Living Hope Fellowship Church

BAPTISM IN WATER

Training Material

by Pastor Kevin Badgley

BAPTISM IN WATER

Preface

(water baptism)

          Water baptism is an outward sign of an inward occurrence. Baptism does not save you.  It shows that you have accepted Christ, and that you are buried with Him in baptism.  By the blood of Jesus you are washed, and baptism is representation of that.

          There is another baptism, the baptism of the Holy Ghost.  After you receive Jesus as Savior the Holy Ghost baptism can take place immediately or some time later.  

          When you get born again you felt a cleanness, a joy, and the peace of God!  When the Holy Ghost comes in there is power!  Hebrews 6:2 speaks of the “doctrine of baptisms” (plural).  We must obey the Lord and be baptized.

BAPTISM IN WATER

by Pastor Kevin Badgley

          Matthew 3:13-17 says, “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.  But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?  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.  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:  And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

            Jesus’ baptism was quite an experience.  We have seen people come up out of the water and receive a blessing from the Lord.  Some of them got the Holy Ghost, and some got stammering lips, and the Lord truly blessed. 

          When you first get saved, your first act of obedience, other than confessing Christ as Savior and Lord to others, is the act of baptism. 

          Baptism is an outward sign of an inward occurrence.  Baptism does not save you.  Baptism shows that you have accepted Christ, and that you are buried with Him in baptism.  By the blood of Jesus you are washed, and water baptism represents that.

          We don’t need any other priest since Jesus came and became our faithful High Priest, who sits at the right hand of God, the Father, making intercession for us. 

          As children of God, we are called a priesthood of believers.  Mark 16:17-18 says, “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;  They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”  Jesus said the believer would do these things.

          Revelations 1:6 tells us that Jesus has made us, “. . . kings and priests unto God. . . .”  I know what it took to go up Calvary’s Hill for me, when I wasn’t worth having.  It doesn’t matter how dirty you have been.  Just look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, and know that He can cleanse you and make you right before God.  There is nothing like the blood of Jesus!

          As priests we must go through the ordinances that belong to the priesthood.  The act of baptism is part of this.  Exodus 29, Verses 1 says, “And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto me in the priest's office. . . .”  Verse 4 says, “And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water.”

          Notice that they took them to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.  Everybody in the place could see them.  That is humiliating.  A small child is used to having his parents give him a bath when he gets dirty, but this is a man.  This was an act of humility on the part of the priest who subjected himself to this type of outward ordinance.   This showed his subjection to God,  and it was an example to the people of obedience to the ordinances, laws, and commandments of God.

          It was one of the ordinances for the priesthood to be washed.  Therefore believers today, who are made kings and priests unto God by the power of the Lord Jesus (see Rev. 1:6), must also partake of the washing of baptism in front of witnesses.  The congregation and extra family usually attend a baptism.

          Some refuse to be baptized because they don’t want their hair messed up!  I told them that Jesus’ hair was messed up awfully bad when they jerked it out while He was walking up to Calvary.  We must put down our flesh, our self will, and our pride.  Baptism, in part, does that to the early believer.  It is important that it be done quickly, because the older we get in anything, it seems like we get a little more stiff-necked. 

          Jesus said that it fulfills righteousness to obey the Lord.  First Samuel 15:22 says, “And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”  To hearken means to listen and obey.  It means to do the things that God has commanded you.  Baptism is one of those things. 

          James 4:8 says, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”  So, we must make an effort to draw nigh to God as He deals with us by His Spirit.

          Hebrews 10:22 says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”  This is talking about drawing near to God.  “Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience” is the salvation experience, having your heart circumcised to the Lord.  Then it talks about having our bodies washed with pure water.  There is no such thing as “holy water” which a lot of religions go into.  He is talking about having our bodies washed with pure water.  The water you use will be pure in that you are obeying one of the Lord’s ordinances, and it has become a holy sanctified act.  God has ordained water baptism, and though it may look foolish to man, as you obey the Word, it becomes a mighty blessing for you. 

          Our bodies are washed with pure water, and we begin a walk of sanctification, not only of the Spirit, but also of the mind and of the body.  Paul says in Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”  Water baptism is one way you present yourself to the Lord. 

          1 Peter 3:21 says, “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:”  This scripture has been perverted by some intellectuals who believe they get salvation by water baptism.  However, it means something entirely different.  (See 1 John 1:7.)   The previous verse, 1 Peter 3:20, says that in the days of Noah eight souls were saved by water.  However, the water wasn’t what saved them; God saved them by the ark.  Noah constructed the Ark, and it was a floater.  They didn’t go under the water; they were on top of the water which kept them above the judgment God had sent to the world. 

          Look at Verse 21 again:  “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:”   That good conscience is giving your answer, “Yes,” to Jesus.  First you accept Christ, and then you agree to be humbled by being put under the water.  It brings you into the death of Christ.  You are saying, “Lord, I’m willing to do it all.  I’m willing to die if necessary.” 

          That is the beginning of your death to the world, and to self-will, and rebellion.  You begin to stand up in the Spirit of the Lord.  With every Gethsemane there is a crucifixion, and with every crucifixion there is a resurrection.  

          Romans 6:3-5 says, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:”

          In the law, if I was to come up and kill you, it would be an act of murder.  So, in order for God to fulfill the law, and yet fulfill the spiritual law, He has ordained that a man die to self, while he is alive.  Then, as he willfully rejects self and fleshly things, he can stand up more and more in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

          As you go through humiliating experiences, persecution, or the reproach of Christ as a Christian, the more Christ stands up in you.  Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

          If you have gone through His death, you can go through His resurrection.  Hallelujah!  Baptism begins that walk.  You have an inward and an outward washing so that you can walk as Jesus walked.  Jesus said in Matthew 5:48, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”  According to Acts, Chapter 2, He has given us power to obey that commandment!

          Galatians 3:27 says, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”  Remember that you have been buried with Christ by baptism and raised in newness.  Now you have the promise of being raised in the likeness of His resurrection.  That is fulfilled as you walk in the Lord, obey His Word, and put on His attributes and characteristics, His habits, and His manner.  In this way you put on Christ!

          Colossians 2:11-12 says, “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:  Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.”

          Romans 8:11 says, “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”  Water baptism is not all a natural work.  There is something taking place in your soul.  As you yield over to God, a humbling takes place in you. 

          People who are stiff-necked against the things of God don’t have very good hearing.  They are hardened to the things of God.

          Someone who will not follow Christ in water baptism will generally not follow Him any further.  If they can’t take that, they surely can’t take the reproach of Christ that will come in their life.  God will allow the enemy to work you over to see if you are going to hold fast to Him.  He won’t allow you to be tempted above that which you are able to bear, but He will allow you to be tempted.  He always makes a way to escape!  (See 1 Corinthians 10:13.)

          A common question about baptism is, “How am I going to act when I come up out of there?”  There isn’t any telling how you are going to act. 

          A man came to me one day and said, “I want to get saved,” so I told him to pray at the altar.  I wasn’t his Savior, and if he really wanted to get saved he would pray and ask Jesus to come into his heart, and he would come up shouting the victory!  He said, “No, this isn’t the way that I have seen it done.”  He wanted it done a certain way, but I told him that I didn’t do it that way, and God didn’t do it that way either.  You can’t pick out what you want to do in the Bible.  You have to do it all!

          The just shall live by faith!  Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  It comes by hearing and obeying the Word of the Lord! 

          Baptism is a humiliating experience.  Therefore, John was appalled when Jesus came to be baptized of him.  He knew who Jesus was.  John 1:29 says, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”  He knew what kind of power was standing there!  Jesus Christ is the Word of God who has all power of heaven and earth!  (See Matthew 28:18.)

          John felt incompetent, but he obeyed the Lord.  Jesus Christ was baptized, so who are we?  We cannot shun the ordinances of the Lord.  Some are ashamed of coming up out of the water so they change the doctrine and just sprinkle them.  That is not right.  The Bible says that John the Baptist was baptizing in the Jordan River.  You can’t tell me that he was taking a cup and sprinkling them!  John the Baptist dunked them in the river!  They went under that water, because being buried represents death!  How are you going to get buried with a sprinkle?  I wonder about their pride, because they don’t want to do it the Bible way. 

          Some people take a little drop and rub it on the forehead and say, “You are christened.”  I don’t want that!  I want to be moved the same way my Jesus was.  I want to be dunked; I want to die to self; and then I want to be raised up in the newness of life just like my Jesus! 

          I don’t want to take the convenient routes that the devil offers.  He deceives many in religion today.  He offers a convenient route in baptism.  They can even baptize you as a baby, and you never even make your own decision, but that is wrong doctrine!

          Baptism is an outward sign of an inward operation of God!  If you are faithful to God you will be called upon to do some pretty foolish looking things, but my Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1:25, “. . . the foolishness of God is wiser than men. . . .”

          Romans 6:6 says, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”  That is talking about a perfect life.   Verse 7 says, “For he that is dead is freed from sin.” 

          Hebrews 11:13 says, “These all died in faith. . . .”  It is an act of your faith to willingly die to self.  As you do this the faith that is in Christ Jesus gains another notch in your life.  As you willingly obey the Word of the Lord, you get a little higher in God.  Romans 6:16 says, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”

          As you allow someone to bring you under the water, it is a yielding over unto the Word of the Lord.  You have become a servant of the Lord.  When you first get born again, you are a baby in Christ.  As soon as you make your first act of obedience to God, you have become a servant of the Lord.  As you grow in Christ Jesus you can come into the sonship of the Lord.

          Romans 6:17 says, “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.”  You have been told that it is right.  As you have felt God’s tugging in your heart, and then you obeyed the doctrine of the Lord, something in you just clicked.  Whenever you say “yes” to the Lord, you feel something move in you.  You can feel that you grew a little bit in the Lord.  It gives you confidence toward God.

          For example, if a preacher doesn’t fast and pray, he may give a message, but he just says his words.  When people come forward needing healing, his confidence is lacking, because he hasn’t done two things necessary to get them delivered.  Some are on the avenue of convenience rather than obedience.  It costs you something to obey God.  Eventually, you have to give everything that you have to God.  You can do it now, and speed the process, or you can do it the hard way, which most of us do.  However, when you obey God, you take on the righteousness of the Lord Jesus.

          Luke 3:3 says, “And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;”  Before water baptism there has to be repentance before sins are remitted (forgiven). 

          There is a difference between head salvation and a heart-felt salvation.  The Bible says in Romans 10:10, “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” 

          John’s ministry was to bring forth the Gospel, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sin.  We are talking about the baptism of repentance.  Something goes on in your body, soul, and mind when you receive Christ.  John had a beginning work, one that prepared the way for Jesus Christ to be manifest.  People were literally showered in the conviction power of God. 

          Have you ever seen somebody under heavy conviction?  You can tell it in their face.  Some will shake, because the conviction of God is on them tremendously.  Supernatural conviction from the Lord can cause you to tremble.  Some people hold on to the pews to keep from going to the altar.  If they don’t resist it, Jesus Christ comes and deals with their heart.  When they accept Him, the devil leaves and the Spirit of God will come in.  They are cleansed all through their soul. That is the baptism of repentance that the Lord brings!

          In Matthew 3:11 John says, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:”

          There is another baptism, the baptism of the Holy Ghost.  After you receive Jesus as Savior, there is another work that can take place immediately or some time later.  The Holy Ghost fire of God will burn out everything that is of the world, the flesh, and the devil.  When that fire comes in, you’ll think, “Wow”, and you will speak in other tongues.  It is the evidence that you have been filled with the Holy Ghost.  You may have been touched by the Holy Ghost, but when you are baptized, you are totally saturated, and he takes up residence.  The Spirit of God will do a thorough search, because you have become a “temple” of the Holy Ghost. 

          When you get born again you felt a cleanness, a joy, and the peace of God!  When the Holy Ghost comes in there is power!  Even though there is a war on the battle ground between our ears (the mind), that Holy Ghost fire is there cleansing, and purging, and leading us into all truth!  It is like a continual washing system.  When you bump up against something dirty, He will come against it immediately and say, “That is something dirty, so don’t even get next to it.”  He will deal with you even more.

          When He takes up residence, His fire burns all through the temple.  Deuteronomy 4:24 says, “For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.”

          He is always cleaning and throwing out something.  We may say, “Now, wait a minute.  That was my favorite thing, Lord.  I know that it won’t take me to hell.”  He lets you know that it won’t take you to heaven, because it weighs you down!

          Hebrews 12:1 says, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

          Hebrews 6:2 says, “Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.”  To be baptized is an act of obedience.

          1 Peter 1:22-23 says, “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:  Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”

          You purify your soul by obeying the truth.  Water baptism is an act of obedience.  Jesus did it; we must do it.  We can attain unto a sinless life, because He made the way.

          Submit to the Lord, and put your will down.  Ask the Lord for forgiveness of sins, and come and be water baptized.  Come and be filled with the Holy Ghost.  Come and believe God for the victory!

CONTACT INFORMATION:

PASTOR KEVIN BADGLEY

LIVING HOPE FELLOWSHIP, P. O. BOX 111, GRAND CHAIN, IL  62941

CHURCH / FAX (618) 634-2541

E-mail  livinghope@hughes.net

www.livinghopefellowshipchurch.org

These condensed Bible studies have been published to help new Christians in their new walk with the Lord.  Kevin Badgley, the author, is the pastor of Living Hope Fellowship Church.

This is a Living Hope Fellowship publication.