How Baptism Saves

Text 1 Peter 3:21 Time 25 06 17 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

Well, it is a great joy to be here tonight and to have the baptistery open again after such a long spell. There are only two ordinances or sacraments for believers – baptism and the Lord’s Supper. It is important that whenever there is a baptism or communion that we remind ourselves exactly what they are all about. If you simply go through the motions then the meaning can easily be forgotten and the whole thing can turn into a meaningless ritual. That is why we make a point whenever we have communion or a baptism to say something about what is going on.

What I want us to do now then is to consider the verse about baptism found in 1 Peter 3:21. This verse and those that surround it are not easy ones to interpret in some ways and there has been some discussion about certain elements such what it means when it speaks of Jesus going and making proclamation to the imprisoned spirits - to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. I’m sure that what Peter is saying there is that when Noah preached to the people of his day it was the Spirit of Christ who was patiently pleading with people even then through Noah.

Peter goes on to say to believers (in verse 21) that the water of Noah’s flood

symbolises baptism that now saves you also - not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

He is drawing a parallel then between the flood and baptism. If Peter were here tonight to witness this baptism and we asked him to speak he might say ‘This is a little like another Noah’s ark’. Now do note that he does not say of the ark, In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved from water, rather he says they were saved through water. Of course, they were saved from the water – unlike all those who perished, they escaped from the great flood. However, Peter says that they were saved through water. It was by means of the flood that God rescued them from the wicked world in which they had been living. One can see several connections between Noah’s ark and baptism. For example, one commentator mentions how

• Just as the ark was God’s way of saving Noah not man’s invention, so baptism is God ordained.
• Just as Noah appears to have been mocked when building the ark, so some people mock baptism as a means of salvation.
• Just as Noah and his family were shut up in the ark and seemed buried in it so baptism can be seen as a sort of symbolic burial. (See Romans 6:4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death … Colossians 2:12 having been buried with him in baptism …)
• Just as Noah and his family were surrounded by water from above and below, so when a person is baptised he or she is immersed in water.

The most important connection between Noah’s flood and baptism, however, is that there is a sense in both cases in which it is by means of water that salvation comes. So we see how he has come to the matter of baptism. However, when Peter says that baptism saves believers, what exactly does he mean? He himself clarifies by including both a negative and a positive comment.

1. Understand how this baptism does not save

Having said this water symbolises baptism that now saves you also – Peter adds not the removal of dirt from the body. Literally he says it is not the removal of dirt from the flesh. The word flesh has at least two connotations in Scripture and so we can say two things in light of Peter’s statement.

1. Baptism does not literally save by washing dirt from the body

Obviously when a person is baptised it is a little bit like a bath. We are aware of the fact that water is very good for washing dirt from our bodies. Not only is it healthy for our bodies to be regularly washed but it can be very refreshing generally. Many a person enjoys nothing better than a good soak in the bath or alternatively an invigorating shower – hot or cold. More than one religion makes a great deal of such purification rites. I remember reading about George Harrison of the Beatles, how when he first embraced Hinduism he described how good it felt to get up early in the morning and to begin with meditation and a shower. I remember too once meeting a Sikh gentleman who had travelled to India where he had felt renewed by standing under waterfall. Now Christian baptism is nothing like that. It is something that can only take place once in a person’s life and it has nothing at all to do with washing dirt from the body.

If you have been baptised. Remember that when you were baptised you weren’t washing dirt from your body.

If you’ve not been baptised, realise that no amount of washing can make you clean. Washing, like a new set of clothes or new resolutions can only affect you outwardly. You need something inward to happen to you.

Roslin, as you’re about to be baptised, recognise that this water is not like bath water. It isn’t designed to get you clean. That is not its purpose!

2. Baptism does not literally save by washing sin from the soul

It may be that Peter is also underlining the fact that in and of itself baptism cannot wash away sin from the soul either. The reason why people need to be saved is because of their sin. It is because of sin that we die and deserve to be sent to hell. The only way we can be saved is by having those sins washed away but that is not something that baptism can do. There is nothing special about this water. There is nothing that being baptised can do to take away sin.

There are people who believe that somehow baptism can wash sin from your soul. You have heard perhaps of people making quite a fuss about getting sick babies baptised before they die. Why? Because there is a belief that baptism can somehow literally wash sin away. Sometimes children in Roman Catholic Schools are taught how to perform what they call an emergency baptism, based on the idea that there is no way into heaven without baptism.

Now I’m sure that no-one believes that the power is in the water itself but there is the idea that the ceremony itself can somehow save. And yet everything else we know from Scripture warns against taking such an idea. For example, in Hebrews 10:4, 11 it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins … Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. There are many things like that in the Old Testament too. There is no way that any ceremony can take away sin. It doesn’t matter how sincere we are or how genuine our belief in such a thing may be, it cannot do it.

If I thought that Roslin was under the impression that she could wash away her sins by baptism then I would refuse to baptise her. The idea that any mere ritual can save is utterly false. I suppose it’s a little like supposing that a marriage ceremony can make a real marriage. Sometimes people go through a form of marriage in order to gain British citizenship. The government are wise to such things, however, they know that a mere paper marriage is not a real marriage and they want evidence of a real marriage. Similarly, baptism is not a matter of a mere form. Like a marriage ceremony it must rather be the seal and sign of something much deeper.

If you have been baptised, remember that when you were baptised it wasn’t that act that made you a Christian. No. it was something else that washed your soul clean. The day you were baptised was just the day when you publicly declared that God had changed your life. You may not remember exactly when you were converted but hopefully you can remember when you were baptised and it was then that you made your public profession of conversion.

If you’ve not been baptised, realise that there is no ritual on earth that can make your soul clean. There is no religious rite that can deal with your sin. Baptism won’t do it. Taking the Lord’s Supper won’t do it. Praying five times a day can’t change you. Ritual purifications and religious ceremonies are all worthless in themselves. Rather, as we have said, you need something inward to happen to you. Unless God changes you then there is no hope for you.

Roslin, as you’re about to be baptised, recognise that this is not like a ritual purification. This act isn’t designed to purify your soul. As you know, you are being baptised on the basis that this has already happened. This baptism is designed to strengthen you in your convictions not to do something that has not happened yet.

2. Understand how baptism does save

So what does Peter mean when he says that baptism saves? In what sense does it save? It is clear that Peter is speaking symbolically. Symbolically speaking, baptism saves. The way such a ceremony affects us is by affecting our conscience and teaching us.

1. Baptism symbolically saves as it implies the pledge of a good conscience towards God

So we come to Peter’s positive statement. He says not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience towards God. The words are understood in a slightly different way by different writers. Is it the pledge towards God of a good conscience towards God or the pledge of ‘a good conscience towards God’ or even baptism that now saves you towards God also - not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience? There is some argument about the word translated pledge too. Answer is not quite right pledge is better. It is the demand or enquiry of a good conscience or possibly the appeal. Peter may well be thinking of the way those who are baptised are often asked to first give a word of testimony or to answer questions - as we will do tonight. The question then is whether Peter is speaking subjectively of the person being baptised having a good conscience or objectively of them appealing to God for a good conscience. It is probably the first. Whichever way we understand it, it is clear that the focus is on the person's conscience.

How is it with your conscience tonight?

What about you baptised believer? Do you remember your baptismal pledge? Are you conscientiously living aware that only Christ can forgive your sins? We must never forget that he is the only one who can deal with our guilt. An event like this should remind you once more of how indebted you are to him. Cf 3:16. I say to you tonight (Hebrews 10:22) let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

What about you unbaptised unbeliever? Do you realise that is your great need - to give yourself to God, to commit yourself to him entirely. There is no way to get rid of your guilty conscience except by trusting in him. He alone can cleanse you. Gifts and sacrifices … are not able to clear the conscience (Hebrews 9:22) only Christ can. Go to him, therefore, and find complete cleansing.

Roslin. I trust you recognise that what I am saying is true. By coming to be baptised you are saying that you are guilty of sin. It is the testimony of your conscience. However, your conscience also testifies that whereas a ceremony can only at best make you outwardly clean the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, can cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Hebrews 9:13, 14). And so your conscience is resting only in the blood of Christ. It is on that basis that we baptise you.

2. Baptism symbolically saves as it points to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who now reigns in heaven

Finally, Peter says that baptism saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand - with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. The New Testament speaks very often about the resurrection of Jesus and when it does so it almost invariably has in mind his death as well. Peter has mentioned the death explicitly already back in 18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit. Why did Christ die? Peter is clear. Christ died for sins. It was in order to deal with sin that he died. It was the death of the righteous for the unrighteous – the Son of God, the only Saviour, died taking the punishment deserved by sinners like you and me. He did it, Peter says to these believers, to bring you to God. By nature we are all sinners and we have no access to God,. We cannot come near him. However, a way back to God has been opened up by Christ’s death as a substitute for sinners on the cross. There is a way back through trusting in him and what he has done. Baptism symbolises union with Christ in his death and resurrection. That is why Paul says (in Romans 6:3-5) Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. (Also see Colossians 2:12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

So baptism cannot literally save anyone but it is a symbol of a good conscience towards God and of the death and resurrection of Christ. It is by these means that people are saved – by committing themselves to god and trusting in Jesus Christ and what he has done.

Are you a baptised believer? Remember your baptism then – that symbolic uniting with Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection. That is what saves you – the fact that you are united to him. There is no salvation anywhere else is there?

Are you unbaptised? Realise that the only way to be saved is by looking to the Lord Jesus and what he has done. He alone can cleanse you. To be baptised without being joined to him in faith would be a meaningless charade. But if you really are joined to him there is no better symbol of it.

Roslin. Are you looking only to Christ and what he has done for forgiveness?. Then we are willing to baptise you.

Someone may be thinking, ‘Can you be saved and not be baptised?’ The answer is yes. The dying thief is proof enough. That is the exception. Normally, it is a matter of believing and then being baptised. If you have a good conscience toward God – one that bears witness both to your guilt and to the blood of Christ. If your are looking only to Jesus Christ and what he has done then I urge you to be baptised.

A man and a woman baptised - their story and you

Text Acts 16 Date 19/04/15 Place Childs Hill Baptist (Baptism)

We are going to baptise two young people tonight. In a short while they are going to say something about their story and then one by one I am going to go down into the water with them and I am going to immerse them in the water and then they are going to rise and step out. They are going to be symbolically washed clean. Symbolically, they are going to die as they sink and then rise again as they come up from under the water.

Now whenever there is a symbol or a symbolic action there is potential for misunderstanding and so without words we will not be entirely sure that everybody understands.

Take for example if I shake my head left and right. For most people that means “no”. There are parts of the world, however, where it means “yes” and nodding the head means “no”. To be absolutely sure then you need to say which you mean.

Or take two fingers. A man in a pub indicating to the barman he wants two beers may be understood. In a similar way George Bush Senior apparently ran into trouble in 1992 in Australia when he tried to make a sign for peace.

In this country people often wear red poppies in November to remember the war dead. In 2010 David Cameron wore one in China, however, and it caused offence as in the nineteenth century Britain defeated China in two opium wars (opium coming from poppies).

I really want you all to understand what this mean then when these two are baptised. The best way to do that is if we turn to Acts 16 in the New Testament. There we are told about two people who are baptised in the Macedonian city of Philippi, the first a business woman and the second a tough jailer, probably a retired Roman soldier.

1. Consider Lydia and her experience, that of these two young Christians and your own

We can say four things about Lydia from the text, things that are true to some extent of these two young people too.

1. This woman prayed and worshipped but was unconverted, as with these two and may be you

Luke, the writer of Acts, explains how Paul and his team travelled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. He says we stayed there several days. On the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday) we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. There were not enough Jewish men for a synagogue in Philippi but a group of women used to meet by the river to pray. We sat down says Luke and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira (back in the direction from where they had come) named Lydia, a dealer in expensive and much prized purple cloth. She was a worshipper of God. She was not Jewish but she had been attracted to the Jewish faith and regularly worshipped the true God. This all happened before she became a Christian.

Now our two young friends could tell you something similar about themselves. They have both been coming here pretty much all their lives. They have been used to coming here every Sunday to worship God and they come from homes where God is worshipped and where there is prayer. However, it is only in recent months that they have actually been converted themselves. You see, you can worship God and pray and yet not be converted. Conversion is a different thing.

Perhaps you pray and worship God. That's good. But it is not the same thing as conversion. The two must not be confused. We do not baptise people just because they pray of worship God. We try to baptise only the converted.

2. This woman's heart was opened by God to respond, as with these two and may be you

Let's think about Lydia's conversion then. How does Luke describe it? He says in verse 14 The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. As Paul spoke about the Lord Jesus Christ and the need to repent from sin and trust in him something happened. Her heart which had been closed to God began to open and she was able to respond to the message. The Lord worked within to enable Lydia to respond. That is how it is when someone is converted. It is secret and unseen, It is God's work, but it results in the person hearing the message of God and responding to it. That is what has happened to these two.

Has it happened to you? We pray that it will.

3. This woman and others were baptised, as these two are going to be tonight; what about you?

We then read in verse 15 that she and the members of her household were baptised. Lydia was not married but people worked for her and they too had clearly heard the message as well and Hod had enabled them to respond and so they were all baptised. This is the norm in the New Testament. People hear the good news – that God will forgive all their sins if they trust in Jesus Christ – they are enabled to respond to the message by God an then they are baptised. There is nothing in the Bible about baptising babies or baptising anyone before they have responded.

All who respond get baptised. If you have heard the message and God is at work in your heart then I urge you to be baptised too.

4. This woman did good, as these two must also do and you

The final ting we read about Lydia is where Luke says she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." He says And she persuaded us. Almost here first act as a Christian was to do something to help these preachers who had come to her city. It was an act of kindness and concern. We don't know where they had lived before but Lydia was sure she could provide them with something better and so that is what she did. A true Christian will always do good of some sort or another.

Gwion and Courtney, tonight you are being baptised but now you need to find something to do to help God's people. You can't put up preachers in your home and there is no need at the moment but I am sure there are other things you can do and you must. So must all who are baptised.

*

In verses 16-24 Luke goes on to tell us the story of how Paul and his companion end up in jail in Philippi. The little group of Christians continued to meet week by week down by the river. One day on the way there Paul and the others were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future and who earned lots of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She made quite a nuisance of herself until one day Paul had had enough and he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" Immediately the spirit left which was good news for her but made her owners unhappy as their hope of making money was gone. Because of that they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, These men are Jews, anti-Semitism was alive and well in those days as it is now and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice. Philippi was a Roman colony and the Philippians were very proud of their Roman citizenship – something that Paul later uses to the new church's advantage. In verse 22 we read that The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

*

So by midnight that night there they were, hands and feet in shackles, stuck in a strange prison far from home and in the dark. But they weren't discouraged. In fact, they were singing hymns we learn. It is not long after this that we read about more conversions and baptisms too. So

2. Consider the jailer and his experience, that of these two young Christians and your own

1. This man was in despair, as these two have been and may be you

So (25) About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. No doubt they were learning from what was sung. The jailer was perhaps listening too at first. Then (26) Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone's chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. As far as he was concerned this was a disaster. Not only was there an earthquake but as far as he could see in the gloom all the prisoners were about to escape and he would be held responsible. There was nothing for it but to take his own life. Now he was in despair.

Now I don't suppose either of our two friends have come close to thinking of killing themselves but they know what it is to be tempted to despair. They know what it is to come under conviction of sin – to realise that you are a sinner and that unless God does something very dramatic there is no hope. Do you know what it is to be in that position? It is not easy to go through such a thing but it can be good for you. We certainly all need to come to an end of ourselves. We cannot solve our problems ourselves – any more than the jailer here.

2. This man wanted to know how to be saved, as these two did and may be you

Paul can see what the jailer is about to do and so he shouts out (28) Don't harm yourself! We are all here! The jailer then called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas and after bringing them out asked his famous question (30) Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

Now what exactly he meant by this question is uncertain. No doubt he had heard Paul and Silas singing and realised that they were not in jail because they were criminals but for preaching their message about Jesus and the resurrection. He was also in the midst if an earthquake. He asked the very best question you can ask, though - what must I do to be saved? It's a question that these two began asking when they were still quite young. It's a question that you ought to be asking too. Have you ever asked it? What must I do to be saved from sin and death and hell?

3. This man was told to believe in the Lord Jesus to be saved, as were these two and now you

With that great question we have an even greater answer. 31 They replied, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your household. The jailer knew Pal was in the prison for preaching about Jesus, who he said had died on a cross but had been raised to life. Now the man is told that all he has to do is to trust in this man Jesus who is God. And that is all these two have done and all you need to do too. Just trust in the Lord Jesus. Believe on him. If you do that, you will be saved.

4. This man and others were told other things from God's Word, as these two have been and now you

Of course, that is not all that they said. In verse 32 we read Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house (which probably refers to the other prisoners). We do not know exactly what they said any more than we do what was said to Lydia. When we read the rest of Acts and other parts of the New Testament we can make a good guess that Paul focused on Christ and his death and his resurrection and then on repentance (turning from sin) and faith in Jesus Christ, then living a life pleasing to God through him.

There are many things you need to know – God made you, only God can save you. He has revealed his will in the Bible. God will one day judge you. The only way to be sure of being safe on that day is to trust in Jesus Christ. Gwion and Courtney know these things. They have helped them to come to the point where they trust in Christ. You too must trust in Christ.

5. This man did good, as these two have and you must too

Verse 33 says that At that hour of the night gone midnight the jailer took them and washed their wounds. Previously he had not cared about them but now he does. Why? He has been converted. Before he is even baptised he has begun to do good, as is the case with these two I'm sure.

6. This man and others were baptised, as these two are going to be tonight; what about you?

Next it says then immediately he and all his household were baptised. Just as it was with Lydia so with them, so with all believers in the New Testament. That is how it should be with all believers.

Are you a believer? Then get baptised. It is a matter of obeying God. You say, I wouldn't want to have a big crowd like this watching me. Fine, we could do it quietly some other night with just a few present – we have done that. The issue is obedience. You say you are a Christian – then get baptised!

7. This man did good and was glad, as these two must also do and you too

The final verse I want to look at is verse 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God - he and his whole household. The man continued to good, like Lydia. We are not saved by doing good but if we really are saved then we will do good. Gwion and Courtney. We expect to see you doing good – more and more. This man was also filled with joy because he had come to believe in God. I am sure you are filled with joy tonight and if you look to Christ you will continue to be filled with joy. Joy is one of the blessings of those who trust in Christ.

I won't say more. I trust I have said enough to make clear what is going on tonight. Trust in Jesus Christ. He alone can save you.