No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. No one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit
■ Born Again: You will emerge from that water like you once emerged from the waters of your mother’s womb, born as a new baby, into a new life.
And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.
■ Baptism involves going DOWN INTO the water. Why did Philip and the eunuch go down into the water? They didn't need to get all wet to have water sprinkled or poured on him. The Greek word BAPTIZO means to immerse, to dip. If you don’t go down into the water, immersed and covered with it, and then come back up out - it just isn’t Baptism. There’s a good reason why – which we will see in other verses.
And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'
■ Baptism = “washing away your sins” – not just a bath. The water is an illustration of what is happening inside. All that filth of sin, the blackness in your heart, the hidden secrets and shames: Washed away completely. Nothing – not a speck – left behind.
Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
■ Baptism is a BURIAL: They buried Jesus, and part of the process of being united with Christ includes a burial. This is why baptism (baptizo) or immersion - burial in water - was the means chosen by God for this saving process. It is a symbol of Christ’s burial, and is the point in time that the OLD YOU is dying and being buried.
They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
■ Paul paints a picture from the OT. Moses led the Israelites through the parted waters to rescue them from Pharaoh and the Egyptian army. This is a picture of what happens to us in baptism. We also pass through the water in order to be rescued from Satan and sin and the life we have lived before.
...and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
■ Another illustration of Baptism, this one from the story of Noah. Noah and his family were rescued by passing through the water. We also can be rescued by passing through the waters of baptism. Notice what it says, in no uncertain terms: “Baptism now saves you.” Not by taking a bath, but by your faith and repentance coming humbly before God in this humbling ceremony.
II Kings 5
But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.
■ Baptism HERE & NOW: Naaman, commander of an army, had leprosy, and went to the prophet Elisha, who told him. “Dip yourself seven times in the Jordan River”
Naaman thought it a stupid request, why wouldn’t any old river do
But his servants said, “If the prophet had asked you to do some great, magnificent thing, wouldn’t you have done it?"
Naaman dips himself seven times, and comes up clean.
Some people say Baptism is an odd, insignificant little ceremony. But if God asked you to climb a mountain to the peak in order to receive forgiveness there, wouldn’t you do it? Much simpler to meet him where he does ask – by dipping not seven times, but just once, in the water.
The Lord said to Moses, “These are the regulations for any diseased person at the time of their ceremonial cleansing, when they are brought to the priest: The priest is to go outside the camp and examine them. If they have been healed of their defiling skin disease, the priest shall order that two live clean birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop be brought for the person to be cleansed. Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over fresh water in a clay pot. He is then to take the live bird and dip it, together with the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the defiling disease, and then pronounce them clean. After that, he is to release the live bird in the open fields.
■ Another illustration of Baptism: This Old Covenant ritual involved two birds. One bird was killed and its blood allowed to drip into a clay pot of water. The second bird was tied up with scarlet yarn and dipped into the bloodied water, then untied and released to fly away free. This is an illustration of how being washed in the blood of a sacrifice is cleansing.
No comments:
Post a Comment