Believe and Speak--We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

 

Matthew 28:18-19

Luke 24:45-48

Acts 2:38-39

Acts 22:16

Romans 6:3-4

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

1 Corinthians 10:2

Galatians 3:27-28

Ephesians 4:4-5

Hebrews 10:19-25

1 Peter 3:21

2 Corinthians 4:13

Our reading today starts with "The Great Commission".  Another way to say this would be to say "The Great Entrusting", or "The Great Assignment".  Jesus is fulfilling the role of Prophet by saying " All authority is given to me", which is a New Testament way to say the Old Testament phrase "Thus says the Lord", except He is the Giver and Finisher of the message.   He is entrusting the gospel in the hands of the church.  And this is the gospel--Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, He was buried, He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.  Death, burial, and resurrection--all completed by Christ for the forgiveness of our sins--pictured in baptism. Romans 6:3-4 repeats this same truth. Being baptized in Jesus' Name declares that it's by His completed works that we are saved.  If baptism saved us, each "salvation" would look different; it would matter where it was and who performed it.  But there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, meaning the scenario is always the same for true baptism--a portrayal of Jesus crucified, buried, and risen again.  We have no confidence, no cleanliness ritual we can follow, that gives us the right to come before God's throne, except through this Good News. In baptism, we are holding fast to that confession.   He will open our minds to understand this, just as He did for the disciples who walked with Him.  

Those who followed God in the Old Testament had a very strict cleanliness regimen they had to follow.  Not just for hygiene (although that is covered in depth in Leviticus 👀), but also  for being clean enough to come into God's presence.  It makes me tired just thinking about all of the things that could make them unclean.  And that was actually the point of these rituals--to make them tired enough to see that they couldn't make themselves clean, and to long for One who could.  A common theme in the Old Testament is "passing through the waters".  Genesis 7:10; Exodus 14:29; Joshua 3:8; 2 Samuel 15:23; 1 Kings 2:37; 1 Kings 15:13.  Crossing the waters was often a sign of passing from one situation to another--Noah through the earth-altering flood; the Hebrews leaving Egypt by God's hand; the Hebrews entering in to the Promised Land. Baptism is like this. A sign of a decision made--a decision to follow Christ, and to identify yourself with His works, not your own.  Because we are tired of being unable to get ourselves and keep ourselves clean, and we long for the One who perfectly answered our prayer "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!" Only Jesus. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, so we also believe and so we also speak.