19. Identified with the Victor

LONNIE: Welcome to Exploring the Word. Thanks for joining us. This is your opportunity to dig deeper into the richness of the Word. And we begin with a question from someone who has been Exploring the Word, a question about baptism.

JEANNIE: This came in an e-mail from Janet in Minnesota. She asks, “If I accepted Christ as my Lord and I'm not baptized will Jesus still save me when He comes or not?”

LONNIE: I hear questions like that when I’m out speaking. People wonder if baptism is a requirement for salvation. You know, our homework assignment from last week relates to this question. Remember the passage? Romans 6:1-14.

JEANNIE: Were you able to think of four things that baptism represents? Four things it symbolizes for the believer. Lonnie will be talking about that shortly. And remember, for another perspective on this important topic, check out our Discover Bible Guide number nineteen, “Entering the Christian Life.”

LONNIE: So first, let’s try to deal with this specific question: Will a person be lost if he or she is not baptized?

The short answer is: no. No in this sense: baptism does not save anyone; it’s the outward symbol that we are saved.

Let me explain. The New Testament emphasizes over and over that we are saved by one thing: faith. The Apostle John says it: “Those who believe in the Son of God can know they have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13)

The Apostle Paul says it: We are justified before God by faith alone. (That’s all through Romans chapter three.)

The Apostle Peter says it: “The end of your faith is the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:9)

And Jesus says it: “Whoever believes in the Son will have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

So salvation is based on faith, period. It’s not consistent with the New Testament to add anything else, any other ritual or duty, as a means of salvation.

But, let’s keep one thing in mind. Baptism is a New Testament command, as we shall see. We are urged to do it. It’s all over the book of Acts. Believe and be baptized into Jesus Christ. In the early church baptism by immersion became the public statement of a person’s commitment to Christ.

So here’s what we can say. We are saved by faith, period. But baptism is the natural outward expression of that faith.

So, if someone says they believe in Jesus but doesn’t want to get baptized, doesn’t want to make that public commitment, what does that mean?

I wouldn’t say, “Well, then you’re lost. You’ll never make it to heaven.” But I would say, “Are you sure you’ve placed your faith in Jesus Christ? Are you sure you’ve made that personal commitment?

Why keep your commitment to God private? Why keep it a secret?

Public baptism is the natural expression of faith in Christ. That’s why you find a text like this one, Mark 16:16. Here Jesus is giving His last word to the disciples about preaching the gospel to the whole world. And He says:

He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16

Notice it doesn’t say, “He who is not baptized will be condemned.” Why? Because the real issue is always faith. That’s what the New Testament emphasizes. It’s a refusal to believe, to trust, that’s the problem. But baptism does express that faith. And so it’s in that sense that the two are linked here: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.”

I hope that makes things a little clearer. The bottom line is: baptism is a good thing. It’s something the New Testament teaches. And so we’re going to find out why. Were going to look at four things baptism can mean in the life of the believer, four ways in which it can benefit us.

Not long ago a new memorial rose near monuments to Lincoln and Washington on the Capitol Mall. Its gleaming white pillars and walls told of the sacrifices made by young men and women from each of the United States of America. It was the World War II Memorial, dedicated on May 29, 2004—to mark the 60th anniversary of the historic D-Day invasion of Europe.

There were a lot of emotions expressed on that day, here in America and around the world. Why? Because people realized how much those soldiers accomplished for us all. They spearheaded a great battle against tyranny. It was their sacrifice that enabled freedom to spread through so much of Europe.

It’s my conviction today that baptism is something of a memorial. It commemorates the great sacrifice made by Jesus Christ. There was once a D-Day in Bethlehem. God invaded this planet in the person of His Son. He battled demonic tyranny. He spread a new kind of freedom through the world.

And each one of us can be part of His great victory. Let’s look at the book of Romans. Romans chapter six. The first fourteen verses were our assignment for this week. Now here’s the first thing baptism can mean for you.

“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” Romans 6:3

We were baptized into His death. The next verse describes it as “buried with Him through baptism.”

Baptism, first of all, is a way for weak, sinful human beings to identify with Jesus Christ. It means we declare ourselves dead to sin. Look down at verses 6 and 7:

“Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.”

Baptism symbolizes repentance, a turning from the old ways, a releasing of the old life.

But how do we do that? Not by trying to stare down sin. Not by telling ourselves over and over how terrible it is. No, we turn from the old by identifying ourselves with Jesus Christ, the Victor! That brings us freedom. We’re identified with the Victor.

Think about it. Christ’s death was actually a great victory. That’s when He defeated the forces of evil. That’s when He overturned the power of sin and guilt.

In baptism we identify ourselves with someone who won decisively.

Friends baptism puts us on the winning side, on the side of Jesus Christ the Victor. Baptism says, you are free in Christ. The sacrifice Jesus made, pointed to in baptism, is where you can start day one again.

That’s something else baptism symbolizes. We are not only identified with a Victor, we are cleansed by the Righteous One.

Being immersed in the water of baptism, buried with Christ, is a symbol of our sins being washed away. It represents the complete pardon that Jesus made possible on the cross.

A man named Ananias had this in mind when he said these words to the persecutor Saul, who had turned to Christ. Acts 22:16:

“And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your
sins . . .” Acts 22:16

Baptism is a public acknowledgement that God has removed our guilt, washed away every stain.

That’s something to celebrate. That’s good news. But there’s still more. Look at this from 1 Corinthians 12:13:

“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. . .”

Baptism is a way of uniting together. We are uniting to Christ of course, but also uniting to His body, the body of believers.

Baptism enables you to identify with people who can keep you moving forward. into one body. There is strength in uniting together with those who’ve been through the same struggle. united in One Body.

Now let me share with you one more thing baptism can mean for us. Look at this wonderful verse in Romans six, verse four:

“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”.

In baptism we are immersed in the water, and lifted up out of the water. We are buried with Christ and also raised with Christ. We are raised to “walk in newness of life.” Baptism says, “I now have the resurrection power of Jesus Christ in my life. No matter how dark things get, no matter how I may stumble, I can always get up; I can always start again, because Jesus Christ the Victor, Jesus Christ the Righteous One, Jesus Christ the Resurrected Lord renews me. I am renewed by a Resurrected Lord.”

That’s what the memorial of baptism does for us. It gives us a definite place, a definite turning point and starting point. Here is where I begin to identify with the resurrected Christ as the Lord of my life.

Yes, making our commitment public can be a beautiful thing. Friends, baptism doesn’t save us. But it expresses a wonderful salvation. We can identify with Christ, the Victor. We can be cleansed by Christ the Righteous One. The old life is buried with Christ. And then we are raised. We are united in One Body of believers and we now declare that we will “walk in newness of life.”
Baptism has been a wonderfully affirming experience for so many people I have known.

JEANNIE: Lonnie, you and I have had the privilege of seeing people baptized all over the world. It’s probably the greatest joy of our work.

LONNIE: It is. So many faces come to mind right now from so many countries—just beaming after making that commitment.

What’s one of the most memorable baptisms for you?

JEANNIE: I think it’s the one in Lusaka, Zambia.

LONNIE: About 3000 people there were taking a stand for Christ.

JEANNIE: I’d never seen so many people baptized at one time in my life. But something really strange happened.

A lady was stepping into this Olympic-size pool, ready to be immersed, and all of a sudden she let out this horrible, blood-curdling scream! Her body went into all kinds of contortions. She started cursing and making terrible, guttural sounds. Her eyes were blank but she was grimacing in what looked like great pain. Well right away some deaconesses came to her aid and carried her off---still screaming.

LONNIE: I remember that—pretty shocking to me too. And she wasn’t the only one, right?

JEANNIE: Yes, it happened again—to a man! And then again! I’d never seen anything like this.

Well, I was standing next to the head of the church there in Zambia and I asked what was going on. He calmly explained that they were "demon possessed." And they had to be carried away. I was heartbroken. I asked him, "But, does that mean the devil has won out? These precious people who are trying to give their hearts to the Lord can't be baptized?"

"Oh, no," he said. "We have prayer warriors here in Africa. They’ll be back."

So an hour passed---with baptisms still taking place. And then, I'll never forget it, those same three people walked back to the pool and were immersed in the water. And when they came up out of the water---the expressions on their faces: calm and sweet, their eyes filled with hope and peace. There it was; I’d just seen the transforming power of Jesus Christ. And I knew in a way I’d never known before, what it means to be joined to Him in baptism.

LONNIE: That was a powerful experience for us, Jeannie. And, you know, it really taught me that there’s a battle going on for every human being on this planet. There’s a battle and we have to choose sides.

JEANNIE: Lonnie, I’m thinking there are people watching who may have not yet taken the step of baptism; maybe they just haven’t felt it was the right time yet; maybe something’s holding them back. What would you say to people to encourage them to make this kind of commitment?

LONNIE: I would simply say this. Life is about the decisions we make. Sometimes we make bad ones; sometimes we make good ones. Sometimes we invest in Enron. Sometimes we invest in Google.com.

And sometimes we make big decisions for pretty trivial reasons.

Some people join a church just because they like the way its decorated.

Some people leave a church just because the pastor didn't talk to them at potluck.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could see the consequences of your decisions---say twenty years down the road. We all have wished we could have somehow given advice to our much younger selves: if only I could have known then what I know now.

Well, here’s what I do know now. I have spoken to people from all over the world who made one decision, the decision to trust Jesus Christ and be baptized, and you know what they tell me? It was the best decision of their lives. I’ve come to know them ten, twenty years down the road. And they look back on this as the best thing they ever did.

So I invite you to seriously consider taking that step right now. If you’ve placed your faith in Christ, then show it; make a statement. Make your commitment public. That’s how your commitment grows. Make a commitment to Christ the Victor. And make a commitment to His body, the church. Decide that you will stand with other believers in affirming the faith.

It’s a step the New Testament urges us to take. Believe and be baptized. Will you prayerfully and seriously consider that admonition right now? Will you identify yourself publicly with the One who was lifted up on the cross as a spectacle for the whole world? Make that decision now. Buried and raised up with Christ. Let’s pray.

Dear Father, thank You for invading our world and overpowering our enemy. Thank You for making freedom possible through the cross. We can’t really succeed spiritually on our own Lord. We’re worn down by the struggle. And so
we choose to identify ourselves with Christ. We choose to trust Christ and be baptized into His death and resurrection. We choose it because You’ve asked us to. And we obey in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

JEANNIE: We’d like to take a moment to tell you about our homework assignment. We’d like you to be ready for the subject we’ll be studying in our next program.

LONNIE: So please write down this text. Ephesians 5:1-21. We’ll be talking about how to experience real fellowship. And this passage introduces some important answers. We’d like you to read the passage and try to find three things we are advised to “walk in.”

JEANNIE: Remember the text. Ephesians 5:1-21. You’ll find the clues there. Look for three admonitions to “walk in.”

LONNIE: So, until next week, God bless you and yours. Never stop exploring the Word. And remember, God really does love you.