(3) Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
(4) Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
Here is the picture water baptism is of the spiritual baptism God affects in us. Because we let Jesus be our substitute in death, it's as if we died; then because He was dead, he was buried, so we are buried under the water.
And as Jesus rose from the grave with new, Resurrection life, so we rise out of the water, giving all our witnesses permission to hold us accountable to living our lives different now from before we were saved.
(5) For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,
(6) knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
(7) for he who has died is freed from sin.
The act of water baptism says that we admit publicly that we have died with Jesus, and just as He rose, so we also will one day be Resurrected as He was; and while we live now, we can forsake all of the unrighteousness of our old life, and instead walk a righteous path, in the power of the Holy Spirit who now lives in us.
Colossians 2: 19
Connected
to Christ, the Head of the body. For He holds the whole body together
with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it. (NLT)
So the baptism
that saves us is not the physical picture we act out, but the act of
God in putting us into Christ's body, as He is the Head.
Matthew 28: 18-20
(18) And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in Heaven and on Earth.
(19) "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
(20) "teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
As a final note, when Jesus gave us our marching orders, He said that as we are going, we are to make disciples first, meaning that we are to win them to the Lord in salvation first, then to water baptize them as the first step of obedience to His commandments. Then we are to teach them to know and do all the other things Jesus taught His disciples.
I understand that some Christian churches are confused at this point, not understanding the distinction between water baptism, a good work that we physically do, and the spiritual baptism, when God immerses us into Christ when we experience Salvation from sin.
O my Father, You are so wise and good to us to give us so many physical, material, earthly pictures of some of the spiritual, immaterial, eternal Truths so we could have some understanding of who You are and what You are doing in the world and in Your children. We would not be able to conceive of these spiritual realities without these pictures.
My Father, please help Your church leaders, the pastors and teachers, to understand that these pictures are not the realities, but only temporary illustrations of what is real and eternal. Help them to lead their congregations into Your Truth and righteousness, and the realization of who we are in Your eyes as Your children, and what You have planned for us, both now and forevermore.
O Father send out Your children as Your messengers and missionaries to share Your gracious Gospel of the Kingdom, to recognize our Redeemer, to be rescued from the power sin has over the human race, and the deception of our enemy that draws them away from Your wonderful gifts.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is our Lord, the Lord God Almighty, Redeemer and Lawgiver, sovereign King of the World and all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
