In 'Baptizing The Born Again,' Jason Dohm emphasizes the Baptist perspective that baptism is for those with a credible profession of faith in Jesus. He outlines the importance of baptism as part of the Great Commission, identifying it as the first command to baptize given by Jesus. The sermon discusses the sequential steps in the Great Commission: going out, making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them to observe Jesus' commandments. Dohm contrasts Christian baptism with the baptism of John the Baptist, explaining that Christian baptism is a fuller, completed version that involves repentance and faith in Jesus. He explains that baptism is an outward sign of an inward reality, symbolizing the believer's identification with the death and resurrection of Jesus. The sermon also connects baptism with spiritual circumcision, arguing that physical baptism identifies followers with the New Covenant people of God. Dohm asserts that baptism should be for those in the New Covenant, highlighting the need for a credible profession of faith. He concludes by addressing common questions about baptism, such as the mode of baptism, household baptisms, and the potential for baptizing non-genuine believers, emphasizing that baptism should be an expression of genuine faith.

The title of the sermon this morning is, Baptizing the Born Again. It's what we think we should do. We should find people who have been born again, and we should baptize them. We should help them to be born again, as God would give us grace, and we should baptize them. Well, we're in 12 weeks on core commitments and distinctives.

This is one of them. We are Baptists, meaning that we believe that baptism is for and only for those who have a credible profession of faith in Jesus. Meaning they say, I'm a follower of Jesus, and you have a good reason to believe from the things that they're saying, and from their disposition towards the Lord and towards the Lord's people and from their life, that what they're saying is true. They really are followers of Jesus. Let's ask the Lord to help us and then dive right in.

God, I thank You for the topic before us. It means that people can be saved. It means that there's a mark for people when they are saved. A line that we can cross to say, We are Yours and You are ours. Oh the sweetness of those truths.

Thank You God. Just cause us to delight in what you have done for sinners through your son Jesus. I pray in Jesus name. Amen Okay, if you've got your hand out in hand, you'll see that I've got six points I'm gonna go through them as as quickly as I can to get through it all and hopefully not over-belabor the point. So time will tell, won't it?

Number one, baptism in the Great Commission. If you're taking notes on the handout, there's a blank. Great fills in the blank. Baptism in the Great Commission. Tyler just read it, but let's read it again.

Hopefully you have your Bibles open to Matthew 28, the closing chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. It ends with Jesus' instructions to the disciples, and it is representative of his instructions to all disciples. In other words, it wasn't just to 12 men, it was to all those who would follow him afterwards. I'll read it again. Matthew 28 verses 18 through 20.

Jesus came and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. I Like what Bodhi Bakam says about this, he says, if you don't think the Great Commission applies to you, then you can't say that Jesus' promise to be with you to the end of the age applies to you. If you give up one, you have to give up the other.

I think that's true. It all applies to us. I definitely want the promise that Jesus will be with us to the end of the age. The implication of that is the commission that Jesus gives to his disciples, to all of his disciples. We're beginning here because this is the first command to baptize.

Baptism occurs in the New Testament before Matthew 28. There's not a command before Matthew 28. This is Jesus' commandment to his disciples to baptize. To his disciples to baptize. We're given steps.

Step one, go. Don't keep this good news of Jesus Christ, and who He is, and what He's done for sinners to yourself. But go and proclaim the good news to all the world. Step two, make disciples. They are made.

What is a disciple? A disciple is a follower, someone who follows Jesus, a student, someone who comes and learns the things that Jesus has taught. A disciple is someone who entrusts himself or herself to a master. That is really at the core of it. A disciple is someone who comes and entrusts himself or herself to a master.

Coming to say, teach me, direct me, I'll follow you. I want to become like you. I entrust myself to you, and I trust you. I'll follow you. So that's step two, make disciples.

Go, make disciples three, baptize those disciples. Jesus gives us a definite line that we're directed to cross over. There's nothing nebulous about this. One minute you're not baptized, all your life long you haven't been baptized. Then in that moment you are baptized, and thereafter you are a person who has been baptized.

God has given us a concrete, definitive line, and He says, My followers are to cross over that line. Never to return. They cross over that line. From that point forward in their lives, till their dying breath, they will be a follower of Jesus Christ, because they have crossed over that line. Step four, teach those disciples to observe Jesus' commandment.

So we're not baptized and that's just the end of the story. We say I'm a follower of Jesus, we get baptized, and then you just sort of mark time you wait out the clock until you die no no no we're always growing always learning as Peter says at the end of second page if Peter grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ that's the command here that we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you're a disciple maker, then you're also a disciple mature. I love the way Steve Lawson said it in a sermon that I heard him preach on this text. He says, make, mark, mature.

So as disciples of Jesus, what are we supposed to do? Make more disciples. So Disciples make disciples, and then mark the disciples. How do we know if they're a disciple or not? There's actually this line to be crossed where you go down into the waters of baptism and you come up and you have been marked out as a follower of Jesus Christ for the rest of your life.

And then, is that the end? No. We're supposed to mature over time. We're supposed to teach disciples to obey, to observe all the things that Jesus has commanded. So I think that's a helpful way to think of the Great Commission.

Make disciples, mark those disciples, and then help those disciples mature to observe the things that Jesus has commanded. In Acts chapter 2, the day of Pentecost, 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, people from many nations are present in Jerusalem, and Peter preaches Jesus Christ and Him crucified to them. So it's really a great gospel preaching sermon. Peter preaches the gospel, and the hearers are cut to the heart. Sometimes you preach the gospel and nothing happens.

Like a great big thud. There's no response. But not on the day of Pentecost. There was a tremendous response where the people were cut to the heart. Their consciences were wounded by the preaching of the Gospel.

And they say, what shall we do? In other words, what ought to be the response to this preaching of Jesus Christ and Him crucified we get Peter's answer to that in Acts chapter 2 verses 38 and 39 listen to what Peter says in response to that question, what shall we do in response to the preaching of the gospel? Acts 2, 38 and 39, Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are afar off as many as the Lord our God will call." So, what is the promise? The promise is, repent, and upon your repentance and belief, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. That's the promise, that you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit if you repent.

And who is the promise to? To the people who were hearing Peter's preaching, and to everyone who would come after that. Their children, and to anyone who was far off in geography, far off in time, whoever God would call. Now, how do you know God has called someone? Because they have the right parents.

No, that is not how you know if God has called someone. You know if God has called someone if they have the supernatural ability to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. That's the only way you can tell if God has called someone. Jesus said to His disciples, it's really hard for rich people to be saved. And the disciples said, if it's harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to be saved, who can be saved?

What did Jesus say back to them? With man this is impossible, but with God all things are impossible. It's really hard to be saved unless God does the work. It's impossible with man, but God can do the work. How do you know if someone is called?

God gives them the supernatural ability to be saved, to repent and believe the gospel. That promise is standing until Jesus comes, until the end of human history. The promise that If you repent, you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Notice this is the same sequence as the Great Commission. The Great Commission is two disciples saying, go and make disciples and then mark those disciples, make disciples and baptize them.

But this is actually from the other side to people who are being made disciples, repent and be baptized. It's The exact same sequence that we see in the Great Commission is what we see in Acts chapter 2. Just from two different vantage points. In John chapter 4, we learn that Jesus Himself was making and baptizing disciples. John chapter 4.

Jesus himself is making disciples and baptizing disciples. Listen to John 4. 1 through 3. John 4. 1 through 3.

Therefore, when the Lord, when Jesus, knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus himself did not baptize but his disciples, he left Judea and departed again the Galilee so Jesus hears the report the Pharisees heard that you make him baptize more disciples than than John the Baptist so Jesus it's a very clear Jesus wasn't baptizing but it was the fruit of His ministry. It was the result of His ministry and Him making disciples. He was commissioning the twelve to baptize on his behalf. Jesus himself, in his earthly ministry, made and baptized disciples. So, what Jesus calls us to do in the Great Commission, go make disciples and baptize them, He himself was doing in his earthly ministry.

Two, the baptism that came before Christian baptisms. If you're taking notes on the handout, there's a blank. Christian fills in the blank. The baptism that came before Christian baptism. Turn to Matthew 3, if you would.

Matthew 3. I'll be reading Matthew 3, 1 through 11. So this is the baptism that came before Christian baptism. Matthew 3, 1-11. In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and honey. Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Brood of vipers, who warns you to flee the wrath to come? Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father.

For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." This is the first mention of baptism in Scripture. There is no Old Testament baptism in Scripture, although you can find a Jewish practice, but you can't find it in Scripture. This baptism, The first baptism mentioned in scripture here in Matthew chapter 3 is in response to the message preached. So please don't disconnect it. A message was declared and the baptism was the response to the message preached.

Verse 2, repent for the kingdom is at hand. No one was baptized before hearing and embracing that message. The baptism was the sign that you had heard and embraced that message. Verse 6 says that people were baptized confessing their sins. They were repenting and therefore they were baptized.

Ironically, this is very ironic, I want you to think about this. Ironically, the baptism of John was the polar opposite of reckoning according to family bloodline. And it says so right here in the text. The baptism of John was the polar opposite. You cannot get farther away in the baptism of John than a reckoning according to family bloodline.

Verse 9, do not think to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as your father. John the Baptist did not care who their father was, or their grandfather, or their great-grandfather, or whether they were descendants of Abraham or not. The question is, are you bearing the fruit of repentance? Is there evidence that you have actually repented? Rather than, let's reckon according to bloodline, John the Baptist's message was, you repent.

Whoever your father is, whatever your nation is, whatever your heritage is, you repent. Unless you repent, the axe is laid to the root of the tree. Stop trusting in the status of anyone in your family tree. Your parents faith will not save you. This was the message of John the Baptist.

You repent. Whatever your family line has done or not done, you repent. John the Baptist taught about Jesus' baptism. What did he say? He, Jesus, will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

John said, I'm baptizing you with water. He was glad that people were repenting and going down into the water as a sign that they were embracing the message preached and repenting of their sins. But he knew that Jesus had a greater baptism and that it wouldn't be water that Jesus was baptizing with, it would be the Holy Spirit. I'm sure you've heard a Baptist say at some point this sentence, baptism is an outward sign of an inward reality. I'm glad that whoever that Baptist was I'm glad they said it.

It's not the quote of a Bible verse, but it's a really helpful way to understand this. Baptism is an outward sign, something done, flesh and blood, things you can touch and feel. You can go down into the water. A real person goes down into real water. It is an outward sign of an inward reality.

The disciples of Jesus are to outwardly mimic in baptism what Jesus does in the saving of a sinner. I'll say that again. The disciples of Jesus are to outwardly mimic in baptism what Jesus does in the saving of a sinner. I'll say that again. The disciples of Jesus are to outwardly mimic, do this physically, outwardly mimic in baptism what Jesus does in the saving of a sinner.

So, it's a drama. It's a playing out before the eyes of the world what Jesus does in the life of a sinner. Who he's saving. Jesus does in the saving of a sinner. So we should ask the question, is Christian baptism, the baptism that would come after John the Baptist baptism is Christian baptism fundamentally different than John the Baptist baptism.

It's Christian baptism fundamentally different. And the answer is of course it isn't fundamentally different. Christian baptism is the fuller version, the completed version, now that the Messiah has completed the work. So it was good but not full, good but not complete. But Jesus was the Messiah.

He came after John the Baptist prepared his way and did his work, and now we can have the fuller, completed version. The baptism of John was a baptism of repentance, a baptism unto repentance. That's the exact words of Matthew 3. Christian baptism is a baptism of repentance and faith in Jesus. It's just the fuller version, the completed version, who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

It is to be an outward sign. We're living out the drama. We're play-acting the drama of what Jesus does in the saving of the sinner, an outward sign of an inward reality. Three. What baptism symbolizes?

So three on your handout has a blank and symbolizes fills in the blank. Please turn to Romans chapter 6. What baptism symbolizes? Romans chapter 6. I'll read verses 3 through 7.

I wish I could start earlier and read after, but we've got to keep moving. You know I don't normally have six points, so I'm trying to push the pace. Have this be a reasonable length sermon. So we'll start at three and read through seven. Romans chapter three, excuse me, Romans chapter six, three through seven.

Romans chapter 6, 3-7. Paul writes, Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him that the body of sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves of sin for he who has died has been freed from sin this is Paul is explaining what baptism is symbolizing. Okay, so supposed to baptize people, they're supposed to go down into the water, they come up out of the water.

What is all this about? Paul is explaining it. Physical baptism is the identification of the believer with the substitutionary death of our Lord Jesus Christ. We die with Him symbolically, So we go down into the water. We are buried with Him symbolically.

So like a person is buried under, we go under the water. We are raised with Him symbolically. So we don't leave the person under the water. We bring them up out of the water. What Paul teaches here is perfectly consistent with what Jesus Himself said.

Of course it is perfectly consistent with what Jesus Himself said. Listen to Matthew 20, 22. This is when the mother of James and John comes to Jesus and says, I have a request of you. I want my sons to be sitting at your right hand and your left hand in your kingdom. Here's what Jesus says in Matthew 20 verse 22, you do not know what you ask are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink and to be Baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with So so what is the cup that Jesus drank It is the cup of His Father's fury against sin.

He drank it down to the last bitter drop and He didn't leave any left. What is the baptism that Jesus was baptized with? It was His death as a substitute and His burial and then his resurrection. So Paul is just drawing on the teachings of Jesus here, that we're actually identified with Jesus' death in baptism. Jesus himself called his death a baptism.

The believer is united with Jesus in his death and resurrection. We are to picture that in baptism. That's what really happens. You're joined to Jesus, and because you're a sinner, you die with Jesus. Your debt is paid, the wages of sin is paid, because you are united with Jesus.

Then like He is raised, you are raised, and you're to walk in newness of life so that's the reality and we are to picture that in baptism that is the outward sign of the inward reality for the connection between circumcision and baptism. Taking notes on the handout, circumcision fills in the blank. The connection between circumcision and baptism. Here in Colossians 2, please turn to Colossians 2. If you're reading Colossians 2, verses 11 and 12, the Apostle Paul connects them, He puts them side by side.

In putting them side by side, he is connecting them. Let's look at the connection between circumcision and baptism. Colossians 2 verses 11 and 12. Paul writes, In Him, in Jesus, you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead so very Paul like language lots of phrases modifying other phrases but it's easy to get at what Paul is saying here. Here Paul connects baptism with circumcision, but not with physical circumcision.

Paul is crystal clear. It is the circumcision made without hands. He's talking about spiritual circumcision. The spiritual reality behind the symbolic act of physical circumcision. The spiritual reality of circumcision, putting off sins.

So if you do physical circumcision, it's just symbolic, no sins are put off, but the spiritual reality of circumcision, putting off sins, is accomplished by being buried with Jesus and raised from the dead with Jesus through faith in the working of God. That's what Paul is saying here. Spiritual reality of circumcision, putting off sins, is accomplished by being buried with Jesus and raised from the dead with Jesus through faith in the working of God. Faith is the mechanism that connects you to being buried with Jesus and raised from the dead. And this is what puts off sins.

In 1 Corinthians 12-13, Paul says this. Listen to Paul. In 1 Corinthians 12 verse 13. Paul says, for by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, Whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and have all been made to drink into one spirit. So there are Jews and there are Greeks, there are slaves, and then there are free, but one Spirit draws out of them all and makes these ones that the Spirit claims for God into one body.

This is the spiritual reality of baptism, which physical baptism pictures. Believers are baptized with the Holy Spirit, And though we are individuals, the Holy Spirit baptizes us into one body. We become the people of God. We weren't the people of God. But the Spirit baptizes us into that one body.

Physical circumcision identified a person with the physical descendants of Abraham. Are you with me? Okay, physical circumcision identified a person with the physical descendants of God. At the time when you were circumcised, you hadn't worshipped any God. According to the law, you'd be eight days old.

There are no acts of worship, no anything, but you're identified with the descendants of Abraham. It's the mark that you are a descendant of Abraham. Physical baptism identifies followers of Jesus with the New Covenant people of God. Physical circumcision identified a person with the physical descendants of Abraham, and physical baptism identifies followers of Jesus with the new covenant people of God. They're both definitive lines that you're called to cross to be identified in this group.

Under the Old Covenant with the physical descendants of Abraham. Under the New Covenant with the New Covenant people of God, as followers of Jesus. To reinforce this point, please turn to Galatians 3. We've gone to a lot of places, we only have one more. Galatians 3.

Galatians 3, I'll be reading 26-28. Galatians 3, 26-28, Paul writes, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus and If you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise so So much of the same terminology from Colossians 2 is used here in Galatians 2. As we learned in our study of Romans, there is Israel, and then there is Israel.

You have to say it differently to make a distinction. There is Israel, the physical descendants of Abraham, that multiplied and became a great nation, and yet they were also a family, a genealogical family, a bloodline that became a nation. There is Israel, and then there is Israel. You don't have to be part of the nation or the bloodline to be a part of this other Israel. There are the physical descendants of Abraham, Israel, and then there are the spiritual descendants of Abraham who have believed God and it was credited to them as righteousness.

This is what we were studying in Romans. So, Paul ends up saying, not all of Israel is of Israel. Meaning, not everyone who are part of the nation, part of the genealogical bloodline of Abraham, are part of spiritual Israel, the spiritual descendants of Abraham, who like Abraham believed God, and have had that faith in God credited to them as righteousness. So that there are some of the bloodline who are not of spiritual descendants, and there are some who are not of the bloodline who are spiritual descendants. There is a physical picture and a spiritual reality.

The spiritual reality that physical baptism is mimicking, putting on Christ by faith, is being saved and becoming part of the people of God. That's the spiritual reality that physical baptism is mimicking. Putting on Christ by faith. It is the symbol of that. Being saved and becoming part of the people of God.

Five. The proper subjects of baptism. Those who are in the New Covenant. There are two blanks here. Subjects fills the first blank, new fills the second.

The proper subjects of baptizing, in other words, who should we be baptizing? Those who are in the new covenant last stop Jeremiah 31 please turn to Jeremiah 31 Jeremiah 31 the covenant that they were under when God was speaking through Jeremiah had been broken and broken and broken and broken and broken and broken and broken and now God has taken part of the nation into captivity. More will go into captivity. And God actually gives a prophecy of comfort. A prophecy of a new and better covenant.

Jeremiah chapter 31 verses 31-34. This is the voice of God. Behold the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt. My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin, I will remember no more." The former covenant being referenced is the covenant God made with Israel when He brought them out of Egypt.

It's the covenant made at Sinai. Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5, the giving of the Ten commandments, fire and smoke, and the Ten Commandments and the law given to the people. This is the former covenant being referenced. That covenant was weak in that it did not have power to enable what it required. It required a lot and everything it required was good, but it didn't come with any power to keep it.

The requirements were perfect, but the people were corrupt by nature, so they broke it. The problem wasn't the covenant, not the requirements of the covenant. They were perfectly good, but the people were corrupt. The people were the problem, not the covenant. Not the requirements of the covenant.

They were perfectly good, but the people were corrupt. The people were the problem, not the covenant. Not the requirements of the covenant. A new covenant was needed that depended on God and not on man. That would come with the power to persevere in the covenant.

Jeremiah 31 is the prophetic promise of that new covenant that depended on God and not on man. What would mark that new covenant in our text? The members of that covenant won't need to say, know the Lord. Because they all know the Lord, from the least to the greatest. There's not a single one of them that you need to teach to know the Lord.

Because all that's already happened. By the way, parents, you better be telling your little ones, know the Lord. You better be telling your little ones, know the Lord. Don't come out of the womb knowing the Lord. You better keep telling your little ones, know the Lord, until they say, I'm a follower of Jesus.

And What they're saying matches what the Bible says about the Gospel. And their disposition towards God and the people of God gives evidence that there really is a knowledge of the Lord there. And their lives have at some level of change that transformation has begun. Another mark, God forgives their iniquity and remembers their sin no more. If you are in this new covenant, your sins have been forever dealt with.

As far as the east is from the west, never to return, like the scapegoat. Out into the wilderness with you. I place my hands on the scapegoat, The sins are transferred to the scapegoat, and you send them off, never to be seen again. This is true of the people in the New Covenant. Jesus said this in Matthew 26 verse 28.

You actually hear it almost every Sunday. Matthew 26 verse 28. For this is my blood of the new covenant. Jeremiah 31 is a promise of the new covenant. Jesus comes and the night before he was crucified says, this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Matches up with Jeremiah 31 perfectly. Jesus is coming and in Matthew 26, laying claim to, heretofore enacting the New Covenant. Setting in motion the New Covenant. Because his work is about to be completed. These people in the New Covenant know the Lord and their sins have been cleansed away forever.

The New Covenant is the saving covenant. And only believers in Jesus Christ are in that covenant. That's who we should be baptizing. Period. Amen.

Six. A few other points. I'll give you four other points. Didn't give you space on the handout, but write small. You'll be fine.

Four other points. Number one, these are all questions. Do we believe in baptizing babies? Yes, baby Christians. The born again.

This is the language of the New Testament. Born again. Not the babies of Christians. No, baby Christians. When someone becomes a disciple by repenting and believing in Jesus, they have been born again, we should baptize them.

Number two, what should the mode be? Immersion. The Greek word translated as baptize actually means to dip, to immerse, to submerge. A secondary meaning is to overwhelm. Whatever you're doing in baptism doesn't match up with too overwhelmed, you're not doing it right.

So no sprinkling. The picture is death and burial. If going forward you'll be satisfied to sprinkle a little dirt on top of the corpse, then sprinkle away in baptism. That's not how we bury. That's not how we baptize.

The picture is death and burial. Death and burial. John 3 verse 23. Gospel of John chapter 3 verse 23. Now John, this is John the Baptist, not John the Disciple.

Now John the Baptist also was baptizing near Anon near Salim because there was much water when they came and were baptized. John was baptizing where there was a lot of water, because you immerse. That phrase makes no sense if you're sprinkling. You don't need a lot of water. Number three.

What about the household baptisms? In the New Testament there are five household baptisms. Three have enough detail to determine who exactly was baptized and in those three it was all who heard the preaching and believed and they were baptized. There are five. In three you can tell who was baptized.

In all three of those, it's very definitive in the text. I'll prove it to you at lunch, challenge me at lunch. I'll pull out my Bible, I'll prove in those three that it was those who heard the preaching and believed and then were baptized. Those were the members of the household. The other two have no details and have no mention of children.

Were there other members of the household? Of course. They wouldn't have said household if there were other members of the household. What were the members of the household? How old were they?

Did they hear the preaching? Did they believe? You just can't tell. You don't know, but no children are mentioned. Certainly no babies are mentioned.

So that's it. There are five. The three that you can tell, It's clear as a bell. They heard the preaching. They believed the preaching.

They were baptized. The other two you just can't tell. There's nothing to argue from in the other two. The fifth one sometimes gets left off the list because it just says, the household of Stephanus. That's it.

That's all the data you got in that one. Okay. Number four. So back to number two. I got time, it's okay.

Household baptisms is weak sauce for an argument. As the kids would say. The good proponents of baptizing babies don't go anywhere near household baptisms. I know that. Number four.

Do we sometimes baptize people who aren't actually genuine believers? Of course, but Of course, but that is a system failure, not a system feature. Meaning, It's an outward sign, but there was no inward reality. It's a reflection that something's not right, not something you're aiming for. To baptize an eight-day-old, a one-day-old, a one-year-old is a system feature.

Baptizing unbelievers is a system feature when you do that. Not a system failure. Not something that's gone wrong. Something you aimed for. Application.

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ by faith, as the New Testament defines it, you should be baptized. Bunch of us in the room would say, Yes, I am a follower of Jesus Christ by faith as the New Testament defines it, and I have been baptized. Amen. So glad. Some of you are a follower of Jesus Christ by faith as the New Testament defines it, and you have not been baptized.

You should be baptized. There's a lot more to say on that topic. I have no time to say it or I don't intend to say it or whatever. Maybe for another time. Yes, we do slow down young children to make sure that there is, as best as we can tell, that there's a reality behind what we want to picture.

That it is an outward expression of an inward reality. The reality is what matters. Baptism never saved a single person. The reality is what matters. But that doesn't mean that baptism doesn't matter, because it's obedience.

Disciples are called to cross that line, to say, He is mine, and I am His. I am a follower of Jesus Christ. That is who I am for the rest of my life. For as many days as God gives me. Let's pray.

God, I thank you for the reality that is pictured by baptism. You came to win the right to baptize with the Holy Spirit. Cleanse away every sin. To make your own out of people who were not a people. Make a family out of those who were not a family.

Pray that you would teach us to cherish every baptism that we have. It makes my heart glad when we clap and sing. We praise you for all the things that are represented in baptism in Jesus name, amen.