Prior to baptism, Hope holds a class where participants are able to sit down with an elder and discuss the topic of baptism. The information below is reviewed and discussed during that time.
During the baptism celebration at Hope, participants will be asked two questions:
Are you now trusting in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins and for the fulfillment of all of His promises to you even eternal life?
And is it now your intention with God’s help to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and obey His teachings?
Upon an affirmative response the individual baptizing will respond:
Upon your profession of your faith, I now baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The following study is meant to help you better understand the questions you will be asked before you are baptized and the mode of baptism that Hope Community Church uses.
Understanding the two questions you will be asked:
Are you now trusting in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins and for the fulfillment of all His promises to you, even eternal life?
There are many thoughts captured in that one question.
- Why do we need God?
- What does it look like to trust in Jesus Christ?
- Why is it essential that our sins be forgiven?
- What does it mean that God will fulfill his promises to us?
- What does eternal life mean?
- How can we be assured that we are his children and recipients of eternal life?
To help answer these questions we turn to God’s word.
Why do we need God?
Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—”
Romans 3:22b-25a “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified (forensic term meaning acquitted, declared righteous) by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation (removal of wrath by the offering of a gift) by his blood, to be received by faith.”
1 Corinthians 15:20-22 “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”
What does it look like to trust in Jesus Christ?
Acts 2:36-38 “‘Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.’ Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ And Peter said to them, ‘Repent (turn back, completely alter one’s life) and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Why is it essential that our sins be forgiven?
Leviticus 19:1-2 “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.’”
Proverbs 20:9 “Who can say, ‘I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin’?”
Galatians 2:16 “Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”
What does it mean that God will fulfill his promises to us?
Genesis 15:1 In establishing a covenant, God is faithful in fulfilling the promises he makes.
Hebrews 9:15 “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.”
What does eternal life mean?
1 John 5:20 “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
How can we be assured that we are his children and recipients of eternal life?
Hebrews 3:14 “For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”
2 Timothy 2:11-13 “The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful–for he cannot deny himself.”
And is it now your intention with God’s help to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and obey His teachings?
Again, there are several thoughts captured in that one question for which we must turn to God’s word.
- What does it mean to follow Jesus Christ?
- What does it mean to make him Lord of your life?
- What does it look like to obey his teachings?
What does it mean to follow Jesus Christ?
Mark 8:34 “And he called to him the crowd with his disciples and said to them, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’”
Luke 14:26-27 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”
What does it mean to make him Lord of your life?
Mark 10:17-22 “And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ And he said to him, ‘Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.’ And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”
Romans 6:20-22 “When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.”
What does it look like to obey his teachings?
John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
1 John 2:3-6 “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
Understanding the mode of baptism that Hope Community Church uses:
Upon your profession of your faith I now baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
It is important to note that HCC views baptism as a public proclamation of one’s faith in Jesus Christ and an act of obedience to his teaching. More specifically, we do not believe that the act of baptism initiates a relationship with God. Rather, baptism is the opportunity for the believer to publicly tell the church of one’s faith in Jesus Christ.
Why do we baptize?
- There is a call to be baptized
- Matthew 28:19 “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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
- Acts 2:38 And Peter said to them, “Repent (turn back, completely alter one’s life) and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
- There is the example of believers being baptized in the Bible
- Acts 8:12 “But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.”
- Galatians 3:27 “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
Why do we baptize by immersion?
- Symbolic of Christ’s death and resurrection and washing of sins
- Col 2:11-12 “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.”
- Rom 6:3-4 “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.”
- The Greek word baptizo used in the New Testament means to immerse completely
Are you interested in getting baptized at Hope Community Church? If so, please visit hopecc.com/baptism.
