Should I Get Soaking Wet?

When you are baptized, you are identifying with Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. We take the person, we put the person down under the water, that's death and burial. We raise that person back up, that's resurrection. That's what it speaks of.

That's the visual that speaks of the invisible. In Romans 6, Paul writes, we were baptized into his death, buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we also should walk in newness of life. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, the Christian life is a life of crucifixion. In baptism, the form of Christ's death is impressed upon his own. They are dead to the flesh and to sin, and they are dead to the world, and the world is dead to them.

Today on Connect with Skip Hytik, Skip offers a crystal clear picture of what baptism means for you today. Before we begin, here's a resource that encourages you to live with bold faith as you explore the inspiring stories of women in the Bible. Who comes to mind when you think of great godly women? Probably Jesus' mother, Mary. Maybe Ruth, the unlikely ancestor of Christ.

But what about you? Here's New York Times bestselling author, Eric Metaxas. Clearly, if God created us male and female in his image, it's leaning into who we are as women, if we're women, that is going to show God's greatness. Discover how the lives of some of the greatest women in history can show you the path to true greatness in your own life as a woman made in God's image. That's what you'll find in this month's inspiring resource by Eric Metaxas.

In every one of the seven women, I think you see a different side of femininity. Seven Women is our thank you for your gift of $35 or more today to help connect more people to God's Word. And right now, we'll also send you a special bonus resource, Pastor Skip's six-message CD collection on prominent women from Scripture.

Visit connectwithskip.com slash offer to give online securely or call 800-922-1888. Okay, let's dive into today's teaching. We'll be in 1 Peter chapter 3 as Skip Heitzig begins the study. There's only one hole, one doorway that led into the ark, one way of salvation. You got to go through that hole, that door. And so it is with Jesus Christ as our ark of safety. He said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. He and He alone is that door. So baptism relates to the past, the flood of Noah.

Here's the second thread to unravel. Baptism recalls a principle. You see, it's a visual practice. You're doing something visually so people can see it and you can feel it, but it speaks of an invisible principle. So it recalls a principle. Now look in verse 21 and I just want you with your own eyes to read that single word, baptism.

Let your eyes fall on the page. There is also an anti-type which now saves us, baptism. When you read that word or you hear that word, what comes to your mind is some religious practice. That's the only connotation you have of the word baptism.

Oh yes, that's what Christians do. That's a religious word, baptism. The word baptism or baptize is the Greek word baptizo and it means to dip, to dunk or to drown. It simply means to be immersed in something and it could be anything. It was never a religious word at first.

It was a secular Greek word. It meant to just be totally immersed in something. For instance, Aristotle writes about the Phoenicians that sailed beyond the rocks of Gibraltar and came to the uninhabited land, a sea coast full of seaweed that when the tide comes in, it is wholly baptized, immersed. So it just means to be dipped or immersed in anything and the Bible uses it several different ways. Paul the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 10 speaks of the nation of Israel saying they were all baptized into Moses, into the cloud and in the sea.

They were totally immersed in that experience out in the wilderness. Then Jesus speaks of his own suffering, his own crucifixion as being baptized. A total immersion and pain and death. Luke chapter 12, I have a baptism to be baptized with and how distressed I am until it is accomplished. Speaking of his suffering, his death. Remember those two disciples that said, Jesus in your kingdom we want to sit one on your right hand and one on your left hand? And Jesus said to them, you don't know what you're asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with?

And it says that he was speaking about his own death. Then salvation is itself a baptism. 1 Corinthians 12, we were all baptized by one spirit into one body, one group, one community, the body of believers. John the Baptist spoke of three baptisms when he said, I baptize you with water but somebody is coming who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

So it means to be immersed. Next question, how did it come from then the secular world into the religious spiritual world? It wasn't the Christians. It was the Jewish people. If you wanted to become a Jewish person, you were a proselyte, a convert.

There were three requirements. Instruction by a scribe, a teacher, circumcision if you were a male, and immersion in water or baptism. J.B. Lightfoot, a New Testament scholar, describes a Gentile coming to be converted into Judaism. And he writes this, as soon as he grows whole or is healed of the wound of circumcision, they bring him to the baptism. And being in the water, they again instruct him in some of the weightier and some of the lighter commands of the law, which being heard, he plunges himself and comes up and behold, he is an Israelite in all things.

So it symbolized a Gentile leaving the pagan world and coming to a whole new life, whole new identity, whole new community, a covenant relationship with God. Also the Jews had these things they dug out of the rocks, pools. One was called a mikvah.

Several were mikvahot. They were pools dug out of the rocks for baptism. So if you wanted to go up to the temple to worship, you would first immerse all the way in and out, dry off and go up to the temple. If you would become defiled by touching somebody dead or touching someone with a bloody flow, you also had to be ritually cleansed before you could attend worship. So if you were a Gentile converting to Judaism or you needed ritual purification, you were baptized.

So here's the next question. If it had a secular connotation that the Jews took and practiced, then how did it come to be a Christian thing? Well, we open up the New Testament and one of the first characters we come to is this crazy hippie out in the desert eating bugs. And his name is John the Baptist. I think John the Baptizer would be a better term because otherwise you'll just think he's a Southern Baptist or something.

John the Baptizer. He was dunking people in the Jordan River. Why the Jordan River?

Because rivers were considered living water. They're not stagnant. They're moving. They're alive.

They're going from one place to the other. So it was perfectly appropriate to baptize people in living water, flowing water. So there he is baptizing people.

But get this. He's not baptizing Gentiles to make them Jews. He's baptizing Jews.

And that's why the Jewish leader said, whoa, whoa, whoa, what's up with this? We're sons of Abraham. And John the Baptist said, don't think within yourself we're sons of Abraham.

God can make sons of Abraham out of rocks. He said the Messiah is coming and you need to repent and get ready for him. And this is a baptism unto repentance. So for a Jew to get baptized by John the Baptist, since baptism was for outsiders to become insiders, they had to essentially admit, I'm an outsider. I may be religious. I may be sincere, but I'm an outsider who needs repentance and my religion isn't enough. So baptism recalls a principle.

Now let's look at the third thread and then we'll tie it all together. The third thread of this is that baptism reveals power and the power that it reveals isn't your power. There's only one power to give you new life, and that's Jesus power from his resurrection. When he rose from the dead, he conquered death. And when he says, I can give you new life. He proved it by his own resurrection.

That's the power. That's also in verse 21. There is also an anti-type which now saves us baptism, not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You see, Peter doesn't want his audience thinking that going down in the water itself is what saves you. Because he said it's not the removal of the filth of the flesh.

He wants them to know that he's referring to a spiritual reality when he says it's the answer, or as some translations say, the appeal of a good conscience toward God. So just like Noah and his family walked into that ark, you know what happened when they did? They said goodbye to the old life. What was left of the old life?

Nothing. It was drowned. It was gone. They walked into the ark, said goodbye to their old life, and hello to a new life, wherever that boat is going to land. So when we come to Christ, we leave the old life, we enter Jesus Christ and start a brand new life. And the new life we start is the life that we are unable to live by his resurrection. When we believe that he died, we believe that he rose, we have a good conscience.

We have a clear conscience before God. So the only baptism that saves is a dry baptism, not a wet baptism. Being baptized in Christ, the wet symbolizes what we've done.

Now, it brings up this question, or it really answers the question. Do you have to be baptized to be saved? Nope. You have to be saved to be baptized. Again, do you have to be baptized to be saved?

No. You have to be saved to be baptized. In Acts chapter 8, there was a guy from Ethiopia, remember him, the official, the Ethiopian eunuch? He's going back from Jerusalem, back home, and he's reading the scriptures. And Philip joins himself to that chariot, and they happen to be reading, go figure, Isaiah chapter 53, the messianic passage. Philip leads him to Christ.

The Ethiopian eunuch sees water and he says, Look, there's water. What hinders me from being baptized? Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you can be baptized.

You've got to believe. And then he said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. At that, they got up, went down, and Philip baptized him. The Lord Jesus Christ in Mark 16 said, He who believes and is baptized will be saved.

Notice what is first, believing. Baptism follows. He who believes and is baptized will be saved. Now you might be thinking, aha, see, you do have to be baptized to be saved.

But let me finish out the sentence. Then he said, He who does not believe will be condemned. How do you stay condemned?

By not believing. He didn't say, He who does not believe and is not baptized. So why does he even mention baptism? Because baptism follows faith. See, there may be circumstances that would not allow a person to get baptized. If you're on your deathbed, you're in an oxygen tent, you're hooked up to monitors, and somebody comes in and says, Wait, we have to fully immerse this person before he can get to heaven.

Not going to happen. It's like the thief on the cross who says, Lord, he turns to him, remember me when you come into your kingdom. It'd be kind of silly if Jesus said, Boy, I'd like to help you out, but you know, there's just no water around here that I can baptize you in.

Sorry. He said, Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. That faith, that faith did it. Now there is a passage of scripture I want to read to you because those who believe in baptismal regeneration have got to be baptized to be saved. We'll often quote. In fact, it is sort of like their holy grail of quoting scriptures when it comes to this. And that's Acts chapter 2 verse 37. Let me just whip that out.

Let me read it to you. Peter said, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And they'll say, Aha! See, you do have to be baptized to be saved because he said, Repent, be baptized for the remission of sins. Which means, they say, in order that your sins will be forgiven. Hold that thought. TiVo that thought.

Push the pause button. That word for, for the remission of sins, is the Greek word eis, E-I-S. We would transliterate it. It can mean for, it can mean in order that, and it can mean because of. And that's what it means. Because of.

Here's an example. Let's say I have my arm around a soldier up here. An American soldier who's fought in several battles. He's highly decorated. And I say to you, this soldier has been decorated for bravery. Do I mean he has been decorated in order that he may become a brave soldier?

No, I mean he is decorated because he is a brave soldier. So, that's why most modern translations put it this way. Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ as an expression of the remission of your sins. Your sins have been remitted. And baptism points to that, or shows that. I've always loved that little text in the letter to the Corinthians. Paul writes them and he says, you know when I was with you. I didn't baptize any of you, except for Crispus and Gaius.

Oh yeah, in the household of Stephanus. That was it. I didn't baptize anybody else. Here's why. He said, for Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.

What? See, if you believe in baptism or regeneration, you would never separate the two. One means the other. Baptism means the gospel. But he said, Jesus didn't send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Listen, if Paul believed in baptism or regeneration, he'd have brought a hot tub with him wherever he went. Some tub of water. Wait, wait, wait, wait, we've got to dunk you in this.

So now we're forced with one final question to answer. Why then should I get baptized? What's the point of it all then? Why should I be baptized?

Let me give you two quick reasons. Number one, instruction. Number two, identification. This is from all instruction. Jesus instructed, taught, commanded, going to all the world, make disciples of all men, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If Jesus said to do it, what do you do? You do it. Well, I need to know what?

You do? He said do it. Jesus said, if you love me, what will you do if you love Jesus? You'll keep my commandments. That ought to be good enough. Instruction. He said to do it, you do it. But there's a second reason.

Not just instruction, identification. When you are baptized, you are identifying with Jesus death, burial and resurrection. We take the person, we put the person down under the water, that's death and burial. We raise that person back up, that's resurrection. That's what it speaks of.

That's the visual that speaks of the invisible. In Romans 6, Paul writes, we were baptized into his death, buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we also should walk in newness of life. So you see, when you're baptized, you're making it personal. You're saying he died for my sins.

He died in my place and I'm dead to the old stuff. I was thinking this week of notable baptisms in my life, baptisms that I had done. I started thinking back and I suppose the first time I ever baptized a person was very memorable.

I do remember it because I did it all wrong. I had a home Bible study in Garden Grove, California and people were coming and a few people were getting saved and so they said, skip, let's have a baptism. Let's have a barbecue down at the beach and a baptism. I said, I'm in. Okay, so we went down to the beach and rule number one, if you ever baptized in the ocean, face the ocean when you do it.

That was my first mistake. I was holding on to this dear lady and there was a guy on the other side, but we were not facing the sea, we were facing the other direction, the shore, because that's where the people were on the shore and they were up there and so we had our heads bowed and our eyes closed and getting all spiritual. And the reason that's a mistake is the ocean has what they call waves and swell sets of waves come in and we were just right in the middle of a prayer, we had our heads bowed and a wave came in and put us all face forward on the sand. She got baptized, but very unexpectedly. Another time I was in the Jordan River living on a kibbutz, I was in Israel and we were baptizing and I didn't know anything about the topography of the land, what's a good spot, what's a bad spot. I just picked a spot in the Jordan River, got out of this little truck we were in and we started baptizing. When I got in first, it was like the worst spot in Israel to baptize somebody because when I got in the river, I'm 6'5", I sunk in the silt and the mud up to my waist, I was stuck in the Jordan River. And so they were coming in, I go, don't come in. You've got to unstick me, so the preacher had to get saved that day from the Jordan River. There's times when we baptize people out here in our little courtyard and it's sort of humorous. We tell them, say, look, we're going to be careful, we're going to put you all the way down under the water and bring you back up. Okay, okay, okay. But invariably, there's always people who resist it, so they get down part way and then they just go like, they're just like pushing up, you know. So it's just awkward, we've got to kind of go.

It's kind of fun to tell you the truth sometimes. But the most memorable is a man who I believe got it more than anybody else. I was about to baptize him and he stopped and he smiled and he said, you may want to hold me down a little longer.

I've got a lot of junk in my past I need to wash away. I thought he really understands the symbolism of this. Dead to the old, buried with Christ, risen from the dead in newness of life. That's why when we baptize people we often begin by saying, welcome to your funeral. The old you is gone, the new you has come.

That's what it signifies. Now let me finish the story that I began with as we close. I mentioned in Israel this onlooker who was watching us baptize, asking what it meant. So she waved me down and I walked over to the fence. She introduced herself as my name is Olga.

She said, I'm from South America. What are you doing? I said, we're baptizing people.

What is that? They're going in all wet or going in dry, coming out wet and people are singing about it. So I explained the gospel to her. Jesus came from heaven, died for our sins, in our place, rose from the dead. And this is a picture of that. And these are people who have believed that and their lives are different. Their lives are changed.

Jesus Christ has changed their lives and forgiven their sins. And I explained it to her in a few minutes and she paused. And she said, do you think I could get baptized? Now she was in her clothes on the other side of the fence. She wasn't even in the baptismal site.

She was just a tourist. And I said to her what Phillip said to the Ethiopian, if you believe with all your heart, you can. And she said, I believe. And I led her in a prayer right there through the fence, one side to the other to receive Christ. And we got her over the fence and we baptized her in the Jordan and she went back to South America.

A new woman. That's baptism. And what that gives you is the answer of a good conscience toward God. Verse 21, a good conscience toward God.

Think of it this way. He was immersed in suffering that you could be immersed in salvation. He was immersed in pain that you might be immersed in peace. He was immersed in death that you and I can be saturated, immersed in life. That's the exchange. Life.

Do you have life? You can get baptized 50 times a day and not be a saved man or woman. It's not the washing of the flesh. It's a clear open conscience before God because you believe Jesus took your place, rose from the dead and conquered death and gave you life.

Do you have that? Only you can answer that. That concludes Skip Heitzig's message from the series Rock Solid. Now, here's Skip to tell you about how you can keep encouraging messages like this coming your way as you help connect others to God's truths. God long ago planned his son coming to earth to die on a cross for our sins.

He planned to bring you into his family. That's incredible news. And we want to share with more friends all around the world. And you can be a part of that work. Through your gift today, you not only keep these teachings on the air, but you'll help connect so many people to the love of God and the riches of his word. Here's how you can give a gift right now. You can give online at connectwithskip.com slash donate. That's connectwithskip.com slash donate. Or call 800-922-1888.

800-922-1888. Thank you. Tomorrow, Skip Heitzig shares how you can make the most of your time on earth living for Christ. When you're young, you think you have time that will just go on and on.

You have oodles of it. You get a few years under your belt and you realize time moves quickly. It is thought by most Bible commentators that Peter has his own lifetime in mind as he writes these words. That he believes his martyrdom is right around the corner.

And feeling that, he mentions in this paragraph time twice because we're to be aware of it. Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the crossing.

Cast all burdens on his word. Make a connection. A connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications. Connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.