HAVE YOU BEEN BAPTIZED THE SCRIPTURAL WAY?October 11, 1964
Henry F. Kulp
Romans 6: 1 - 4 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. 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.
Paul has been preaching salvation by grace and grace alone, and all who have salvation have eternal life. Now he comes to this sixth chapter, and he shows you that because you are saved by grace, that is not a license to live in sin or to live any way you please.
1/ Paul constantly met opposition who claimed this was exactly what Paul taught, but Paul is showing how foolish it is. He says, what a ghastly thought it is that because we are saved by grace we can go out and sin all we want and then grace will abound.
2/ The thought that is important is found in Romans 6: 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
We should be dead to sin. How are we dead to sin? Verses 3, 4 tells us we have been baptized into the death of Jesus Christ. To understand what it all means to be baptized into the death of Jesus Christ. There are some other Scriptures that we must analyze.
Luke 12: 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!
Jesus Christ said I have a baptism to be baptize with and how am I strengthened till it be accomplished?
What baptism was He talking about? He certainly was not talking about His baptism in the waters of Jordan, for that had already taken place. He was talking about something entirely different. He is not talking about water baptism. Lest you misunderstand, I am not slurring water baptism. What I am saying, this baptism is not water baptism. Let me show there are different baptisms in the Bible.
Luke 3:16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
And here we have the ministry of John the Baptist, and he said I indeed baptize you with water, notice here he is talking about water baptism. But one mightier than I cometh whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose. He, this is Jesus Christ, shall baptize you—not with, but in, the Holy Ghost and in fire. John says, I baptize you with water. He was doing water baptism, but he said, Christ when He came, He would not baptize with water, but he would baptize in the Holy Ghost. You will notice this is baptism where Christ is the baptizer, and the Holy Spirit is the one in whom we are baptized, this baptism is not the baptism of today.
Let’s compare this with I Corinthians 12: 12, 13 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
Notice, For by one Spirit, it does not say in, but by one Spirit, we are all baptized into one body. Notice, the reversal of Luke 3: 16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
Here the Holy Spirit is the baptizer, and back in Luke 3: 16 Christ is the Baptizer, and here in this Scripture, we are baptized into one body which is the body of Christ, while in Luke 3: 16 we are baptized into the Holy Spirit, so not one and the same. But you are not slurring water baptism when you say this is not water baptism, nor is the one in Luke 3: 16. So in like manner, the one in Romans 6: 3, 4 is not water baptism.
3/ What is the baptism in Romans 6: 3, 4 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.
Here it says we are baptized into the death of Christ. In Luke 12: 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!
Christ talked about a baptism that He had to be baptized with. What baptism did He have to be baptized with this late in His life? Let us notice another Scripture that will help to explain it even more clearly.
Matthew 20: 22, 23 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
And here we have the mother of Zebedee’s children coming with her sons and worshipping Him and desiring a certain thing of Him. And she said, grant that these, my two sons, may sit the one on the right hand and the other on the left hand in Thy kingdom. And Jesus said, I can’t do this—this is not given to Me, and then He asked them the question—are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of and be baptized with, and He said indeed, ye shall drink of the cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am to be baptized with. What did He mean?
First of all—the cup, what was the cup that He drank? That they were to drink? And, of course, you and I have to drink? Let us go on in our study to Matthew 26: 39 And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Here in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus Christ refers to the cup, and He says, If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me. What is this cup that Jesus Christ was praying against? Can we be sure what the cup is? Yes, we can. There are three cups spoken of in Scripture.
First there is the cup of salvation. Psalm 116: 13 I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.
Then secondly, there is the cup of consolation. Jeremiah 16: 7 Neither shall men tear themselves for them in the mourning to comfort them for the dead, neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father and for their mother.
This is the cup that the Psalmist referred to in Psalm 23: 5 My cup runneth over. Here we have an entirely different cup that Jesus Christ is speaking about.
Jeremiah 25: 15 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
Here the Prophet Jeremiah is bidden, Take the wine-cup of this fury of My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it.
This is the cup of God’s wrath against sin, and this Jesus Christ was made to drink when the wrath of God was poured out against Him by the Father as He was made sin for us.
Notice, another Scripture, John 18: 11 Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?
Here Jesus Christ rebukes Peter when he takes out his sword and is willing to fight for our Lord, and he cuts off the servant of the high priest’s ear, and Christ said, the cup that my Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it.
Notice, it was not Satan who gave Him this cup to drink—it was not the Jewish nation, it was not you or me, it was the Father who gave Him the cup. It was God the Father who put to His lips the cup of wrath or judgement of God against sin. It was not what Christ suffered at the hands of man that makes an answer to sin, but it is what He suffered at the hands of God that put away sin. So, we see the cup He had to drink was the wrath of God against sin. Then what was the baptism? The baptism was death. He was baptized into death as He drank the cup of the wrath of God against sin.
4/ What does all this have to do with Romans 6: 3, 4? 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.
For us to be saved, the Holy Spirit takes us and He baptizes us into this experience that Christ had when He was made sin for us, and He died and paid the wages of sin. We are baptized into His death.
Notice Galatians 3: 26, 27 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
For ye are all the children—or it should be the sons of God—by faith in Christ Jesus. As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. That is pretty clear isn’t it? This baptism is essential to salvation. This can’t be water baptism or else water baptism is essential, and, of course, it is not water baptism. But you have been baptized into Christ.
Now go back and notice, Galatians 2: 20 I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me.
That should be the past tense. I was crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me. This is our experience in salvation. We have been made to drink the cup that Christ drank. We are baptized into the death that He was baptized into. For He died in our place, and now because of this, we should reckon, or count ourselves as, dead to sin.
5/ Recognizing this experience should do something to us. Notice the end of the 4th verse…Even so we also should walk in newness of life. This experience should do something to us. This I believe with all my heart, is a mental attitude.
Proverbs 23: 7 says, For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.
6/ There are three words I want to fix in your mind which will show you what I mean. The first word is the word, reckon. It is found in Romans 6: 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Likewise, reckon ye yourselves to be dead, or literally to have died indeed to sin. Notice the first word, Likewise, this refers to what had gone behind. We have this firmly fixed in our minds. What has happened to us to say this? Therefore, because this has happened, we are to reckon ourselves to be literally dead or to have died unto sin, And of course, this is done with the mind.
Reckon is a wonderful word—it can be translated as we saw in the 4th chapter by the word, counted or credited. It says in the 4th chapter I want you to reckon or credit that righteousness has been given to you. Now I want you to reckon something else. I want you to reckon that when Christ died you were in Him and you died in Him.
Now let us go down to the Romans 6: 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin—so the next word is yield—to yield is to surrender.
Romans 12: 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
It says to present your bodies a living sacrifice. The word, present, is the word, yield. You are to reckon yourselves dead, and then you are to yield or present yourself to God, all the members you have. Self-judgement is involved in the first word, and the second word is doing something with your mind. It is an active thing—you yield or present.
Then the third word, is the word, obey. This is the 16th verse. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
It is one thing to know a truth, it is another to obey. All of this is done by the mind, of course. We make up our mind that this is going to happen, and through the power of the Holy Spirit we are enabled to do it.
We are not preaching getting rid of the old nature. Because we have another word very interesting here. Verse 6 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.
Henceforth we should not serve sin. That word, serve, is important.
Then in the 9th verse we are not to have sin controlling us. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
We are not to serve it. We may from time to time do things we are sorry for, and we confess it to God, but we are not to serve sin, we are to reckon ourselves dead, judge ourselves, then yield our members to Christ, and obey what we already know.
7/ II Corinthians 10: 3, 5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: Casting (slam it down) down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
All this is with the mind. The mind being saturated by the Word, and controlled by the Holy Spirit.
AMEN
Ref: 10/11/1964 / 282 - HAVE YOU BEEN BAPTIZED THE SCRIPTURAL WAY? / 12/25/2020
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