Significance of Baptism

Introduction to the Significance of Baptism

0:00 This adult Sunday school class was held on September 4th, 1983, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. One of the tricks that you learn in the academy is that whenever your outline becomes too minute, start using units and parts instead of Roman numeral I and II. We've been considering together the matter of infant baptism, and we spent some seven Sunday school classes considering the biblical witness to the subjects of baptism. Now we come this morning to the second part or unit or Roman numeral of our considerations,

0:44 the significance of baptism as that significance impinges upon the question of infant baptism. So before we begin our study of the scriptures this morning, let's seek the Lord's face in prayer. For his blessing upon our study of his holy word, let us pray.

1:08 Our God, as we come into your presence again this morning, we thank you that our hearts were enlarged in the singing of that hymn. We thank you for the prospect of beholding the face of Jesus Christ and seeing those glorified wounds. We thank you for him. We thank you for his life and death.

1:28 Especially we thank you for his resurrection and the power of that resurrection. We thank you, Lord, that we have been identified with the power of his death and resurrection. We pray that as we consider this morning what it means that we have been baptized, we pray that the Holy Spirit would come and shine upon our hearts, that as we consider the scriptures together, that you would give us light, that you would not leave us to ourselves, but that you would open up our minds that we may understand the scriptures and that understanding them, we may come more to appreciate what Jesus Christ is and what he has done for us. For we ask this in his name. Amen.

Methodology and Overview of the Study

2:13 Now I'll say very little this morning by way of review because of the fact that Pastor Martin has kept the fires burning in my absence. While I was away, he considered the subject of baptism and regularly reviewed the material that we had considered together. So therefore, I feel liberty that I can come back without having to refresh your minds, your memories, with respect to the ground that we covered before I went away and left for South Africa. So now we can come right back having, first of all, now completed our study of the subjects of baptism, secondly, to consider together the significance of baptism.

2:54 Now what I have determined to do, you remember that when we considered the subjects of baptism, we went through the scriptures, passage by passage, considering the major elements of the New Testament witness to the subjects of baptism. Now we're going to do the same thing this morning with respect to the significance of baptism. We'll go through some 10 to 12 series of passages. I've combined some passages so that passages that deal with the similar event or theme are combined.

3:28 So we have some 10 to 12 passages to look at in which the significance of baptism is laid out clearly from the New Testament. And once we've considered those, then I'll have a summarizing statement in which I seek to summarize and collate the biblical testimony with regard to the significance of baptism. And having said that, I have one quote with which to close and I hope that we get that far this morning. It's a quote from the Westminster Confession and that quotation is intended to underscore the fact that godly Presbyterians and other paedo-baptists would agree completely with what is being said this morning.

Baptism as an Initiatory Rite and Attachment to the Triune God (John 4, Matthew 28)

4:11 So let's begin our study of the New Testament by looking at John chapter 4. We'll just work our way through the New Testament. We won't necessarily spend a lot of time with these passages, but just to look at the face of the New Testament with respect to the significance of baptism. Now every passage is not equally clear or explicit, but it's going to be like something which accumulates like a snowball going down the hill.

4:46 We pick up a little bit of snow here and a little bit of snow there. And by the time we get to the bottom of the hill, hopefully we'll have a big pile. John chapter 4 verses 1 and 2. When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, although Jesus, himself did not baptize but his disciples, he left Judea and departed again unto Galilee.

5:15 Now, what does this passage tell us about the significance of baptism? Well, it doesn't tell us everything that we would like to know, but it tells us at least one thing. It is that baptism, whatever its significance may be, is an initiatory rite. Jesus was making and baptizing.

5:35 That this rite, this symbolic water rite of baptism, is identified with entrance into a new relationship to God and to Christ and to God's people. It's identified with being made a disciple. Previously they were not disciples. Now they are disciples.

5:57 They have been made disciples. They become disciples. And in conjunction with becoming a disciple, they are baptized. Jesus was making, and baptizing.

6:09 Whatever it is, it's something which is identified with the threshold of becoming a Christian. It's identified with entering into this new relationship to God and to Christ and to the people of God. It's associated with becoming a disciple. It is an initiatory rite.

6:35 Now that's clear from that text. Matthew chapter 28, second passage, Matthew chapter 28, verse 19. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations,

7:15 baptizing them in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. Now in verse 19, once again, we find that the major thought here is that the apostles are commissioned to make disciples. That is the governing thought of the passage, the governing duty and responsibility which is laid upon them is evangelism.

7:52 They are to go into the world and preach the gospel. And with respect to this task of evangelism, two subsidiary or subordinate responsibilities are laid upon them. They are to baptize and they are to teach. And again, we find identified with the task of evangelism, with the task of making disciples, is this responsibility to baptize those who have been evangelized.

8:19 Again, the text indicates that it is an initiatory rite, an initiatory ordinance identified with entrance into a new relationship to God, to Christ, and to God's people. Again, it's identified with being made a disciple of Jesus Christ. But now there's another element that's placed here. And it says here, baptizing them into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

8:50 The emphasis is upon the fact that baptism is identified with attachment to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Identification with, and attachment to the Triune God in a new relationship of love, Sonship, and obedience. A relationship of discipleship. All right, now Acts chapter 2.

Baptism, Repentance, Remission of Sins, and the Holy Spirit (Acts 2)

9:18 Acts chapter 2, beginning in verse 38. And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For to you is the promise and to your children and to all that are afar off, etc.

10:00 And then verse 40. And with many other words, he testified in verse 41. Then they that received his word were baptized and there were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls. Now, first of all, in verse 38, we find an intimate connection between baptism, repentance, and the remission of sins.

10:28 That baptism is intimately associated with repentance, the remission of sins, and then verse 38 again, the gift of the Holy Spirit. That complex of events on man's part, the exercise of repentance. Then God's response to that exercise of repentance, justification, the remission of sins, and the giving of the Holy Spirit as the gift of the Spirit to come and to dwell within the heart. So you find these two things, the giving of the Spirit and the forgiveness of sins identified with man's exercise of repentance

11:12 and identified with the initiatory rite of baptism. Now, the text does not tell us precisely how the justification or the remission of sins and the gift of the Spirit, that is, that which is God's response to the exercise of repentance and faith, how that is precisely related to baptism. And there are many who have said that baptism is that which itself regenerates. Baptism is that which itself conveys these blessings from God.

11:49 Now, the scripture is, of course, abundantly clear to the contrary in other places. It is not baptism, which itself automatically confers grace, but baptism is a symbol of the grace conferred. And it is precisely because of the relationship between reality and symbol that baptism is identified with these, with this complex of blessings, which come in conjunction with conversion. But now we'll see that from other passages.

12:25 But for this point, let it be said that baptism is intimately related with the complex of blessings that come in conjunction with conversion. But then verse 41, then those that received the word were baptized and there were added unto them in that day about 3,000 souls. Here, there's an intimate connection between baptism and being added unto the company of the disciples. Those that received the word were baptized and there were added about 3,000 souls.

13:09 Now this implies that there was a determination on the part of those who had been baptized to be publicly identified with Jesus Christ and his people. Previously, they were not identified with the people of God. They were not identified with the disciples of Christ, but now they have been baptized and in light of this baptism, their relationship to the people of God changes. What was previously not so now becomes so.

13:43 They were previously not numbered with them and now they are numbered with them and this transition is described as their being added unto the people of God. So in their baptism, in that coming forward to be immersed in water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, there is this determination on the part of those baptized to be publicly identified with Jesus Christ and his people. Now it doesn't always, as we would learn from Acts chapter 8, this doesn't always necessarily imply that those baptized in a given context

14:28 automatically become members of that particular local church. There may be exceptional circumstances which would warrant it being otherwise as in the case of the Ethiopian eunuch as he was baptized by Philip. But even there, there was this determination on the part of the eunuch and it doesn't negate the fact that there would be determination on the part of the eunuch to be publicly identified with Jesus Christ and his people, a thing which was previously not so. And under normal circumstances that would imply that the person so identified would come into membership of the church

Baptism and Faith: The Case of Simon Magus (Acts 8)

15:11 in which the baptism took place. All right, the fourth passage, Acts chapter 8 verses 12 and 13. Acts chapter 8, verses 12 and 13. But when they believed Philip preaching good tidings concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

15:49 And here again, baptism is identified with the event of believing the gospel. They believed Philip preaching the good tidings, preaching the gospel concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Christ. And when they believed the gospel, they were baptized. Again, it's an initiatory rite identified with entrance into this new relationship and this distinctly New Testament relationship to God and to Christ and to the people of God.

16:22 But now verse 13, and Simon himself also believed and being baptized, he continued with Philip and beholding signs and great miracles wrought, he was amazed. But now we learn some other things about Simon, where Peter comes in verse 19 and following. And then he says to him in verse 20, because he sought to receive the power that the apostles had by paying for it with money. And Peter says to him in verse 20, your silver perish with you,

17:04 because you have thought to obtain the gift of God with money. You have neither lot nor part in this matter for your heart is not right before God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness and pray the Lord, if perhaps the thought of your heart shall be forgiven you. Peter tells him your heart is not right before God.

17:31 There is no automatic conferral of grace in the ordinance of baptism. This man, Simon, made a credible profession of faith. We read in the language of Luke, who is not so fastidious as to say in verse 13 that he himself believed. And yet Peter says his heart is not right with God.

18:02 All faith is not saving faith. And all credible profession is not true conversion. And everyone who is baptized is not automatically saved because he was baptized. Because the waters of baptism do not automatically confer anything to the soul.

18:27 All they necessarily do is make the body wet. But they do not necessarily do anything to the soul. There is no magical or mystical power identified with the water that is sprinkled, poured or into which someone is immersed. And Simon is the monument to that truth.

18:52 He himself exercised the kind of faith, though it was not saving faith, but Luke calls it faith. Perhaps it was the faith of demons. Whatever it was, it was real. And it looked like the real thing, even to a good and godly man.

19:09 And he baptized him. And yet his heart was not right before God. So remember we saw in Acts chapter 2 that baptism was intimately identified with that complex of blessings associated with conversion, with the remission of sins, and with the giving of the Holy Spirit. But baptism is not so identified with those blessings.

19:38 It is not so identified with the remission of sins and the giving of the Spirit that it is right to say that everyone who is baptized has certainly and automatically had his sins forgiven and received the Holy Ghost. That we dare not say or think. Because it is not ipso facto. Because baptism does not automatically or necessarily convey those blessings.

Baptism as Symbolic Washing Away of Sins (Acts 9, Acts 22)

20:09 Whatever the relationship between baptism and remission of sins is, it is not such a relationship that remission of sins is automatically conferred in the event of baptism. And the case of Simon makes that abundantly clear. But now let's look at the Apostle Paul. Two texts which describe the baptism of the Apostle Paul.

20:38 Acts chapter 9 and then Acts chapter 22. Acts chapter 9. And verse 18. Beginning in 17.

20:56 And Ananias comes in and says to him, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you in the way which you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And straightway there fell scales, as it were, from his eyes. And he received his sight and he arose and was baptized. And he took food, and was strengthened.

21:24 Again, in conjunction with the conversion of Saul, the opening of his eyes and the reception of the Spirit, we find the ordinance of baptism. Now again, Acts chapter 22 makes this relationship more clear. Acts chapter 22 and verse 16. And here Ananias' exhortation to Paul is opened up in greater detail.

21:59 He says in verse 16, And now, why do you tarry? Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling upon his name. The washing of the body is here identified with the washing away of sins. Arise, be baptized, wash away your sins, calling upon his name.

22:29 Calling upon his name is intimately identified with having sins washed away. The reality of sins forgiven is intimately identified with the symbol of baptism. Baptism is a symbolic washing. It is a washing of the body which symbolizes the washing of the soul.

22:53 It is a washing of the body in water which symbolizes that the sins have been washed away from a man. The removal of guilt and pollution is symbolized in the baptismal bath. And it is that removal of guilt and pollution which comes in conjunction with calling upon the name of Jesus Christ which is symbolized in baptism. You see, the connection between baptism and those blessings is that connection between symbol and reality.

23:33 Symbol and reality. The thing signified is intimately connected with the symbol which signifies it. Baptism is the symbolic initiatory rite. The thing signified is the washing away of sins through calling upon the name of Jesus Christ.

Baptism as the Symbol of Applied Salvation (Acts 10, Acts 16)

23:57 It is the perception and experience of the application of salvation. Now again, Acts chapter 10, the next passage. Acts chapter 10, beginning in verse 44. And while Peter yet spoke these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them that heard the word.

24:34 And they of the circumcision that believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. And then answered Peter, Can any man forbid the water that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Jesus Christ.

25:13 And then they prayed him to tarry certain days. Notice Peter's thinking. His thinking was that they have received the Holy Spirit. Salvation has been applied to them.

25:29 And they have received this peculiar and special manifestation of the Spirit given in the history of salvation. They have received this peculiar, special manifestation which was poured out upon the Jews, Peter and company, on the day of Pentecost. Now he's saying this. How can the symbol of the application of salvation be forbidden to those who have already received the reality?

26:04 If the reality is theirs, if they have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, and if this reception of the gift of the Spirit has been attested in the same redemptive historical manner in which it was attested to us at Pentecost, if this is what has happened to them, how can we refuse them that water rite which symbolizes that they have experienced the application of salvation and have entered in to that peculiar complex of New Testament blessings signaled by Pentecost and the descent of the Spirit

26:45 publicly and corporately upon the people of God? If they have entered into this complex of events, even as we have, how can we refuse them the symbol that salvation has been applied to them? You see Peter's point? So baptism is intimately connected with that entrance into the complex of New Covenant blessing and reality signaled by the descent and special coming of the Spirit at Pentecost and experienced individually at conversion in conjunction with the giving of the Holy Spirit

27:28 and the remission of sin. Okay, Acts chapter 16, verses 33 and 34. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and was baptized, he and all his, immediately. And he brought them up into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly with all his house, having believed in God.

28:10 Again, baptism here is intimately identified with the experience of conversion. He took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized, verse 30 and 31. What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.

28:32 They spoke the word unto him. It's again identified, an initiatory rite, identified with the experience of conversion. And then we find in verse 34, having believed in God. It describes this man's experience as having come to a position and posture of faith, the experience of faith.

28:56 In God. So again, baptism is associated with the application of salvation, with the exercise of repentance and faith, with the experience of salvation, the forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit. And here that which is explicitly mentioned is the exercise of faith in God. Now Acts chapter 19.

John's Baptism vs. Christian Baptism: Detachment vs. Attachment (Acts 19, Matthew 3)

29:21 Acts chapter 19. Yes. Just say that in dealing with the subjects of baptism, you did deal thoroughly with the place of the household in Acts 16. You might have a visitor who saw that you deliberately passed over he and all his, but that passage has been dealt with in the previous unit.

29:53 Oh, okay. All right, Acts chapter 19, beginning in verse 3. He asked them, and the question, the issue at stake is, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? He said, no, we never even heard about the coming of the Holy Spirit.

30:17 Then he said, then what were you baptized into? And they said, into John's baptism, into John's baptism. Now Paul describes John's baptism. He says, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him that should come after him, that is, on Jesus.

30:44 When they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. So you find here in this passage, both the similarity and the distinction between John's baptism and the baptism of, or distinctly Christian baptism, the baptism of Christ. Now, John's baptism is described as a baptism of repentance. That is, the symbolism of John's baptism is intimately associated with the exercise of evangelical repentance.

31:23 It is a baptism of repentance. The emphasis of John's baptism is upon detachment,

31:39 detachment from sin, a life of sin, and that detachment from sin is expressed in the exercise of repentance. But John's baptism was an evangelical baptism because John said to them that they should believe on the one who was to come. And John's whole ministry was to prepare the hearts of God's people for the coming of their Messiah. He was to go and to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

32:19 And what was the essence of preparing a people for the Lord? The essence was this. If they were to be ready, ready to receive the ministry of the coming Christ, they must be detached from their sins. They must repent.

32:33 They must turn away from their lifestyle of disobedience and rebellion and misrepresentation toward God. And he said they must be looking. They must be expectant and in anticipation, awaiting the imminent appearance of the Messiah. So he's preparing their hearts.

32:53 And so the emphasis is upon detachment. That they must be detached from the world and sin and expectantly looking for the immediate appearance of the Messiah. Now that's the emphasis of John's baptism. And then you'll find, you see, that this emphasis comes out in Matthew explicitly.

33:16 This emphasis upon repentance. Matthew chapter 6, and you could read the other passages as well. But there's one thing in Matthew chapter 6 that I want, I'm sorry, Matthew chapter 3 and verse 6 that I want to draw your attention to at this point.

33:37 Because it emphasizes this other vital dimension in baptism. Then went out unto him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region round about the Jordan, and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Confessing their sins. Confessing their sins.

34:01 See, the emphasis is upon sin. And the emphasis is upon detachment from sin, repentance from sin. But also there's more. When they were involved in experiencing this ordinance of baptism, right there in the river Jordan, there was an open public declaration on the part of those baptized of their detachment from sin and the world.

34:30 And that which was symbolized was openly confessed and publicly declared by those who were the subjects of the ordinance of John's baptism. The emphasis was upon detachment. That which they were declaring was their detachment from their sin. The water rite symbolized it.

34:52 And at the very time in which they went through that water rite, which symbolized their detachment from sin, with their own lips, they openly, publicly declared their detachment from sin and that they were expecting the coming of the Messiah. So baptism has not only a symbolic element and dimension, it also has a confessional or proclamation element or dimension. And in John's baptism, both the symbolism and the proclamation center and emphasize detachment.

35:36 Now in Christian baptism, both the symbolism and the proclamation or confession emphasize not detachment but attachment to Christ. Now obviously you can't be attached to Christ unless you're detached from sin. So Christian baptism does not cancel detachment from sin. It assumes it as the substructure of the event.

36:16 But it doesn't emphasize this. The emphasis is not upon detachment from sin and repentance like John's baptism, but the emphasis is upon attachment to Christ and faith.

36:35 You see that? So in Christian baptism, that which is symbolized is attachment to Christ and that which is confessed is attachment to Christ through the exercise of faith. John baptized unto repentance, saying that they should believe on Him who was to come. And when they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

37:13 The emphasis of this baptism was not detachment from sin, but attachment to Christ, identification with the name of Jesus Christ through the exercise of personal trust in Jesus Christ. That is what is symbolized and that is what is confessed, asserted and publicly proclaimed in Christian baptism. And so you see this underscores the note of public confession, the parallel between Christ's baptism and John's baptism.

Baptism as Union with Christ's Death and Resurrection (Romans 6, Colossians 2)

37:55 Alright, the next passage, Romans chapter 6. We're coming down to the end of the road. Romans chapter 6. And now in the epistles, this element of attachment to Christ comes out with great clarity and emphasis.

38:18 Romans 6 verses 2 and 3. What shall we say? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid.

38:32 We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein? Or are you ignorant that all who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him through baptism, that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him, in the likeness of His death, so shall we also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him.

39:16 Verse 10. Speaking of Christ. For the death that He died, He died unto sin once, but the life that He lives, He lives unto God. Even so, reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Jesus Christ.

39:36 Now the Apostle in this entire passage is arguing that the grace of God will never produce licentiousness in the hearts of those who have truly received it, but it will produce holiness. It will not produce a life of ungodliness and sinning, it will produce a life of obedience and living unto God. And he argues from the reality of the experience of conversion, which is described in what we could call definitive sanctification, that is, a radical break with sin. That in conversion, the Christian experiences a radical break with sin.

40:18 And he uses the terms to describe this radical break with sin, death to sin. Verse 2. We who died to sin. We who died to sin.

40:31 Death to sin is a reality. We who died. Christians have already died to sin. They have already experienced in their conversion a radical breach with sin.

40:49 If that radical breach with sin has not been experienced, in other words, if you have not died to sin, then you're not a Christian and you've never been converted. That's the implication. But he says of the Christians, you have died to sin. See, that's the experience of conversion.

41:07 Death to sin. Now he says that in so experiencing this, death to sin, we were conformed in our life history to that which our Messiah experienced in His life history. He died to sin. Verse 10.

41:27 He died to sin. Like He died to sin in His life, in the accomplishment of salvation, so in our conversion, in our life, we're the mirror of that. We die to sin. Now he says that experience was symbolized in baptism.

41:48 Or are you ignorant that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried with Him through baptism into death. It was through baptism that our death to sin in union with Jesus Christ was symbolized. We were buried with Him symbolically in baptism.

42:16 In baptism it was symbolized that we experienced conversion as conversion is thought of as death to sin, radical breach with sin. We experienced a radical breach with sin. We died to sin like Christ died to sin. And that which we experienced was symbolized in our baptism.

42:41 So again, baptism symbolizes the experience of conversion with the emphasis upon attachment to Jesus Christ and in particular, in this case, identification with Jesus Christ in His death. And then he argues from that to say that if we have been identified with Jesus Christ in His death, that is, if we have experienced a radical breach with sin, then we will live a holy life. And living a holy life, being identified with Jesus Christ in His resurrection life, which focuses upon God, is the necessary implication of being identified with Jesus Christ

43:22 in His death, that is, having experienced a radical break with sin. Right now, the next passage, which is very similar, Colossians chapter 2. Colossians 2, the emphasis is not upon the death of Christ, but upon the resurrection of Christ. Colossians chapter 2, verse 12.

43:48 And here he brings together both the imagery of death and burial and resurrection with the experience of baptism. And for those who may be anticipating, we'll deal with the connection between verses 11 and 12, the Lord willing, sometime in the future. But as for now, we're simply considering the significance of baptism in verse 12. Having been buried with Him in baptism, wherein also you were raised with Him through faith in the working of God who raised Him from the dead.

44:22 He says, in the ordinance, in this symbolic ordinance of baptism, you were buried with Jesus and you were raised with Jesus. When you went down under the water, you were buried with Jesus Christ, identified with His death, and when you came back up, you were raised with Jesus, identified with His resurrection life. So there again, the experience of conversion, the experience of a radical breach with sin, which gives rise to a new life of living with your focus upon God, unto God, for God, for the glory of God, to please God. That's identified with the death and resurrection of Jesus, and that experience of conversion is symbolized in the event,

45:06 the initiatory ordinance of baptism. And that significance is realized and the event takes on its meaning through the exercise of the personal faith on the part of the party baptized. Having been buried with Him in baptism, wherein, that is in baptism, you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, apart from the exercise of true faith on the part of the one baptized. Baptism is a mockery.

45:48 You were raised with Him in the ordinance through faith. It takes on its God-given significance through the exercise of faith in the very event of baptism itself on the part of the party baptized. Why is that so? Because of what baptism symbolizes, that the party baptized has experienced radical breach with sin and is living unto God as that's experienced in conversion.

Baptism as Symbolic Salvation (1 Peter 3)

46:19 All right, the final passage, 1 Peter chapter 3, 1 Peter chapter 3, passage which has often been used to teach baptismal regeneration, but which teaches no such thing. Beginning in verse 20, Peter says, Wherein eight souls were saved through water. Now he says water. Which, after a true likeness, does now save you.

46:57 Baptism. Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, to put it bluntly what Peter says, he says water, namely baptism, now saves you. That's exactly what he said.

47:21 He said water. Namely, baptism saves you. Baptism saves you. Baptism saves you.

47:29 Water saves you. And all the Roman Catholics said, Amen. But they left out one word. But they left out one word.

47:42 One little word. But Peter didn't leave it out. One little word. The word which is translated in the English after a true likeness.

47:56 But in the Greek, there's one word. And for those of you who know what this means, it's an adverbial accusative of manner. It is one word which is used to tell you how water saves you. And the word should be translated symbolically, or typically, or typologically.

48:26 The word is antitupas, from which we get our word anti-type. It means copy. Or model. Or symbol.

48:38 And when it's used in that way, it tells you the manner in which baptism saves you. Water, baptism, saves you. How? Symbolically.

48:52 That's what Peter said. Symbolically. That's the explicit assertion of that text. Baptism is symbolic salvation.

49:02 The water of baptism does not save you actually. It saves you symbolically. That is, in a picturesque way. It is a graphic description or picture of the experience of the application of salvation.

Summary and Concluding Affirmation

49:20 That's the bottom line. So now let me summarize, because our time is gone. Let me summarize the significance of baptism. It is an initiatory water rite associated with conversion, and entering into the complex of new covenant blessings.

49:39 Becoming a disciple, believing in the Lord, etc. And it has two dimensions. A symbolic and representative dimension, and a dimension of confession and declaration. First of all, it symbolizes and represents that the person baptized has already experienced salvation applied.

50:03 Detachment from sin, attachment to Christ by faith. And secondly, it is a personal confession and declaration by the person baptized that the one who is being baptized is determined to be identified publicly with Jesus Christ and his people. It's just that straightforward and simple. Symbolism and declaration, representation and personal public confession.

50:33 Symbolizes that you have experienced the application of salvation, and in that symbolic initiatory ordinance, you declare your determination, you confess your determination to be identified publicly with Jesus Christ and his people. Now, as I promised, my closing word. We'll let the paedo-baptists have the last word this morning. Page 687 of your hymn book, Westminster Confession.

51:04 Just part number one. Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible church, but also to be unto him, who's the him? The party baptized. But also to be unto the party baptized, a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, of his, engrafting into Christ, of regeneration,

51:49 of remission of sins, of his, that is the party baptized, giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to walk in newness of life. That's what we've been saying. Oh, may the Lord be pleased to write these things upon our hearts. Let us pray.

52:15 Our Father, we give you thanks for your holy word. We thank you for the clarity, with which you have revealed to us what this rite signifies. And we pray, Lord, that our hearts may be ravished with the Christ who has held forth to us in this ordinance. We thank you for him.

52:34 And again before you, we declare our determination to be identified with him in the midst of this world, which hates him, that we will stand with him and with his people. We pray that as we look back upon our baptism, we may ever remember what we said and declared and that we may stick to it for the glory of Jesus Christ. For we ask this in his name. Amen.