Since by Grace, Why Baptism?

Date: April 30, 2002-Tuesday Evening Sermon
Speaker: George Bailey (during a Gospel Meeting April 28 through May 1, 2002, at the Northeast church of Christ, Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Main Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-10

Will baptism do anything at all? Or, will baptism do everything? Somewhere between those two questions, there is some teaching in the Bible.

But there are things that baptism will not do. It’s not a “cure all” for everything. It doesn’t give us a license to sin, because in Romans 6, when Paul speaks about baptism, he begins by saying, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid.” We who are “dead to sin,” “how shall we live any longer therein,” Romans 6, verses 1 and following. In the twelfth verse of the same chapter, he said, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body,” 'font-size: 12.0pt;'>and in 1 John 2:1, John says, “these things I write to you, so that you sin not,” and in Galatians 5:24, Paul says, 'font-size: 12.0pt'>“they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof,” and in Romans 13, verses 12 through 14, Paul says, “put off” that which is wrong and “put on” that which is right.

So there are things that baptism will not do. Not only would it not give us a license to sin, but it doesn’t remove all problems. It’s not a problem solver for everything. Even though we’re baptized into Christ and put on Christ, and have our names written in the Book of Life and become a part of God’s great family, the Bible says, they “that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution,” [2 Timothy 3:12]. No, baptism doesn’t mean that our problems all end. No, not at all! It doesn’t mean that we’ll never have to face some big dilemmas. No, not at all! In fact, as has been suggested over and over again: Baptism is not a graduation—it’s a commencement. It’s not an end—it’s a means to an end.

But furthermore, baptism will not necessarily remove the bitter fruit of sin. Let me explain. Here’s a man who dissipates his body and he blows his mind. He becomes a child of God and even though he becomes a child of His, he still has to suffer that blown mind. All of a sudden he doesn’t just become back to perfect health because he became a Christian and was baptized in to Christ. No! Sin is not through with you when you’re through with sin. That was true with Adam and Eve. Go back to Genesis 3, verses 17 to 24. Even though man later might have been through with sin, sin still wasn’t through with him. He had to bear the bitter fruit. So if a man gets drunk and he is given to drink, and he goes through all of these other things [other sins], regardless of the changes that are made, that doesn’t mean that all of a sudden his health has returned because he has become a child of His.

We’ve mentioned Abraham and Sarah. Abraham’s wife suggested that, since they were old (Sarah was nearly 90 and Abraham was nearly 100), and since God said the world would be blessed through their son, that Abraham have a child by Hagar, the handmaid. Now, even though later, according to Genesis 16, they might have been through with that particular wrong idea, yet sin wasn’t through with them. In Genesis 19, when Lot’s daughters got him drunk, and each had a child by him, one Ammon and the other Moab, and even though later they were through with sin, sin wasn’t through with them, because these descendants became some of the greatest enemies of God’s people. What about Judas in Matthew 27? Even though later he realized what a terrible thing he had done when he sold the Lord, sin wasn’t through with him when he was through with sin. No, sin doesn’t remove the bitter fruit! We still have to bear that bitter fruit because in Galatians 6, verse 7, the Bible says, “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

But then again, baptism doesn’t cover up for a lack of faith and repentance, even though it’s important, as we’ll mention. Many passages bear out that importance. Yet, man must believe and “without faith it is impossible to please Him,” Hebrews 11:6. And again, John said, “these” things “are written that you may believe,” John 20, verse 31. Then Jesus said, except you believe “that I am He, you will die in your sins,” John 8:24. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.” “He that believeth not shall be damned,” Mark 16:16. What about repentance? Luke 13, verses 3 to 5, shows the importance of it. And regardless of what baptism will do, it won’t cover up for a lack of believing and a lack of repenting and confessing [see Matthew 10:32; Luke 12:8; Romans 10:9] Jesus before men.

Well, baptism doesn’t change a man physically. He’s baptized, but he still looks the same physically that he did before: same weight, same height, same color of skin, and so forth. 1 Peter 3:20 and 21 says that as “eight souls were saved” in the ark “by water,” in “like figure…baptism doth also now save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh”—not just taking a bath, not just to cleanse man physically, no that’s not it at all—but it’s “the answer of a good conscious toward God,” and that’s a legal term that is used in 1 Peter 3:20 and 21.

Well then, baptism does have its place and what a place it does have! But it cannot do certain things. We need, therefore, to realize that somewhere in between doing nothing and doing everything is what the Bible teaches about baptism.

First of all, let me ask some questions:

Does the Bible even mention this subject at all? If not, then it’s not a Bible subject and we really shouldn’t give any time to it. Yes, the Bible does mention it. There are over a hundred references to baptism in the New Testament.