Baptism is not a Work of man, but a work of God
Breaking Down Ephesians 2:8-9
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER:
When (at what point) do you die spiritually, get buried and get raised with Christ? ( the exact time you cross over from death to life)
When (at what point) is the point in time you get your sin forgiven? How?
When are you given the indwelling gift of God’s Holy Spirit?
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Ephesians 2:9– “not of works, so that no man may boast” . Works here in the Greek is ergon, meaning man’s work.
Colossians 2:11-13
Vs 11- 13-“In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working (ἐνεργείας ) of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,”
Colossians 2:11-13 NIV
- Vs 12-ἐνεργείας- “energeia” means “Working of God”– meaning super human power or God’s energy which transitions the believer from point to point in His plan (accomplishing His definition of progress).
- Vs 11-Your circumcision is not by human hands, not from men, but from Christ
- Vs 11-At the point you enter Christ, Christ “cuts out” your flesh/sinful nature is “put off”
- Vs 12-Buried with him means you died. You die in baptism, and are made alive with Christ
- Vs 12-At the point of baptism-You are raised with him, resurrected with him THROUGH YOUR FAITH
- Vs 13-At baptism- God makes you alive with Christ
- Vs 13-At baptism, he forgives you of your sin = alive with Christ- no longer dead in sin.
- Vs 12-Baptism is God working, not you working- through your faith in Christ it says. ( see Romans 6:1-4, Gal 3:26 also)
Galatians 3:26-27– “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
- Through faith, (not human works) you are a child of God through faith at baptism
- You are clothed with Christ at baptism
- You get “into” Christ, at baptism.
- Cause and Effect: cause: faith in Christ at point of baptism; Effect: Son/Daughter of God AND clothed with Christ.
Romans 6:1-11 NIV Death to Sin, Alive in Christ
Vs 1-“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
-vs 1-Grace means stopping/ halting or trying to not sin, not increasing sinning
- vs 2- we died to sin! When?
- When? Vs 3- at baptism. At baptism, you are baptized into his death, burial and resurrection
- How? Vs 4- we die with Christ, we are buried with Christ and just like God raised Jesus to God’s glory, God raises us by faith to his glory!
- Why? Vs 4- so we may live a new life ( by product)
- Vs 5- if we were united in his death, it is certain, we will be united in a resurrection like he was: at our baptism.
- Vs 6-the entire goal here is for God to do away with your sin- so you and I won’t be a slave to our sin.
- Vs 6- we make a decision at baptism to die to ourselves by faith, to die with Christ, to participate in his death personally- culminating at baptism. Our bodies ruled by sin are done away with here- the scripture teaches.
- Vs 7- if you die- you’ll be set free it says
- Vs 8- we believe by faith this happens in the working of God. We trust in God here… at baptism, that we will live with him forever, just as he lives.
- Vs 10-just as Christ died for sin, we die to sin.
- Vs 11- here at baptism, we count ourselves dead to sin, and alive spiritually forever with Christ!
Acts 22:16 NIV
“And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’”
- When do you wash your sins away?
- At baptism (through faith in Christ) you call on Christs name, not through a prayer.
- he raising to a new life happens in, through or by means of (Greek dia) our faith in God’s operation or working. We, in effect, are trusting in God to save us through Jesus Blood in that act of baptism. Note that in baptism it is faith in God’s working. Baptism is God’s work, not ours. When we are baptized, we believe (trust) that God is working. It is through our faith in His working that He works! For our baptism to be effective we must believe that God is working to raise us to a new life (save us). 9 Again, that’s what baptism is: crying out to God to save us and trusting that He will, based on the cleansing power of Christ’s blood.
we are trusting in the working of God through faith at baptism
clothed with Christ
