THE ONE BAPTISM
David L. Odom
Ephesians 4:4-6
"4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all."
But, is baptism important?
Matthew 28:18-20
"18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Mark 16:15, 16
"15 And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who had disbelieved shall be condemned."
Why is baptism so important?
Acts 2:37, 38
"37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brethren, what shall we do?' 38 Peter said to them, 'Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Acts 22:16
"Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name."
I Peter 3:21
"Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you - not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience - through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,"
Do you know why baptism is so important?
Because of the blood of Jesus Christ!
Romans 5:8, 9
"8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him."
But how do we reach the soul saving blood of Jesus Christ,
that is, come in contact with the blood of Jesus Christ today,
in order to be justified by His blood?
Romans 6:3, 4
"3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life."
Christ Jesus shed His soul saving blood in His death, and the only place we can come in contact with His soul saving blood, is in the one baptism, where we are buried with Him!
Colossians 2:12, 13
"12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,"
Yes, the one baptism is a 'burial'; that is, immersion in water, NOT sprinkling or pouring!
Acts 8:35-39
"35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. 36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, 'Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized'? 37 And Philip said, 'If you believe with all your heart, you may.' And he answered and said, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' 38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing."
How do we get into Christ?
Galatians 3:26-28
"26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
Notice, here that we DO NOT get into Christ by FAITH ONLY!
Now, If we are in Christ -
2 Corinthians 5:17
"Wherefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
2 Timothy 1:1
"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, through the will of God, according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus."
Ephesians 1:3
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,"
Ephesians 2:4-6
"4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together in Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,"
Ephesians 2:13
"But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ."
Did you know that being 'in Christ' means being in His body, the church?
I Corinthians 12:13
"For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews of Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit."
Ephesians 1:22, 23
"22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."
And did you know that Jesus is only going to save His body, His church!
Ephesians 5:23
"For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body."
I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO BE BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST, THE ONE BAPTISM THAT PUTS US INTO CHRIST'S BODY, HIS CHURCH, HIS KINGDOM! THIS IS THE NEW BIRTH JESUS SPOKE OF:
John 3:3-5
"3 Jesus answered and said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.' 4 Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?' 5 Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
Notice that Jesus is speaking of ONE birth, consisting of TWO elements, WATER, AND THE SPIRIT, not the water referring to physical birth, and the Spirit referring to a dry spiritual birth!
Notice the examples of conversion in the book of Acts:
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