(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Alright, now of course this morning, it's a really exciting day, we have the baptisms that are going to be taking place after the service, so I wanted to take some time and explain just all about baptism this morning. And basically, I'm going to cover the five W's and the H on baptism, you know, where, when, why, what, how, just try to cover everything involving baptism, just to give you a good understanding of it. A lot of people, I mean, it's kind of, it's common in Christianity, it's common in culture, people get baptized, and it's a big deal, and people do it different ways, you know, the Catholics sprinkle babies, and other religions do different things, but a lot of people don't really understand what baptism is all about, I mean, there's just kind of, it's something that people do, but there's not necessarily a lot of teaching going on about it, people don't understand. So what I want to do this morning is just try to help everyone understand exactly why we do it, who's supposed to be baptized, you know, all the different questions that come up about baptism. And we're going to get back to Romans chapter six, but if you would, please turn to Acts chapter number eight, it's just one book back, it's right before the book of Romans, and I just preached on this a couple of weeks ago in our Wednesday night series, but Acts chapter eight, Acts chapter eight, right near the end of the chapter there, we're going to cover, first of all, who should be saved, I mean, who not who should be saved, everyone should be saved, who should get baptized, and if you're in Acts chapter eight, look at verse number 36, this is a story about Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, Philip preaches Jesus Christ unto this guy, and we're going to see what happens here, look at verse number 36, it says, 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, so he's saying, why can't I be baptized, hey look, there's water right here, I want to be baptized, why can't I be baptized? So Philip's going to answer him here, look at verse number 37, and Philip said, if thou believeth with all thine heart, thou mayest, and he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, 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, so he's asking, okay, here's some water, why can't I be baptized, I want to be baptized, he said, okay, well wait, if you believe with all your heart, then you may be baptized, and then that's when he answers, look, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, he was professing he has faith in Christ, he put his faith in Jesus Christ, so the first thing we need to understand here is that who should be getting baptized, it's those that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is the reason why we don't baptize infants, this is why we don't baptize babies, I mean, when you're a child, when you're a newborn or whatever, like, you don't know what you believe in, you don't have those beliefs formed yet, and see, here's the thing, this is a really important doctrine because there's a lot of denominations, a lot of Christian religions out there that are doing it completely wrong, and one of the reasons why, this is a very clear verse, right, I mean, will anyone disagree with that? It's very clear, he said, look, if you believe with all your heart thou mayst, right, right after he asked the question, why can't I be baptized, in the modern versions of the Bible, almost every single one of them, verse 37 is removed, it doesn't even exist, so I have an example, and you can check this out after service, right, this is one of the most popular Bibles that's out there, it's the NIV, it's the New International Version, and I'll show you one after service, in this book, we went over this when we preached in Acts chapter 8, it literally goes, verse 36, verse 38, so you have the man asking, why can't I be baptized? And then in verse 38 it says, and then they both went into the water and he baptized them. It's just completely missing, and that's what these, and you've got to watch out and beware, I'm not going to preach this sermon again about Bible versions, but it's very important that we have the right Bible version because these things happen, and the lie out there is that, oh, these new versions just make it easier to read, easier to understand, you know, they get rid of the these and the thals, and it's just to make it easier for you, and that's not the case, they've gone and actually butchered it, they've ripped things out, they've added things in, it's a different book, it's not the same Bible, you might look at some of the verses lined up and they look about the same, and you could go to many places where you could see, oh yeah, that's just a little bit different, it's not a big deal, but when they start doing stuff like this, this is a major doctrine, a doctrine of baptism, and removing this verse is huge, I mean, this is the most clear verse in the Bible that just definitively explains that, look, the people that get baptized are those that believe with all of their heart on the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is important, I mean, we ought to know this, because then, you know, when they start tampering with the Bible, change the thing, that's why people get into doing false doctrine, get into these false beliefs of, you know, for instance, infant baptism or whatever it may be, because the Lord's been removed. So here we see that, look, it's only for those that believe, now a lot of people say, well, but I've already been baptized, right? And we have a story for that, turn to Acts chapter 19, you're in Acts chapter 8, just flip over a few chapters to Acts chapter 19, the Bible deals with everything, everything that we need to understand, everything that we need to know, the Bible's got the answer for it all, God's got it covered, you say, well, because I've been baptized, I was baptized as an infant, okay? So you might say, well, I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ now, you know, I didn't then, obviously, because I was too little, but I believe now, I say, well, I've already been baptized, so I'm good. Well, that's not the case. See, we need to get baptized after we put our faith in Christ. That's the only biblical or real baptism that we have. Look at verse number 1 of Acts chapter 19, it says, 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. 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. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them, and they spake with tongues of prophesied. Now, what I want to point out here is, here's a couple of guys, right? And Paul's asking about the Holy Ghost, you know? Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they're just like, we don't even know what you're talking about. We never even heard of such a thing. So he's saying, well, that's interesting. Okay, well, then what were you, you know, how were you baptized? Who were you baptized unto? And they said, oh, John's baptism. Now, of course, John the Baptist was baptizing people, and he was preaching. It says that Paul explained to them what John was, why he was baptizing and what he was doing. He then said, Paul, verse number four, 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. Again, he's preaching how to be saved, that you need to believe on Jesus Christ, which was the same rule we saw before on what you had to do in order to be baptized. They didn't understand it. Basically, what happened is they were following John, but they didn't get it. They didn't understand it. They didn't get saved, but they got baptized anyways. Okay? And this happens a lot. I mean, people get baptized without comprehending the free gift of salvation, without being saved. And what happens is that it's got wet. Okay? You know, not necessarily a big deal, but these guys didn't understand it. Paul explains it to them, and then they're like, oh, when they heard that, then they understood they got saved, they believed on Christ, and then they got baptized. And this is one example of the Bible where you have people, they've already been baptized, but Paul said, no, you've got to get baptized again. And they got baptized again because it was after they believed. So you could be baptized 10 times in the past, but if you weren't saved, if you didn't put your faith in Jesus Christ, all that happened is you got wet. In order to have a biblical baptism, you ought to have it after you believe. Now, that's the who. That covers who should get baptized. Everybody who put their faith in Christ, who has not been baptized after they received Christ, after they put their faith in Christ and got saved, that's who needs to get baptized. Now, when should we get baptized? We're in Acts chapter 19. Flip back just a little bit to Acts chapter 16. A lot of baptisms in the book of Acts. That's why we're spending some time in the book of Acts. Exciting book, my personal favorite book of the Bible. All kinds of action going on. You got miracles, you got preaching, you got baptisms, you got all kinds of cool things going on. Acts chapter 16 here, we're going to see when should you get baptized, right? So now we know who. We know who's supposed to be getting baptized. When, though? When does that person get baptized? Because, again, a lot of people these days will teach, well, no, you have to go through our seminar, you got to go through a class, you got to demonstrate all these things that you're really serious and that you're a Christian. It's like they're trying to make it real difficult, and it's not. And we're going to see from the Bible when people get baptized. Look at verse number 30. It is the verse that we use on soul-willing all the time. It says, and brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved in the house. By the way, that is salvation. Putting your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that's what gets you saved. It's not living a good life. It's not coming to church. It's not even getting baptized. It's none of those things. It's putting your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and accepting Him as your Savior, trusting completely on Him with all of your heart. So we see Paul tells them that. He says, hey, what do I have to do to be saved? He says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved in the house. 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 straight way. The same hour of the night. So this guy just gets saved. This guy just hears about Jesus Christ. He puts his faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. The same hour of the night, he gets baptized. Immediately, as soon as possible after you get saved is when you ought to get baptized. There's no reason to be waiting around for it. Now, I mean, I understand there's, you know, in situations, people like to wait. People like to invite family, friends like that, but there's no reason why you have to wait according to the Bible. It is what I'm trying to get across, you know, getting, it's very biblical to get baptized immediately after getting saved. There's no classes, there's no extra learning and extra things that you just have to understand before you're even allowed to get baptized. No, I mean, these guys got baptized the same hour of the night and right after they got saved. And I always recommend as soon as is possible to get baptized, you ought to get baptized. Now, me personally, I got saved when I was 20 years old. It was about nine years later before I actually got baptized. Okay. And that was my own fault. I mean, I just, I should have done it. I didn't quite understand. I didn't know very much about it. I didn't hear a preaching about it. And I wasn't really going to church either. I got saved, but it wasn't until I got baptized, you know, nine years later, which, you know, and that was when I was a little bit more serious about serving God. And that's a whole other story. I'll get, I'll probably get to that a little bit, a little bit more about my story, but, um, basically here, you don't have to turn there, but in Acts 2 41, the Bible says, then they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day they were added unto them about 3000 souls. So again, I mean, the Bible reports the same day, the same hour of the night, people get baptized basically right away. And then in Acts 8 12, again, you don't have to turn there. It says, 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. So over and over again, the Bible, we see people, they're getting baptized right away. They're not waiting around. It's just, they're getting baptized. Now let's, um, where should we get baptized? And this is, this is, you know, I'm using all the W words, but, um, look at John chapter three, if you would, it's right before the book of Acts, John chapter three, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the new Testament, cause the where isn't, isn't important as far as like in a church building or in a lake or in a hot tub, that where doesn't matter. Okay. But the where that is important. Look at John chapter three and look at verse number 23 verse number 23 says, and John also was baptizing and Enon near to Salem because there was much water there and they came and were baptized. So the where is where there's much water. And this leads right into, to how do we do it because the how and the where kind of go together because the way that we baptize people is by full immersion. Okay. It's, it's, it's your goal under water completely. And again, I mean, some people will do sprinkling. We'll just take some water and kind of sprinkle on it. Some people actually do some pouring. They'll take like a pitcher of water or something and pour it over a person's head. Biblical baptism though, I'm going to show you this turn to Mark chapter one, if you would please. Mark chapter one, the where and I'll go ahead and end. So the reason why John was baptizing in Enon was because there was much water there and the reason why the much water is important is because you need to be completely submerged under the water in order to have a biblical baptism. Matthew, Mark, it's the second book of the New Testament, Mark chapter number one. We're going to start reading in verse number four. The Bible reads, John did baptize in the wilderness and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins and there went out unto him all the land of Judea and they of Jerusalem and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan confessing their sins and John was clothed with camel's hair and with a girdle of skin about his loins and he did eat locusts and wild honey and preached saying, there cometh one mightier than I, after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized of John in Jordan and straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens open and the spirit like a dove descending upon him. So here we see John's baptizing as he baptized of him in the river of Jordan. So he's in the river, right? John is literally in the river of Jordan and Jesus Christ, this is the story of Jesus Christ getting baptized of John the Baptist and Jesus comes to him and in verse number 10 it says in straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens open. So they were both in the water. They were in the river of Jordan. He was in the river of Jordan because there's a lot of water there and he was able to fully submerge him. And actually the word baptism was a word that was created in English because it was used in the Bible and it comes from a Greek word that basically just means immersed. It just means immersion. So the word baptism itself, it derives from a word that literally just means immersion. And the how and the why kind of go together too. So a lot of these questions sort of play together. Go ahead and if you would please turn to Matthew chapter 3. We'll continue on with this. This is basically the same story but in Matthew chapter 3, there's one other, we're going to start in verse 13. Matthew chapter 3. Because now we're going to get into why do we baptize people. We saw who should get baptized is those that are saved. When? As soon as possible after they get saved. Where do they get saved? Where do they get baptized? In a place where there's a lot of water. How does it happen? They get submerged under the water. And then why do we do it? Verse number 13, the Bible says, Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbade 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 fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him. So he's saying, look, in order for me to fulfill all righteousness, I need to be baptized of you. Jesus Christ needed to fulfill a commandment. Jesus Christ came and he was fulfilling prophecies. Jesus Christ came, he lived a perfectly sinless life. He had to do everything that was according to the will of the Father. He had to live his life and do everything he did without spot. Everything that Jesus Christ did was perfect. And he says here, in order to fulfill all righteousness, suffer and baptize me. Because Jesus understood. He's God in the flesh. And that's why John's saying, I need to be baptized of you. Basically, I'm not worthy to be baptizing you. You're the Son of God. But Jesus said, OK, I understand that, just allow this to happen because I need to be baptized. And Jesus Christ needed, in order to fulfill all righteousness, he needed to be baptized. Verse number 16 then says, And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straight way out of the water. Again, just saying that they were in the water, he came straight way up out of the water. And lo, the heavens were open unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him. So first, the reason why we need to get baptized is because it's a command. In order to fulfill all righteousness, we ought to get baptized. Matthew chapter 28, it's real comments right at the end of the book of Matthew. It's what's known as the Great Commission. It's when Jesus Christ teaches. It's like the last thing that he says to him before he sends up into heaven. In Matthew chapter 28, verse 19, right at the very end of the book, the last two verses, Jesus Christ speaking, he says, Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them 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 always, even on the end of the world. Amen. So Jesus Christ is telling them, Look, I want you to go out. I want you to teach all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. So it's a commandment. Jesus Christ commanded his apostles and commanded the disciples to go out and do this. And it's a commandment for us today that we need to get baptized. And again, you don't have to turn there. Turn if you would to Acts chapter 2. I'm going to read a few verses for you because in Acts chapter 10, verse 47, the Bible says, Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days. The Bible says that being baptized is a commandment, something that we're commanded to do, something that happens after we get saved. Now, of course, baptism is not for salvation. And there's a false doctrine out there as people have believed that in order to go to heaven or to be saved, you have to be baptized. And this is simply not true. Now, the place where they get this from is in Mark 16. At the end of the book of Mark, there's, you know, Jesus Christ said, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. But he that believeth not shall be damned. So they'll say, Oh, look, look right there. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. So you have to be baptized in order to be saved. But see, this is what people like to do to teach false doctrine is they'll, they'll take one verse, and they'll try to rip it out of context, and just ignore the rest of the Bible. And it's even, it's just a lack of understanding what this verse is even saying. Okay. And I'll explain that in just a second. But if you have, if you have the Bible, and you have hundreds of verses that just say, Hey, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and now shall be saved. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. He that believeth on Him is not condemned. On and on and on and on again. The Bible talks about, Hey, the requirement of being saved is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. And then you see one verse, one verse that says, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. And then the people say, Oh, well, you have to be baptized to be saved. No, none of the other verses say anything about being baptized to be saved. If that was true, then all those other verses would have to be false. I mean, you can't have it both ways. Either, either, you know, this, either you have to be baptized and believe, or you just have to believe. But here's the thing, when the way this verse is worded, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. That's a true statement. I believe and I'm baptized. Some other people believe that they're not baptized, but if you believe, I mean, if I believe and stand on my head, I shall be saved because it's the belief that saves you. It's not the baptism part. And he even, he even finishes off that verse and says, but He that believeth not shall be damned. Notice he didn't include anything about baptism. He didn't say, He that believeth not and is not baptized shall be damned. It just says, He that believeth not shall be damned. So basically the statement is, look, if you believe and you're baptized, you're saved. And that's a very true statement. There's nothing incorrect about that statement at all, but that doesn't mean that you have to be baptized in order to be saved. And if that were the case, if you had to be baptized to be saved, then why did the apostle Paul say in First Corinthians, chapter 117, he said, for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words as the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. If you had to be baptized in order to be saved, why would Paul even say that? Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, right? I mean, obviously he's, he was, his job was to go out and get people saved. And he wasn't even sent to baptize people. Now he did baptize a few people, but that, that wasn't his mission. That wasn't his job. It's not for salvation. It's important to understand that. But so why do we, you're in Acts chapter two. Yes. Acts chapter two, look at verse number 38. And again, this is another verse because basically the Pentecostal church is the one that teaches that you have to be baptized in order to be saved. And this is one of the verses that they'll turn to to say that you need to be baptized to be saved. Just like Mark 16. Acts 2 38 says, and then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy ghost. And again, it comes from a misunderstanding and a lack of just understanding of what this verse is saying. When he says be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. It's not saying in order to, for your sins to be forgiven, you need to be baptized. That's not what that word see for can have a couple of different meanings. Most oftentimes the root in the, in the King James Bible, the word for means because of, so like I'm trying to think of for God so loved the world because God so loved the world. He gave his only begotten son. Does that make sense? Right. That's how that word for is used. So here it's the same exact thing. It's the same exact, you know, meaning of this word for it says it'd be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, because of the remission of sins, because of the fact that you're saved. That's why you should get baptized. And it's, and we're going to get into that just in really soon. We're going to turn back to Romans chapter six. Turn back to Romans six, where we started, because this is where we're going to really get into the meat of what baptism really means, what we're doing, why are we going, getting dumped under the water and what does it all mean? What does it all picture? Yeah, I'm going to skip that verse, but that's fine. Romans six, Romans six, chapter one, I mean verse one, this is where we started. It says, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may bow? Basically just got done saying that where sin abounds, grace does much more about it in Romans chapter five. You say, look, if we, if we do continue to sin, which we do, I mean, is anyone in this room perfect today? Because I know I'm not. I know I'm still a sinner. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. And here's the thing. We will continue to sin being human beings, not being perfect, not being Jesus Christ, right? When we continue to sin, grace abounds. Jesus Christ, the fact that he paid for all of our sins, he covers us with his grace when we sit. Now, does that mean we should continue to sin? Of course not. That's exactly what he's saying because he just got done saying, look, if you sin, it's still covered by Jesus Christ. It's covered by the blood of Christ. He's already paid for it. No matter how much you sin, grace abounds even more. It covers all of your sins completely. But what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may bow? God forbid. He's saying, look, just because you're covered, just because the fact that Jesus Christ paid for your sins and you're saved and it lasts eternally, it lasts forever, that does not mean that you should still continue in sin. That's not the point, right? He's saying, how shall we, in verse number two of Romans six, 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. So here's where we get the first picture that he's equating, you know, he's relating baptism with a burial. And this is the reason why we do baptism the way we do. Okay, when a person gets baptized, they get dunked under the water. And this is picturing the burial, the death and burial of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was up on the cross. You're standing up in the water. You get baptized. You're picturing his burial. And then when you come back up out of the water, you're picturing his resurrection. He came back up. He didn't stand there. That's why we don't drown you when we baptize you because there is a resurrection. We're coming back up. But it's also why we get completely immersed because just as Jesus Christ was dead and buried, we get completely submerged under the water. And then the coming back up is a picture of his resurrection. It says, 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. And that's why I point this out. You know, baptism is a great way to use it as a point in your life where you say, you know what, I'm going to follow God. It's a commandment of God. I'm going to take this moment and I'm just going to, from this moment forward, just walk in newness of life. I'm going to live for God. And that's one of the things that, you know, I know it personally in my life and I've seen it in other people's lives too. You know, I got saved when I was 20, like I mentioned earlier, I was not doing anything for God. Okay. I was not getting in church. I was still like to do all the things that I was doing before I got saved. I liked to drink and party and do all these different things. You know, all my sins, all the things that I was doing that were wicked, they were abominations, they were not things that I should have been doing. Okay. But after I got baptized, baptism was kind of a momentous event in my life where I decided, you know what, I want to serve God. I want to do what's right. I knew that baptism was a commandment actually, maybe not right away after I got saved, but I have learned that, but I still didn't do it. I still didn't take that first step of obedience and just say, you know what, God, I'm going to just publicly display my faith in you and my belief in you and just get baptized. Even if I don't understand I'm just going to do it because it's a commandment and that's something I know I should be doing. After I did that though is when I really started to kind of turn my life around and just start living for God and start doing what's right. And that's something I recommend. You know, maybe not everybody that happens for it. Okay. I'm not going to say just across the board, that's the case, it happens every single person's life. No, it's not necessarily the case, but use the baptism in your own personal life and just say, hey, you know what, from this moment forward, and maybe you've already been baptized and saved. Great. Just use today then, but in this understanding of baptism and say, hey, I'm baptized into Jesus Christ's death and his resurrection. I'm going to walk in newness of life. It says in verse five, for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. And again, he uses a lot of symbolism between planting and a seed dying and going to the earth and then coming up again. If you think about it, when you plant seeds, they get buried in the ground, right? And they have to basically, the seed itself kind of has to die in order for it to start growing and become a new creature and become a new, you know, a living thing, you know, a living plant. And the same way, you know, when we're buried in the ground, this is also a picture of the resurrection that's going to take place for us. Okay. We're all going to physically die one day and that's why people get buried in the earth because it's a picture of that burial. Jesus Christ was buried, but we're going to be resurrected again one day, the same way that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead. When Jesus Christ comes back at the second coming, we're all, you know, the dead in Christ shall rise and we're going to receive a new body and we're going to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. There's a lot of symbolism going on here. Let's continue on reading in verse number six. It says, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. So again, it's just really emphasizing a new beginning, right? Your old sins, they've been nailed to the cross. Jesus Christ paid for all of them. When you get baptized, you're going to leave those dead sins. You're going to get buried. Just leave the sins behind you. You're going to walk in newness of life and just use that as a new start and a new beginning. It says, for he that is dead is freed from sin. Now, if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more. Death has no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died on the sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead, indeed, unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So this is something, I mean, we all ought to be doing. It's just, you know, you're saved. Your sins have been paid for. Be dead to that sin. Walk in newness of life. Walk as a new creature. Be alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. The last place we're going to turn is Colossians chapter two. We're almost done. The last scripture reference I have is in Colossians two. I just want to cover a lot of places that talk about baptism in the Bible. I'm trying to hit the vast majority of them here. Colossians chapter two is the last place we're going to turn. I'm going to start reading in verse number nine. The Bible says, for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power, in whom also ye are circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Verse 12, buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross, and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. And this shows it's a finality, right? It's really just demonstrating the finality of the sin and the curse of the law in our lives, and just saying, it's done. Okay, I have all these sins, and Jesus Christ nailed them to his cross. All the ordinances that were against me, Jesus Christ took those sins, he nailed it once for all, he was buried. The Bible says his soul went to hell for three days and three dies. The third day again, he rose again from the dead. He conquered death and hell, and he's alive to die no more. The Bible says that he's to live forever the same way that us, once our sins are nailed to his cross, were buried like him in baptism, and were risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, it says in Colossians 2 12, who have raised him from the dead. We ought to walk in newness of life. And this is like the whole point, I guess, of what baptism means. It's a walking in newness of life, because it's showing what Jesus Christ did for us. You're publicly professing it, and you're showing that, hey, he took all of my sins for me. I'm going to be dead to sin the same way Jesus Christ died for my sins. I'm not going to live any longer unto those sins. I'm not going to let them, I'm not going to come into subjection to my sins and be in bondage and be in slavery under my sins. I'm going to give those up, I'm going to forsake those sins, and I'm going to walk in newness of life. And the baptism is going to show, hey, you get dug under the water, you're going to leave all that garbage, all the past, all the sin, all the bad things that you've done, just let it be buried. Let it be buried in the water, let it be buried in the ground, let it be buried with Jesus Christ, because now you're a new creature, you're going to be raised again. And one day, everyone that's saved is going to be in heaven with Jesus Christ, and it's going to be a glorious day. And, you know, it's a great event. It's really exciting when people decide to get baptized and they want to show openly that, hey, I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He paid for my sins. I don't have to pay for them anymore. He's covered it completely. And I'm going to show a picture of what he did for me. And I'm going to, I'm deciding today I'm going to walk in newness of life. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for the institution of baptism that you've given us, dear God. And I pray that I've done a decent job of being able to explain it, dear Lord, and why we do it and how we do it, dear God, and who's supposed to, that is for believers, and that we do full immersion baptisms to really illustrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Lord, I pray to you, please help us all to walk in newness of life, Lord, and to put on a new man and to walk in the spirit, dear God, and to just no longer fulfill those lusts of the flesh that we have, but to just continually day after day walk in newness of life. And Lord, we just, we love you. We thank you so much for dying on the cross and paying the eternal punishment for our sins. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.