WATER BAPTISM By Buzzy Sutherlin Copyright 2002

WATER BAPTISM By Buzzy Sutherlin Copyright 2002

WATER BAPTISM In Hebrews chapter six we find the doctrine of Christ. Verse two speaks of the doctrine of baptisms (plural). When you are born again you are baptized into Christ. You put on Christ the Messiah. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Galatians 3:27). The new birth is one baptism. John the Baptist said, I indeed have baptized you with water: but he (Jesus) shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire. The baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues is another baptism. The third baptism in the doctrine of Christ is water baptism. THE IMPORTANCE OF WATER BAPTISM We need to understand water baptism and the importance of being baptized in water. We get too far off on one side or the other in teaching about water baptism. Some say you are not saved until you re baptized. Others say baptizing infants will save them. There is a balance in teaching water baptism. Balanced teaching comes directly from the Word of God, not from man s ideas or traditions. Water baptism is not just for the purpose of following in the footsteps of Jesus. If you get baptized just to follow in the footsteps of the Master, you have missed what baptism is all about. We don t get baptized just because Jesus got baptized. Water baptism is making a public profession of your faith. You are signifying through water baptism that you died with Christ, you were buried with Christ, and that you were raised with Christ. Through water baptism you are saying, I have broken all ties with the world the world no longer has any hold on me. The substitutionary work of Jesus Christ death, burial, and resurrection has placed a permanent barrier between you and the world. You were crucified with Christ, you were buried with Christ, and you have been raised with Christ to a new kind of life. In water baptism you are making an outward public pro- 1

fession that says, this day I have made a commitment to Almighty God. I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ and from this day forward I will serve Him and there will be no more wavering with me. The old man that you were died, and he was buried with Christ, but the new man you are has been raised in the power of Almighty God. 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 (Colossians 3:12). Jesus placed great importance on water baptism because He knew the significance of baptism. Matthew 28:18 go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Jesus said, make disciples (teach them) and baptize them. We need to be taught the real purpose of water baptism. Water baptism is acting out in the physical what happens to us in the spiritual when you get born again. When you go down into the water, you are signifying what actually happens to you you died with Christ and was buried with Him. When you come out of the water, you are raised with Christ. When you go down into the waters of baptism, you are saying, I died and the old man is buried, (the old man goes out of existence). I am a new creation, the old things are passed away, all things have become new. No one has a right to point to your past. No one has a right, not even satan, to bring anything against you from your past. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin Romans 6:11. You were crucified, died, and buried with Christ. You are dead to sin and anything connected to the sin nature sin, sickness, poverty, failure, and defeat. The old man you were has been annihilated and you are a brand new creation. THE NEW MAN THAT YOU ARE HAS NEVER BEEN A SINNER! 2

BAPTISM DEFINED Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words defines the word baptism as the process of immersion, submersion, and emergence. In baptism you are immersed and submerged, but you are also emerged (raised up). Water baptism signifies your identification with the death, burial, and mighty resurrection of Jesus Christ. 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.romans 6:3,4. We have been raised up to walk in this newness of life raised to a new kind of life. We ve been raised out of sin, sickness, disease, failure, and everything that came with the fall of man. Water baptism represents the divine process of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus took our place. He became our substitute. Through water baptism, you are saying, I accept the divine process that He went through to bring me new life. IN WHAT NAME DO WE BAPTIZE? The question has been asked, in what name do we baptize? In the twenty-eighth chapter of Matthew, Jesus told his disciples, go ye into all the world and preach the good news, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Throughout the book of Acts, they baptized in Jesus Name. There is no set pattern in which we baptize. Because we understand the power invested in that Name, we baptize in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost and in the Name of Jesus Christ. More emphasis should be on understanding the purpose of baptism than on whose name to baptize in. According to the Greek language, the name in whom you are baptized, is the one to whom you belong. When you get baptized, you belong to Jesus. You are God s 3

property you re off limits to Satan. You are no longer in Satan s kingdom, but you are in the kingdom of God. You re not going to be in the kingdom when you get to heaven, but you are in the kingdom now. REPENTANCE Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Acts 2:36-38 Repentance implies change. Vine s Expository Dictionary says of the word repent to change one s mind, or purpose; to perceive in your mind. We need to see yourself as God sees you as a brand new creation, made in the very image of God. Peter said, repent (change your perception of yourself see yourself as God sees you) and be baptized. 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. I Peter 3:21 Another translation of this verse says, water baptism stands for baptism baptism is not the removal of dirt from the body, but a promise made to God with a clear conscience. Baptism saves you through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Fenton s Translation says the acquisition (what you acquire) of a pure conscience toward God. In other words, you should think like this having a pure conscience toward God. You should rise up out of the waters of baptism with a clear and pure conscience knowing that you ve 4

been made clean, pure and holy before God. The word saved in the Greek language is sozo. Sozo means saved, delivered, soundness of mind and preservation. When a person understands water baptism, he understands that he is saved (sozo) in baptism. If you need healing for your body, if you have old habits you need to break, or if you need soundness of mind, you can receive through water baptism. TESTIMONY There was an elderly woman coming to church a few years ago and she kept telling me, Brother Sutherlin, I ve got to get baptized. We didn t have a baptistery at that time and it was winter time. I told her that we had a pond and that I would baptize her when the weather was warmer. But she kept insisting that she had to be baptized soon. Finally, in the month of February, she convinced me to baptize her in the pond. The water was icy cold, but I baptized her in that ice cold water and she came out that water with her hands lifted up and talking in tongues. She got water baptized, but God also baptized her in the Holy Ghost and fire. She was also healed of a physical ailment at the same time. YOU ARE A NEW KIND OF A MAN When you go down into the water of baptism, we are saying, I died and the old man is buried. This new man on the inside is connected to the resurrected, glorified Christ. Hallelujah! I can walk in a new kind of life. What kind of life is it? It s the same life and power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. That same spirit dwells in you and will make alive your mortal body. You are connected to the Great and Mighty Healer. Whatever is in Him is now in you. You are in union with the One who defeated sin, sickness, hell, and Satan. There is no record of your past God wiped it out. You now have a new record and this is the record, that 5

God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. I John 5:11 Water baptism is acting out in the flesh the death, the burial, and the mighty resurrection of Christ. By this action, you are saying, I ve made a commitment to Almighty God, I accept the redemptive work through Christ death, burial, and resurrection. I now belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. The old man that I was is gone, He died and he is buried. I was raised up with Christ. I now sit in heavenly places with Christ and I rule and reign out of this resurrected life. YOU HAVE NO PAST Know ye not that so many of us that was baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. Romans 6:3. Through water baptism, you are saying I leave my old life behind. I have new life, the life of Christ. All my past and everything connected to the old man has died and is buried. I am raised to a new kind of life. No one has a right to point to your past, not even satan. Water baptism signifies your total identity with everything that Christ accomplished in His death, burial, and resurrection. You participated in the divine process the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You are in union with Christ, you have joined yourself to Messiah and you now form one single spirit. He is the Vine, you are the branch. Whatever is in Him, is now in you. You are connected with the One who sits in the highest seat in the universe. 6

CONFESSION I was crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live the old man was crucified and it is no longer I, but it is the anointed, resurrected Christ living on the inside of me. That is resurrection power! You are not an old sinner, but a new creation in Christ..then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Acts 2:38 Can you see the importance of water baptism? It is more than a ritual or just following in the footsteps of Jesus. Water baptism signifies that all ties with the world are broken. Everything in the realm of darkness sin, sickness, and satan, has no hold or influence over you. You are in union with the One who defeated death, hell, and the grave. You are a new kind of a man. You re a man with God living on the inside of you a man with God s life, God s nature, and God s ability. Glory to God! I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13 AMEN! 7