Baptism Will Blow Your Mind, Pt.2

Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. (Mar 16:16 NLT)

Baptism is a SYMBOL OF SALVATION
Baptism is not what saves a person from hell or washes away sin, but rather baptism is a SYMBOL of salvation and the washing away of sin. When we are first standing in the water it is a symbol of our old life, before we met Christ and encountered the cross. We are symbolizing Christ’s death and our own death to sin when we go under the water (this is why we teach from the Bible, baptism by immersion only). When we come up out of the water we are symbolizing Christ’s resurrection and our consequent new life in Christ (it is by faith in Jesus Christ’s death on the cross that we are saved, not the actual act of baptism).

In the NT we almost always find someone being baptized immediately after they are saved (or put their faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin, rescue from Hell, and transformation for all eternity). The biblical pattern is to first to repent (to turn from sin or a change of mind) and believe on Jesus (and be saved); then (unless they are in the process of dying like the thief on the cross) they are baptized. Notice the Scripture above does not say, “anyone who refused to be baptized will be condemned”. It says, “But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.” Baptism is not what saves a person, but belief in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ is what saves a person from hell and reconnects them with God. Baptism is meant to be a physical expression of that spiritual reality. An outward symbol of an inward salvation! I love it when Jesus gives us practical and physical ways to express our faith in Him. That way there is no second guessing our faith, we either get baptized because we believe or we don’t! It proves that I really am a believer! So, if you are a believe in Jesus but have not been baptized, this Sunday is your chance to embrace the symbol of salvation!