We are here in John chapter 1, continuing our series on the Alphabet of Bible Doctrines. The doctrine for the letter B is baptism. Baptism is obviously a very core and essential doctrine of what we believe, and it is certainly a divisive doctrine — the majority of people here in the Philippines would not agree with how we do baptism, when we do baptism, or why. This is obviously a divisive topic, but the Bible is very clear on it. Certain topics you might say, Brother Stucky, I already know this — but it is good to be reminded of things we know, and it is good to teach the young children in here what the Bible says so they can know these things even before they are saved.

Point 1: Baptism Does Not Save You

Baptism does not save you. Baptism does not help you get to heaven. Baptism does not give you eternal life or everlasting life — however you want to say it, it does not save you at all.

John 1:12: "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Being born again or becoming a son of God is when you believe on his name — nothing about baptism. Verse 13: "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Born not of blood — what does that mean? It means that if you have a saved mum and a saved dad and they have a child, that child is not automatically saved just because of their parents. Likewise, you could have a Muslim mum and a Muslim dad and their child is not automatically going to go to hell when they die, because they could end up changing religions. It is not your blood that affects whether or not you go to heaven.

It is also not the will of the flesh. It is not decisions that your flesh makes that get you to heaven. I am saved because I quit drinking — that is not the will of the flesh. I repented of all my sins — that is not the will of the flesh. It is not what you do, it is not whether you go to church or get baptised or whatever — it is not the will of the flesh. It is also not the will of man. In certain societies and times past they would force you to get baptised, but it is not the will of man that gets you saved — because it is an individual thing when you believe on his name.

Go to John 3. I get that a lot of people are aware of a lot of what we are going to talk about, but let me explain something. If we went out in public and just asked people about baptism — what is it, why do we do it, what is the purpose — everyone would say, I have no idea. They have no idea what the Bible says. They have no idea why they believe it. We always have new people coming to church, and we also have new children being born and growing up — they need to know these things at a young age.

John 3:15: "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." So what if somebody believes and they do not get baptised? They have eternal life. What if they believe and they do not quit drinking? They have eternal life. What if they believe and they stay a drug addict until the day they die? They have eternal life — life that never ends. It is as simple as believing on the Lord.

Verse 16: "For God so loved the world" — not just the Christian countries, every Muslim country, every Hindu country, every Buddhist country — "that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Anyone who believes, regardless of whether or not they get baptised, has everlasting life. Verse 17: "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." In verse 15, eternal life. Verse 16, everlasting life. Verse 17, saved. Do you know what that teaches you? The same thing — because if you have eternal life, that means you have life that never ends. You will not go to the second death. If you are saved, you are saved from going to the second death. If you have everlasting life, you are going to heaven. It is a different way to express it but it is representing the same thing.

Verse 18: "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." What is the word that determines whether you have everlasting life, eternal life, or salvation? Belief. Nothing about baptism. Nothing about repentance. You say, well, Brother Stucky, you have to repent — well, show that to me. Not in the passage I just showed you. Read the entire book of John and show it to me. You are not going to find it. The book that teaches you how to be saved does not use that word. Why? Because all you have to do to be saved is to believe.

Verse 36: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." The word is hath — present tense. It does not say he that believes will one day get everlasting life. It says hath. Here is the thing: if at the moment you believe you have everlasting life, can everlasting life come an hour later when you get baptised? No, it cannot. Because it is not just life — it is everlasting. So it is not that you have life, you lose it, then you get baptised and get it back. No — it is everlasting. The moment you believe, that comes before baptism. Baptism has nothing to do with giving you eternal life, getting you to heaven, or being saved.

Go to Acts 16. Acts 16 verse 27: "And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here." He assumes that if he loses the prisoners he is going to be killed, so he is just going to kill himself. Paul says, do thyself no harm, for we are all here.

"Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" There are a lot of things we should do and should not do in life. We should read the Bible every day. We should go to church every week. We should pray without ceasing. We should not lie or steal. There are a lot of things we should and should not do. But you do not have to do all of those things to go to heaven. People say, well, you have to keep the commandments — but the Bible says if you love me, keep my commandments. He does not say to go to heaven, keep my commandments. He says if you love me. There is a difference. You can be saved without loving God.

The thing you must do is found in verse 31: "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Here is the thing: if there was something else you had to do to be saved and Paul and Silas do not mention it, then they are lying to this person. Can you imagine — this person believes, never gets baptised, then dies and ends up in hell because he did not get baptised? If you had to get baptised, Paul and Silas would say believe and get baptised. They would not just say believe if there was something else you must do. But there is nothing else you must do. What you must do to be saved is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That simple. Point number one — baptism does not save you.

Point 2: Baptism Is for Believers

Baptism is for those who are already saved. What takes place in verse 31 is it says believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. We do not necessarily know the exact detail of how everything unfolds, but they end up preaching at this man's house and preaching to everybody. The summation of our gospel is belief. Verse 32: "And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway." Very clearly they get baptised after they have heard the gospel — believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now people are going to say, but how do you know there was not a baby in the household? All that are in the house get baptised — that is true. But how do I know there was not a baby? Verse 34: "And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house." Everybody in the house believed. Babies cannot believe. This re-emphasises that everybody in the house believes, and that is why they get baptised.

A young child cannot believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Why? Because salvation means you are safe from the penalty of your sins, and a child that is not yet at the age of accountability is not even guilty yet. How can you get saved if you are not guilty? If I say I am going to save you from a burning building but you are not inside a burning building, that does not make sense. My children are very young — all three of them are what I would say is safe, but too young to be saved, because they are not even guilty yet.

What is the exact age of accountability? I do not think it is the exact same age for every person because people learn at different rates. Generally I would say when a child is not yet five they are probably too young to fully comprehend this. The sign the Bible would give is think of Adam and Eve where they were ashamed to be naked. A baby is not ashamed to be naked — they wear clothes because mum and dad put them on. That signals they are not yet at the point to fully grasp this information.

Go to Acts 19. Acts 19 verse 1: "And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost." In verse 2, this is basically Paul confirming a salvation. When we knock doors and somebody says, yeah, I talked to your church before, you should still check the salvation. Just because they talked to someone does not mean they said they believed it, or it could have been in a crowd where some believed and some did not, or they could have prayed but not fully understood. Double-check the salvation regardless of who they talked to, because not everybody who hears the gospel gets saved.

Verse 3: "And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." The repentance that John was preaching was — change your mind and believe on the Lord. This expression, baptism of repentance, appears four times in your Bible, always associated with John the Baptist. I believe the reason why is that a change took place in the lifetime of John the Baptist. He is the forerunner. Before John, everybody would say, look toward the coming Messiah. As John came it gave the signal — no longer look toward the coming Messiah, believe on the Messiah, because he is here. So the change in his lifetime is that you would no longer say believe in the coming Messiah — you say, that man Jesus Christ is the one you have to believe on. The same idea applies: repentance with salvation means change what you believe and believe on the Lord. Getting baptised is signalling that you have changed what you believe, because baptism is for believers.

Verse 5: "When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." Why did they get baptised again? Because they did not believe the first time. That is why they got baptised again.

Go to Acts 8. This might seem basic to a lot of people, but you know what — when I had been saved for about a year, my pastor asked me if I had thought about getting baptised. I said I have been baptised. He said okay, when did you get baptised? I said I was baptised as a baby, in the United Methodist Church. When people first get saved it is not like they have a perfect understanding of all these things. I am sure when you first got saved you did not necessarily know you needed to get baptised. Baptism is for people that are already saved.

Acts 8:35: "Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?" Verse 37: "And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Regardless of your exact interpretation of the timing of events, the key is that believing happens before baptism.

Here is the thing — if you have a modern version of the Bible you are probably very confused right now, because they removed verse 37. What is stopping me from being baptised? And he baptised him. There is no answer to the question. Does that even make sense? In our Bible, what is stopping me from being baptised? The key is if thou believest. That is the key to being baptised. If you want to be baptised, great — but you have to believe first.

What is really awkward is when someone really wants to be baptised but they do not believe. I have dealt with that before, especially in Sacramento. It is really hard when someone says I drove down here two hours to get baptised today. I am sorry, but you cannot get baptised. I was as polite as possible, but it is what it is. When someone drives two hours to do something and you say they cannot, it makes them upset. But you must believe first.

What that means is if you got baptised before you got saved, you just took a short swim. You just got wet. None of us who were baptised as babies were really baptised, because that is not baptism — you can't get baptised as a baby because you cannot believe at that point. We got water sprinkled on our heads but we did not get baptised, because baptism is for people that are already saved. If you are in this room and you say, Brother Stucky, I got baptised but it was before I was saved — it is a free-will choice, but you should get re-baptised. Why? Because you just got wet the first time. That is what the Bible teaches.

Point 3: Baptism Is by Immersion

Baptism is by immersion — fully being in the water. Acts 8:38: "And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him." They went down both into the water. There is a reason why the wording is so specific. If it was just by sprinkling, you would just pour a couple of drops on the head — there would be no point going into the water. People say, well, how do you know they did not go into the water and then just sprinkle drops, or how do you know they did not pour water? Here is how I know: because if they actually did that, they are the two dumbest human beings that have ever lived. Does it make any sense to get into a chariot, get your clothes completely wet, just to pour a few drops on someone's head? That is stupid. They went into the water because they were doing it by immersion. If it was just sprinkling, Philip would have just used a water bottle. He would not have needed to find a body of water large enough to go in.

Go to John 3. You say, Brother Stucky, I am not convinced. Well, let me ask you — what is significant about sprinkling or pouring water on someone's head? What does that symbolise? Nothing. Do you know what baptism symbolises? It symbolises the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ — which is why it is by immersion. If you are just sprinkling or pouring water, that does not symbolise the burial of Jesus Christ. When you are getting baptised, because it is for believers, you are showing the world that you believe. You are showing the world that you believe Jesus was buried and that he rose again.

John 3:22: "After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized. And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there." Why does it say because there was much water? You need water to do baptism, and the Bible is saying John found a place where it was deep enough to do baptisms. Because here is the thing — if baptism was just by pouring or sprinkling, do you know what John would have said to his disciples? All right, first thing in the morning before we go out soul-winning, I want you to fill all of these bottles with water. If we could do baptisms immediately just that easily, without going into the water and needing a change of clothes and a towel, we would get 20 baptisms every single Sunday. Baptism is inconvenient. It takes effort, time, and a willing heart. God created this in a way where it kind of forces people to make a decision — are you going to serve God with your life, or not?

Go to Romans 6. From Colossians, the Bible says "buried with him in baptism." Buried. If you have ever gone to the burial of a body, you know what you notice — the entire body is put under the ground. Six feet under. It is not a burial if the arm is sticking out of the ground. Why does it say buried? Because when you get baptised the whole body goes under. Romans 6:1: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 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."

Baptism is likened to a burial. Because what is it that you have to believe to be saved? The gospel. What is the gospel? The death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. When you are getting baptised you are immersed — you are buried, symbolically speaking, for a short time. You go under the water and you come out.

Verse 5: "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." When you plant seeds, you do not just throw them on the ground — you put them underground. Planted. Buried. What is the Bible trying to tell you? Immersion. That is what baptism is.

Go to Matthew 3. I think people can get overly spiritual about this. What I have noticed from baptising people in different bodies of water is that sometimes when you put someone's head in, their feet fly up in the air. I think if someone's upper half is fully under and one toe is sticking out, and you feel you need to do it again — I think that is being overly spiritual personally. It is a matter of the heart. They are getting baptised in the water — it is perfectly fine. But it is by immersion.

Matthew 3:5: "Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan; and were baptized of him in Jordan." They are baptised in the Jordan River. Verse 16: "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water." Out of the water. That means he was in the water. These pictures of a long-haired Jesus standing in shallow water are ridiculous. Obviously they were in the water because it is picturing immersion. "And lo the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

People say, but wait — I can prove to you that baptism washes away your sins. What is your proof? Well, Jesus got baptised. My question would be: what sins did Jesus have to wash away? The fact that he got baptised is actually proof that you do not have to be baptised to be saved, because he did not have any sins to wash away. I have literally had many people say this — it is a dumb argument, but I have heard it: well, if baptism does not forgive your sins, why did Jesus get baptised? He was not a sinner. So obviously that is not what baptism does.

Point 4: Baptism Is Your First Step to Obey God

What baptism is, point four, is your first step to obey God. It is your decision to follow God with your life. It is your decision to say, you know what, I am going to forsake all and follow Christ. Do you have to do that to go to heaven? No. Is it proof of your salvation? No. But no one is going to serve God if they refuse baptism. Nobody refuses to be baptised and then becomes a mighty soul winner. Everyone who is a soul winner got baptised, or got baptised as soon as they had the opportunity. Why? Because we know it is the first step to obey God. It is what God tells you to do.

Matthew 3:13: "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him." It becometh us to fulfil all righteousness — it is the right thing to do.

Go to Acts 2. Just think about this logically. Let us say you have your kids and you give them a bunch of instructions. First I want you to clean your room, then I want you to change your clothes, then I want you to come down for dinner. All of a sudden they come down for dinner, clothes are changed, but did you clean your room? No. It literally does not matter if your child does a million other things in a row that you said — they are still not doing the first thing. Well, here is the thing: are there a lot of commandments and things God wants you to do in your life? Absolutely. But if you refuse to do the very basics — I refuse to go to church and I refuse to get baptised but I want to be the greatest Christian ever — God is going to say: no, I want you to start going to church, I want you to get baptised, start reading your Bible. You need to do those first things. Baptism is right at the beginning. You believe, then you get baptised.

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." Three thousand get baptised. It says they gladly received his word. Do you have to gladly receive the word of Christ to be saved? No. What do you have to do? We opened up with but as many as received him — not as many as gladly received him. You can receive the word of God without doing so gladly or with joy. Receiving the word gladly means you believed it, you got saved, and you are actually thankful and you are going to do something with it.

Think about the ten lepers that got healed. Jesus said go on your way and you will get healed along the way. Ten lepers go, and along the way one of them notices his leprosy is gone and he comes running back to give thanks. Now I am sure the other nine also noticed at some point. In the back of their minds they are probably thinking, I should go back to give thanks, but it is a bit inconvenient. I have spent 10 years with leprosy — I do not have time to waste going back to say thank you. But he goes back. Does that mean only one got healed? All ten got healed. The Bible is very clear.

Here is the thing — we get people saved all the time, but it does not mean they are ever going to come to church. Why? They are just not that glad about it, not that thankful, not that appreciative. Coming to church and getting baptised are inconvenient things. But if you are really glad you are going to start to follow God, and it starts with that step of baptism. Those that gladly received got baptised, and then it says in verse 47 they were praising God and having favour with all the people, and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Go to Matthew 28 to close up. Baptism does not save you. Baptism is for people that are already saved — not infant baptism, but someone old enough to believe the gospel. Now if a five, six, or seven-year-old believes on Christ, we will baptise someone that age. If they believe, we do not say you have to wait until you are 30 like Jesus. When they believe they get baptised. With young kids it is a bit hard to tell — it might take them a while to get saved. You do not want to force them to get baptised if they do not yet believe, but if they do believe, they are welcome to get baptised.

Matthew 28:18: "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Teach all nations — preaching the gospel is the main thing being encompassed there, and you do that by getting churches started so the gospel is going out everywhere. You get people saved and then you baptise them. Baptism is signalling: I have changed what I believed. When I got baptised in a Baptist church, what I was saying was, I reject the United Methodist religion I grew up in. When many of you got baptised, what you were saying is, I reject Roman Catholicism, I reject the religion of my grandparents and parents, I believe on Christ for my salvation, I do not believe in the sacraments and all the other things the Roman Catholic Church teaches. Whatever your religion was before, when you get baptised after salvation, what you are saying is, you know what, I was wrong about the gospel before, and I am getting baptised to show the world that. It takes some humility — but realise, everybody has to go through that. We all changed our belief at some point.

On a side point, verse 19 says baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. What you do see in the book of Acts is it will say that people were baptised in the name of Jesus. I do not believe that means they specifically said the word Jesus — I think it is saying by the authority of Jesus Christ. By the authority of Christ we do baptisms. Matthew 28:19 gives us the template. I will say there are churches that teach something called Oneness, which is an attack on the Trinity, and if they are only saying we baptise you in the name of Jesus it might signal what they believe. How we do it is in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.

"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." And that is what we do when we preach the word of God — we are teaching people to observe all things.

Conclusion

The Alphabet of Bible Doctrines: Baptism. It does not save you. It is for people that are already saved. It is by immersion — you go fully in the water. And it is the first step to obey God. It is not complicating the Bible — the Bible is very clear about it.

Now, when we baptise somebody, if someone said something slightly different at your old Baptist church but you are already saved and we know they are saved, I am not saying that does not count. But being baptised as a baby does not count — that is not a grey area. Being baptised before you are saved does not count — that is not a grey area either. Probably half of this church or more have been baptised by me, Pastor Jimenez, or someone else here, because before they came to us their salvation was in a confusing place. If you have any questions about whether your baptism was biblical, just do it. Do not leave it to doubt. If you are not sure if your baptism is valid, just do it again. Yes, it takes some humility — but we all change our minds at some point. We all believed false things before. You hear the gospel, you get saved, you get baptised. That is the pattern.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see this topic of baptism. Help us as Bible-believing Christians to understand what the Bible teaches. Help us to get people saved, but help us also to bring people to church and get them baptised and teach them to observe all things. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.