Church of Christ - Rockville

10 Good Reasons To Be Baptized

Dwight Bowerman
08/29/24 - Sun AM

10 Good Reasons To Be Baptized

In today's day and age we look for reasons to do things whether it’s taking care of our daily chores or making changes to our lives because we learn there’s better ways.  Last week I shared this lesson about the gospel of Jesus Christ and took the time to share 10 good reasons that we all need to be baptized.  A member of our local congregation thanked me for the lesson and encouraged me to share this lesson and its reasons on our church website.  And so, I am making that effort to share these reasons with all who might take the time to listen.

I believe those good reasons start with us listening to Jesus and appreciate His encouraging words found in John 3:16-17 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” 

FRIENDS - it is simply – God loved us and Christ died for our sins so that we might have the hope of eternal life through our obedience to the gospel – the good news of Christ.

In Acts 2 when those who heard Peter and the apostles preach the gospel – they responded and asked what to do.  When Peter told them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you…” – they responded in the exact same way that we can today.  We simply must hear the simplicity and the power the word of God is.

Baptism is so essential for each one of us as we seek the Lord and reach out to the Lord in obedience.  We’ve talked about how essential baptism is – and I want us to not lose this thought and so this morning, I want us to again revisit why it is so important to be baptized –each and every one of us!  This morning let’s talk about those reasons - “Why we should be baptized.”

1. We must be baptized because God says baptism saves us from eternal destruction.

Today you will hear countless voices in the denominational world, teaching baptism as the first thing a person should do after they’re saved.  Yet this is exactly opposite of the clear teaching that surrounds the commands to be baptized—commands that place salvation – instructions that offer the remission of our sins – that offer forgiveness – and our sins being washed away after the we have been baptized and not before it.

• Acts 2:38:  This is when the gospel was preached and forgiveness or the remission of sins is placed after baptism, and not before it.
• Acts 22:16:  This is the same gospel that was shared with Saul telling him that his sins would be washed away is placed after baptism, not before it.

You see - one without the other does not produce forgiveness and offer salvation because the scripture is clear – “…but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”

• Acts 2:38: Repentance and Baptism – and through our submitting to be baptized we can receive the remission of oursins.

Again – repentance without baptism does not equate to remission of sins.  Why?  Because God did not give that as His answer. 

It’s like trying to remove 3 + 2 = 5 
If you remove the 2 it doesn’t add up to 5. 

And the same is true for the 3.

• The same is true over in Galatians 3:26-27 where Paul wrote – “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
• And the same is true with the instructions that Ananias gave to Saul that the apostle shares over in Acts 22:16 – “Now why do you delay?  Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.”  Could Paul have just remained where he was and never got up and been baptized?  Could he have simply called on the name of the Lord for salvation and had his sins washed away?  Not according to the inspired understanding that Paul knew and tells us.

Paul wrote in Romans 6:3-7: “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. ⁵ For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; ⁷ for he who has died is freed from sin.”  Think of this - If we have not gone to the watery grave of baptism – can we look forward to being in the likeness of His resurrection?

2. We must be baptized because God tells us that baptism is absolutely essential.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:4-6 - “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”  Here we find such assertive statements as - “There is one body”, “one Spirit”, “one hope”, “one Lord”, “one faith” and “one God”. All of these - the Holy Spirit - our hope - our Lord - our faith - our God – all are absolutely essential.  Yet in this list we also find another essential element that God speaks of - “one baptism”.  

3. We must be baptized because God says faith in Jesus is not enough.

Certainly faith in Jesus is absolutely essential if one is going to want to be saved.  Yet faith that moves no farther than just being mental convicted never saved anyone.  It is as James puts it in James 2:24, "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone." Men who clearly believed in Jesus but did not confess Him were not saved. 

Over in John 12:42-43 there were some who believed but would not confess Christ.  “Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³ for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.”  And wouldn’t the same be true for people today who believe in Jesus but refuse to repent?  The apostle Paul said in Acts 17:30 – “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent.”

4. We must be baptized because God shows us that sincerity and prayer are not enough.

In Acts chapter 9 Saul of Tarsus (later the apostle Paul) sees Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:5) – and then spends a period of time praying (9:11) – where he was reflective, convicted and sorrowful (9:9).  You remember that Jesus instructed Saul to “…get up and enter the city and it will be told you what you must do.”  Well, when Saul followed Christ’s instructions, and when Ananias later arrives to share with Saul "what he MUST do" - Saul had not already been saved, even after his recorded sincere repentance – and even after him having faith and doing a lot of praying.

FRIENDS - Ananias told Saul in his instructions that he still had sins that needed to be removed.  Did Saul listened to Christ’s instructions that Ananias shared with him, and did he believed that is was necessary to follow Christ’s instructions?  YES
Was he already saved?  NO
Ananias tells him the instructions of Christ that he was sent to share over in Acts 22:16 - “And now why do you delay?  Arise, and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on His name.”
These same instructions apply to us today.

5. We must be baptized because baptism is the commanded response of an honest heart who has heard the good news of Jesus.

It’s what is needed.
We see this by comparing what Phillip preaches in Acts 8:35 - "Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.” 
And then we listen to what the Eunuch says in response in Acts 8:36 – “As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 

In the first verse Philip preached Jesus to the Eunuch - and in the next verse we find this same man is eagerly wanting to be baptized.   How could anyone then, really "preach Jesus" to a person - unless he or she has shared the whole truth that God gives which includes we need to be baptized to be saved?  Jesus Himself plainly taught such in Mark 16:16 – “ He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.” 

6. We must be baptized because baptism is consistently found in all the Biblical cases of conversion.

7. We must be baptized because of the urgency associated with baptism.

Peter urged the people on that first Pentecost — those who were convicted – those who believed his message – that they needed to be baptized that day.  Acts 2:41 - “So then, those who had received his word were baptized, and that day there were added about three thousand souls.”

And our Biblical example of the Eunuch shows how he was immediately baptized right after Phillip taught him about Jesus: Acts 8:36-38

Cornelius was immediately baptized after he heard the message that Peter was sent to share.

And so was the Jailor: Acts 16:33.  And so was everyone else who obeyed the gospel!

8. We must be baptized because baptism is what God uses to unite us with our Savior.

Want to have a personal relationship with Jesus?  In Romans 6 Paul says that we are baptized into “His death” – and we are buried with Him in baptism that is in the likeness of Christ being buried and then we are raised from the watery grave of baptism in the likeness of Christ being raised from the dead. 
Romans 6:3-5 – “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. ⁵ For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection.”

This "spiritual experience" is our obedience to the gospel and being baptized – and this unites us as being one with our Savior.  The simplicity of the Scriptures are clear.  To argue that one is saved prior to baptism does not fit what is taught in the Scriptures.  Just ask yourself - Why would one need to be buried with Him if one was saved by faith alone?  Here in Romans chapter 6, walking in newness of life is placed only after baptism.

Listen again – (Romans 6:4) – “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

9. We must be baptized because baptism is essential to being born again and entering the Kingdom of God.

When Jesus spoke of the absolute need of being born again, He mentioned being born of water in John 3:5 – where He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”  When the Eunuch heard about Jesus, he connected being saved with the water (Acts 8:36) – because he asked about the water that he saw out his chariot window and he realized the immediate importance of him being baptized.  And Peter commanded Cornelius to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 10:48). 

Peter said in 1Peter 3:21 - “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

10. And finally, we must be baptized because Jesus is Lord and is entirely worthy of our love and trust.

If one really believes that Jesus is Lord, then there should be no problem in accepting the Lord’s clear statement, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved”. (Mark 16:16).   We often hear the hypothetical question – “Well what happens to someone who comes forward and yet on the way to the baptistery they die?”  Ask yourself - Can you find this predicament within the Scriptures?  Have you ever heard of this predicament in real life?  Here is what I hear in God’s word and real life – “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

FRIENDS – If we really believe that Jesus is Lord - there should be no problem in accepting Peter’s statement given to him by way of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit from on high – the God-breathed words of life that he shares in 1Peter 3:21 - “Baptism now saves you.”  If you really want a personal relationship with Jesus then it does not get any more personal than joyfully accepting what Jesus taught, and His apostles taught for this is the evidence that Christ, Himself - has chosen for us so that we can show Him how much we love and trust Him.  Remember His words found in John 14:15 – “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

It is important for us to understand the truth and listen and apply the truth as it is given within the Scriptures.

Each of us must defend the Lord and defend the gospel for He died so that we might have the hope of eternal salvation by following His word.  Jesus simply says, “Come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

The Lord has placed a huge importance on being baptized – and the Lord’s church follows the Lord’s direction.  

The question for you is this – Are you ready to name the Lord Jesus as your Savior and Christ? 
Are you ready to be baptized?

God's loving-kindness is everlasting and His faithfulness is to all through His gift of Jesus Christ.

Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God?

Jesus simply said in Mark 16:16 ,“He who believes and is baptized shall be saved”.