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Testimony, Confession, and Baptism: Hans

Unknown · 2026-05-24 · 987 words · 6 min

At a glance

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Baptism by immersion is the proper public declaration of saving faith in Christ, visibly portraying the believer's union with him in death, burial, and resurrection.

A believer presents his public testimony before the congregation prior to baptism by immersion, tracing his journey from Eastern mysticism and Stoic philosophy to saving faith in Jesus Christ. His conversion crystallised through reading Scripture — beginning with Proverbs and ending with a sermon on Matthew 24:15 — when the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 became for him a vivid demonstration of divine justice and mercy held together. The 1689 London Baptist Confession's teaching on baptism frames the ordinance as a public pictorial representation of the believer's union with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection.

Key quotes

All of them I had to close my eyes to parts of them to make them work.
His greatest mercies and justice in the same place and nobody gets away with anything. That's when I believed in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I thought, well, I'm going to hell. There's no doubt about that. But I might as well work on the right side until I did.

Applications

  1. Profess repentance toward God, faith in Christ, and obedience to his name before the gathered church as a public declaration of what God has already done inwardly.
  2. Do not close your eyes to the parts of any system of thought that fail to hold together — Scripture alone describes how the world is put together and how to live in it.
  3. Seek a confessional church where Scripture is read and explained in its historical and canonical context, and where normal family life under the word of God is visible.

Questions this sermon answers

What does the 1689 Confession say about baptism?

The confession defines baptism as a sign of the believer's fellowship with Christ through his death and resurrection, of being engrafted into him, the remission of sins, and a public commitment to walk in newness of life — and it requires immersion as necessary to the due administration of the ordinance.

Who are the proper subjects of baptism according to the 1689 Confession?

Only those who actually profess repentance toward God, faith, and obedience to Jesus Christ are the proper subjects of baptism.

Why is baptism by immersion specifically required?

Immersion is required because the act of going under the water and rising again is the pictorial representation of the believer's death, burial, and resurrection with Christ — the outward sign would lose its meaning without it.

How does the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 relate to the gospel?

The candidate describes how the Roman destruction of Jerusalem showed God's justice falling on the nation that crucified Christ, making vivid that divine wrath is real and that God's mercy and justice meet together at the cross — a realisation that brought him to saving faith.

and the second London confession. I already read paragraph one. I'll read it again.

Confession Study

Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ to be unto the party baptized, a sign of his fellowship with him through his death and resurrection, of his being engrafted into him, the remission of sins, and has given up unto God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life. Second paragraph deals with its proper subjects. Those who do actually profess repentance towards God, faith, and then obedience to our Lord Jesus are the only proper subjects of this ordinance. Paragraph 3 deals with the outward elements involved.

So the outward element to be used in this ordinance is water wherein the party is to be baptized in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. And then the final paragraph says immersion or dipping of the person in water is necessary to the due administration of this ordinance.

Introduction to the Ordinance

So it's a pictorial representation of our union with Christ as our brother goes into the water. We see that death aspect. We see the burial and immersion and we see the resurrection again from that and newness of life. We're not suggesting this happens now.

It's happened. And this is why he's doing this now as a public declaration or expression or communication of that blessed reality when by God's grace he first looked to the Lord Jesus Christ and believed. So he's going to say a few words and then I'm going to ask him a few questions. All right.

Personal Testimony

So in June of 2024, I picked up a Bible and started reading Proverbs. I spent much of my sinful life searching out how the world was put together and how to live in it.

Search Through False Systems

from Eastern mysticism to modern spherism. All of them I had to close my eyes to parts of them to make them work. When I couldn't close my eyes anymore in the last meditation system I was in, I turned to logic and the philosophers Senica Marcus Aurelius for a way to live life correctly. After coming across a few quotes from Proverbs, I went to fact check them in the Bible.

I had become very skeptical of secondary sources um in my travels.

Scripture Confronts and Convicts

After reading through Proverbs, it appeared that the philosophers got a lot of material from it. So I started reading the Bible from the beginning. It continually astounded me by describing how the world was put together and how to live in it. Huh.

And as I read through it, I thought, well, I'm going to hell. There's no doubt about that. But I might as well work on the right side until I did. So I started looking for churches to go to, which wasn't so easy since there's plenty of false churches out there.

I started looking at the websites what were belief sections. And if it didn't say that marriage was between a man and a woman, or if it was worse than that, I didn't have to check it out.

Providence and the Church

Providence led me to Winnipeg, and the what we believe section led me to the 1689 London Baptist The mix of the two led me to Trinity Fellowship Church just south of Winnipeg. And what I felt when I walked in there shocked me. There were normalies. Kind, social, God loving, God-fearing normal with families and kids that weren't being hidden from the word.

And then the pastor Matt Le read scripture, explained it in the context of the time it was written, how it related to the rest of the Bible, and what that might mean. It was perfect. Just what I thought church would be like for reading the Bible. After months in Winnipeg,

Coming to Faith in Christ

summer of February 25, I had finished reading the Bible and a sermon on Matthew 24:15, the abomination of desolation was preached. When I got back to the place I was staying after the service, I realized this is freedom. Jesus dying on the cross was under divine to. But Jerusalem didn't get away with crime.

When Jerusalem was stacked and raised in 70 AD, the inhabitants were dragged out and crucified. All the trees for 9 miles were cut down to make crosses. the perfect picture of God's justice and wrath in the time of the New Testament, marrying the Old and the New Testament in my mind. His greatest mercies and justice in the same place and nobody gets away with anything. That's when I believed in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I began repenting of my sins and I thank God for that with all my heart, my mind, and my soul. From there was a hops given a recommendation to this fine church where I sat down and again said to myself, "Huh, normal people weird, but the pastor never seems to preach." So it was around conference last year when there was a series of guest speakers. So it took about four weeks until I finally urged him to preach. And once I did, that's settled.

And so here I am.

Baptismal Examination

I ask you the question. Do you believe there is one true and living God exists as father, son, and holy spirit? All my heart, mind, and soul. Do you believe that you have sinned against God and justly deserve your sins?

With all my heart, mind, soul. Do you believe that Jesus Christ, the son of God, in obedience to God's law, died as a sacrifice and substitute for sinners and those the third day with all my heart, mind, and soul. Do you believe in Jesus Christ to save you from your sins?

With all my heart, mind, and you commit to walk in obedience to God, you name the son.

Closing Doxology

Let us stand and sing praise to God.

Scripture References

Study notes

Confessions & catechisms

  • 1689 LBCF 29.1
  • 1689 LBCF 29.2
  • 1689 LBCF 29.3
  • 1689 LBCF 29.4

Theological terms

  • Baptism×6
  • Divine Justice and Wrath
  • Immersion×2
  • Newness of Life×2
  • Providence
  • Repentance×2
  • Substitutionary Atonement
  • Union with Christ×2