The objective of this lesson: to stress that (a) faith in Jesus as the Christ, as the fulfillment to God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, (b) repentance of life's focus and sinful acts, and (c) baptism (immersion) are of equal importance in coming to God through Jesus Christ. To stress that these comprise a response to God from a person making a life of commitment to God and His purposes.
In all ventures, the moment of commitment must come. A person must become a member of the club (you can be a visitor for only so long); a person must decide to make the investment (you can seek advice for only so long); a person has to vow, "I do," to another person (dating was not designed to last a lifetime). The moment of commitment is bigger than membership; bigger than the investment of time or money; bigger than legal sex; bigger than living with someone. Commitment says, "This is a rightful, intentional part of the definition of who I am and what my life is about." The commitment to Christian existence is just that--a commitment to an existence. That commitment is the core definition of who I am, what my life is about, what my values are, and what principles rule my relationships.
Stress the response to God is one of commitment to God. One is able to come to God because of what God accomplished through Jesus Christ. To refresh your understanding of the importance of what God accomplished through Jesus' death and resurrection, read Romans 3:21-30. While the twentieth and twenty-first century's common question regarding baptism centered in immersion, the common first century question was, "Is Jesus the Christ (Christ, Greek language), the Messiah (Messiah, Hebrew language) that fulfills God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3?" First Century Jewish people had difficulty accepting that the Messiah would suffer (see Acts 2:23, 24). The gentile convert had difficulty understanding faith in Jesus as the Christ or Messiah made them heirs of Abraham (see Galatians 3:29; Romans 4:11-13).
Consider the following concept.
FAITH + REPENTANCE + BAPTISM IS THE CORE OF CHRISTIAN COMMITMENT.
The core commitment of the Christian is made by responding to God in all three ways. This commitment is both a personal and public (visual) declaration.
Someone might ask, "Which of these is the most important?" My answer would be none of them. Faith in God which produced Jesus the Christ is spiritually meaningless unless it produces repentance and baptism. Repentance of a life focus and actions which rebelled against God and His values is spiritually meaningless if that repentance is not a product of faith in God which produces baptism into Christ. Baptism is a meaningless burial in water if it is not a product of faith in God's works in Jesus Christ and a decision to repent.
Stress the New Testament emphasizes all three, not any one of them.
It is not a formula. It is not a "sequence" of "correct" actions and affirmations. It is a commitment. It is a commitment to something eternal, bigger than a godless existence.
The tendency of many is to stress that baptism is some type of magical act that makes a person a Christian in God's eyes because someone else is concerned. Faith-repentance can (a) be assumed or (b) supplied by the anxious person or people. Thus. if the "formula" or "correct sequence" occurs, salvation is certain to result.
Can someone else make this commitment for me? No. It is a personal commitment. Someone else may point me in the correct direction and encourage me. However, when the moment of commitment comes, the person must make it for himself/herself.
It is essential for the convert and those anxious for him/her to understand salvation is the result of the person seeking God through faith-repentance-baptism.
Will the moment of commitment be the same for all people? No. For some, faith-repentance- baptism occurs quickly. For others, it is a time-sensitive process. Faith may be a developing process, or repentance may be a developing process, or the need for immersion may be a developing process. For such people, rushing them is not helpful. Teaching them is helpful. They need time to commit, and Christians need to give them time. These people must not act on the basis of others' anxiety for them, but on the basis of their faith in God.
It is important for all Christians to understand (a) not all people want salvation [John 3:16-21] and (b) it is a time process for some who come to God [consider Acts 6:7 by noting the response of many priests]. It is easy for those who understand the importance of coming to God to seek to make coming to God an impersonal process rather than a personal commitment.
Must there be a comprehension of the commitment? Certainly. The person must know what he/she is doing. Someone else does not "commit" for a person. The person surrenders himself/herself in yielding to God's purpose in Christ through his/her life. (It is my conviction that a significant reason for many being converted to a religious institution while having little or no dedication to the Jesus Christ the Savior is directly related to this fact: they never committed to the resurrected Jesus. Such people often feel little or no loyalty to Jesus because they made no commitment to Jesus. They feel loyalty to the church [as in their congregation]. They are more likely to ask, "What is the congregation's position?" than, "What is Jesus' teaching?" )
Stress that the person must understand (a) the basic nature of the commitment and (b) that he/she [the convert] is making a commitment.
CONSIDER THESE STATEMENTS ON IMMERSION: (The word, "baptize," was a common word in the Greek language. It was used for a submersion in water, like the sinking of a ship. No biblically recorded objection to immersion or questioning of the religious meaning of the act is recorded. Though some inadequately understood the significance of baptism, it was not a biblically contested theological idea or religious practice.)
The basic nature of baptism [an immersion] must be understood.
To a Jewish audience: Acts 2:38 [see Acts 2:9-12]. (1) Believers who accepted as fact they were responsible for crucifying God's Lord and Christ asked Peter what they should do. (2) Peter said there was a solution produced by divine forgiveness. (3) To activate the solution, those who accepted accountability for participating in Jesus' crucifixion were told to do two things. (a) The first was to repent. (b) The second was to be baptized. (4) A willingness to allow faith to express itself in repentance and baptism produced two results: (a) forgiveness of sins and (b) receiving as a gift the Holy Spirit.
Though "God's chosen people" because they were descendants of Abraham through Isaac, Jews needed to escape sin (even those who contributed to Jesus' crucifixion) through a faith- filled, penitent baptism.
To [likely] a proselyte: Acts 8:36-39. (1) The preaching of Jesus began with Isaiah 53:8 and included the need to be baptized. (a) The eunuch saw the water in the uninhabited area and (b) asked to be baptized. (2) The eunuch ordered the chariot to stop. They both entered the water prior to baptism. Following baptism, (a) they both left the water, (b) Philip was Spirit directed elsewhere immediately, and (c) the eunuch continued his trip rejoicing.
Though he was a important man who was wealthy enough to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and purchase a handwritten copy of Isaiah, he would be limited in what he could do in Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 23:1-6). Try to help your students develop a sense of history--Philip could begin in Isaiah and teach about the Christ because Jesus Christ was the unfolding plan of God. A part of responding to the Christ involved baptism (immersion).
To [likely] gentile Christians who were previously baptized: Galatians 3:26-29. (1) The emphasis is on faith in Jesus Christ and baptism. (2) Faith in God's promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:3) led them to baptism. (3) The combination of faith in God's promise to Abraham [the sending of one who would be everyone's Messiah] with the understanding that Jesus was that Messiah [the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham] permitted a person (a) to enter Jesus Christ and (b) be clothed with Christ [just as Jesus assumed human sin in his death (1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; 1 Corinthians 15:3), they assumed his righteous in their faith-baptism commitment to Jesus]. (3) Being in Christ was what mattered to God. (4) Belonging to Christ was the basis of being Abraham's descendant and being inheritors of God's promise to Abraham. Being in Christ made them [gentile converts] a part of God's chosen people.
Often the Jews were so exclusionary in approaching God that they did not allow gentiles access to God (unless the gentile demonstrated interest in or potential for conversion to Judaism) [see Matthew 23:15]. The concept of faith in Jesus Christ granting a gentile access to God (a) was opposed by Jews who rejected Jesus and (b) often made gentile converts feel like (1) second class converts or (2) spiritually inferior. Paul said access to God was generated by having Abraham's faith, not his physical lineage.
The combination of faith in Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, repentance of sin, and baptism into Christ makes one unquestionably a part of God's chosen people.
Access to God is biblically generated by approaching God with a combination of faith in Jesus Christ, repentance of sins, and baptism (immersion) into Jesus Christ.
For Thought and Discussion
The moment of commitment must come.
It is a core definition of "who I am," "what my life is about," "what my values are," and "what principles rule my relationships."
Each is equally important in seeking God.
it is not a formula, not a sequence of correct actions and affirmations.
It is a commitment to something eternal, something that is bigger than a godless existence.
Repentance and baptism were the two things.
The eunuch asked for baptism. It was his inquiry, not Philip's insistence.
They produced an entrance into Jesus Christ and a clothing of the convert with Jesus Christ.
A faith-repentance-baptism seeking of God through Jesus Christ makes one unquestionably a part of God's chosen people.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 3