Baptism by Water
In our previous lesson on baptism in the Holy Spirit, we studied all of Acts chapter 2. In this lesson, we will review parts of Acts 2 since it speaks of baptism by water. Then we will study portions of Romans 6, John 3, and Matthew 28. This is a rather long lesson, so it may take you several meetings to finish it.
At you know from your past lessons, you are asked to do several things in your small groups. Among them, you are essentially asked to do four things: to study, to pray together, to share your thoughts and feelings with each other, and to plan social events or ways to help your church and community. At times, you may need to emphasize one of these more than another. For example, if someone in your group is in trouble, you will need to help them, pray with them, and do what needs to be done to resolve their situation. Or, there may be new members in your group, and you may need to spend more time than usual getting to know them. In general, however, you want to make sure you keep all four parts of your life together in balance. Do not let yourselves be tempted to spend all your time talking and not studying the lesson, or spending all your time studying the lesson and never really praying together. Make sure that you study, pray together, learn to love one another by sharing your lives and helping one another, and that, as God leads, you take some time to plan blessings for your church and community. Why not take a few minutes and ask yourselves if you are doing all four things? Is any one being neglected? God will guide you in these matters as you pray to him. Let us give thanks to God that we can serve him and love one another. Let us continue our study of baptism, but first, let us begin with a prayer.
Heavenly Father, we give you great thanks for the salvation you have given us in Jesus Christ the Lord. Pour out upon us, we pray, your Holy Spirit that we might faithfully receive your teaching on baptism and thereby keep covenant with you forever. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen
In a previous lesson, Worship and the Covenant, we learned that the covenant of Exodus 19-24 had three principle parts. First, there was an announcement of the good things that God had done to save his people. Second, God promised to protect his people and gave them his commandments so they would know how to live rightly. Once these commands were given, the people committed themselves to keeping covenant with God by obeying his commands. That was the heart of the covenant, a mutual commitment in which God promised to protect and bless his people and his people committed themselves to be obedient to his commands. Finally, there was a sign or seal of the covenant, which in Exodus 19-24 was sacrifices and the eating of a meal in the presence of God. Now, let us see how baptism as presented in Acts 2 has the form of a covenant.
Read Acts 2 and notice the following points.
A. The first part of the covenant is God’s mighty acts to save his people. Here are the mighty acts of God narrated in Acts 2.
1. God raised Jesus from the dead, exalted him to his right hand, and conquered all his enemies which would include death, sin, and the devil.
2. God poured out his Holy Spirit on the believers.
B. The second part of the covenant is mutual promises and commitments. Here are the promises and commitments found in Acts 2.
1. Those who received Peter’s message committed themselves to repenting from sin, not only the sin of crucifying Jesus, but all sins. They also committed themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer, to generosity, and to living a life of praise and thanksgiving. Believers today are called to make the same commitments.
2. According to Acts 2, God promised that those who repent and are baptized will be saved from their wicked generation, will have their sins forgiven, and be given the Holy Spirit. God also promises that he will add those who believe and are baptized to the company of believers, that is, he will add them to the church.
C. The third part of the covenant is the seal or sign of the covenant. According to Acts 2, the sign or seal of this new covenant established by Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection is baptism, being washed in water. This washing in water represents the fact that by faith in Jesus our sins are washed away and we are made new. Now, let us consider Romans 6:1-14.
Acts 2 was addressed to those who had not been baptized, urging them to repent and be baptized. Romans 6:1-14 was written to those who were already baptized, calling them to be faithful to their baptismal covenant. In the earlier sections of Romans, Paul had explained to his readers that believers are put right with God, justified and accounted righteous, through faith in Jesus Christ and not by keeping the law. He also explained that sin was, among other things, not keeping the laws of God. This led some to think that since they were saved by faith and not by keeping the law, that they could freely sin. Paul insists that all believers must be faithful to their baptismal covenant, a covenant that commits them to a life of righteousness.
Read Romans 6:1-14 aloud. Then read the five points given below and study to see if each one of them is found in the Romans passage.
1. When someone is baptized, that person enters into the death and resurrection of Christ.
2. Prior to faith in Christ, everyone is a slave to sin. If, however, someone responds in faith to Christ Jesus and is baptized, they enter into the death of Christ. Being baptized into Christ’s death means that a person’s old, sinful self was crucified with Christ. Once dead, that sinful self no longer has power over believers.
3. Then, just as Christ was raised from the dead, believers who are baptized are raised to new life and made alive to God. As other parts of Scripture make clear, being alive to God means entering into a personal relationship with God through the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit. This is something that begins in this life, and it is completed in the life to come when believers will live with God eternally.
4. Since believers are dead to sin and alive to God, they are empowered by God to lead righteous lives because God gives them his grace; that is, his active power enables them to lead holy lives.
5. Therefore, believers are not to obey their sinful passions, but make every effort to present themselves before God by using their members (all of their capacities) as instruments of righteousness.
Please read John 3:1-8, notice the following points and respond to the following questions.
1. In our previous lesson on baptism in the Holy Spirit, we learned how God restored the four broken relationships that were damaged by sin. These four relationships are our relationships with God, with each other, with the land, and our need to break any relationship we may have with the devil. When Jesus, in this passage from John, speaks of the Kingdom of God, he is speaking of entering a new life where we walk daily with God, learn to love and be loved by others, follow the teachings of Scripture in regard to our work and care of the land, and finally, have authority over the devil. This new life is the Kingdom, the greatest blessing human beings can know on earth.
2. What, according to this passage, has to happen to believers before they can enter into the Kingdom of God?
3. When this passage refers to being born of the flesh, it is referring to the fact that all of us are born from our parents. When the passage refers to being born of the Spirit, it refers to receiving the Holy Spirit. Once we receive the Holy Spirit, our entire person, body and soul, is directed by the Spirit. What happens to those who are born of the Spirit? According to verse 8 in this passage, when a person receives the Spirit, others can see what they do, but they will not see the source of their energy and direction. That source is the Holy Spirit. What has the Spirit enabled or directed you to do?
4. When a person receives the Spirit and is baptized, they are born again into a new life that is so very different from their previous life. In what ways has your life been different since you have committed yourself to Christ, been baptized, and received the Holy Spirit?
Please read Matthew 28:16-20 and answer the following questions.
1. What does this passage say about the authority of Jesus?
2. What promise does Jesus make at the end of this passage?
3. What three things does Jesus command his disciples to do in verses 19-20? As you became a Christian, were any of these three commands omitted?
4. In what Name are believers to be baptized? This one Name is singular, but it has three parts, reflecting the fact that God is one in three persons.
1. Have you been baptized? If not, are you ready to receive the message of salvation, repent of your sins, and live the Christian life as described in Scripture? If you are ready to be baptized, go to the leadership of your church and ask to be baptized.
2. Are you keeping your baptismal covenant? Are you doing the things described in Acts 2? If not, in what ways are you failing to fully lead the Christian life? Confess your sins to one another, encourage one another, pray with and for one another. Remember the words of Jesus in Luke 15:7, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one person who repents than over 99 righteous ones who do not need to repent.
3. Looking back over your past life, consider all the ways that your old sinful self has been crucified with Jesus Christ. Share with one another some of the victories over sin that God has given you. Let us rejoice together. What a blessing it is to find relief from the hate, deceit, sorrow, and sadness that comes with not loving God and others. What a blessing to know forgiveness and peace. Share these good things with each other, pray that God will give you the strength to remain faithful to your baptismal covenant forever. Let us pray.
Living God, we give you great thanks that you sent your son Jesus to cleanse us from our sin by his cross and mighty resurrection. Pour out upon us ever more deeply your Holy Spirit that we might keep covenant with you, conquer sin, and serve you forever. All this we ask in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
These lessons are written by an Anglican, and to a real degree, they represent Anglican teaching. Anglicans believe in baptizing small children and infants. Not all Christians believe this. We also believe that not all Christians must agree on this subject. Nevertheless, it would perhaps be helpful to show why we do believe as we do. That will be the topic of our next lesson.
The Rev. Dr. Robert J. Sanders
dr.sanders@globalanglican.org