The Sacraments
“And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body, which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."”
— Luke 22:19 NASB
Warm Up
- What would you consider sacred in your life?
Lessons
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“Then Jesus *arrived from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him. <sup>14</sup> But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have the need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming to me?" <sup>15</sup> But Jesus, answering, said to him, "Allow it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he *allowed Him. <sup>16</sup> After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and settling on Him, <sup>17</sup> and behold, a voice from the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."”
— Matthew 3:13-17 NASBBaptízō: to immerse, to go under, or to perish.
If Jesus is God, why was He baptized? He said it himself, to fulfill all righteousness on behalf of mankind. In a way, Jesus was baptized as you and on your behalf. Up until this point, Jesus did not perform any miracles because he gave up his God powers to experience life just as one of us. Jesus never stopped being God but He was baptized as a mere human being so that we could have the invitation to be one with Him.
Baptism itself does not save you, Jesus did. Water baptism is the natural response to saying yes to Jesus. It's the act of being submerged under water by another believer. Baptism is referred to as a watery grave. Just as Jesus went down into the grave to defeat death and then was resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit, baptism is a declaration of that reality in your life, You now have this "new life".
Three things we see at Jesus' baptism
1. Renewal - man is super naturally transformed from death to life
2. Identity - God declares man's identity in Christ as His beloved son
3. Power - Holy Spirit inhabits man with the ability to live righteous
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“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? <sup>2</sup> Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? <sup>3</sup> Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? <sup>4</sup> Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. <sup>5</sup> For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, <sup>6</sup> knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; <sup>7</sup> for the one who has died is freed from sin.”
— Romans 6:1-7 NASBMore than one baptism?
The baptism of repentance is not the only time a Christian is immersed. There is more than one baptism in the sense that you are called to be baptized in this Holy Spirit many times throughout your life. You can think of this immersion as an endowment of power that enables ordinary humans to co-labor with God in supernatural ways. We see this endowment occur many times in scripture.
Baptism of the Holy Spirit can happen during water baptism or at another time. We see in the book of Acts that 120 believers are gathered in Jerusalem, awaiting the promise of the Holy Spirit as Jesus commanded them. They are baptized with tongues of fire and Peter is overcome with boldness to preach the first sermon of the New Covenant, which leads to him making this statement.
“<sup>38</sup> Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. <sup>39</sup> The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."”
— Acts 2:38-39 NIV- Have you been baptized in water? What does this mean to you?
- Have you been baptized by the Holy Spirit? What questions do you have about the baptism of Holy Spirit?