Read Luke 3:21-22 , Romans 6:1-11, Galatians 3:27
• Last week started a three week series entitled ‘Baptized’, where we are studying God’s word to gain a deeper understanding of the
reality of Baptism in the Bible
• Last week we spent most of our time outlining the three different baptisms mentioned in scripture
• And how important it is to know a) the type of baptism, b) who or what you are being baptized into, and c) who is doing the
baptizing
• We acknowledged last week that the first type of Baptism is when we give our hearts to Christ,
• And that in this type of baptism we are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ or the Family of God
• We also said that this type of baptism must occur first before the other two types can occur or be affective.
• The second type of baptism we mentioned was the baptism with the Holy Spirit, which we will talk about in more detail next week.
• This type of baptism can be the second or third baptism experience once you have accepted Christ
• But we mentioned that in the Bible it was typically the third type of baptism mentioned as normally taking place in the life of the
believer.
• In this type of baptism Jesus is the one doing the baptizing, and He baptizes us into or covers us with the Holy Spirit.
• And the third type of baptism we mentioned, which we will focus on today is water baptism.
• And we said that in water baptism we are baptized by a minister of Christ into a watery grave,
• But we also said that water baptism is often misinterpreted as just a symbolic event in the Christian life.
• But as I will talk about today, it is so much more than just symbolic, as in water baptism we are actually taking on or being baptized
into the identity of Christ.
• If you remember that from last week, and you praise God for the revelation of baptism say AMEN.
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• I guess before I go any further it’s important to mention that I feel like it is more important for me to help you to gain a fuller
understanding of water baptism today,
• Then it is for me to shout at you, and give you a message that is exciting and maybe funny
• How many of you know I am a bit of a goofball by nature??? And I like to have fun when I preach, How many of you know that’s
ok???
• But I want to teach a little bit today, because I feel like this subject is so crucial.
• Especially given the fact that today we are going to actually be performing several water baptisms directly following the service…
• That being said, I really struggled a bit with what scriptures I was going to use, as there is so much in the Bible about water
baptism that I’d love to share,
• However, I wanted to really spend most of our time today focusing on the importance of water baptism to the Christian life
• I need you to understand that water baptism should be a life changing experience for the believer.
• When I was a child after I accepted Christ, I was baptized in water, and even though we were really not told a lot about baptism
then…
• We were simply told that it was a symbolic public confession of our faith in Christ,
• When I came out of the water I felt something very obvious, and even though I didn’t understand it fully then
• I told my mother and the others that were there that I felt different.
• I have since received the revelation and reality of water baptism, and now understand what or who that ‘something different’ was.
• So let’s get right into the meat of our study this morning, as I don’t want to take too long, but I want those being baptized or those
contemplating being baptized today to have a clear understanding of what is going to occur.
• As I mentioned last week, and again a few minutes ago, you cannot get baptized in water into the identity of Christ if you are not
first saved.
• You can be dunked in the water, but if Christ does not already live in you, you won’t get anything from it other than getting wet.
• So the first thing I will ask when we go get into the water today are the following questions:
• 1) Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior?
• 2) Do you believe that Jesus lived a perfect life, died, was buried, was resurrected, and ascended into Heaven?
• And If you answer yes to both of those questions I will ask, 3) Are you willing to take on the identity of Jesus Christ, and live a life
worthy of being called His disciple?
• And then I will say these words: ‘I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, In the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of Sins’.
• Now I think it’s important to know why I use those words.
• How many of you are saying to yourself right now, well when I was baptized, the preacher simply said ‘In the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit’?
• Well that’s how I was baptized too, but how many know the Bible says more about the subject than just that?
• Now don’t let me confuse you, Matthew 28:19 does say, ‘Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit’
• But then in Acts 2:38 Peter says, ‘Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins’
• Now I say both because I don’t want to upset or be a stumbling block to anyone,
• and the scripture also tells us to do it both ways, but I personally believe it is crucial to baptize you in the name of Jesus.
• Now personally I believe that the two scriptures are saying the same thing,
• I believe that the names Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are titles of the Godhead.
• But How many of you know God’s name is not Father (that’s something we call Him)
• His name is not Son (that’s how we identify Jesus - the Son of God who walked this earth)
• And His name is not Holy Spirit – this is a title that we use to identify the spirit of the living God
• However, when Peter says baptize in Jesus name, to me he is saying the same thing that Matthew said, but just more specifically.
• Because I believe that when we hear the name of Jesus, we identify it with the name of God.
• Amen, if you struggle with that, listen to what Colossians 2 says in verses 8-10,
• Concerning Jesus It says, ‘Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men,
according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him (Jesus) dwells all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him (Jesus), who is the head of all principality and power.’
• Another words when we take on the identity of Christ or the identity of Jesus, it is because He walked this earth
• And so we can identify ourselves in Him, He was God in the flesh, and He was and Is all powerful
• The Bible tells us that there is no way to the Father but through Him, Jesus.
• Therefore if we are going to have relationship with God, we do so through Jesus Christ,
• Does that make sense to everyone??? The Bible is not contradicting itself in those two scriptures.
• Being baptized in Jesus name is the same thing as being baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
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• So having said that, and knowing that I said last week that water baptism is about taking on the identity of Christ
• Let’s look at our three scriptures that we read this morning.
• First let’s look again at Luke 3:21-22 – it says ‘When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized;
and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice
came from heaven which said, You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased'…
• It’s important to note that this was the sign that John the Baptist was waiting for to prove that Jesus was in fact the messiah.
• And even more so concerning identity, when the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a Dove and remained on Christ,
• This was Jesus taking on the identity of God, or being identified by the Father as the Anointed One through the baptism or
indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
• We will get into that more next week, but it’s important to note that even Jesus’s water baptism was about identity.
• How many know that Jesus from His birth was God in the flesh?
• But At Jesus’s baptism He was identified as the Son of God, and He received the Power of God necessary to walk out the next
3-1/2 yrs of His ministry.
• Interestingly enough before this we don’t hear of any miracles performed by Jesus, and for the first time in scripture, we see the
Son of God endowed with power from on high.
• Now let’s look at Romans chapter 6: Verses 3-5 says ‘Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into His death? 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. For if we have been united together in the
likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection’.
• Folks, I hope you get this, because this is such an important scripture concerning baptism, because it tells us that water baptism is
representative of Christ’s death.
• It says we are buried with Him (Jesus) through baptism into death, and if we have been united with Him in the likeness of His
Death, we will certainly take on His likeness in the resurrection.
• Another words we go in the water looking like us, and come out of the water looking like Him.
• Oh that’s good stuff, the sinner goes into the water, but the one who takes away our sin becomes visible when we come out.
(AMEN?)
• Now let’s take that one step further, look at what it says in verses 9-11, it says,
• “Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death
that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be
dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
• Did you get what was being said there? Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
• Listen to me, when you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you gained salvation,
• And salvation makes you dead to sin
• However, when you take on the act of water baptism you are not only dead to sin, but you become alive in Christ Jesus
• Folks, this is why in the Bible people were saved, and then immediately baptized with water whenever possible,
• Because they considered it part of the salvation process. The first baptism into the Body of Christ means you are dead to sin.
• The second baptism in water means you are alive in Christ.
• How many people do you know that give their hearts to Jesus Christ, but it is not obvious in their everyday lives that they are
changed?
• They may be going to Heaven because of their acknowledgment of Christ,
• However, they are not living on earth in the identity of Christ.
• How many of you know that there is more to being a Christian than just making it to Heaven?
• You need to ask yourself today, if when others look at my life they don’t see Jesus, am I living in the identity of Jesus Christ?
• Are you living in the fullness of what God has for your life, and if the answer is no, I don’t care if you have been baptized 25 times
Christian,
• Get back in the water today and PUT ON THE IDENTITY OF JESUS CHRIST. Would you give the Lord a Big AMEN this morning.
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• Let’s quickly look at our last scripture this morning in Galatians chapter 3
• Verse 27 says, ‘For as many of you as were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ’
• Putting on Christ means putting on the identity of Christ
• Just as Christ put on the identity of God when the Holy Spirit descended on Him at His water baptism,
• You and I put on the identity of Christ through the act of our Water baptism as well.
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• You know I know people who believe that water baptism is 100% symbolic, and though important, they believe it has no real power
to change us.
• I also know people who believe that you must be baptized in water in order to go to Heaven.
• As you have heard today, my understanding of water baptism is right in the middle of those.
• I don’t necessarily believe that water baptism is necessary to get to Heaven,
• Or how do you explain the thief on the cross who had no chance to be water baptized?
• How would you explain those who give their hearts to Christ, and before having a chance to be water baptized, they perish from
this earth?
• But just because I don’t believe that it is necessary to get to Heaven, doesn’t mean I don’t have strong feelings about the
importance and NECESSITY of water baptism.
• I passionately believe that every single believer should be baptized in water, for the purpose of taking on the identity of Jesus
Christ.
• Because your identity is absolutely worthless from a heavenly perspective
• But Christ’s identity has the power to save, the power to forgive, and the power to love unconditionally…
• And as I look around at our society… our country… and our world – I see a culture that is in dire need of the identity of Jesus
Christ.
• In dire need of putting on the identity that saves, the identity that forgives, and the identity that loves.
• The identity that Jesus clothes us in has the power to transcend hate,
• The identity that Jesus clothes us in has the power to knock down the barriers of race and social class
• And the identity that Jesus clothes us in has the power to unite, not divide.
• So having heard everything I have said today, I only have one question for you today as I close,
• Are you confident (even as a Christian) in the identity that you currently walk in?
• Or do you feel the need to put on the righteous identity of the ALL KNOWING, ALL POWERFUL, AND ALL LOVING KING OF
GLORY???
• His identity changed the world, what does yours do????
• WOULD YOU STAND PLEASE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD…
