"Baptism That Saves"

In the midst of a passage on suffering, Peter states, "baptism now saves you." How? Why? What is it about baptism that is essential to one's salvation?

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Baptism That Saves

(1 Pet. 3:18-22)

Intro:

A.  Context always helps us understand the bigger picture and meaning of a passage.  You might remember the phrase that a person “can’t see the forest for the trees.”  That phrase means that some people can’t grasp the big picture because they only look at the details.  It is like the blind men who tried to describe an elephant by only touching one part.

B.  Today is one of those passages where people want to get stuck in good details given by Peter that are more difficult to understand.  So instead of looking at the meaning of the passage, they argue quickly over the details.

C.  As we read 1 Peter 3:8-4:19 we see the theme of suffering because of our faith as a central point.  The whole book has tried to help us see how Christians live in an unchristian world.  We are different people.  We are to see ourselves as chosen people and living stones.  Therefore submission is a part of our spiritual character and so is suffering for doing good.  We see the bigger picture of eternity not just the moment of this life in which we live.

D.  Peter, in this letter, tells his reader to “sanctify Christ in your hearts and to be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within us.”  Setting Christ apart in your heart and letting people know about your salvation will bring both questions and some suffering.  So Peter says, “It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”  You want an example?  Christ.

I.  Jesus Saves

A.  Jesus died for sins.  I want us to understand the point of this passage and the illustration that is given of both Jesus and baptism.  Jesus, God who became flesh, died in the flesh, for one purpose – for sins.

B.  If you are here today and can understand this passage, then listen to me closely.  If you have sinned, even one time in your life, it was going to take Jesus dying on the cross for that sin to be removed.  To put it bluntly, your sin murdered Jesus.  You and I are guilty of the death of Jesus whom God made both Lord and Christ.

C.  Jesus understood suffering.  Jesus understood the price of sin.  Sin equals death, end of subject.  It did in the Garden of Eden; it did in the days of Noah and still does today.  The sting of death is sin.  Death is a separation.  When the physical body dies, the soul is separated from it.  When the physical body dies we bury it in the ground and that person is separate from us.  When we sin, we enter into a state of separation from God.  We are lost.  If we die in that sin we will face that judgment before God.  God loved us so much that even though he knew we would sin, before the very creation of the world Jesus was chosen to die for us.

D.  John 3:16 is precious for a reason.  God so loved the world; he loved us so deeply, so unequivocally, so indisputably that he would come in the flesh to pay the price that had to be paid.  An angel could not die for your sin.  A precious, blameless little child could not die for your sin.  A lamb without spot or blemish could not die to remove your sin.  The only way for your sin to be conquered is for God to come in the flesh and pay the price.

E.  Peter, understanding the suffering, pushed his readers to understand the depth of what Jesus did.  We might suffer in the flesh because of our faith, but Jesus died for sins, once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, NOW LISTEN, to “bring you to God.”

F.  This word is connected to the sacrifices in the OT.  Jesus, the sacrifice, wants to bring us near to God, as though he is presenting himself as a dedication before God so that we can have access to God.  Jesus is the only way we will be able to come to God.  Therefore, he was put to death in the flesh and made alive in the spirit.  What all that means we would need much more time to dialogue that we have in a sermon.  I want you to see the bigger picture.  Jesus wants you to be saved.

G.  Peter helps us to understand salvation by taking us back to the time of Noah and using it to teach about baptism.

II. Baptism Saves

A.  What a sad commentary we have in Gen. 6:5-8.  In 2 Pet. 2, Peter calls Noah a “preacher of righteousness.”  How did he preach?  Did the spirit of Jesus preach through Noah to the people of his day?  I don’t know the answer, what I know is that mankind would not repent of their sins and death came upon the earth.

B.  The great flood came upon the earth and all died except Noah and his family.  Eight people were saved through the flood.  The waters that destroyed unrepentant hearts also lifted the ark and carried them along, saving them while killing all others.  Remember, we are in a passage about suffering for doing good.  Jesus is our prime example, and now we are seeing Noah as another.  But here is the point of the Noah illustration.  Read verse 21.

C.  How does baptism save us?  In churches today we have people talk about rites of baptism.  Some churches say they baptize babies and others say that it is an outward sign of an inward faith.  Some churches sprinkle, others pour holy water over a person and some immerse.  If baptism is a part of the salvation and it is connected to water, how does baptism save us?

D.  Peter says, “It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”  The power is not in the water, but in Jesus.  Peter has already told us that his death and live was because of sin.  Only he can save me, but Jesus uses baptism to connect us to him.  A baby is pure and precious, not sinful.  So there is no need for an infant to be baptized.  Baptism is not how you join a denomination, is part of the saving power of Jesus Christ.  It is as essential to my salvation as confessing Jesus as Lord or repenting of my sins, or believing in Jesus as the Son of God.  Few question those aspects, so why question baptism?  It is all a part of the saving work of God.

E.  I quoted John 3:16 to you earlier, now consider the passage.  It is the story of Jesus and Nicodemus.  Jesus tells him that no one can enter into the kingdom of God unless he is born again.  He defines that in verses 5-8.  He must be born of two things:  water and Spirit.  Baptism is the water part of this passage.  Without baptism I cannot be born again.  Baptism is the where the new birth begins, because the old man of sin died in the water.  The sin of the world died in the flood, but through the water, 8 souls were saved.

F.  Listen to Gal. 3:26-29.  Baptism is how we get dressed spiritually.  Baptism is not a work, but an act of grace and an expression of faith.  God saves me, but requires me to accept that salvation on his terms, which means I die and am reborn in Christ.  Sprinkling water is not a sign of death.  Pouring water over me is not a sign of death.  But when I am immersed in water, I am buried.  I am dead to the old and I rise up a new creation.  Rom. 6:3-4.

Conclusion:

A.  Peter tells you what baptism is NOT.  It is not the removal of dirt from the flesh (by that it would be really hard to remove dirt by sprinkling some water or pour some water over your head).  Baptism, immersion as the word is better translated, is not a bath, even though it at first appears like one when you are immersed.  It is not about washing the outside of the body.

B.  Then Peter tells you what baptism IS.  It is a pledge of a good conscience toward God.  Baptism is the last step of salvation because it is the decision point of saying, “I am mine no more.”  It is the point in which we pledge or devote ourselves to God.  The power of baptism is in the resurrection of Jesus.  When Jesus came up out of the grave Satan lost.  He lost the greatest weapon he had – the sting of death, sin.  Jesus was victorious and now reigns as victorious in heaven.

C.  But here is the point, when you, in your faith, understand God’s will and being to repent of your sins and in the great belief confess Jesus as master, Lord of your life, then clothe yourself with him in immersion, baptism, you too are victorious over sin.  You rise up from the waters of baptism saved, pure, and stand before God has his child and added to his church.  You are victorious over sin and with the power of the Holy Spirit in your life begin and even deeper work of repentance and holiness.  Transformation that is both immediate and ongoing.

D.  Are you saved?  Has the death and resurrection of Jesus who died for your sins been seen in the baptism the Bible teaches?  Not some dedication or joining of a church, but a death to self, a burial in water with Jesus and a resurrection to a new and living way.  Have you been saved?  If not, God is pleading with you to come as we stand and sing.