NOTES FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED FOLLOW THE VIDEO LINK.

Acts 10:46-48 NLT

[46]…Then Peter asked, [47] “Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” [48] So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days.

            Peter was fulfilling the great commission given by Jesus in Matthew 28:19 when he went to Cornelius’s house to share the good news about forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus.  Baptism of new believers in water is part of the commission.  Baptism in water to show repentance had been John the Baptist’s message, and baptism had been continued in the actions of Jesus’s disciples.  In fact, the gospel of John, Chapter 4 and Verse 1, tells us that the time came when Jesus’s disciples were baptizing more people than John the Baptist was baptizing.

            Jesus referred to water baptism and being born physically in His conversation with Nicodemus.  Listen to John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  The symbolism found in water birth, or baptism, can be compared to our physical birth.  Our physical birth brings a new person into the world, and our baptism in water symbolically brings a new spiritual person into the world.

            There’s another aspect of water baptism we need to consider today that’s found in Romans and Colossians.

            Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

            Col 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

            This concept of being buried with Christ through baptism in water symbolizes that our old self, our mortal nature, our fallen sinful flesh, dies as we go under the water, like Jesus died physically and was placed in the dark tomb.  When we come out of the water, it symbolizes how Jesus came out of the grave into newness of life through the power of God.  We die to our old nature and are raised to newness of spiritual life to become a new creature in Christ.

            Please understand that the water does not save us.  Water can only wash away physical dirt.  It takes the power of God, working as the Holy Spirit, to apply the spiritual cleansing power of the blood sacrifice of Jesus to our spirits in order for us to be saved from the curse of sin.  The spiritual blood of Christ is what cleanses us from all unrighteousness.  This ceremony of water baptism is a physical representation of what happens spiritually when we repent of our sins, ask God to forgive us and put our eternal future in Jesus’s hands.

            When Peter called for those Gentiles to be baptized, he was giving them the opportunity to publicly declare their faith in Jesus.  They had believed Jesus is Messiah.  They had been filled with the Holy Spirit.  He reaffirmed God’s vision to him by having them baptized in water.      

            We are here today to allow those who wish to be baptized publicly to do so.  This ceremony is a declaration that these individuals want to admit they repented of their sins, received forgiveness from God and are striving to live according to the teachings of Jesus, whom they claim as Savior and Lord.  This is a wonderful opportunity for them to announce, I am freed from the penalty of sin and death.”  This is their statement, “I am forgiven!”

            Sometimes people who have already been baptized want to make a new statement of their faith and forgiveness by being baptized again.  To my knowledge, there is no scriptural basis to deny that request.  So today, we have someone who wants to reaffirm faith in Christ through another water baptism.  Whether a person is being baptized the first time or for a second time, the important thing to remember is this ceremony is a public declaration of the new spiritual birth that takes place through faith in Jesus.

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