LESSON
11
Obeying the Lord in Baptism!
WHAT BAPTISM MEANS!
1. It is a symbol that we belong to God! Jesus was baptized
as an outward act the He was God’s. Then God said,
“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
(Matt. 3:17) Read all Matthew 3:13-17.
When we are baptized, it is a symbol to all who see that
we are trusting Christ and therefore we belong to God.
Just as a wedding ring is a symbol that someone is married
and belongs to the one whom he or she has married, so
baptism is a symbol that we are not our own. We are God’s.
2. It is a testimony that we are saved and have e new
life in Christ. (Read Romans 6:3-5 printed below).
“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized
into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 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. For if we have been planted in the likeness of his
death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.”
When were we planted in the likeness of his death? To
be like is speaking of something similar, or a picture
of something. We were planted in the likeness of his death
when we are baptized. We were put into the water signifying
or picturing His death, and brought out of the water as
a picture of Christ’s resurrection.
We are baptized in order to obey the Lord and to show
to all who watch that we are saved from our sins and we
want to live for Jesus. When we are immersed in the water,
our baptism shows our death to our old ways of life. When
we are raised up from the water, it shows our resurrection
to a new life given to us by Christ’s death on the
cross.
So our baptism is an act dedication! We are giving ourselves
to the Lord to live for Him. We are saying we are leaving
behind our old life and are going to live for Jesus. We
won’t live for Him perfectly, but we should have
a great desire to love and serve Him.
WHAT BAPTISM PICTURES!
3. It is a picture of the death, burial and resurrection
of Christ.
We are told in Romans 6:3-6 that when we go into the
water and are lowered into the water (immersion), we are
picturing Christ’s death…death for our sins,
burial in the grave, and resurrection from the dead.
Because He died for us and is a living, we can saved
and have eternal life RIGHT NOW! Our baptism pictures
the finished work of Christ whereby we are saved. Our
baptism pictures what Christ DID, whereby we are saved
as we trust Him. And He is in heaven for the cross is
empty and the grave is empty. He is ALIVE! (John 11:25-26)
When someone is baptized, usually the pastor stands in
the water and the new Christian (or the person just newly
saved) stands beside him. The pastor may ask the person
if he really is trusting Jesus as his Savior. Then the
pastor will lower this new believer down into the water
and bring him up quickly. The act is a picture of Christ’s
death, burial and resurrection. (Read I Corinthians 15:1-4)
You should desire to be baptized after you accepted Christ
as your personal Savior. You do this because you love
the Lord Jesus and because you know you are saved from
your sins. You do this to obey Christ, who died for you.
Memorize Acts 2:41 and Acts 8:12
Acts 2:41 “Then they that gladly received his word
were baptized: and the same day there were added unto
them about three thousand souls.”
Acts 8:12 “But when they believed Philip preaching
the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name
of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.”
