Grace Group Study - Remember Your Baptism
Remember Your Baptism
Romans 6:1-4 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 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.
To many, baptism feels more similar to birthday parties than something spiritual. It is fun to celebrate in the moment, but there is no lasting impact past the event. There seem to be much bigger moments in our lives that clearly have a lasting impact on our future. The day we graduate from high school, receive our college degree, and possibly the biggest day is when we say “I do” to the love of our life. Ask any parent how it feels to hold your child in your arms for the first time, life-changing. But baptism? We have done that once (or maybe three times).
The first time I heard the phrase, “Remember your baptism,” I was honestly confused. My mind went back to the decision that I had made to follow Christ. I thought it was like a gut check calling me to remember I was a disciple of Christ. This little phrase would quickly expose how upside-down my view of Christianity was. The phrase wasn’t calling me to look at my decision to follow Christ but at what Christ had done to me. Even the sign of baptism should be the first clue we all miss. We don’t baptize ourselves, but it is a sign given to us. We fall into the arms of another and receive the sign. Baptism is live art acting out the story of how Jesus rescued us from wrath, gave us a new life, and then placed His name upon us. We receive physically what our King has done to us spiritually.
QUESTION: What has been your experience with baptism, good or bad?
QUESTION: Have you used your baptism in the past to encourage you? To fight against temptation? How did you do that?
Both baptism and the Lord’s supper are sacraments (sacred commands) given to us by Jesus, pointing us to what He has done for our salvation. We, by faith, look at these two signs and remind ourselves of where they point to, to his life, death, and resurrection. These signs never point to our lives. There is nothing there that saved us, only convicted us of our crimes against the Father. There are only two sacraments, and both call us to remember Jesus' works and not our own. What works does baptism point us to?
How Jesus RESCUED, RENEWED, and RENAMED us as his beloved children. RESCUED:
...when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
1Pet 3:20b-21
To recap the story above. God brought a flood as judgment to destroy all the flesh that had rebelled against him. He preserved Noah and his family by means of an ark. Peter picks up on two important pictures in the story. Water is seen as judgment, and the ark is the means of salvation. We, through Christ’s resurrection, have been brought through the judgment of our sins and now live with a “good conscience.” It is important to notice Peter says “good” and not just clean.
Our sins are not just wiped away, but they are replaced with the holy, righteous obedience of Jesus. That is why our conscience is good. We see ourselves as holy because that is how God sees us. We have been rescued from God’s wrath and placed into the holy family of God.
QUESTION: How do the pictures of water being judgment and the ark being Christ help you understand the significance of our baptism?
RENEWED:
Romans 6:1-4 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 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.
This is the active part of our baptism. We are not pointing to what has been done to us in our salvation but in our transformation. We are not the sum of our actions, but we now live in the light of Christ’s life. We were not just simply freed from prison and no longer held guilty for our crimes. We were given a new life. We walked out of the prison and stepped into a limo, waiting to usher us into the presence of the King. We now walk each day knowing how much the King loves us.
This life is not the summation of our future. Our future is kept in glory by his power, awaiting our arrival. We walk now. God loves us unconditionally. Our past sins have been buried at sea, we walk each day wearing the spiritually righteous robes of Jesus, waiting for him to come home. The sign of baptism reminds you of this reality, even though we can’t currently see it. He gave us a sign we could see to remind us that He sees all that he has promised, and we will receive it all. Now live believing in this new you.
QUESTION: How could we use Romans 6:1-4 in our daily lives? Looking at the new life God has given us? RENAMED:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Matt. 28:18
To be “in the name of” means to be under the authority of or approved by. We give our children our last names to help the world identify to whom they belong. Jesus is calling us to teach people whose approval they live under. They live under the triune God’s name. There is no other name above heaven and earth that could bring greater comfort than to be in the name of our Lord. Jesus is connecting our baptism with this naming. Baptism is a public naming ceremony. It is when God publicly, before the world, places his everlasting name upon us.
We walk through the dark corners of this world, through pain and struggles, reminding ourselves of the day we were renamed. We went from child of wrath (Ephesians 2:3) to beloved child of God. Whatever the world may think or say about you, the one fact they can’t change is God’s name being baptized upon you. Jesus says he loses none of the sheep given to him (John 6:39). In our darkest moments in this life, we can look to the name given to us, knowing we will be with our Father for eternity, and our baptism was the sign given to us to remember this by.
QUESTION: In what areas of your life can you see remembering God’s name upon you will bring comfort or strength?
QUESTION: How can we remember our baptism to encourage us to resist temptation, and cause us to love others in the future?
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PRAISE, PRAYER, AND CONFESSION:
What can you offer to the Father in praise?
What is a sin you need to confess?
What is a burden we can carry?
What can we take to our Father in prayer?