Do you want to be baptized?
At The Little Ark you can be baptized by immersion, as God's Word teaches. Baptism is a beautiful moment in which you publicly confess that you believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and your personal Saviour.
Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.
1 John 5:12 He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn't have God's Son doesn't have the life.
Two families
There are 2 families here on earth:
The family of Adam
Lost, sinner, condemned, spiritually dead.
Our flesh does not submit to God's law! God's law is holy, righteous and good. But we are not!
The family of Christ
Saved, holy, children of God, walking by the Spirit, made alive! He overcame Satan, set us in freedom, brought grace and righteousness, gives us eternal life, an abundance of grace!
John 3:5-6 Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can't enter into God's Kingdom. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Through being born again we can have a share in the Kingdom of God.
Being born again
Acts 2:37-38 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
The whole of being born again includes:
- Faith in Jesus Christ
- Repentance
- Baptism by immersion
- Receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit
Acts 22:16 Now why do you wait? Arise, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Redemption is in Jesus Christ
Salvation is found in union with Him:
Romans 3:24 through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
2 Corinthians 5:17 if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation
Ephesians 2:1 made alive with him
Colossians 1:14 In him we have our redemption, through his blood
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus
Galatians 3:26-27 For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
It is the identification with the work of Jesus Christ through which we are saved! Both in His death and in His resurrection and life!
The 5 steps of identification
1. Crucifixion
Romans 6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin.
2. Dying
We die to sin in the watery grave.
Romans 6:7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
3. Burial
We are buried with Him. Our old man is buried.
Romans 6:4 We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death,
Colossians 2:12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
4. Raised
God the Father raised Christ from the dead! Death could not hold Him!
Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved —
5. Birth — rising in a new life
So our new man is born. He was dead. He is now made alive. Coming up out of the watery grave.
Romans 6:4b that just like Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.
The early church on baptism
Epistle of Barnabas 11:8,11 (first/second century)
Blessed are those who, hoping on the cross, have been immersed in the water. By this He means that we, full of sins and uncleanness, immersed in the water, rise up bearing fruit from the heart, with a Spirit full of reverence for and hope in Jesus.
Irenaeus (180-202 AD) — Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching
First of all, it bids us bear in mind that we have received baptism for the remission of sins, in the name of God the Father, and in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became incarnate, died and rose again, and in the Holy Spirit of God. And that this baptism is the seal of eternal life, and the new birth unto God, that we may no longer be sons of mortal men, but of the eternal and everlasting God.
The baptismal question
Acts 8:36-37 As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from being baptized?” Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” He answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Baptismal question: Do you believe with all your heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and your personal Saviour?
I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That is, in the name of Jesus Christ.
After baptism
Acts 19:5-6 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke with other languages and prophesied.
After baptism we pray for the baptism with the Holy Spirit, as we read in Acts.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds. We bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
Matthew 5:11 Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Fight the good fight of faith!