Is Baptism Necessary? – Rural Reset 17/21 [19]

Host: TJ Freeman

Summary: In this episode of Back to Rurality, TJ Freeman, a rural pastor, addresses Baptism. He addresses common questions such as whether believers should get baptized, the legitimacy of infant baptism, and the significance of baptism in the Christian faith.

Key Points:

• Baptism as a Covenant: Baptism is a sign of entering into a covenant relationship with God, akin to a wedding ring symbolizing marriage. While baptism does not save, it is a crucial step for believers as an affirmation of faith and entry into the church community. 
• Baptism as a Front Door: When you are Baptized in a church, you effectively join that church community as a member. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul says that we are baptized into the body of the church! The church is affirming your confession of faith as true. 

Listener Takeaways:

• Baptism is set aside for believers. 
• You only need to be baptized one time. 
• If you have questions about your baptism, your pastors would love to help you think through it. 
• Additionally, you should consider reading "Understanding Baptism" by Bobby Jamison. 
  
  
  

Connect with Us:

• Website: backtorurality.com
• Social Media: Facebook

Transcript

Okay, picture this. You're sitting down with a good friend over a cup of coffee, and they ask you a question you're not sure how to answer. They look at you right square in the eyes and they say, Do you think I should be baptized? I know what you're thinking. I don't know. What are the circumstances?

That's a really good question. There's a lot of directions this could go. What if they ask you, Hey, I was baptized as a baby. And I'm wondering if I should be baptized as an adult believer. Or what if they said, Hey, I strayed for a long time after I was baptized. And now that I'm walking with the Lord again, I wonder, is it time to be dipped?

Or what if they said I'm a brand new believer, but I just, I'm afraid of. Crowds, do I really have to go and be baptized? There are so many questions around the topic of baptism, and you've probably got some questions about your own baptism. Are you sure it was legit? Well, listen up. That's what we're going to cover on this episode of Back to Rurality.

Well, hello. My name is TJ Freeman and yep, like you, I live in the middle of nowhere. I happen to be a rural pastor and I know exactly what it's like to have to drive hours to get to the nearest Chick fil A or Target. There are some challenges about living in the middle of nowhere. And one of them is the fact that it's hard to find good resources.

That help us understand what we should do about baptism and baptism is kind of a big deal. So it can be a little scary when you have more questions than answers. So today what I want to do is just help us get a high level overview of this topic of baptism so that you have some idea how you would answer the question if somebody asked you, should I get baptized or not?

Or if you're struggling yourself, You might have an idea how to answer the question. Should I be baptized or should I not? We're going to talk about some things from scripture regarding why baptism matters and what it really is. What does it even do? And we're going to talk about the question that is on a lot of people's minds.

Should I be re baptized? Is that something I should be thinking about for whatever reason? And by the end of this episode, you'll have some answers to the most fundamental questions that you or others might have about baptism. So question number one, should I be baptized? If. A person is a believer. If you're a believer, the answer to that question is absolutely yes, you must be baptized.

Now, that does not mean that your baptism saves you, but baptism is directly connected to salvation all throughout scripture. So baptism is the sign that one receives. You like that? That one receives? It's the sign that you receive. That people receive when they become a Christian. God enters into relationship with people, not just casually, but through something called a covenant.

When you become a Christian, you enter into a covenant relationship with God. That sounds like a big technical theological thing. Just think about a marriage covenant. When you enter into marriage with somebody, it's not a contract. A contract is something you make with the guy who sprays your house for bugs.

If he doesn't spray, you don't have to pay. A covenant is something different. In a covenant, you're agreeing to uphold your end of the bargain pretty much no matter what. It's not contingent upon the other person's behavior. A covenant relationship is a more serious, more enduring kind of a relationship, and it's marked by a sign.

You saw that when you got married, if you are, and if not, maybe someday you're picturing this moment at the wedding. You stand there and the pastor says, may I have the rings? And then if you have like a practical joker groomsman, he acts like he lost him. It's really overdone. So if you're ever that guy, don't pretend that you lost the rings.

It's not as funny as you think it is. But anyway, the pastor gets the rings, he holds them in his hand and he says to the bride or the groom, okay, take your partner's hand and slide this ring onto the ring finger and repeat after me. And it talks about how the The ring is a sign of the covenant or a symbol of the covenant.

And a ring's a good one because it's endless. It's this endless loop and the marriage is meant to be endless. Well, God enters into covenants with his people as well. You can think of an easy one would be like the covenant that God made with Noah and creation essentially after that, where he talked about, I'm going to put I'm not going to flood the earth again and destroy it that way.

And I'm going to give you a sign in the sky that you can see and observe. And remember, I've made this promise and it's the rainbow. That is a sign of a covenant with Abraham. When God set him apart as a special people, which would become the nation of Israel, he told them, there's this sign that marks you as my people.

On the eighth day, your child must be circumcised. That's the mark of being God's people. The sign of the covenant is circumcision and those families whose men are circumcised are marked off as part of God's chosen family.

Well, thankfully the sign of The covenant today because of Christ no longer is physical in the sense of being circumcised, but it is spiritual in the sense of being baptized. That's really a deep theological topic that would be worth spending some more of your time studying.

All I wanted to illustrate through this podcast is to say baptism is a sign of a covenant that God has made with his people. That sign should be given to all of those who have trusted Christ by faith. That's why you see all throughout scripture things about being saved and being baptized.

Like in Galatians 3 27. It says, for as many as you were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. So the baptism is not what causes you to put on Christ or to become a Christian, but if you've become a Christian, you're just meant to be baptized. Peter talks about it in Acts 2. 38. It says, Peter said to them, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.

And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Again, the baptism is not where your sins are forgiven. That happens through faith alone. All of scripture makes that really clear, but it's understood here in scripture that baptism is so connected to your salvation that they're used almost synonymously.

Mark 16, 16, you can see the same kind of synonymous language. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. See, it's the belief, the lack of belief, is what would cause you to be condemned, not the lack of baptism. However, that baptism is the automatic next step in the life of a believer, and it is expected that if you believe, you will also be baptized.

And I just want to, I think I can help you understand why. Number one, it's a mark of the covenant. , it's An affirmation from the church that you actually believe the right stuff. Think of the kindness of the Lord here in calling you to go be baptized. So you start to believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, that you've sinned against God and Christ is the sacrifice that the father sent so that Jesus could live a perfect life and then die in your place for the remission of your sins.

He could pay your debt so that you could receive his righteousness and be set free. You start to believe that that's true. Now there's some danger in believing anything in isolation because you have nothing to check the facts. There's no one to hear what you believe and go. Yeah. According to scripture, that really is true.

So God has designed it. So that you will go to a group of believers who have been entrusted with the gospel and the responsibility to examine those who place their faith in Christ, to see if they're really believers before conducting a baptism, before baptizing them. They hear the testimony of these who profess to be saved.

They evaluate it. And if it's a true. right profession of faith, then they give them the sign of baptism. So a couple of things are happening. One is there's an affirmation that your understanding of the gospel is accurate, and that is a gift. That's a blessing. You don't want to go on just assuming you got it right or wondering, did you really understand it correctly?

Secondly, when you go to the church like that. It's your profession before a group of believers as you confess out loud what you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And you can see this playing out in a couple of scriptures. One of them is famously called the Great Commission. Sounds pretty important, doesn't it? Well, it is really important. And in Matthew 28, Jesus gives his final words before ascending into heaven. He says to his disciples, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit, he goes on to say you should teach them to obey all that I've commanded you. The responsibility of baptism is given here to the church. It's the church, it's Christ's people, who are responsible to proclaim the truth, and then upon someone professing the truth, They are to baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, which is really important.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12, For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body. Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and all were made to drink of one spirit. So, When you become a Christian and you are baptized, you are baptized into a body. You become part of the church. So you receive the sign. You receive an affirmation that you've really understood the gospel and you enter into a body.

You become part of the church through your baptism. That's why church membership is reserved for those who have been baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Baptism then is a two way street. One way is you, you're driving and you're saying, I believe these things and I want to publicly declare my faith by going forward for baptism.

The other side of the street is the church driving and the church says, yes, we're going to affirm that you really are. A citizen of the kingdom of heaven. You really believe the gospel and we want to stamp your passport so that you have all the rights thereof. 

So you are making an appeal, as Peter talks about in 1 Peter 3, based on the cleansing that's happened within you, and the church is affirming what they understand to be a right profession of faith, having heard your testimony.

Now, in some churches, they refer to baptism as a sacrament. Other churches might call it an ordinance. That means the same thing. And what it means is that these are responsibilities that are given to the church to extend to individuals who have a right understanding of the gospel. And there are two ordinances or two sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper.

And we'll talk about the Lord's Supper or communion next week. Right now, we're just focusing on baptism. And what you should understand is that this is a means of grace. That's another theological term. Let me just break it down. God gives his grace to people, but there's some means by which his grace is given.

He doesn't just go poof. Now you've got all the grace you could ever need. God distributes his grace through all kinds of means. For example. We've talked on this podcast already about singing. When you're singing, there's a kind of grace that you're extending to others in the room as you encourage them.

That's a blessing from the Lord given through you that you've also received from other people around you. Baptism is a means of grace in the sense that God both affirms you and encourages you through it. And the same thing happens again with the Lord's Supper, which we'll talk about next week. But these things are a means of grace.

to assure and to strengthen you as a Christian. So if you're a Christian, you should get baptized. If you're not a believer, I don't even know why you're listening to this episode. Maybe you're just curious. Let me just tell you, you can't get the cart before the horse to use a cliche. I like a good cliche. Sorry to let that cat out of the bag. Guess I've really opened up a can of worms there Anyway, you may have some questions.

Yeah, if you're not a Christian you can't get baptized because you don't believe the thing that Baptism says you believe and you're ineligible to receive the sign of baptism Because you don't have the one thing necessary faith in Christ alone for your salvation You Faith is what makes it possible to become part of God's family.

The covenant relationship that we have with our Lord comes by grace through faith. There's no other way to enter into God's family than to trust in Christ alone by faith. If you're not a believer, And you're wondering if you should be baptized.

The answer is no, before you become a believer. But what's stopping you? Why not just trust Christ today? Ask him to pardon your sin, to cleanse you from all of your sin. Just confess that it's wrong. He's right. Ask him to to forgive you, to save your soul. Place your trust fully in Christ alone for your salvation.

And then give the rest of your life to serving the Lord who is kind to make you. Then to save you, even though you rebelled against him, Christ is willing to have you today if you'd turn to him. So some questions that naturally come up here. Number one, what if I was baptized as an infant? Well, my answer to that question would be inconceivable.

It's just not possible. An infant can't be baptized because an infant does not possess faith. So you can make an infant wet. You can take a baby to the front of the church, give the baby to a pastor or a priest, and they can hold the baby over the water, maybe even put a large portion of the baby's body down in the water.

And they can say, I'm baptizing this child in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. I would just say to that that child is actually ineligible because that child has not trusted by faith and therefore does not have access To the sign that comes as a result of the covenant relationship.

They've entered into with the lord So if your baptism came before you were a believer whether you are an infant You or a young child, you're sure I was not truly converted when I was baptized, you really were not baptized.

You got wet during a ceremony. And that's great, it's cool that people were, you know, eager for you to be trusting the Lord, that you had family that would put you in a position where they could give you the best start they could think of, but it's not a baptism. Because faith is required to receive that sign.

So you need to be baptized, but you don't need to be re baptized. You need to be baptized as a believer because that is the correct order is salvation and then baptism. Another question people have is, well, what if I strayed for a while? You know, I was real serious when I prayed the prayer, whatever you did, I can see that the Lord was with me.

I was walking with the Lord when I was younger, but then I went through this Effectively turn my back on the Lord I was doing things. I knew I shouldn't be doing And I felt guilty, but I didn't stop. Maybe for a season, I even thought, I don't know if I really believe these things. And then I had an awakening.

I came back to the Lord. I'm now walking with the Lord again, and I want to be baptized or re baptized to show that I'm really wanting to be serious about following the Lord. Baptism is not the way that you.

restate your faith in Christ or re demonstrate some renewed vigor. You know how you do that? The Lord's Supper. And again, we'll talk about that next week. You do that at the table that the Lord has given you a seat at by making you His. And it doesn't make sense. That you would have made your statement of faith, the church would have affirmed it, you would have entered into the body of Christ through baptism, and then somehow, what, you left it? If you really were welcomed in to God's family and received that sign, the fact that you failed for a while does not negate that. In fact, the reality that you've persevered, even though there was a season of dryness, is evidence of the work that God has done in you. So you don't need to be re baptized to make a statement about the fact that you're serious.

There is, Only one entrance in there's only one publicly stated acknowledgement that your testimony is in fact True, your understanding of the gospel is right. So, being re baptized because you're now more serious than you were a bit ago just doesn't make sense. Do that by being faithful, by going to the Lord's table, and being really grateful that there's still a seat for you there.

Now, if you realize, okay, I don't think I was converted, Based on the way that I was living and what was going on in my heart, I think I actually had not truly been converted initially. Now I think I've been converted. I've really become a Christian. Well then yes, you get baptized, but again, it's not a re baptism.

Ain't no such thing. It is your true baptism because the first one you were actually ineligible to receive. Here's another question. What if I was baptized at home in my bathtub by my brother? Or I was baptized at church camp by a camp counselor? Or I was baptized in the swimming pool during youth group?

Some kind of a non traditional setting. Well, here's one way I want to encourage you. If you regularly go to a church, go talk to your pastor about this because there actually are some unauthorized baptisms. For instance, well before I for instance ya, let me tell you why I say that. Because baptism is an act of the church.

It's an ordinance given to the body of Christ. So you You can't just tell someone, let's come on over. I'll baptize you in my swimming pool. Or, you know, mom and dad can't say, Hey, thank you for praying that prayer tonight. Now that you've prayed that, let's just fill the tub, and we're just gonna have a nice little family baptism.

Families are not the authorized agents of baptism. It's the gathered church who's meant to help make this profession. And again, understanding that this is part of your entrance into the body of Christ. Some small subset is not really the ideal. So it shouldn't happen just at youth group. It should not happen away at church camp.

Those are abnormal baptisms. However, Not all of them can be discounted and that's something that you and your pastor need to work through together. Was this really the church gathered giving this sign as a mark of the covenant with your relationship with God? That's something you're going to need to work out with your pastor, there's actually a resource that I think would be really helpful to you It's really really short. It's one of the smaller size books and I think it's less than a hundred pages It's published by B& H publishers and it's in their church basic series.

It's called Ready for this? It's a really complicated title. Understanding Baptism. It's by Bobby Jamison. He's an excellent writer, very relatable. This is cookies on the bottom shelf kind of theology. Very helpful. So that you could read this in a sitting without any problem or over the course of a couple nights.

If you want to do a little bit deeper dive into baptism, grab a hold of Bobby Jamison's short volume, Understanding Baptism. I think it'll help you. If you're confused about baptism, go to your pastor, talk to them, and then compare what they say to what you understand from scripture, what you see from God's word, and you'll have a really confident understanding of what baptism is, and you'll know how to answer the question to your friend.

Should I be baptized? Well, hey, this episode has been part of our Rural Reset series. We've taken 21 episodes just to work through some of the basics of the faith. We only have, I can't even believe this, only four episodes left in this series. It's been a really fun journey together. If you'd like to go back and hear this whole series, it just starts in episode three.

So just go to episode three, start there, and you can listen through and get all of them. This might be a helpful resource for some friends. If you would share this, you know what that would do. It'd make my heart grow three sizes, just like the Grinch. I would be really happy and encouraged if you'd share this with a friend. And also, could you leave a rating and a review?

Here's why I ask for that. It is twofold. One, I'd like to know some ways that you've appreciated the things that you've heard on here. Sometimes when you're just in a room by yourself talking to a microphone, it can feel a little hard to know. Is this really valuable? Am I adding any value? So if there's added value, would you put that out there?

Secondly, that helps people who are going to listen or considering listening, know whether it's a good fit or not. They read the reviews and then Apple and Spotify and all the things with all the algorithms tend to Post things in a more prominent place if there are some good ratings and reviews and I don't want that for anything Personally, I want that however because I know that there are a lot of rural people out there who have questions About their faith who are struggling maybe who live in a town where there's no presence of the healthy church And I think this resource would be useful just because we're talking about the Lord and his word And all of those things that it means to follow after him even in the middle of nowhere little places like the towns you and I live in and love There are people who could really use resources that would help them think through their faith.

So you leaving a rating and a review and sharing really helps this go a long way. Thank you so much for listening and I cannot wait to see you next week when we talk about the Lord's Supper. For now though, you know what we should do? I think we should get back to life. Back to Rurality.