{"id":19101,"date":"2016-03-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-23T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/soteriology-010\/"},"modified":"2016-03-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-03-23T05:00:00","slug":"soteriology-010","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/soteriology-010\/","title":{"rendered":"Soteriology 010"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[88],"series_event":[459],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19101","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-john","series_event-soteriology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Soteriology 010","sermon_date":"20160323","sermon_month":"3","sermon_year":"2016","sermon_notes":3488,"sermon_slides":3489,"sermon_mp3":3484,"sermon_id":"32316211381","series_or_event":459,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":88,"chapter_and_verse":"3:5","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nSoteriology 10, John 3:5\n\nMarch 23, 2016\n\nIt\u2019s good to see everybody as always.\u00a0 It\u2019s always a fun time of the year, getting ready for Good Friday or some people think Jesus was crucified on Wednesday, so you can celebrate Good Wednesday, I\u2019m going to celebrate Good Friday.\u00a0 But we all agree He came out of the grave on Sunday, right.\u00a0 So I look forward to that this weekend and the hope it gives us.\n\nWe\u2019re picking up again our study of salvation.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t meet last week because of the Chafer Conference so kind of dialing back a couple of weeks ago you might remember that we were talking about the one condition of salvation.\u00a0 Anybody remember what that was?\u00a0 Belief, or faith.\u00a0 And we\u2019ve been working through\u2026 and the reason we\u2019re going through this slow is there\u2019s a lot of controversy about this in the body of Christ today.\u00a0\u00a0 The Bible, about 200 times says we\u2019re saved by faith by itself.\u00a0 So that\u2019s the clear teaching of Scripture, the bulk of the Scripture goes in that direction.\n\nBut there are a handful of verses that seem to teach something different and what we\u2019re learning to do in this unit called Belief, God\u2019s One Condition of Salvation<\/em>, is harmonize the isolated verses with the clearer ones so we don\u2019t lose the clarity of the gospel.\u00a0 So some people camp on the word \u201crepent,\u201d and we went through that and I tried to show you that repent is really, if you understand it correctly, is a synonym for believe because repent means change of mind.\u00a0 And then other people camp on the concept of Lordship, you have to make Jesus Lord of every area of your life.\u00a0 That\u2019s called Lordship salvation, and we spent a lot of\u00a0 time there, and I tried to show you that Lordship really has more to do with your growth in Christ, what we call progressive sanctification than how you initially get saved.\u00a0 So we spent about three weeks on that.\n\nWe talked about receive and accept Christ; are those terms we use with the unsaved?\u00a0 And\u00a0 yes, sometimes the Bible uses that expression, as in John 1:12, but even in that verse you\u2019ll see that receive or accept is a synonym for believe.\u00a0 [John 1:12, \u201cBut as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.\u201d]\u00a0 And then other verses say believe and work, and I tried to show you a couple of weeks ago that works come when?\u00a0 Not before salvation but after.\n\nSo let\u2019s move on to our next set of problem passages.\u00a0 There is a collection of passages that make it look at first glance as if someone has to be baptized to get to heaven.\u00a0 And it\u2019s shocking how many people think this way.\u00a0 I\u00a0 was just in Spokane, Washington and somebody kind of cornered me and tried to convince me that if you\u2019re not baptized you\u2019re not going to heaven.\u00a0 And he used one of the verses that I\u2019ll show you tonight. But at first glance there\u2019s a handful of verses that look like you have to be baptized in order to have a right relationship with God.\u00a0 So let\u2019s give a little context to these, if we could.\n\nFirst of all, number 1, there are 200 clear ones, crystal clear, that say you\u2019re saved totally on the basis of faith.\u00a0 For example, you might know John 3:16, you probably have that memorized, \u201cWhosoever\u201d what? \u201cbelieves,\u201d there\u2019s not a shred of evidence in that verse that baptism is somehow a requirement to get to heaven.\u00a0 And if you make baptism a requirement to get to heaven then you just taught salvation by what?\u00a0 Works!\u00a0 And that\u2019s the biggest problem with that belief system.\u00a0 Ephesians 2:8-9 is very clear, we are not saved on the basis of works whatsoever.\u00a0 [Ephesians 2:8-9, \u201cFor by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; [9] not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.\u201d]\n\nAnd beyond that, as you study the pattern in the Bible what you\u2019ll discover is that baptism, and I\u2019m not minimizing baptism, baptism is important, I\u2019m just saying the Bible is saying it\u2019s not salvific, it\u2019s snot a requirement to get to heaven.\u00a0\u00a0 Baptism, every time you see baptism practiced in the New Testament what you\u2019ll discover is baptism always comes after a person has trusted in Christ for salvation.\u00a0 So let\u2019s just kind of take a look at a handful of verses.\n\nYou know the great commission verse, Matthew 28:19, if you have a copy of your Bible you might just want to follow me around here a little bit.\u00a0 Matthew 28:19, the great commission, Jesus says, \u201cGo therefore and make disciples of all the nations,\u201d and then the next clause says \u201cbaptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.\u201d\u00a0 So you\u2019ll notice that baptism follows making someone a disciple.\u00a0 And this is pretty much the pattern as you go through the Scripture: first people are saved and then secondly they\u2019re baptized.\n\nTake a look at Acts 8:12.\u00a0 The book of Acts records the salvation of a lot of different people and Acts 8:12 says, \u201cBut when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.\u201d\u00a0 So again\u00a0 you see the chronology, first they believed Philip\u2019s message and then they were baptized.\u00a0 Baptism never comes before faith.\n\nIf you go over to Acts 10:45-47, this is the conversion of Cornelius, the first Gentile that was won to Christ in the church age, you see the exact same pattern.\u00a0 It says, \u201cAll the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. [46] For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered,[47] \u2018\u201cSurely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did,<\/em> can he?\u2019\u201d So you see, they received the Spirit of God first on the basis of faith and then they were baptized; it\u2019s always the same order.\n\nNotice Acts 16:14-17, I think this is the conversion of Lydia in Philippi.\u00a0 It says, \u201cA woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. [15] And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, \u2018If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 But you\u2019ll notice that the Lord opened her heart first to receive the message, presumably by faith, and then she was baptized.\u00a0 It\u2019s the same chronology.\n\nGoing to the end of the passage, Acts 16:30-33, this is the conversion of the Philippian jailor, and after he brought them out, he said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?\u2019\u00a0 It says, \u201cand after he brought them out, he said,\u2019 \u2018 Sirs, what must I do to be saved?\u2019 \u00a0[31] They said,\u201d what? \u201c\u2018Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.\u2019\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 And then it says, \u201cAnd they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. \u00a0[33] And he took them that very<\/em> hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.<\/em> \u00a0So again the Philippian jailor believes and then baptism follows.\n\nAnd one more just for good measure, Acts 18:8, you\u2019ll see Paul actually practicing baptism. It says, \u201cCrispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized.\u201d\u00a0 So you see how baptism is always following believing.\u00a0 So that\u2019s the natural order of things.\n\nAnd really the Achilles\u2019 heel, one of the verses that\u2019s really the Achilles\u2019 heel of people that believe you have to be baptized to get to heaven is the thief on the cross.\u00a0 Remember Jesus was crucified between the two thieves one thief was cursing Christ to the very end of his life and one thief was penitent or repentant.\u00a0 And you remember what Jesus said to that latter thief, \u201cToday you will be with me\u201d in what? \u201cParadise.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Luke 23:43.\n\nNow did the thief on the cross get baptized?\u00a0 Obviously not, you don\u2019t really have an option to get baptized when you\u2019re nailed to a cross, right?\u00a0 So he didn\u2019t have time to go down and get the nails out of his hands and feet and get baptized.\u00a0 Jesus didn\u2019t say quick, throw water on this guy before he dies so he can go to heaven.\u00a0 Obviously he was saved totally on the basis of God\u2019s grace and his trust in God\u2019s promises, and baptism was something that he never did and yet Jesus said to him, \u201cToday you will be with me in Paradise.\u201d\u00a0 So if a person receives Christ by faith and then they\u2019re hit by a car or die of a heart attack or something and they never have an opportunity to get baptized we do not believe that such a person went to hell any more than we believe the people on the cross went to hell.\n\nAnd what you\u2019ll discover is Paul makes a lot of very strange statements, statements that don\u2019t make any sense if somehow baptism contributed to our justification.\u00a0 Take a look at what he says over in 1 Corinthians 1:14-17, as he\u2019s speaking there to the Corinthians. \u00a0Paul says, \u201cI thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,\u201d now would Paul say something like that if baptism was part of our salvation?\u00a0 The statement doesn\u2019t make any sense; why would he say I thank God that I baptized none of you except for a couple of guys.\u00a0 And the reason Paul is talking like this is people are idolizing Paul and he\u2019s saying why are you idolizing me, I just baptized a few of you.\u00a0 He says, \u201cI thank God that I baptized\u201d just a couple of you.\u00a0 And then he says in verse 15, \u201cso that no one would say you were baptized in my name. [16] Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas;\u201d and then you\u2019ll notice Paul has kind of a senior moment here, have you ever had a senior moment where you can\u2019t remember exactly things clearly, he says in verse 15, \u201cNow I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other.\u201d\u00a0 I don\u2019t even remember who I baptized.\u00a0 And then in verse 17 he says, \u201cFor Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.\u201d\n\nNow those are very, very strange statements if baptism contributed something to our justification before God.\u00a0 So then, what is baptism?\u00a0 Baptism, speaking of water baptism now, is simply an outward symbol of an inward reality.\u00a0 Baptism does not save anybody, it is a sign of obedience that we submit to as Christians to testify to the public that we belong to Jesus Christ now by way of faith.\n\nSo I like to analogize baptism to a wedding ring.\u00a0 Here\u2019s my wedding ring here, what does this ring symbolize?\u00a0 Well, it symbolizes my union with my wife, my marriage.\u00a0 This wedding ring does not make me married; it\u2019s a symbol that I am married.\u00a0 And in fact, I\u2019ve lost my wedding ring before, misplaced it.\u00a0 Has that ever happen to anybody?\u00a0 When I misplace my wedding ring I don\u2019t say oh my gosh, I\u2019m not married any more.\u00a0 My wife may want that but we\u2019re still married regardless of whether I have my wedding ring or lost my wedding ring or can find my wedding ring.\u00a0 So the wedding ring doesn\u2019t make me married at all.\u00a0 What\u2019s the wedding ring there for?\u00a0 It\u2019s just symbolizes the fact that I am married.\u00a0 So that\u2019s what baptism is.\n\nBaptism is a sign of obedience that we submit to, to symbolize to the public that we officially belong to Jesus Christ.\u00a0 That\u2019s all baptism is, but it has absolutely no saving power at all.\u00a0 If it did the Bible would be teaching salvation by works and it would be contradicting the 200 crystal clear passage that say belief is the only condition of salvation.\n\nSo that is, I think, the correct teaching on baptism.\u00a0 Now having said that, when you get into this discussion with people what you\u2019ll discover is that there are a few verses that if you look at them at first glance it looks like you\u2019ve got to be baptized to get to heaven.\u00a0 So take a look at Mark 16 for a minute, the very end of Mark\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 Mark 16:15-16, and here\u2019s what it says.\u00a0 Jesus is speaking, \u201cAnd He said to them, \u2018Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.\u00a0 He who has believed\u201d watch this, \u201cand has been baptized shall be saved;\u201d wow, \u201cbut he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.\u201d\u00a0 So people that believe you have to be baptized to get to heaven love to quote this verse because you read it and it says you\u2019ve got to do two things to get to be saved, you\u2019ve got to believe and be baptized.\n\nSo how would we harmonize a verse like this with the 200 clear ones that teach salvation by faith alone.\u00a0 Well, one thing to think about is you\u2019ll notice in Mark 16, if you\u2019re reading out of the New American Standard Bible, for example, there\u2019s a little bracket off to the side usually, or sometimes it shows up in your study Bible notes and it will says something to this extent.\u00a0 It will say \u201cthese verses do not appear in the most trustworthy manuscripts of the New Testament.\u201d\u00a0 And people look at this and say oh my gosh, what kind of Bible is this that we believe in, I mean, is the Bible God\u2019s Word or not?\u00a0 And what do we do with these brackets that say these verses are not found in the most trustworthy manuscripts?\u00a0 \u00a0When you study the woman caught in adultery in John 8 you\u2019ll see the same thing there, it says this story is not found in the most trustworthy manuscripts.\n\nSo let me kind of open the door to this a little bit and explain to you what is happening here.\u00a0 We do not have the original New Testament manuscripts. We don\u2019t have an original Gospel of Mark.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have an original Gospel of Matthew, or John, or any other New Testament book. \u00a0What we have are copies of the originals.\u00a0 Now don\u2019t let that bother you because when you think about it, God did us a great service by not allowing us to retain the originals. What do people do when they think they find a splinter of the cross or something?\u00a0 They start to worship it, they become idolaters.\u00a0 And that may be the reason why God, in His providence did not allow us to retain the original manuscripts.\n\nAnd beyond that, if you have the original manuscript and that manuscript is damaged the whole cause of Christ is destroyed.\u00a0 See?\u00a0 Or if it\u2019s stolen the whole cause of Christ is destroyed.\u00a0 So God, in His sovereignty, did not allow us to retain the original manuscripts.\u00a0 What we have are copies of the original manuscripts.\u00a0 And Christianity, from its origin, has always been a missionary evangelistic faith.\u00a0 So the goal was to share the message with as many people as we can.\u00a0 And so what we do have are manuscripts of the originals AND compared to any other work of antiquity we come out way ahead; we come out smelling like a rose because we have more copies of the original manuscripts than any other work of antiquity.\u00a0 And beyond that, the distance of time between the first copy that we have and when the original manuscript was supposedly written is shorter in time compared to any other work of antiquity.\u00a0\u00a0 For example, we have something called John Rylands Papyrus, which is a little fragment of John 18 and it is closer in time to the original than any other work of antiquity that we have.\u00a0 So if you\u2019re going to disparage Christianity on the basis of the fact that we don\u2019t have the original manuscripts you have to throw out every other work of antiquity, whether it be Greek poets, Greek writers, because we have more copies of our original and the distance between the earliest copy we have and the original is shorter in comparison to all other works of antiquity.\n\nSo that\u2019s what we do have and we come out smelling like a rose on these things.\u00a0 However, these manuscripts that we do have, they generally agree with each other, about 99% of the time; they agree with each other on all significant doctrinal or theological issues.\u00a0 However, about 1% of the time, perhaps even less, the manuscripts that we do have contradict each other, in a very small percentage.\u00a0 So for example, some of the manuscripts would include the statement that I just read from, Mark 16 that I have here on the screen; some would not. [Mark 16:15-16 (NASB) \u201cAnd He said to them, \u201cGo into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed<\/u> and has been baptized<\/u> shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.\u201d]\n\nThe issue is when you get into these contradictions and you\u2019re trying to piece together what the original said which theory do you follow?\u00a0 And this gets into a very vast area of New Testament scholarship called text criticism.\u00a0 And there are basically two different views.\u00a0 Some people say when there\u2019s a contradiction between manuscripts you go with the earlier manuscripts.\u00a0 And that is the theory of the New American Standard Bible and that\u2019s why if you\u2019re reading out of the New American Standard Bible it says there, \u201cthis is not found in the most trustworthy manuscripts\u201d and they\u2019re talking about the earliest manuscripts.\u00a0 So the New American Standard Bible basically says the earlier manuscripts are the better.\n\nIf you\u2019re reading out of the King James Bible, or the New King James Bible what you\u2019ll notice is those brackets do not appear in those King James or New King James Scriptures because they are operating off of a totally different theory of textual criticism; they\u2019re not saying the earlier is the better, they go with what\u2019s called the majority.\u00a0 In other words, if the Mark 16 story shows up in the majority of manuscripts then that\u2019s what we go with because they basically have trust in the early Christian community; the early Christian community wouldn\u2019t have disseminated something so massively and voluminously if the story had not been authentic.\u00a0 So all of this to say that if you\u2019re reading out of the NASB you see these funny brackets there, this is not found in the earlier manuscripts.\u00a0 If you\u2019re reading out of the King James Bible it doesn\u2019t have that little bracket there and you can\u2019t really understand what\u2019s happening unless you know a little tiny bit about what I just described, text criticism.\n\nSo all of that to say you should not build a major doctrinal point off something that\u2019s disputed or challenged as inauthentic.\u00a0 So the New American Standard Bible is saying earlier is better and Mark 16:15-16 doesn\u2019t even show up in some of the earlier manuscripts.\u00a0 So why would I go to this passage here that\u2019s disputed and build a major doctrinal point off that passage?\u00a0 That\u2019s the only point I\u2019m trying to make here. That\u2019s one way of handling Mark 16:15-16.\n\nNow having said that, take a look at this verse a little bit more carefully.\u00a0 Let\u2019s assume that this is an authentic statement, which is a viable point; the King James Bible believes this is an authentic statement.\u00a0 Notice what it says: \u201cAnd He said to them, \u2018Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.\u00a0 [16] He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved;\u201d but look at the last clause there, \u201cbut he who has\u201d what? \u201cdisbelieved shall be condemned.\u201d\u00a0 According to that last clause there, assuming it\u2019s authentic, what is the one thing that condemns you?\u00a0 Not lack of baptism but unbelief, lack of faith.\u00a0 And that\u2019s something that needs to be pointed out when people use this to teach you\u2019ve got to be baptized to get to heaven.\n\nI mean, the first argument to use in response to people using this verse is number 1, this is a disputed passage, so don\u2019t build your doctrinal system off of a disputed passage.\u00a0 And the second thing to point out is yes, it does say you have to believe and be baptized to be saved but it\u2019s also very clear that the only thing that condemns you is disbelief. So what I think this passage is saying is God wants both, for us to be saved, not just justified but what? Progressively sanctified.\u00a0 God wants both, that\u2019s the normal ordering of things.\u00a0 However, the only thing that will send you into hell is not a lack of baptism but a lack of what?\u00a0 A lack of faith.\u00a0 So that\u2019s just a little background on this and you kind of have to think about a little ahead of time or people will throw it at you and it will kind of catch you off guard.\u00a0 Hopefully that made some sense.\n\nLet me take you to another one.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go to John 3:5, this is another passage that people use to say that you\u2019ve got to be baptized to get to heaven.\u00a0 It\u2019s the conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus.\u00a0 John 3:5, \u201cJesus answered,\u201d he\u2019s speaking to Nicodemus, I call this chapter Nick at night because he\u2019s speaking to Nicodemus at night.\u00a0 \u201cJesus answered, \u2018Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.\u201d\u00a0 So people say well, there it is right there, you\u2019ve got to be born of water (water baptized) and you also have to have the Holy Spirit inside of you or you\u2019re not going to heaven.\n\nNow let try to explain why I don\u2019t think that\u2019s the right interpretation of this passage.\u00a0 And there are many other interpretations of this that are more preferable to interpreting water as water baptism.\u00a0 One additional or another more possible interpretation is that the \u201cborn of water\u201d is in reference to physical birth because we\u2019re told that, I think it\u2019s called the amniotic sac surrounds the unborn child when a woman is\u2026 we\u2019ve got several ladies in here that have more practice at this than I do, but when a child is about to come forth that sac breaks and water comes forth.\u00a0 So Jesus could be using this expression \u201cwater\u201d to refer to physical birth.\u00a0 And then of course, born of the Spirit is spiritual birth.\n\nSo Jesus, I think, is not saying you\u2019ve got to be water baptized, and you\u2019ve got to be a believer to get to heaven, He\u2019s saying the only way to get to heaven is you\u2019ve got to be physically born into the world and spiritually born into the world. So \u201cwater\u201d there is a reference to physical birth, it\u2019s the old expression if you\u2019re born once you\u2019ll die twice; if you\u2019re born twice you\u2019ll die once.\u00a0\u00a0 In other words, if you\u2019re born once physically, by water, but you never reach a point in your life where you trust Christ as Savior, then you will die twice.\u00a0 Not only will you physically die but your soul will go into what John calls in the book of Revelation the second death.\u00a0 You\u2019ll find a reference to second death in Revelation 20:11-15, it\u2019s the lake of fire.\n\n[Revelation 20:11-15, \u201cThen I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. [12] And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book<\/em> of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. [13] And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them<\/em> according to their deeds. [14] Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. [25] And if anyone\u2019s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.\u201d]\n\nConversely, if a person is born twice, I\u2019m born physically into the world and then I reach a point where I actually trust Christ as my Savior and I\u2019m born spiritually, then the very worst thing that can happen to me is I\u2019ll die just one time, and I might not even have to die once if we\u2019re the rapture generation.\u00a0 But the very worst thing that can happen to me is I\u2019ll physically die but my soul has no place in the lake of fire.\u00a0 And that\u2019s a far more preferable interpretation than interpreting water as the waters of baptism.\n\nAnother possible interpretation of this passage is that the water is a symbol of the what?\u00a0 The Holy Spirit.\u00a0 If you hold your place here in John 3 and go back to the book of Ezekiel for just a minute, this, I believe, is what\u00a0 Jesus is referring to when He makes a reference there to water.\u00a0 Ezekiel 36, this is Israel\u2019s conversion in the end times, it says in Ezekiel 36:25, God says, \u201c\"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.\u00a0 [25] Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new\u201d what? \u201cspirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.\u00a0 [26] I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.\u201d\n\nThat\u2019s Israel\u2019s conversion by spiritual birth in the end times and notice that it\u2019s analogized to God sprinkling them with water.\u00a0 The water here is metaphorical because it talks about sprinkling them from their uncleanness of their idols.\u00a0 So when Jesus makes a reference to water and the spirit I believe he\u2019s probably dialing back to Ezekiel 36, and that\u2019s why He says to Nicodemus, \u201cAre you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these [simple] things?\u201d [John 3:10]\u00a0 In other words, Nic, Nic using a short version of his name, you should know exactly what the new birth is because you\u2019re a Pharisee, in fact, you\u2019re the lead Pharisee over the nation of Israel and you should be familiar with Ezekiel 36:25-27.\u00a0 So water there is simply a metaphor for the spiritual birth.\u00a0 That\u2019s, again, far more preferable than leaping to the conclusion that water is talking about the waters of baptism.\n\nAnother possibility is that the water here could be a reference to the Word of God.\u00a0 The Word of God frequently is analogized to water in the Bible.\u00a0\u00a0 You might take a look at Isaiah 55 for just a minute, Isaiah 55 and notice, if you will, verses 10 and 11.\u00a0 It says, \u201cFor as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without\u201d what? \u201cwatering the earth\u201d see the \u201cwater, \u201cand making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; \u00a0[11] So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter<\/em> for which I sent it.\u201d\u00a0 So you\u2019ll notice that God is sending out His Word and it always accomplishes the purposes for which God sent it and you\u2019ll notice that the sending out of that Word is analogized to watering the earth.\n\nNotice Ephesians 5 for just a moment, now we are in the New Testament, Ephesians 5 and notice, if you will, verse 26, it\u2019s talking about the husband\u2019s role in marriage, \u201cso that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the\u201d what? \u201cword.\u201d\u00a0 So the Word\u2019s impact on us is analogized many times in the Scripture to being washed with water metaphorically.\u00a0 So when Jesus says you\u2019ve got to be \u201cborn of water and the spirit\u201d another possibility here might be you must hear the Word of God, because \u201cfaith comes by hearing and hearing by the\u201d what, \u201cthe Word of God,\u201d Romans 10:17.\u00a0 You must hear the word of God, respond to it by faith and experience the new birth.\u00a0 There are many, many verses that say we are born again through the living and enduring Word.\u00a0 You might jot down James 1:18, 1 Peter 1:23.\u00a0\u00a0 [James 1:18, \u201cIn the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.\u201d\u00a0 I Peter 1:23, \u201cfor you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.\u201d]\n\nA person does not get saved simply by listening to a motivational talk, a humanistic talk.\u00a0 They get saved by hearing the Word of God and responding to it.\u00a0 The Word of God in the Scripture is analogized to water; \u201cfaith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God,\u201d Jesus could simply, by using this imagery of water, could be simply saying Nicodemus, you must hear the Word, respond to it by faith, and be born spiritually.\u00a0 Again, that\u2019s a much more preferable option than leaping to the conclusion that water there is somehow a reference to water baptism.\n\nLet me just give you one more possibility.\u00a0 If you go back to the very beginning of the Bible, Genesis 1:2, and John frequently does this, he analogizes backwards to original creation. He analogizes spiritual creation to physical creation.\u00a0 You remember what was present at original creation, when God brought the heavens and the earth into existence?\u00a0 Look at Genesis 1:2, \u201cThe earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the\u201d what? \u201cwaters.\u201d\u00a0 What do you have at original creation?\u00a0\u00a0 You have, number 1, \u201cSpirit,\u201d number 2, \u201cwater.\u201d\n\nNow John\/Christ as recorded early on John\u2019s Gospel uses physical creation as a metaphor for spiritual creation all of the time.\u00a0 So Jesus could be saying\u00a0 just as at original creation there was water and Spirit, in the same way that when you\u2019re born of the Spirit, born again, born spiritually, there is involved in it, metaphorically, water also and the Spirit.\u00a0 So he could be making a reference to regeneration and analogizing it to original creation.\n\nSo what I\u2019ve just done there is I\u2019ve given you I think four other possibilities for interpreting John 3:5, other than leaping to the conclusion that water somehow is a reference to water baptism.\u00a0 So it could be referring to physical birth with the breaking of the amniotic sack.\u00a0 It could be a reference to the Spirit\u2019s work, the water.\u00a0 The water could be a reference to the Word of God.\u00a0 Or the water and the Spirit could both be a reference to original creation, sort of as analogy, analogizing original creation to spiritual creation.\u00a0 So we\u2019ve got a lot of options on the table here.\u00a0 All of those four options that I just gave are far preferable than saying that water here is water baptism.\u00a0 But that is another problem passage that you\u2019ll run into.\n\nLet me take you to another one, let\u2019s go over to the book of Acts, chapter 2, verse 38; this is a biggie here.\u00a0 People use this quite frequently to argue that you\u2019ve got to be water baptized to get to heaven.\u00a0 This is Peter\u2019s opening sermon on the day of Pentecost.\u00a0 And notice what Acts 2:38 says:\u00a0 \u201cPeter said to them, \u2018Repent,\u201d now these are the unbelieving Jews he\u2019s preaching to and repent means to what?\u00a0 Change your mind, which is a synonym for faith, as we\u2019ve studied.\u00a0 \u201cPeter said to them, \u2018Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for\u201d now \u201cfor\u201d is the Greek preposition (eis<\/em>), I\u2019ve got it in parenthesis there, \u00a0\u201cfor the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.\u201d\n\nSo people look at this and they say well, there it is, you\u2019ve got to change your mind about Christ and you\u2019ve also got to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 And if you have not, they interpret baptism there correctly as water baptism because many people at the end of Acts 2 got water baptized, and they say there it is, you\u2019ve got to do two things, you have to change your mind about Christ and you\u2019ve got to be water baptized and if you don\u2019t do both then you\u2019re not going to heaven.\n\nThe debate here is what is meant by \u201cfor,\u201d that Greek preposition eis<\/em>.\u00a0 Let me give you another possible interpretation of this.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cFor\u201d could very well easily be interpreted because of, for example, we say in English: the police arrested him for his shoplifting.\u00a0 \u201cFor\u201d there is we arrested him because of his shoplifting.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 If \u201cfor\u201d means because of that changes the whole meaning to this verse, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 \u201cPeter said to them, \u2018Repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ\u201d what\u2019s the proper interpretation, \u201cbecause of the forgiveness of your sins.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, you get baptized because your sins have already been forgiven by faith alone in Christ alone.\u00a0 \u201cFor\u201d legitimately can be interpreted\u00a0 \u201cbecause of.\u201d\n\nNow just so you don\u2019t think I\u2019m making this up, Matthew 12:41 interprets eis<\/em>, that Greek preposition translated into English \u201cfor\u201d in exactly the same way.\u00a0 Matthew 12:41 says, \u201cThe men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at,\u201d brackets, in the face of, because of, those are translations of eis<\/em>, same Greek preposition, \u201cbecause of \u00a0the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.\u201d\u00a0 So Matthew 12:41 interprets eis<\/em> as \u201cbecause of.\u201d\u00a0 So what I\u2019m trying to say is translating eis <\/em>as \u201cbecause of\u201d is a very legitimate rendering of eis<\/em>.\u00a0 And if all of that is true, the problem of Acts 2:38 totally disappears. \u00a0\u00a0Acts 2:38 is not saying you\u2019re saved by repentance and baptism.\u00a0 What it\u2019s saying is you get baptized because your sins have already been forgiven.\u00a0 Do you see the difference there.\n\nLet me throw something else into the mix.\u00a0 Go over to Acts 15:11 and I notice that people that use Acts 2:38 to teach you\u2019ve got to be baptized to get to heaven never bring up Acts 15:11.\u00a0 Peter, in Acts 15:11 is speaking at what we call the Jerusalem Council and he is explaining why these Gentiles are saved and have been saved, because they were saved the same way we Jews were saved at the beginning.\u00a0 And notice how Peter talks about the original salvation of the Jews, no doubt going back to Acts 2.\u00a0 He says, \u201cBut we believe that we\u201d that\u2019s us Jews, \u201care saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.\u201d\n\nSo the whole debate in Acts 15 is do these Gentiles need to go under the Law of Moses to join the church and Peter says no, you don\u2019t have to go under the Law of Moses to join the church because these Gentiles,\u201d and remember on Paul\u2019s first missionary journey, Acts 13 and 14 Gentiles started getting saved like crazy.\u00a0 The first Gentile saved in the church was Cornelius, Acts 10, and then after that the church, particularly on the first missionary journey starts to become overwhelmingly Gentile.\u00a0 Peter says, and that\u2019s why they\u2019re having this meeting in Acts 15, what are we going to do with all these non-Jews that are coming into the church?\u00a0 Do we make them go under the Law of Moses, like as happened in the prior dispensation?\u00a0 In the Old Testament if you wanted to really walk with God and you were a Gentile believer, you became what\u2019s called a proselyte, and you volitionally submitted yourself to the Law of Moses, to grow in the knowledge of Yahweh.\n\nOne of the most famous proselytes in the Bible is Ruth, in the book of Ruth.\u00a0 Ruth, the Moabitess, and remember what she said to her mother-in-law, Naomi?\u00a0 \u201cYour God will be my God, your people will be my people.\u00a0 [Ruth 1:16, \u201cBut Ruth said, \"Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.\u201d]\u00a0 So she\u2019s an example of a Gentile that to grow in the knowledge of God she became a proselyte to the Law of Moses.\n\nAnd so what you have going on in Acts 13 and 14 is all these Gentiles are getting saved like crazy, the leadership of the church at this time was still Jewish, is trying to figure out well gosh, do we make them submit to the Law of Moses, like happened in the prior age, or not.\u00a0 Their answer was no.\u00a0 And Peter, as he\u2019s explaining his point here in Acts 15 says these Gentiles were saved just like we Jews were saved from the beginning.\u00a0 Now in the process he explained how he, as a Jew, and all of these Jews that were saved on the day of Pentecost, how were they saved in the beginning?\u00a0 Notice what it says, \u201csaved through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d\u00a0 Do you see baptism in here at all?\u00a0 NO!\u00a0 So he\u2019s making a statement that we were saved, not by baptism, we were saved by faith alone; these Gentiles are saved the exact same way, so therefore we\u2019re not going to make them submit to the Law of Moses to grow in the knowledge of Christ the way Gentiles submitted to the Law of Moses in Old Testament times.\n\nSo when you put Acts 15:11 together with understanding that \u201cfor\u201d there means because of, suddenly, the argument, you suddenly have to be baptized to get to heaven on the basis of Acts 2:38 disappears.\u00a0 And if you\u2019re going to interpret this in a different way you\u2019re interpreting the Bible in a way that contradicts all of the other 200 clear passages.\n\nThe Philippian jailor, \u201cWhat must I do to be saved?\u201d\u00a0 Acts 16:30-31.\u00a0 What was the answer?\u00a0 Believe, he never said believe and be baptized.\u00a0 But if you want Acts 2:38 to say you\u2019ve got to believe, repent and be baptized then suddenly Acts 2:38 contradicts Acts 16:30-31.\u00a0 [Acts 2:38, \u201cPeter said to them, \u2018Repent, 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.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 See I choose to interpret a problem passage like this in a way that\u2019s in harmony or consistently with the 200 clear passages.\u00a0 And if you go another route on this suddenly you\u2019ve got a contradiction in the Bible and we know that God cannot contradict Himself; His Word will not contradict itself.\n\nLet me take you to another passage, let\u2019s go to Colossians 2:11-12, this is yet another passage that people use to argue that you\u2019ve got to be baptized to get to heaven.\u00a0 Colossians 2:11-12 says this: \u201cand in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; [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.\u201d\n\nJot down Romans 6:3-4, which is a parallel passage, it says the exact same thing.\u00a0 By parallel passage what I mean is two passages from different parts of the Bible that are basically saying the same thing.\u00a0 And people look at Romans 6:3-4 and they look at Colossians 2:11-12 and they see the word \u201cfaith\u201d in there and they see the word \u201cbaptism\u201d in there, and they try to develop this theology that it\u2019s a two-part operation to get to God.\u00a0 Not only do I believe in Him but I\u2019ve got to be baptized.\u00a0 [Romans 6:3, \u201cOr 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.\u201d]\n\nNow listen to me very carefully.\u00a0 Every time you see baptism in the Bible it is not always speaking of water baptism.\u00a0 We, when we use the word \u201cbaptism\u201d typically think of water baptism; that\u2019s what comes up into our minds.\u00a0 But that is not the way the New Testament is written.\u00a0 There are different kinds of baptism.\u00a0 The short answer to the misuse of Colossians 2:11-12 and Romans 6:3-4 is that these verses are not talking about water baptism but what?\u00a0 Spirit baptism.\u00a0 Now you say what is Spirit baptism?\u00a0 Take your Bible and go to 1 Corinthians 12:13. 1 Corinthians 12:13 is probably the best verse in the entire New Testament that talks about something that has already happened to you called Spirit baptism.\n\n1 Corinthians 12:13 says this, \u201cFor by one Spirit we were\u201d what? \u201call\u201d not some of us, all of us, \u201cwe were all baptized\u201d past tense, see that, it already happened to us, \u201cwe were all baptized into one body,\u201d that would be the body of Christ, the church, \u201cwhether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.\u201d\u00a0 The word \u201cbaptism, baptizmo<\/em>, in the New Testament, the word simply means identification.\u00a0\u00a0 The moment\u00a0 you trusted Christ is the moment the Holy Spirit took you and connected you to the body of Christ.\u00a0 It is not something you have to go out and get.\n\nI have many, many students that believe that they need to go out and get a second work of grace and get baptized in the Spirit.\u00a0 The Pentecostal theology is very big on this idea that you get some kind of extra blessing to those who ask for it and they call it a baptism of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 That is not what baptism of the Holy Spirit is.\u00a0 Baptism of the Holy Spirit is something that is a one-time event that already happened to you at the point of personal faith in Christ.\u00a0 You have already been baptized or baptizmo<\/em> means identification, you have already been identified with the body of Christ.\n\nNow, you get saved, you trust Christ, you don\u2019t even know what church you\u2019re going to go to yet. As far as you\u2019re concerned you\u2019re a Metho-Catho-Bapterian or a Bapitcostal Fundematic or whatever you are, you don\u2019t even know where you\u2019re going to church yet but the Holy Spirit, at the point of faith, has already taken you and connected you or identified you to the body of Christ. He has already determined what role you\u2019re going to play in the body of Christ, because Paul, in this chapter talks about the body of Christ as an analogy to body parts.\u00a0 Some are hands, some are feet, some are mouths, and so forth.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit has already made that determination the moment you trusted in Christ.\n\nThe baptism of the Spirit is not something you have to go out and get.\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice it\u2019s all in the past tense here.\u00a0 It is something that already happened to you.\u00a0 So water baptism, which is a sign of obedience, not salvation, symbolizes that.\u00a0 It\u2019s the wedding ring analogy, it\u2019s an outward symbol of an inward reality.\u00a0 1 Corinthians 12:13 is not talking about water baptism at all.\u00a0 Colossians 2:11-12 is not talking about water baptism at all.\u00a0 Romans 6:3-4 is not talking about water baptism at all.\u00a0 Many times in the New Testament baptism does mean water baptism but not always.\n\nThe word \u201cbaptism\u201d is not a technical word; a technical word means a word that means the same thing everywhere it\u2019s used.\u00a0 That is not the way baptism is used in the New Testament.\u00a0 It has different meanings depending on what?\u00a0 The context that you\u2019re dealing with.\u00a0 The three rules of real estate are location, location, location.\u00a0 The three rules of Bible study are what?\u00a0 Context, context, context.\u00a0 If I\u2019m over in Acts 2 it\u2019s talking about water baptism.\u00a0 If I\u2019m in Colossians 2 or Romans 6 it\u2019s not talking about water baptism at all, it\u2019s talking about Spirit baptism.\u00a0 So the short answer is this passage has zero to do with water baptism.\u00a0 It\u2019s talking about something that has already happened to you.\n\nLet me take you to a final, and of course this happens to me a lot, I do a\u00a0 lot of talking and then the verse that I was supposed to have up there as I was talking shows up later in my slides because I forgot to push the forward button, but there\u2019s 1 Corinthians 12:13, \u201cFor by one Spirit we were all baptized<\/u> into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s not talking about water baptism at all, its Spirit baptism.\u00a0 So you interpret Colossians 2 and Romans 6 through the lens of 1 Corinthians 12:13 and you\u2019ll get the proper meaning and\u00a0 you won\u2019t be confused by people who misuse verses like this, to say you\u2019ve got to be baptized to get to heaven, water baptized to get to heaven.\u00a0 To get to heaven you must be Spirit baptized; you do not have to be water baptized to get to heaven.\u00a0 If you have never had a chance to be water baptized, as long as you\u2019re Spirit baptized, which happens by faith one time, at the point of salvation and initial faith in Christ, then you\u2019re going to heaven.\n\nAnd one more that people use to argue that you\u2019ve got to be baptized to get to heaven, now when I was in Spokane this is the verse the fellow used on me.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know that I teach soteriology in college, so I was ready for him. But this is very common, for people to use this.\u00a0 Go over to 1 Peter 3:20-21.\u00a0 Now you look at this, at first glance it\u2019s like wow, that does look like you\u2019ve got to be water baptized to get to heaven.\u00a0 So notice what it says: \u201cwho once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah,\u201d now Peter talks more about the flood than any other apostle.\u00a0 Does anybody know why that\u2019s true? \u00a0\u00a0Because Peter was a fisherman, he likes water and God used these people that wrote the New Testament and the Old Testament, He used their personalities.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t override who they were because after all God is the author of their personalities and their life circumstances also. So that\u2019s why we hold to dual authorship of Scripture, there the Spirit of God came upon these individuals and propelled them along, using their unique literary perspectives and gifts and life\u2019s circumstances.\n\nLuke\u00a0 talks more about the prenatal activities of Jesus and John the Baptist than any other Gospel writer.\u00a0 Why is that so?\u00a0 Because Luke was a physician.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, Luke tells you things that\u2019s like why is he telling me this?\u00a0 In Acts 1 Luke says Judas committed suicide and his body fell off a cliff and as his body was plummeting down this cliff the rocks tore open his corpse and his intestines gushed out.\u00a0 And I read that and I say that\u2019s more information than I really want. But to Luke that kind of thing is very interesting because Luke is a physician.\n\nMatthew talks more about monetary issues, finances, \u201ctalents\u201d for example, which are not abilities but monetary denominations, than any other Gospel writer.\u00a0 In fact, Matthew is the only Gospel writer that gives you the story about Jesus and Peter going fishing, and then they pull a fish out of the water and there\u2019s a coin in the fish\u2019s mouth.\u00a0 And Jesus says use that to pay the temple tax.\u00a0 I say Lord, I wish I could pay my taxes that way, that\u2019s pretty cool.\u00a0 But only Matthew records that story because Matthew is a tax collector.\n\nSo Peter is being used by God to talk about the flood as a fisherman, and so that\u2019s why he talks about the water and Noah and things like that.\u00a0 \u201cWho once were disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the<\/em> water. [21] Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you\u2014not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience\u2014through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.\u201d\u00a0 Now the troubling expression here is baptism that now saves you.\u00a0 And people isolate that one verse and they say there it is in the Bible, you\u2019ve got to be baptized to get to heaven.\n\nLet me make a couple of brief comments.\u00a0 First of all, the word \u201cthat,\u201d when you interpret the word \u201cthat\u201d you have to go to the nearest antecedent, and the nearest antecedent is \u201cwater,\u201d the flood water, and \u201cthat\u201d and \u201cwater\u201d agree with each other in the original Greek in terms of gender.\u00a0 So \u201cthat\u201d refers to water.\u00a0 Notice this word corresponding, the Greek is antitupon,<\/em> which means a correspondence or an analogy that Peter is going to draw with the water, the water being the flood water.\u00a0 So he\u2019s drawing an analogy between the flood waters that the ark was protected through, and water baptism.\u00a0 And then notice towards the end of the verse this word \u201cappeal,\u201d which means a pledge.\n\nSo with that in mind let me give you another option to this verse besides simply interpreting this that you\u2019ve got to be baptized to be saved.\u00a0 So here\u2019s a better interpretation, I think.\u00a0 \u201cNoah\u2019s passage\u201d he mentions Noah and the eight saved in the ark, \u201cNoah\u2019s passage through the flood waters allowed him to break with the past world.\u00a0 The flood waters broke Noah from the wicked generation that was destroyed in the flood and as he and the seven others in the ark passed through the flood waters in the ark they were officially broken from the old world, which was destroyed by God in the great deluge, and they were brought into the new world.\u00a0 So Noah\u2019s passage through the flood waters allowed him to break with the past world.\n\nIn the same way, by correspondence, antitupon<\/em>, by way of analogy, the believer\u2019s baptism is his public, or her public stand for Jesus Christ, which saves him\u2026 now remember anything about the word \u201csave?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 The word doesn\u2019t always mean justification but it can also mean what?\u00a0 Middle tense salvation, progressive sanctification.\u00a0 Remember we went through that at the very beginning of the class, not today but ten weeks ago.\u00a0 I have been saved, I am being saved, I will be saved.\u00a0 Justification, I\u2019m saved from sin\u2019s penalty at the point of faith; sanctification I am being saved from sin\u2019s power as I grow in Christ, and glorification, I will be saved from sin\u2019s very presence.\n\nWhen Peter is using the word \u201csaved\u201d here he is not talking about justification but he\u2019s talking about what?\u00a0 Sanctification.\u00a0 How do I know that?\u00a0 Because Peter is writing here to Christians.\u00a0 In fact, go back, just for a moment, to 1 Peter 1:2, \u201c\u2026by the sanctifying work of the Spirit to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be\u00a0 yours in the fullest measure.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s talking about people who have already been sprinkled with the blood of Christ.\u00a0 He\u2019s talking to people who have already received the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nTake a look at 1 Peter 3:15; 1 Peter 3:15 says, \u201cbut sanctify Christ as Lord\u201d here\u2019s where Lordship relates, not justification but sanctification, \u201csanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense\u201d an apologia<\/em> \u201ca defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 See, sanctification here is not something that happens, \u201csaved\u201d is not something that happens here as an unbeliever transitions to believer, that\u2019s foreign to the context.\u00a0 This book is written to help believers grow.\u00a0 So when Peter uses the word \u201csaves,\u201d \u201cbaptism that now saves you\u201d he is not making a statement that you have to be baptized to get to heaven.\u00a0 What he\u2019s saying is baptism is a sign of obedience; it\u2019s an outward symbol of an inward reality and as you obey God\u2019s command to be water baptized you\u2019re not going to heaven but what\u2019s happening to your Christian faith?\u00a0 It\u2019s maturing; it\u2019s growing.\n\nAnd you have to have some sophistication with this word \u201csave\u201d and most people when they see the word \u201csave\u201d they think it simply means\u00a0 you trust Christ and go to heaven.\u00a0 But that\u2019s foreign to the context and if some of this is new to you I would encourage you to go back and listen to lesson 1 because we carefully went through the three tenses of salvation.\u00a0 Peter is not using \u201csaved\u201d here in the first tense but he\u2019s using it in the middle tense.\n\nSo what, then, is the analogy.\u00a0 Here we go: Noah\u2019s passage through the flood waters allowed him to break with the past world. In the same way, the believer\u2019s water baptism is his or her public stand for Jesus Christ which contributes, not to his justification, but to his what?\u00a0 Sanctification.\u00a0 What happens when you\u2019re water baptized?\u00a0 It does not get you to heaven, but let me tell you what it does do.\u00a0 Typically when you\u2019re water baptized it takes place in public, right?\u00a0 And you invite family and friends to attend that event, we\u2019re not a Baptist church so we don\u2019t have a baptismal here but we do do a public baptism at a Jacuzzi\/pool at one of our church members and it\u2019s a public event, a lot of people come, unsaved people come, and they watch the candidate being baptized.\n\nNow what kind of message do you think that sends to your unsaved friends and family?\u00a0 They say wow, so and so got water baptized, they\u2019re pretty serious about this Jesus thing.\u00a0 And they start treating\u00a0 you differently.\u00a0 Have you noticed that?\u00a0 If people know that you\u2019re a Christian and they\u2019re in the office telling a dirty joke, if you walk in the room they\u2019ll say something like \u201cOh, I\u2019m sorry, we didn\u2019t mean to tell that joke in front of you.\u201d\u00a0 Has that happened to anybody?\u00a0\u00a0 They start treating you a little differently because you have made a public stand for Jesus Christ.\u00a0 And typically you make your public stand for Jesus Christ at your water baptism; that\u2019s why water baptism, although it doesn\u2019t get you to heaven it\u2019s an important step in a person\u2019s development and growth.\u00a0 And that act plays a role of breaking you with the unsaved world, your former drinking buddies, and carousing buddies, they are no longer asking you to go out and go bar hopping and things like that because they say wow, you\u2019re really serious about this Jesus thing, you got water baptized, you even invited me to your baptism.\n\nSo the baptism has contributed, not to your justification but to your progressive sanctification.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 So just as the flood waters broke Noah with the pre-flood world that was destroyed, the believer\u2019s water baptism plays a role in breaking them with their former unsaved lifestyle, which plays a role in contributing to their progressive sanctification.\u00a0 That is the only point that Peter is making.\u00a0 He is not saying that baptism is somehow necessary for one\u2019s justification.\n\nAnd we\u2019re not even going to get into confession tonight.\u00a0 We\u2019ll have to save that for next time since I went a little over.\u00a0 So hopefully that helps a little bit with what baptism is and some of the problem passages.\u00a0 I went over a little bit so we will dismiss folks that need to pick up their children and if anybody has any questions we can open up the floor for questions.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t