1 Corinthians 1:10-17 (ANM - 03/07/1993)

In this part of the sermon: Martin notes how quickly the issue of baptism comes center stage in Paul's address to the Corinthians, observing that the passage contains no fewer than six specific references to…

Martin uses the analogy of a 'fertile baptismal field, or perhaps I should say fertile baptismal pond' to describe 1 Corinthians 1:13-17, highlighting its rich concentration of references to baptism for understanding its meaning.

I was telling my wife driving here tonight, it's amazing how much the word of God continues to open up before us as we study it, and that someone, someone asked me prior to my preparation of tonight's meditation, where in the word of God do you find the most dense concentrated use of the term baptized and baptism? I probably would have said the early verses of Romans 6. But it is here, in this passage, you have six uses of the verb baptized within this very short compass. Verse 14.

3:57 - 4:37 Read in full sermon

The point: Acknowledge your utter sinfulness and helplessness, recognizing that you cannot cleanse yourself or bring yourself to Christ.

Martin shares that the elders heard the baptismal candidates acknowledge their utter sinfulness and helplessness, confirming their understanding that baptism is not for gaining something they don't already possess in Christ.

The Scripture says when we were without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. And so we learn from this passage, rich in its references to baptism, that man's greatest need, is not to be baptized, or to undergo any other religious ritual, but to be saved from sin, by the power of God. It's been the joy, the privilege of your elders, to hear each of these who are to be baptized, freely, with a sense of spiritual shame, and a sense of humble heart before God, acknowledge, their own utter sinfulness, and their awareness that there was nothing they could do, to cleanse themselves from...

11:16 - 12:41 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not place your faith in the water of baptism or any other ritual for cleansing, pardon, or acceptance before God; your confidence must be in Jesus Christ crucified.

The story of the Philippian jailer asking 'What must I do to be saved?' is used to illustrate that the clear answer is 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,' not any ritual or self-help.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever undergoes the water of baptism, know, that whosoever will walk an aisle and pray a prayer, know, that whosoever will carry and speak in tongues, know, that whosoever believeth on him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. When that jailer, there in the city of Philippi, who had seen the mighty power of God, shaking the jail, and the same power of God restraining the prisoners, that they didn't all split and disappear, but they stayed there in the prison, and he sees this manifestation of the power of God in ...

21:31 - 22:46 Read in full sermon

The point: Declare your supreme attachment to the person of Christ in baptism, signifying your readiness to wholly follow Him.

The example of the Israelites being 'baptized unto Moses' in the cloud and sea is used to explain that baptism signifies attachment and submission to the person into whose name one is baptized.

Even as it is said that the Israelites were baptized unto Moses, in the cloud and in the sea. In other words, they signified their attachment to the leadership of Moses when they passed through the Red Sea and were gathered under God as a nation into that relationship of submission to the law of God and to the leader God set over them. Paul says, how stupid to be lining up behind me as though your loyalty were to me or to Peter. Because in your baptism, you were signifying that through the gospel you had come to supreme religious attachment to the person of Jesus Christ himself. That's what ba...

31:52 - 33:14 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Baptism symbolizes the cleansing from sin achieved by the blood of Christ, not by the water itself, confirming the gospel truth that sins are washed away by calling upon the name…

Martin quotes lines from the hymn 'Nothing But the Blood of Jesus' to emphasize that only Christ's blood cleanses from sin, which baptism symbolizes.

Isn't that what the Gospel declares? The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

34:26 - 34:39 Read in full sermon