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Baptism


           Jesus commanded His followers shortly before His ascension, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” (Matt 28:19..)  This is precisely what the disciples did after the coming of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:41; 8:12,38; 9:18, 10:48; 16:15, 33; 18:8).  The challenge of Peter was, “Repent and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38).  It would seem that as the apostles preached the Gospel and as people responded, they were immediately baptized.  Thus, repentance, faith and baptism are very closely related.  Clearly, though, baptism does not contribute to one’s salvation, it rather follows immediately in obedience to Jesus’ teaching.  Cornelius was baptized after having received the Holy spirit (Acts 10:44-48).

            The ordinance of baptism is a symbol of the believer’s identification with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection (Read Romans 6:3-11, Col 2:12 and 1 Pet 3:21).  It is an outward sign of an inward conviction.  In baptism the believer testifies that he or she has, in their hearts, died to their old sinful nature and risen to new life in Christ.  It symbolizes that the believer is identified with Christ, for he is baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  In Scripture, this was done when the new believer called upon the name of the Lord (Acts 22:16).  Baptism was an open and public confession of the Lordship of Christ in one’s life (Rom 10:9).

            Please allow me an analogy.  In the Bible we (the church) are referred to as the ‘Bride’ of Christ and Jesus is the Bridegroom spoken of in Revelation.  In much the same way that a man will ‘ask’ his beloved to marry him (propose) and she will (hopefully) accept, our Lord Jesus Christ ‘invites’ each of us to accept His gracious offer (proposal) of salvation.   If we accept, we become ‘betrothed’ to our beloved Lord Jesus and we await our union with Him at the marriage supper of the Lamb.  A man may present a ring as a sign of his commitment.  The Lord has given us the Holy Spirit in our hearts as a ‘deposit’ on our salvation (2 Cor 1:22, 5:5, Eph 1:14).  I think of our water baptism as that outward ‘sign’ - almost like the accepting of an engagement ring.   It is a time we will remember vividly.  One day, at the end of this age, the Bride of Christ (the church) will sit together with the Bridegroom (Christ) at that great feast - the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9). 

            Baptism is for those who personally and willingly respond to the call of salvation.  All who sincerely desire to repent of their sins and exercise a living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ should be baptized.  In Scripture, some households were baptized together (Acts 10:48; 16:15,33; 18:8; 1 Cor 1;16), and this has been construed to mean that even infants were baptized.  “Household” does not necessarily demand that there were infants; and further, in these cases just mentioned, those who were baptized were those who heard the Word (Acts 10:44) and believed (Acts 16:31, 34).  Nowhere does Scripture teach that infants were baptized.  Dedication of the child to the Lord by his parents is to be preferred above infant baptism.

            We therefore encourage every believer to simply follow our Lord’s example and go to the waters of baptism in faith (Matt 3:13-15).  Jesus said that we should be baptized (Matt 28:19).  Should we not therefore obey our Lord and be baptized?

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