Does Baptism Save You? (Four Principles of Baptism)

Does Baptism save you?  This is an important question for us to all consider.  Many people think baptism does save you.  Sadly, many of us have grown up in churches that have misinformed us about what baptism is all about.  

About John

John Fonville is Pastor of Paramount Church in Jacksonville, Florida. Paramount Church is part of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). 

The Him We Proclaim Podcast features the preaching and teaching ministry of Dr. John Fonville at Paramount Church. This resource aims to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to all people. The gospel cannot be assumed. An assumed gospel will, in time, become a denied gospel. Thus, each generation must rediscover the paramount truths of the gospel and apply the gospel's implications to their own day and age. Him we proclaim (Col. 1:28)!

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Transcript

HWP Announcer 

Hi, this is the Him We Proclaim podcast the messages of John Banville, you're listening to season five, called two keys to spiritual growth. Here's John with message number nine entitled four principles of baptism.

John Fonville 

The sermon today will be a little bit shorter. And I know that's a surprise to most of you. But we have to get in for baptisms. And also we got to get in Holy Communion. And there's a lot to do so little bit of abbreviation today. But in preparation for our baptismal service this morning, I want us just to take a brief look this morning at four principal parts of baptism to help you understand baptism a little bit better, because you're getting ready to witness baptisms. We have been studying baptism over the past couple of weeks, and we had finished the study on the Holy Communion. And what we have learned that baptism is one of two sacraments instituted by our Lord given to us in the words of institution in Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 through 20, which is popularly known as a great commission. So listen to what Jesus says, And after he had victoriously risen from the dead and all authority had been given to him. This is what he Commission's his visible church to do in the mission that he gives to the visible church. He says this, he says, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations. And then he tells us how to make disciples. He says, baptizing by means of baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. And then the second means by which make disciples is the minister the word he says, teaching them, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And he says, the promise to guarantee this is not only his authority is with us, but his presence is with us. He says, because I am Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. And so let me just briefly this morning, there are many things that I could discuss about baptism. For example, today is Pentecost Sunday, I'll come back to this in a minute. But I'm Pentecost Sunday, the Bible always associates water, the Holy Spirit and baptism together. We could and our Scripture lessons that we heard read this morning, we heard from Acts chapter two on the day of Pentecost that all of these people groups were present, but yet they couldn't hear in their own languages, the proclamation of the gospel and what what Luke is teaching us in this redemptive historical act of Pentecost is showing us how the Holy Spirit who is the gift of the risen Christ to the church poured out upon the church is reversing the curse of Babel. And were all the peoples of the earth were scattered and can no longer understand one another. The Holy Spirit now is coming in, he's reuniting all people, groups, every tribe, late language people nation, and back together in the centrality of Christ. And that's what baptism witnesses to to the unity of the church. But we're not going to have time to look at that whole thing this morning either. But just very quickly, this morning, I want to give you four principal parts of baptism. Here's the first baptism is a joyful sign of the gospel. that tourism is a joyful sign in the Gospel baptism is 150 Proof pure gospel. Okay. Baptism is not illegal, right? Baptism is not the law. If you're trusting Christ, as you'll see, baptism is God's gift to his church. Baptism is one other says a neon light that is flashing gospel gospel gospel as you see these baptisms this morning. It is God telling you, good news. Good news, good news. It is a visible gospel. And so as a visible gospel, this sacrament is intended to fill God's people with joy. With joy, one of the greatest compliments that I have received about our church and I pray by the power of the Holy Spirit will continue is that our church is joyful and kind. If we can't, if we're going to be gospel centered and filled with grace, and we can be kind to people, boy, we've missed the gospel, haven't we? Kind winsome gracious. The gospel is intended to fill us with joy. The Gospel powerfully community the baptism powerfully communicates the gospel or more fully declares and seals God's covenant promise to us. Heidelberg Catechism question 69. It says as surely as we are washed outwardly with water, whereby the filthiness of the body is taken away. So certainly are we washed with Christ's blood and Holy Spirit from the pollution of our souls, that is from all our sin. Baptism points us to the centrality of the cross of Christ, who was baptized on the cross and to God's wrath for our sin for our sake for us, and for our salvation. The apostle Paul says in Ephesians, chapter one, verses seven and eight. He says, in Christ, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished on us Slyke the Niagara Falls, it just keeps lavishing on us grace for the forgiveness of all our sins. But notice that the Catechism also points us not only to the centrality of the cross for the washing away of our sins, but also to the work of the Holy Spirit. Today, as I said, Pentecost Sunday in all forgive us that we don't have red paraments up here, we're working on raising the money to get red pyramids. But until then, we have white perilous, which the blood of Christ made us fly to snow, so we'll pretend that it's appropriate. Next year, we'll have some red pyramids for you. But today, today is Pentecost Sunday. And it's helpful to note on Pentecost Sunday, the connection between baptism and the work of the Holy Spirit. So let me just quickly mention a few things. The day of Pentecost March, this qualitative change. But between the Holy Spirit's work in activity in the Old Testament, and his work and activity in the New Testament, you can just think of the work of the Holy Spirit. Now, post Pentecost is ratcheting up this increased work of the Holy Spirit and the New Covenant New Testament, because the Bible says it now we live in the age of the Holy Spirit. And so it's important for us to recognize and appreciate on this Pentecost Sunday that the Holy Spirit as we confess in a few moments, in the words of the Nicene Creed, that the Holy Spirit is the Lord. That means we are saying he is God. The Holy Spirit is the Lord He is the giver of life. And he is the Lord the Giver of Life listened carefully and every work of the Godhead. You know what that means? It means that it's not just at Pentecost, but at creation in Genesis chapter one, verse two, where we encounter that work and Person of the Holy Spirit. In Genesis chapter one, verse two and creation at the very beginning of the story, the Holy Spirit, the Bible says, is hovering over the waters of creation, and he's making the father speech through the sun, let, let God said, Let there be light. The father speaking through the sun through the word, he's working through the word to bear creations intended fruit. The Bible says that at the very beginning, the Holy Spirit the divine person is at work within creation, shaping and bringing forth life. He is the Lord and Giver of Life. He is shaping and bringing forth life from that which was without form, that which was void, and that which was shrouded covered in darkness, he brings life to that. And so the Bible teaches us that justice, the Holy Spirit hovers over the waters and creation, preparing a place a dwelling place of God for men, God's covenant partners, Adam and Eve. So the Holy Spirit hovers over Mary's womb, that Luke says he overshadowed Mary's womb, so that she would conceive the incarnate Son of God. And then the Apostle Paul and Titus chapter three, verse five, he says that the Holy Spirit now hovers over us through the ministry of the gospel, bringing regeneration and renewal washing of the Holy Spirit from all our sins and abling us to hear and receive Christ and all of His saving words to us. This was the Apostle Paul says in Titus chapter three, verse five, he says that God the father saved us, not because of works done by and by us in righteousness, but God the father saved us according to his own mercy. Listen and how I was this mercy of God the Father demonstrated in our salvation by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. And so the same Holy Spirit, who clove Christ in our flesh and raise Christ into consummated glory, guess what he's doing now? He is now clothing us in Christ. And he will one day raise us into consummated glory. Paul says this in Romans eight verse 11. He says, If the Spirit of Christ who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit, from the dead, will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you, He is the Lord, He is the giver of life. And so the baptism and through the joyful sign of the gospel, it points to the centrality of Christ's blood on the cross washing away our sin. It points to the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, the Lord the Giver of Life sucking, baptism is Trinitarian. Baptism is Trinitarian and his words of institution Jesus commands, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name singular, of plural, the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Listen, when we are baptized into the name of God, the Father, the Holy Spirit assures us that God the Father adopts us, his his beloved children, and that we are forever under his favor. Our baptism and name of God the Father is God, the father's pledge, it is his token, it is his visible sign, it is his promise to you, that he has made an everlasting covenant of grace with you, assuring that he will forever be your God and you will forever be His people. We see God's promised the essence of the covenant of grace summarizing his promise to Abraham in Genesis 17 Seven, he says, I will establish my covenant between you and your offspring, after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. This promise that God makes to Abraham is echoed in every epoch of redemptive history from that point forward. We find it over 400 years later promised to the people the physical descendants of Abraham whom God brought out of slavery in Egypt. We find it later in Israel's history in Jeremiah 31, through the prophets who promise of the new covenant that God will make with his people. We find this on the day of Pentecost, again, celebrating the day of Pentecost today. Peter testifies to the Lord's promise with to Abraham, he says, For this promises for you, and for your children, and for all who are far off everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. God repeats this promise to both Jew and Gentile in the Corinthian church and second Corinthians chapter six, verse 16. And he says, what agreement has the temple of God with idols, For we are the temple? You understand, we now are the temple of God, the dwelling place of God on earth. He says, we are the temple of the living God is God said, and he close Genesis 17 Seven, I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. And then when you come to the end of the story, and Revelation, chapter 21, verses two to three, we find the consummation of God's promise to Abraham in the new heavens and the new earth and the resurrection. As John records his vision of this new heaven and new earth, he says this, he says, verse three, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, he will do away with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. And so baptism powerfully into the name of God, the Father, the Holy Spirit takes that baptism and he takes that promise of the covenant of grace and he assures not only the person baptized but the whole church wouldn't seen. I am your God, and you will be my people forever. And then we are baptized into the name of God the Son, God the Son, the Holy Spirit assures us that Christ washes all our sin away by his blood, his debt, his bloody death on the cross. First John chapter one, verse seven, the apostle John says the blood of Jesus His Son, cleanses us from Austin. You might be sitting there today thinking, I you don't know about all my sin? Oh, I do because I know about our Savior. And he cleanses it all. And when you watch and witness this baptism today, the Holy Spirit takes those waters. And he confirms to your heart, every last gross, horrible thing you have ever done in thought, word and deed, by the sins that you have done and by what we have left undone as we confess, it's all forgiven. And so the Holy Spirit confirms that we are freed from our sins and regarded declared by God is to be righteous before him forever. And then we're baptized in the Holy Name of the Holy Spirit. And by being baptized in the name of the Holy Spirit, though, the Holy Spirit assures us that the that he will come and make a home within us as we heard in our Scripture lessons this morning. Jesus says, if I depart, it's to your advantage, because I will come and I will be with you because I will take residence up within you. And so the Apostle Paul writing to the Corinthian church, he says, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? And so while living within us, the Holy Spirit makes Christ real to us. He continually works to strengthen and deepen our faith union with Christ. And second Corinthians chapter four, verse six, Paul says that the Holy Spirit is shown into our hearts to get the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So the Holy Spirit makes us whole heartedly willing to live out this new life we have received in Christ, he assures us that one day, one day we will be presented perfect without spot without wrinkle without staying to the praise of God's glorious grace, as Paul says, And Ephesians chapter one, verses 13 and 14, listen to this promise. He says in Christ you also when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. And as promised, Holy Spirit is the guarantee of your inheritance until you require possession of it to the praise of his glory. And so baptism noon is the second part of baptism. The second principal part is that his baptism is Trinitarian. The third principle part of baptism is that baptism teaches us visibly and powerfully that we and our children are sinful from the time of conception and birth. Baptism has three modes in the Scripture, it is by immersion it is by pour in is by sprinkling. And baptism by immersion in Scripture portrays in a very eloquent way that all of us come into this world under the judgment and wrath of God. As we were studying in our catechism class primetime this morning. Baptism is not always a joyful sign. Because Peter says in First Peter, chapter three, verse 21, that Noah's Flood was a baptism. And everybody on that day listened very carefully, everybody in the world that day was baptized. But it was only good news for eight people. And so baptism by immersion betray portrays in an elegant fashion way that we're all under the judgment and wrath of God. Baptism by pouring, which is what we do. So we don't have a we don't have a dunking pool. So we'll pour because the Scriptures teach that to baptism by pouring portrays in an elegant way that we're all in need of the Holy Spirit's regenerating work of becoming new creations. Just as he was poured out the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and baptize the church with the Holy Spirit. Baptism by sprinkling. Baptism by sprinkling portrays in an eloquent way that all of us are in need of purification and cleansing from the pollution of our sins were in need of the forgiveness of God for Christ's sake for the guilt of our sins, and sprinkling powerfully demonstrates this visibly to the church. And so baptism teaches us that we ought to be displeased and humble ourselves because of our sin and look to and turn by faith to Christ alone, who has promised in that visible gospel. And then fourth, and finally, bad Tourism is a covenant sign and seal places us under obligation not obligation by duty, not under obligation by law but under obligation by grace, to live in obedience to God. Baptism is the means of person being admitted into Christ's visible Church, which is why now we as I said, three weeks ago when I preached on it, we have moved the baptismal font to the back of the church, which is the entrance of the church. So that every week when we come into church, we are reminded by the baptismal font, this is how you came into Christ Church. Baptism is the beginning point of a lifelong process of discipleship in the context of the visible church, we learned that baptism teaches us that we belong to one another. Baptism is not a solitary thing it is, it is Mark is not marking me out as a Christian by myself on alone island by myself. But baptism is a corporate thing. It makes us part of the body of Christ, the church. And then it introduces us to all the privileges and partnerships and responsibilities that church membership entails when we become a part of Christ's body. And so in Romans chapter six, verse four, Paul says that we were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that Justice Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we to listen, my walk, and newness of life. And so our baptism obligates us by the grace of God as a visible gospel, to live in obedience, and obey God's commands not for life, but from life. It teaches us to repent daily of our sinful ways of life to put to death, our old nature, this old Adam that keeps wanting to creep up and take over called our sinful flesh teaches us to destroy that and to say no and deny ourselves and to live in obedience and holiness, righteousness. It teaches us that we belong to God that we have been marked by the Triune God with his name on our life, and that we have been made a member of a covenant member of His body, His Church, and therefore we live by the grace of God. But baptism also teaches this teaches us this, it doesn't expect sinless perfection because nobody's perfect, right? Who in here is perfectly he lived out the Christian life this week. Love God perfectly, loves your neighbor perfectly. Right? We continue to sin. And so what baptism does because it's the visible gospel, is that when we fall into sin through the weakness of our faith, we don't have to despair, the grace of God. Listen to what Charles Spurgeon said about that. He said, it isn't a natural, cruel, barbarous idea that a man may be God's child. And then God may uncharged him, because he does not behave himself. He's exactly right. God doesn't on child us because we have heard he has made an eternal covenant promise with us and God's baptism. His gift is a trustworthy sign in sale, that he's always faithful to us. That He has made a promise and it is short and steadfast forever, as you hear a week after week after week in the call to worship Psalm 105. Listen, For the Lord is good. He overflows in generosity to you for Christ's sake. His steadfast love that is he's made a promise to you a covenant promise to you, and he keeps it forever. His steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. That is our hope. And this is what baptism points us to. So as we reflect this morning on these four truths of baptism, let me let me just finish with one quick word of instruction. And with a one quick word of warning to the congregation. As we are about to come to the moment of baptism, I want you to understand as a congregation that baptism is for the benefit of the whole church. Baptism is not just for Abby, puffer, Isaac and Zach today. Baptism is for all of us. As we gathered together to witness the sacrament, the Lord the Holy Spirit, He more fully declares and seals to our hearts, the promise of the gospel that we have received. And because baptism is the sacrament of initiation into the visible church, that regular administration should have the sacrament should ordinarily if possible, there's extraordinary circumstances. But ordinarily, it should be done in the presence of the corporate gathering of the church. Because when we are all present, the Holy Spirit powerfully reminds us and assures Our hearts have all the benefits of the gospel of all the promises that we have received in Christ. And so he gives us assurance and we draw strength from the death, burial, resurrection of Christ and to whom we were baptized. And then we are reminded of the responsibilities that are ours as members of the Church, to live out in the life of the body, as we've been called to. And then and then the second thing is just a quick word of warning about baptism. As I said, God's covenant sign of baptism is a joyful sign of the gospel, but only for those who are trusting in the substance given Christ. For those who are not trusting in Christ, baptism is a sign of judgment in the church. water all throughout the scriptures serves as a sign of judgment. The no AIC flood, the Red Sea crossing, First Peter chapter three, verse 21, Peter links baptism to the flood. And as I said, baptism and Noah's Flood was good news and it was bad news. If you are trusting in the substance of God's promise, it was good news and eight people were saved. And the whole world perished. First Corinthians chapter 10, verse two, Paul links baptism to the Red Sea crossing. God's people were saved through the baptism of the Red Sea. But Pharaoh and his army oops. They received baptism that day to in both cases, the floodwaters exercise judgment on the unbelieving, but those trusting in the promise of God, were brought safely through the waters of judgment. That's why we have this picture of Noah's Ark up here, reminding you every week, God has brought you safely through the waters of judgment, through the Ark of Christ into the new creation, where the Holy Spirit as a dove brings the olive leaf, and he brings you into new creation. And so the presence or absence of faith in Christ determines whether baptism waters or judgment or redemption. If you're trusting Christ, it is good news. If you reject Christ, it is to your judgment in his teaching you repent, trust Christ before it's too late. So nobody has been saved today because the earth getting wet. As we said, a month ago, if you want to use your baptism, right, this is how you use it. Right? Don't baptism doesn't save Jesus saves. But that isn't powerfully through the Holy Spirit confirms as a sign and seal the salvation that Christ has saved us and given to us the gift that we have received. Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for Your mercy to us. And we thank you for the gift of baptism. And so as we come to your visible gospel this morning, we pray for the power of the Holy Spirit, to direct all of our hearts to the substance of which it points us to which is Christ in all of us saving works, and the renewing Washington regeneration of the Holy Spirit. We named the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

HWP Announcer 

Thanks for listening to the Him We Proclaim podcast with John Fonville. Him We Proclaim as a ministry of John Fonville of Paramount Church in Jacksonville, Florida. You can check out his church at www.Paramountchurch.com We look forward to next time.