Water Baptism

Acts 2:36   Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God  hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. 37   Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what  shall we do? 38) Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one  of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall  receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

When the house of Israel crucified Jesus. They were not the only ones guilty. If we had not sinned then Jesus would not have had to die for us!

So like the question posed to Peter ' What shall we do? ', the answer is the same, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.

READ Mark 1: 1- 11.

What was the cry of John the Baptise? verse 3 ......................................................................

What was the baptism John preached? verse 4 .. the baptism of .................... for the ...................

of  ...................

When John baptized the people in the river Jordan what were the people doing? verse 5

..............................................................................................................

When we are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins we find that there is more happening than in the baptism of John. In the book of Acts those who had the baptism of John were then required to be baptized again in the name of Jesus. ( Acts 19:1-6 )

We know that this new baptism is one of repentance and remission of sins, but what else happens?

In the old testament Abraham was required by God to be circumcised, for him his children and servant , as a sign of the covenant ( contract ) God made with him. This circumcision was the cutting away of the unclean part ( the foreskin ) of the male penis. When the male children was born this was to be done on the eighth day.

Deu 10:16   Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.

Deu 30:6   And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

Jer 4:4   Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

We then find in scripture that God wants his people not just to have an outward circumcision in the flesh, but also an inward change, a circumcision to the heart.

READ 1 Peter 3:20-21 , Colossians 2:11-15

What type of circumcision is referred to in Col. 2:11?  In whom also ye are ..........................

with the  .............................. made  .......................   .............................

In this 'operation of God' there is a ' putting off the body of the sins of the flesh ', as we confess our sins and then are baptized in the name of Jesus our hearts are circumcised. The unclean part like a veil covering us , is removed by God operating on us.

In the many times I have had the honour to baptise people, almost without fail you can always see more light shining from them as they emerge from the water. The unclean part has been cut away.

What else happens when we are baptized in the name of Jesus?

Romans 6:3 .... as many as were baptized into Jesus Christ were .................... into his .............

What happens to the old man, the old self? Rom 6:6 .............................................................

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Colossians 2:12          ........................... with him ........    ............................

It is important for us to understand that we have been immersed into Jesus' death because as the punishment for sin has been met in our death ( joined with Jesus ). Sin can no longer control us. We are no longer servants of sin, but servants of righteousness.

Romans 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth  we ..................  .........   ......................   .........!!

Romans 6:7 For he that .......   .................. ..... .............  ...........   .................!!!

Death can no longer, through sin, drag us to hell. The punishment has been met!

Do we stay in death?

Romans 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we ..........   ........

also in the ...................  of his ...............................

Romans 6:4..... like as Christ was ...............  from the ........... by the .................. of the Father, even so we also should ..................  ...... ....................... .... ............

When father poured his power and glory into Jesus raising him from the dead, was this operation for Jesus alone?

Colossians 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he

.................................... TOGETHER .................. ................

What happened to our sins?

Colossians 2:14    ........................ ....... the .......................... of .................... that was AGAINST US, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, ........................ ...... ........ ....... .......!

Thank you Father, Thank you Jesus.

Does anything else happen when we are baptized in the name of Jesus?

1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one spirit are we all .........................  ..........   .......   ...........

When does this happen and with whom?

Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as have been ......................  into ................... have put on

..................

To Recap.

When we are baptized in water in the name of Jesus Christ. Then we are baptized into repentance, baptized into death, baptized into resurrection and baptized into his body.

1 Cor 12:27   Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in  particular.

Now that we have studied what happens when we are baptized the next question is ' When should I be baptized in water? '.

Read    Acts 2:40-41               Acts 16:30-34              Acts 8:26-38

Acts 2:41 What happened after they gladly received Peters word? ...........................................

In which day were three thousand souls added to the body? ..................................................

Acts 16:33 When were they baptized? ....................................................

Acts 8:26-38 In this account of Philip preaching Jesus unto the eunuch of  Candace queen of the Ethiopians, we witness the process of a man becoming born again and being baptized in water.

1. The eunuch needed someone to explain the scriptures to him.

2. After hearing the word the eunuch said, ' See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

3. What was Philips response? verse 37      If thou .................. with all ...........  ......................

thou mayest.

4. What did Philip do? verse 38 ............................................................................................

When somebody truly believes from his heart, there is no point in waiting for him to be admitted into the body of Christ. Baptise them straightaway.  Who wants to live with the ' old man '?

Cut him away.

If I was baptized as a child is that sufficient?

There seems to be a little confusion in regard to baptism, sometimes because of the various baptisms we go through;   Repentance, Jesus, death, resurrection , his body, Holy spirit, fire etc..

To find our answers we have to look at the purpose behind the baptism, not the outward motion, through water etc..

In the book of acts we find that those who had the baptism of repentance, brought by John, were required to go through water baptism again, in the name of Jesus Christ.           Two water baptisms.

There is accounts of those who had already been baptized in the spirit, being baptized in water afterwards in Jesus' name.

Let us look at Jesus' baptism in water.

Mat 3:13   Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be  baptized of him. 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the  water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

For Jesus, his reason for undergoing Johns baptism of repentance was to fulfil all righteousness.

It was a righteous requirement for Jesus to pass through. He knew that Father required it of him. Remember the voice from heaven " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Jesus was without sin, nothing to confess!, yet he went through this baptism.

Jesus was an adult 30 years of age. When John came baptising Jesus knew he was to go through that requirement.

Jesus without question was already living for God, so that was not a consideration.

Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day as a baby, but still was required to undergo this baptism.

Jesus had been presented to the LORD as a baby, every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.

Why did Jesus get baptized?  - ' to fulfil all righteousness.'

If you have been baptized as a child then that is fine BUT it is not possible that it is the baptism of repentance. A baby does not yet have the understanding to repent.

So don't get upset by thinking that you have always lived for God etc.. Because look at Jesus! He went through that baptism of repentance YET He was without sin. He did it to fulfil all righteousness. Remember those in Acts who went through two water baptisms, its all right!

Should we baptise our children?

The first question we need to ask is why do we want to do it?

We cannot baptise them into repentance, they do not have the understanding yet.

Do we baptise them into Jesus?

Can we baptise them into Jesus if they have not given their lives yet to Jesus?

They would then need to be baptized into repentance later on.

There are no clear reported instances in the bible of children being baptized into Jesus. There are  incidents where it is possible that children were baptized

Acts 16:33   And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.

Children would come under 'and all his', but did he have any??

Acts 16:15   And when she was baptized, and her household,

Here Lydia was baptized, with all her household. Did she have children, were they baptized?

Acts 18:8   And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the  Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed,  and were baptized. Were the children baptized?

Acts 8:12   But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

We see with Philip that he baptized both men and women, why does it not mention children?

Without clear precise scriptures on the subject it is impossible to draw a conclusion on which  you can base doctrine. There is not enough hard evidence.

God commanded Abraham to circumcise the children to bring them into the covenant with him.

So we cannot rule it out just because of their lack of understanding, that only applies to repentance which they would have to be baptized later for.

What we do know, is that the children are sanctified, i.e.. made holy.

1 Cor 7:14   For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the  unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.

Even if one parent is a believer then the children will be holy!

To conclude this matter: Do not worry that the children are not sanctified, they are if you are.

Wait for them to have understanding of sin, and when they want to join the body of Christ let them. Baptise them in water in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins.

Luke 18:16   But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

Now that we have been baptized in water in the name of Jesus, what is next?

Luke 3:16 (KJV)   John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptise you  with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am  not worthy to unloose: he shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:

Memory VERSE:

Acts 2:38

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