MY BAPTISM – IS IT GENUINE OR NOT
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Review about
baptism
·
Mandate
·
Meaning
·
Manner
B. Assurance of
Salvation
·
The Tragic contribution of Roman Catholic Church
– Lack of Assurance of Salvation
o Man
cannot determine if he will be go to heaven or not
o And
people were forced to pay for indulgences for the prayer for their love ones.
·
The Tragic contribution of Christianity – False
Assurance of Salvation
o As
long as they believe Christ they are saved no matter what
o It
is true that if we believe Christ, we will be saved
o But
the problem is that “how do we know we believe?”
o Many
who are professing Christians suffer from self deception because they think
they are saved but they’re not
o To
the worst, most of them use the grace of God as license to sin
·
Balanced Biblical Perspective about Assurance
o Test
if you are still in the faith - Paul
o More
eager to make your calling and election sure - Peter
C. Assurance of
Salvation in our Baptism
·
Water baptism will not save us
·
But a genuine baptism will assure our salvation
knowing the confirmation of our baptism as genuine baptism
II. BODY
THE 4
CONFIRMATIONS OF A GENUINE BAPTISM
1) CONNECTION – IT
REMINDS US OF OUR REDEMPTION IN CHRIST
What is the
connection of my baptism to Jesus’ baptism?
A. THE HEART OF
BAPTISM – CHRIST’S DEATH
·
v.3 – Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized in Christ Jesus (water) were baptized into His death (redemptive
act of God)
·
v.4a - We were buried therefore with him through
baptism unto death:
·
Luke 12:50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is
accomplished!
The confirmation
of our genuine baptism is its connection with Jesus’ Death
·
DEATH –
the word appears several times in the passage. (v.3,4,5,9, 10)
1st
Question: How come that I baptized in His Death? How come that I died in His
death?
If we could fully understand how come we baptized in His
death, the assurance of salvation can be enjoyed
·
Take the phrase “in His death”. Death only exists if there is a sin – even any
single insignificant sin in the eyes of men deserves punishment – death (Romans
6:23, James 1:15)
·
Jesus did not have any sin, therefore He must
not die
·
But the passage is telling us “HIS DEATH” – He owned that death
therefore He owned sin for Him to die
·
Where did He get that sin for Him to die?
·
It is your sins and my sins. Therefore He died
our death – that is the connection
o He
paid the full payment of punishment that supposed to be ours
o He
experienced the intensity of the full wrath of God on the cross
o He
owned your shame, when he got your sin and died your death
2Cor. 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for
us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
This is the reason why I believe in vicarious
atonement-substitutionary atonement – He died our Death.
This is the assurance of salvation – Christ died for you
and nothing can change that fact. Salvation is secured because of His death.
Your baptism will remind you that Jesus owned your sins and the wages
of sins-DEATH – and that is the reason you are buried with Him in His Death
Knowing this you will know that your salvation is assured and may enjoy
it here and in another life forever
B. THE HOPE OF
BAPTISM - RESURRECTION
·
v.4 - that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so
we also might walk in newness of life.
·
v5. - For if we have become united with him in
the likeness of his death, we shall be
also in the likeness of his resurrection;
·
John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the
resurrection, and the life: he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall
he live;
Assurance of Salvation in Baptism reminds us that there is a hope of
resurrection. This is a promise. Death and resurrection are two inseparable
things.
·
If Jesus only died and never resurrect
o Faith
is futile
o Preaching
is nonsense
o Christians
are the most pity
·
Resurrection is a promise of God that one day we
will be resurrected and enjoy the full presence of the Lord
YOUR GENUINE BAPTISM REMINDS YOU OFY OUR REDEMPTION IN CHRIST
Transition: After
knowing the connection of your baptism and Christ’s baptism which is death and
resurrection, here’s another confirmation of your genuine baptism that will
assure you of your salvation
2) CONDITION – IT
REMINDS US OF OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH CHRIST
v. 6 - knowing this, that our old man was crucified with
Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we
should no
longer be slaves of sin.
v.7 - For he who has died has been freed from sin.
v.9b - Death no longer has dominion over Him.
A. The Past
Condition
Genesis 6:5 - Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of
man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually.
The problem is not only you are sinning, but the problem
is that everything you do is sin
·
Even you do good, if it is out of faith it is
sin
·
Have you not read, have you not heard that even
our righteous acts are just filthy rags before God
·
Without faith it is impossible to please God
·
That was your former life – a life without faith
·
Your are dead in trespasses and transgressions
·
You are enemies of God
·
Your father is the devil
·
You are the sons of darkness
·
Your pleasure is the worldly wealth
·
Your passion is to rebel against the holy God
The sad thing about it is that you cannot do something to
pull yourselves out of that miserable condition that will bring you to hell if
God will not act on your behalf.
You are not spiritually comatose, YOU ARE SPIRITUALLY DEAD, all we need is Christ, the mercy of God
B. The Present
Condition
v.8 - Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we
shall also live with Him,
v.9 - knowing that Christ, having been raised from the
dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
v.10 - For the death that He died, He died to sin once
for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
v.11 - Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead
indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Your present condition is that you are in Christ now
2Cor. 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have
become new.
·
You are no longer dead but alive
·
You are no longer in darkness you are in the
light
·
You are not living in lies but in truth
·
You are no longer children of the devil but
children of God
·
You are no longer slave but free
·
You are no longer guilty but JUSTIFIED in Christ
He declared you righteous. This the doctrine of
Justification. It is not a process but a declaration that you are righteous not
because of what you have done but what your baptism is pictured out – the death
and resurrection of Christ
Your baptism reminds you that you are no
longer under the slavery of sin and now possessing a righteousness of Jesus
Christ – NOT GUILTY, YOU ARE JUSTIFIED
YOUR GENIUNE BAPTISM REMINDS YOU OF YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH CHRIST
Transition: Now
you know that your present condition in Christ that you are no longer slave of
sin but righteous in the sight of God what you should do now? And this leads us
to the third confirmation of a genuine baptism
3) COMMAND – IT
REMINDS US OF OUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR CHRIST
v.12 - Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal
body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
v.13 - And do not present your members as instruments of
unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as
being
alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
John 8:11 - “........go and sin no more”
A. To Mortify
Unrighteousness in the Body
Romans 13:14 - But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make
no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
·
The more we entertain sin in our lives the more
it reigned in our mortal body the more we are prone to obey its lusts
·
We need to mortify the sins in our body
o Do
feed your thoughts of the things which will be snare for you
o Practice
righteousness rather than unrighteousness
o Focus
on the things above
o Think
what is noble, pure, lovely......
B. To Minister
Righteousness using the Body
·
Do not use your body as instrument of sin but
instrument of righteousness
·
Be instrument of righteous things, righteous
work, righteous service for the Lord
·
The Lord does not tell us to stay on our seats
and wait upon the Lord there
·
He charged us to be instrument of righteousness
o This
is why the Lord gave each of everyone gift to be useful in His vineyard for
God’s glory
YOUR GENUINE BAPTISM WILL REMIND YOU OF YOUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR CHRIST
Transition: After
knowing that a genuine baptism will assure your salvation if baptism has
connection with Christ’s baptism, you have a new condition, and have
responsibility to live a life worthy of God the last confirmation of a genuine
baptism is covenant – being in God in relationship
4) COVENANT – IT
REMINDS US OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST
v.14 - For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you
are not under law but under grace.
A. Covenant of Law
·
Most of the time, many Christians do not
understand the Covenant of Law
·
Law is always associated with the Old Testament
o This
is true but most of us we missed the meaning of the covenant of law
o It
was given in the Old Testament but the effect of that covenant is still working
today
o And
honestly you had been part of this covenant
o When
you are not yet been born again –regeneration, you are under this covenant of
law
·
Therefore this covenant, since this is from God
this is good for us.
·
The law is our accuser – Gal. 4:19 It was added
because of transgressions
·
The law is tutor bringing us to Christ – Gal.
4:24
B. Covenant of
Grace
·
This covenant has been promised first in the
garden of Eden
·
This was mentioned by Jeremiah
Jeremiah 31:31 - Behold, the days are coming, says the
LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah
·
And this was fulfilled by Jesus Christ,
therefore the covenant of law is no longer applied to those who received grace
and faith because the law will never accuse them because of Christ
·
The law will no longer bring them to Christ
because they are already in Christ
·
This is the last covenant – a perfect covenant
Your genuine
baptism will assure you of your salvation knowing that you are no longer under
the law but grace
YOUR GENUINE BAPTISM REMINDS YOU OF YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST
III. CONCLUSION
·
Test your
baptism if it is genuine or not by examining ourselves before the Lord to whom
you are baptized with.
·
Do you
see the connection of your baptism with Jesus’ baptism
·
Are you
sure that you have a new condition?
·
Examine
if there is a manifestation of living in purity as your responsibility for
Christ
·
Have you
experienced the grace of God in your life as sign that you are no longer under
the law but having a new relationship with God?
ENJOY THE JOY
OF SALVATION – YOUR BAPTISM CONFIRMS YOUR ASSURANCE OF SALVATION IN CHRIST
GRACE AND PEACE
TO YOU FROM THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
JESUS IS THE ANSWER CHRISTIAN
CHURCH 5/13/12
