From the July 29 sermon “Jesus Gave Us Baptism,” preached by Pastor Mark Driscoll:
Pastor Mark answers common questions about baptism, such as: What is baptism? How do we baptize? Why do we baptize? Who do we baptize? Does baptism save? Baptism is all about Jesus, his life, death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus commanded baptism, so it is an act of obedience. Turn from sin, trust in Jesus, and get baptized to show the world what Jesus did for you and that you trust in him.
What Is Baptism?
Baptism’s all about Jesus. It’s all about Jesus, and what we believe at Mars Hill Church is that we say the gospel and we show the gospel, meaning we’ll talk about Jesus, we’ll say things about Jesus, but then, in something called sacraments, baptism and Communion, we show our faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. [. . .]
Baptism makes no sense apart from Jesus, right? It’s just getting wet if Jesus isn’t involved. Jesus is God, second member of the Trinity, Creator of all things. He comes down from heaven, as a man, takes upon himself human flesh, declares himself to be God. He lives without sin, the absolute, perfect life we should live and have failed to live. And then he goes to the cross and he dies in our place for our sins as our substitute. The death we deserve is the death Jesus endures. And so, baptism shows that Jesus died and that he was buried.
He goes on to explain that, “We were buried.” So, it’s about the death and burial of Jesus. "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” So, here’s what baptism is about: Jesus lived, Jesus died, Jesus was buried, Jesus rose from death. So, it’s the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus.
That’s exactly what he says, which is why when we baptize someone, we’re saying Jesus died for them, Jesus was buried for them, and Jesus rose for them, and they love him, and he loves them. That’s why even in the act of baptism, we are showing Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection. That’s what someone who’s getting baptized is saying. "Jesus is my God, died on the cross for me, was buried, rose from death, and my faith is in him, and my salvation is from him.” And so, one of the reasons we get excited about baptism is because baptism’s about Jesus, and at Mars Hill, we’re so excited about Jesus. We love Jesus, and we love to see people meet Jesus, and baptism is one of those occasions for celebration.
Get Over Your Shyness and Get Baptized
Why do we baptize? Why? Because it’s an act of obedience, and like every act of obedience, there is a blessing. [. . .]
We don’t want to see people just baptized, also discipled, so that they mature in Christian faith, because Jesus, frankly, commanded both: baptize and disciple.
Jesus’ own disciples preached the exact same command. I’ll give you an example. In Acts 2:38, Peter stands up on the Day of Pentecost and he preaches, and the New Testament church is birthed, and the Holy Spirit saves people, and here’s what he says: “Repent and be,” what? “Baptized.”
Turn from sin, trust in Jesus, and get baptized to show what Jesus did for you, that you trust in him and let the world know you’re on Team Jesus.
So, why do we baptize? Out of obedience. How many of you are Christians, and you know you’re Christians, but you’ve never been baptized? And one of the most common answers I get is, “I’m shy.” But obedience says to repent of shyness, because your shyness might be a sin. If Jesus is saying, “Be my witnesses,” which is exactly what he says, and then people are baptized, one way you are a witness is through your baptism.
Let me encourage you today to consider: Are you a Christian? Have you turned from sin? Have you trusted in Jesus? And have you been baptized? If not, why is there disobedience? And I would tell you, your obedience glorifies God, it brings you joy, and it allows us to celebrate with you that Jesus loves his church.
Does Baptism Save?
Jesus saves. Pastors don’t save, churches don’t save, baptism doesn’t save. Jesus saves. That’s our deep conviction.
And what can happen is people want some assurance beyond Jesus. There is no assurance beyond Jesus, friends. There’s nothing more secure to place your faith in than Jesus. Well, what happens is some people can wrongly think they’re saved because they’re baptized. You can be wet and not saved.
We don’t believe that baptism saves. Here’s what Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-10, and it’s all about salvation, forgiveness of sins, relationship with God, eternal life with God. “For by grace you have been saved—” How are we saved? By grace from Jesus, the Jesus who’s God, the Jesus who lived without sin, the Jesus who died for our sin, the Jesus who was buried, the Jesus who rose from the grave, the Jesus that we’re remembering in baptism. That Jesus. Grace from him. Undeserved gift, unmerited favor, unexplainable love. That’s our Jesus.
It says, “You’re saved by grace through faith.” The access to this grace is faith. It’s trusting Jesus. It’s trusting only Jesus, not anything in addition to Jesus, even baptism. There was a church in Galatia—Paul writes a letter called Galatians to them, and they were saying, “Well, to really be a Christian and have your sins forgiven, you need to believe in Jesus and get circumcised.” And Paul, he very strongly rebukes them and says, "It’s only Jesus. It’s always Jesus. It’s solely Jesus, because Jesus plus anything ruins everything.”
You don’t need Jesus and baptism, you don’t need Jesus and Communion, you don’t need Jesus and speaking in tongues. You just need Jesus. That’s it.
Grace from him accessed by faith in him. He goes on to say, “And this is not your own doing; it’s a gift.” We don’t save ourselves. I can’t save you, the church can’t save you, baptism can’t save you, Communion can’t save you. Jesus saves you.
