Distinctives of the Christian and Missionary Alliance of the Philippines
CHURCH ORDINANCES
Ordinances of the church are ceremonies or practices that
are ordained (ordered, decreed) by God in the bible.
The Alliance
Lesson 5
BAPTISM
I.
Background
A. John the Baptist
John the Baptist’s life was linked to Jesus.
1. In the Old
Testament
The Old Testament prophet Isaiah foretold John’s
ministry of preparing the way for Jesus the Messiah in Isaiah 40:3. (Mark
1:2-4)
2. In the New
Testament
a.
Like Jesus, John’s birth was announced to his
parents by an angel.
b.
Read Luke 1:13-17 if you wish to find what the angel
foretold about John’s life and ministry.
c.
In Matthew 3:1-12 we see how John fulfilled what was
foretold about him, both by the prophet Isaiah and the angel.
3. The baptism
preached and practiced by John related to repentance. Matthew 3:6,ll
4. He was called
“the Baptist” because his method of baptism was immersion.
B. The Baptism of Jesus –Matthew 3:13-17
Jesus Christ’s baptism was His first step on the road to
the cross. Although He had no sin, He
identified Himself with sinful humanity.
Obedient to what was required of Him, He was willing to suffer sin’s
punishment for all people – even to death on the cross – Philippians 2:6-8
1. What was John’s
reaction to Jesus’ request to be baptized? (Matthew 3:14)
2. How did Jesus
answer him? With what result? (Matthew
3:15)
C. Jesus’ Last Command Before His Return to
Heaven –Matthew 28:19,20
1. What does the
last command of Jesus to His disciples after His resurrection and before He
returned to Heaven, say about baptism? (vs.19)
2. Does this command
refer to us today? Why?
II.
The Meaning of
Baptism
A. Romans 6:3-14 gives us a clear
explanation of the meaning of baptism.
1.
From verse 3, of what is baptism a picture? See also
Galatians 3:27.
2.
a. Because of
our union with Christ as believers, what does baptism show has happened to
us? (vs.4)
b. Whose power accomplished this? (vs.4) See
also Ephesians 1:19,20; Colossians 2:12.
3.
How important is the cross? (vs.6) See also Romans
3:23-25 and 5:10.
4.
a. In verse
6a, what verb tense (past, present, future) is used?
b. What has already happened?
c. Who has been put to death? See also
Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9.
d. Why has our “old being” (“old self”) been
put to death? (vs.6) From what is a dead person set free? (vs.7)
5.
a. What do we
know? (vv.9,10)
b. Because we know this, what is the first thing
we must do to have victory over sin? (vs. 11)
6. a.
What must we do in order to live the way we should because of our union
with Jesus Christ? (vv. 12-14)
b. What
must we not do?
B. References to the Old Testament
In several New
Testament portions about baptism, references are made to happenings in the Old
Testament. (If you wish to read the Old
Testament background, the Scripture references where these may be found are
given after the New Testament references.)
1.
1Corinthians
10:1-5 (Exodus 13:21,22; 14:19-31)
The baptism of the Israelites in the
could and in the Read Sea (verses 1,2) separated them from their former
life of slavery in Egypt
It also showed that the Israelites
acknowledged Moses as their deliverer, chosen by God to free them from the
power of the Egyptians. As a result they
promised to follow and obey him
In the same way, our baptism
symbolizes a separation from our former life of slavery to sin and its power
over us. It is also our acknowledgement
of Jesus Christ as our Deliverer from sin, and our promise to follow and obey
Him as our lord and Master.
Even though the Israelites were
separated from their former life, God was still displeased with them (verse 5)
because of their disobedience.
In our lives, what must follow the
outward sign of baptism?
2.
Colossians
2:11-14;3:1-4 (Genesis 17:7-14)
Circumcision was a physical sign of a special
covenant relationship between God and the Jews.
It was a sign of separation from other peoples and acceptance by God of
them as His special people.
In verse 11,
Paul speaks of the circumcision made by Christ as spiritual, and it “consists
of being freed from the power of this sinful self.” It is only through Christ that we can be
separated and freed from the power of our sinful self, be accepted by God, and
enter into a special relationship with Him.
Although baptism in the New Testament does not take the place of circumcision
in the Old Testament, it is an outward symbol of this relationship with God.
See also Galatians 3:26-29.
Abraham was
accepted by God as righteous before he
was circumcised Romans 4:11. The act of
circumcision was a sign of something which had already happened.
Similarly,
baptism is a sign of confirming something which has already taken place in the
life of a believer. However, baptism
goes beyond the meaning of circumcision
More than just a sign of separation, it is the death and burial of the “old self” and resurrection to a new life with Christ.
a.
What did god nail to the cross? (Colossians 2:14)
b.
Because we have been raised to life with Christ,
what should we do? (Colossians 3:1)
c.
Why should we consider the things of heaven more
important than the things of earth? (3:3)
d.
Who is our real life? (3:4) See also Galatians 2:20;
3:27.
Therefore we see that the ordinance
of baptism is not only a picture of our salvation, but also of our
sanctification – with the continual presence of Jesus Himself in our lives,
providing us with everything we need to become like Him.
3.
1Peter 3:18-22 (Genesis
6:1-8:19)
In these verses the waters of the flood are likened
to baptism as a picture of the way of salvation. The floodwaters are an
illustration of the judgement of death, which did not touch Noah, and his
family who were safe in the ark (boat).
In the same way,
we as believers and followers of Christ, are kept safe from, and escape the
judgment of sin which is death. This is
because Christ Himself passed through
the “flood waters” of death and paid the penalty for our sin. Because of this God looks at us already
having been punished in Christ, and we are considered as dead to sin. See also Galatians 2:19.
Then, as Noah
and his family entered a new world physically, we, through Christ’s
resurrection, enter a new life spiritually.
In verse 21 of
1Peter 3, Peter warns us that neither the ceremony
of baptism, which is a symbol, nor the waters
of baptism can make us spiritually clean.
a.
How then, are we saved? What is required from us? What did Jesus do?
(vs. 21)
b.
If Jesus Christ had not been resurrected from dead
(verse 21), could we be saved? Why?
c.
How is our salvation from sin and death completed
and made certain (sure) by Christ’s resurrection? (vs.22) See also Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:24,25.
d.
Since baptism is an outward symbol of the putting to
death of our former sinful self, showing to others our promise of loyalty to
God (verse 21), how should this affect the way we live? See Colossians 3:1-17;
Ephesians 4:23,24
III.
Baptism in the
New Testament Church
Since the days of the early church it has
been true, as someone has said, that “Baptism is an integral part of God’s
total plan of salvation.”
In the early church, repentance, resulting in faith in Christ, and
baptism, were seen as a whole, with baptism as the natural outward response of
an inward faith. However, faith was
necessary first, because apart from
faith the rite of baptism had no meaning.
The person to be baptized must have turned away from his sins – Acts
2:38 and have “believed the good news about the Kingdom of God
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself had bee baptized – Matthew 3:15,16, and
commanded it for His followers – Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15,16. Therefore, to the members of the early
church, baptism always followed conversion and was not something to be
questioned.
The method of baptism was immersion.
The original Greek word used in the New Testament for baptism has the
meaning of “immersion” or “to go completely under water.” This best expressed the reality of spiritual
union with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
Today in the Alliance
Most Filipinos have been baptized as babies and believe, as their
church teaches, that when a baby is baptized he will go directly to heaven if
he dies. This baptism is said to take
care of “original sin” and puts the baby in a “state of grace.”
We in the Alliance believe that if a baby or child dies who does not
yet know and understand what sin is, because of God’s love and mercy, that baby
will go directly to heaven should he die.
It is only when a person has the ability to understand clearly the meaning
of sin and repentance (and this age can vary), and what Jesus did to save him,
that he must make his own decision to accept Christ as his Savior or reject
Him.
However, because it is important in a Christian family to bring up
children in the right atmosphere and teach them early to love God and accept
Christ as their personal Savior and Master, we have a ceremony where Christian
parents dedicate their new baby (and sometimes older children also, if the
parents have just become Christians), to God.
This ceremony does not save the child’s soul or act as a “charm” for his
protection. It is a time when the parents publicly acknowledge their child as
their gift from God and give him back to the Lord. They promise, along with any other family
members of friends who have been asked to be godparents, to bring up the child
according to the teaching of the Bible, and to act as Christian parents should.
