What About Your Baptism?
Introduction:
The Word of God
places a great deal of emphasis on baptism. Therefore, we should
also. The Bible stresses that baptism is not to be a mere ritual,
but an act done with forethought and an understanding of what it
signifies. Baptism, apart from this purpose and meaning, brings
with it no spiritual results or blessings at all.
Text:
Acts 19:1-7
Goal:
The goal is for
each of us to examine our own baptism to see if it was acceptable in
God’s sight.
Body:
I.
Exegesis of Text
Acts 19:1
“And it
happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed
through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some
disciples” NKJV Verse 1 – While
Apollos is laboring in Corinth, Paul leaves Antioch and returns to
Ephesus where he finds certain disciples. Were these
Christians? Usually when we see the word “disciple” we would assume
they were. But what happens next shows us that these “disciples”
were not New Testament Christians.
Acts 19:2
“he said to
them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ So they
said to him, ‘We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy
Spirit.’ ” NKJV Verse 2 – Paul
asks these disciples a question, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit
when you believed?” Apparently Paul did not know that they were not
Christians and was ready to impart spiritual gifts to them if they
had not already received some. Paul, being an apostle, had the
power to do this and often did. Note their answer, “We have not so
much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” Context: They knew
there was a Holy Spirit, for John the Baptist preached about the
Holy Spirit. [They were baptized with his baptism.] Also, the Old
Testament speaks of the Holy Spirit as well. Their response seems
to imply that they didn’t even know if the Holy Spirit had come, or
had been given. This answer, no doubt, caused alarms to go off in
Paul’s head. He now knew for sure something was wrong with their
baptism. Christian baptism has many connections with the Holy
Spirit. “born of water and the Spirit” (John
3:5)
“Jesus answered,
‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the
Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
“Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts
2:38)
“Then Peter said to
them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 19:3 “And he said to
them, ‘Into what then were you baptized?’ So they said, ‘Into
John’s baptism.” NKJV
Verse 3
– Paul asks then “if you have not heard that the Holy Spirit has
come, into what were you immersed?” He automatically assumes they
had been baptized. If it had been a scriptural, God-approved
baptism, they would have known about the Holy Spirit. (Matthew
28:19)
“Go therefore and
make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” NKJV
A proper baptism requires adequate and accurate information. Their
answer was “Into John’s baptism.”
Acts 19:4
“Then Paul
said, ‘John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to
the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him,
that is, on Christ Jesus.’ ” NKJV
Verse 4
– These men did not know that John’s baptism was no longer valid; it
was outdated. They needed more up-to-date knowledge. One writer
used this example. “If you used an outdated map and got lost, the
fault was not in the map. It was fine for its day. The problem was
that the map now was obsolete, no longer accurate. These disciples
were using an outdated, inaccurate spiritual map. They needed an
updated one.” So that is what Paul does; he fills in what is
lacking in their knowledge. Luke gives an abbreviated account of
all that Paul tells them.
Paul first explains the purpose of John’s baptism.
a.
John’s baptism was to prepare the
way of the Lord; prepare the people for the Lord. (Luke
1:16-17)
“And he will turn
many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also
go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts
of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of
the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” NKJV
b.
There was immersion for the
forgiveness of sins. (Luke
3:3) “And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a
baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,” NKJV
c.
John’s baptism stressed repentance.
He wanted the Jews to become more serious about observing the Old
Law. [Recall that the New Law was not yet in force.] This would
help prepare them for the coming kingdom.
d.
John’s baptism involved confessing
one’s sins. (Mark
1:5)
“Then all the land of
Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all
baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.” NKJV
e.
They were to believe on Him who was
coming – on Christ Jesus. The faith of John’s disciples pointed
forward to the Messiah.
Acts 19:5
“When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus.” NKJV Verse 5 – After
hearing what Paul had to say, they were baptized in the name of the
Lord Jesus. [Christian baptism] They could have become angry at
Paul for saying that their baptism was not accepted by God. They
could have insisted that any baptism was OK. But they didn’t. They
had good, receptive hearts. When they learned both their
understanding and obedience were inadequate. They “were baptized in
the name of the Lord Jesus.”
A natural question is: Why was John’s baptism no
longer acceptable? Several reasons come to mind: Paul wrote the
Ephesian Christians that there was now only one baptism – Christian
baptism. (Ephesians
4:5)
“one Lord, one faith,
one baptism;” NKJV So by the
early 60’s, Christian baptism was the only valid one. But Christian
baptism is based upon Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. (Romans
6:1-5)
“What shall we say
then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly
not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you
not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through
baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by
the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of
life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His
death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His
resurrection,” NKJV Therefore,
since Christian baptism was instituted on the Day of Pentecost,
John’s baptism was no longer acceptable after that day. These men
in Acts 19
had been baptized with John’s baptism after the Day of Pentecost and
they had to be baptized with Christian baptism. Notice they were
not “rebaptized.” They had not been properly baptized at all. They
had been immersed, but not scripturally immersed.
After this, they would have been accepted into the
church at Ephesus as members of the family of God.
II.
Applications
What applications, if any, can be made from
this account? One very obvious one is that sometimes baptism is
not baptism. Occasions may arise when someone may have
undergone an “immersion in water”, even for the purpose of obtaining
forgiveness of sins, yet it may not have been Christian baptism –
the baptism that saves.
So how can I know if my baptism was acceptable to
God? I must compare it to what the “Word” says. (Hebrews
4:12)
“For the word of God
is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart.” NKJV
1.
Baptism must be preceded by faith –
faith in Jesus as Lord and that He was raised from the dead. One
must also believe that His blood has the power to wash away sins.
(Romans 10:9)
“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in
your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be
saved.” NKJV
2.
Baptism must be preceded by
repentance – a determined resolve to begin a new life and to turn
away from the old life of sin and submit to Christ as Lord and
Master. One must no longer submit to religious bodies, but to
Christ alone. (Acts
17:30)
“Truly, these times
of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to
repent,” NKJV
3.
Baptism must be preceded by
confession – a confession of faith in Jesus as Lord; a verbal
commitment to Jesus – a pledge of allegiance to Him. (Romans
10:10)
“For with the heart
one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is
made unto salvation.” NKJV
4.
One must have a basic understanding
of Christian baptism – that it is authorized by Jesus [in His
name]. One must know that he is not saved by acts; he must be
baptized properly. Baptism must not be done to just please others;
because others are doing it; to join a denomination; as an outward
sign of an inward cleansing, or because it was expected. The point
of baptism is that we contact the blood of Christ and have our sins
washed away.
Invitation:
This lesson was not
given to hurt anyone’s feelings, but to urge all of us to honestly
examine our baptism and see if it was truly Christian baptism. If
your baptism was not Christian baptism, I pray that you will respond
as those did in
Acts 19.
Bobby Stafford
June 5, 2016
Acts: Lesson 40
Acts 19:1-7
