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Efficacy of Baptism
Bro. Mike Cude
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- Brief History of the Conflict
- Resurrectional Responsibility – Ken Cobb
- Condemnation and Atonement – Wilton Sankey
- Sin in the Flesh – Wayne Tanner
- Nature and Sacrifice of Christ – Gerald Sankey
- In order to understand the efficacy of baptism or the benefit of baptism to the
believer, it is necessary to understand the applicable parts of these previous classes:
- Sin in the Flesh (WT) & Condemnation (KC)
- We are born condemned, alienated from God by our human birth Rom. 5:12, 18, 19; 7:18
- This condemnation or “Sentence to Perish” is the Greek word
“Katakrima” Rom. 8:1
- Condemnation is more than mortality, it is an alienated state from God and a sentence to
a perishing death.
- Besides our Adamic condemnation, we also commit personal sins. Heb. 10:22; Ps. 32:1
- Atonement (WS)
- Atonement or reconciliation is the goal of those that are in condemnation. This is the
only key to our hope as member of Adam’s race. Rom. 5:11 – Rejoice in God upon
being reconciled
- Atonement is a covering. Christ was appointed by God to be our covering.
Rom. 5:10; II
Cor. 5:17-21
- The Connection between Baptism & Resurrection (KC)
- Christ is the key to resurrection, the proof that there is a resurrection, and the hope
of a resurrection. We can only share this hope if we have been connected to his death by
baptism. John 14:6; Rom. 6:4-5; I Cor. 15:17-18, 21-22
- Inheriting the promises of Abraham is symbolic of resurrection and the granting of
eternal life. This inheritance starts by baptism into Christ. Gal. 3:26-29
- The Power of the Grave verses the Power of God (JF)
- The Power of the Grave
- The Power of the Grave is used twice in the Old Testament Ps. 49:15; Hos. 13:14
- Condemnation and death was a judicial sentence of God due to the sin of Adam and Eve.
Therefore death is more than just a physical law of nature.
- The Bondage of Corruption
- Adamic Condemnation brings bondage to corruption Rom. 8:7,8,21; Heb. 2:14,15
- The Power of God unto Salvation
- The Gospel is the Power Rom. 1:16
- The believer is redeemed or ransomed from the grip of the power of the grave by the
sacrifice of Christ and the contacting of his death by the act of baptism.
I Pet. 1:18,19;
3:19-21
- The ultimate completeness of the work of the Power of God unto Salvation is the
Covenanted man of God. When the faith of a human being, seed of Adam, stands in the power
of God, then he can escape the power of the grave to perish. Col. 2:9-12; Rom. 8:1,2
- The Unamended Statement of Faith, Art. XVI states that the first legal step to salvation
is the act of baptism.
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