Baptism               

Baptism, something Jesus practiced and taught.

While Jesus, the Son of God, was on earth he instituted the act of baptism for all the rest of time.  A study of what the Bible has to say about this baptism can lead to an understanding of how God will bless your life and those of your loved ones and friends if you obey him in this way.

Actually baptism was already around when Jesus began his public ministry.  John the Baptizer and others were immersing their followers in the Jordan River and in pools, and the Lord Jesus Christ made the familiar practice of baptizing people a part of his teaching and practice too.

In John 3:22,23 we read where "Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized."

The accounts of the ministry of Jesus don't tell us much at all about his baptizing people. They tend to focus more on his miracles and teachings of how things were to be in the kingdom of God, or the church, and of course, on his death and resurrection.

Baptism, a blessing not to be refused.

However, some of the last words of Jesus focused on the place he meant baptism to have following his return to heaven.  At the close of Matthew's account of Jesus' life we have Jesus' telling his apostles, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (28:18-20)

The shorter account recorded by Mark gives us these words at the close of Jesus' time here on earth: "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (16:15,16)

These ominous last words of the Lord are promising and also warning ones.  Becoming a disciple of Jesus, as all his early followers were, was to start with being baptized, and that baptism would result in one being saved.  Refusal to believe and therefore to be baptized would result in one being condemned.

Baptism in the practice of the early church.

When we turn to the book of Acts, containing the record of events that followed on from the return of Jesus to heaven, we find his apostles carrying out these instructions of the Lord. Thus on the Day of Pentecost, the day the church began, the apostles gave the people an opportunity to let their faith in Jesus' resurrection lead to their repentance and baptism for "the forgiveness of sins" (2:38) and we read of 3,000 people obeying Jesus in baptism that day (2:41). These new disciples became one with the apostles and their number was added to daily in this way (2:42-47).

A study of the conversions in the book of Acts will show a pattern of response to the preaching of the gospel of Jesus. Belief in the message led to repentance (or a change of heart) and baptism.  When Paul preached the gospel in Corinth the record states in 18:8 "Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized." In Acts 16:33 we have the record of the conversion of the household of the Philippian jailer to whom Paul had preached. We are told that they were baptized at midnight and then rejoiced that they had come to believe in God.

The Apostle Paul himself, formerly Saul of Tarsus, who is commonly thought to have been saved on the road to Damascus, was later told, "And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name." (22:16)   While Saul certainly had come to believe in Jesus on the road to Damascus, and had shown his penitence in three days of fasting and prayer, it wasn't until his baptism that his sins were washed away.

Baptism in the writings of the apostle Paul.

It is from the writings of the Apostle Paul that we can have a better understanding of the importance Jesus intended to be attached to baptism.  He wrote in Romans 6:1-4 "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?  Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  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." 

From these words we see the very definite association of baptism with the forgiveness of sins. When people were baptized they were baptized into Jesus' death and rose from the waters of baptism to begin a new life in which they should make a break with sins of which they'd just been forgiven. This burial with Christ in his death is also the point that is made by Paul to the Colossian church in Colossians 2:12.

In commenting on the conversion of the Corinthians we read about in Acts 18:8, Paul wrote to them in 1 Corinthians 12:13  "we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body ... we were all given the one Spirit to drink." From this we see that by baptism a person became a part of the church Jesus came to establish which spread throughout the world.

When he wrote to the Galatian churches, Paul reminded them that "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,  for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (3:26-28)  From these words we learn baptism was the point at which the Galatians became children of God,  members of God's family the church. It was at baptism that they were forgiven of their sins and clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Their faith led them to obey Jesus in this way and receive these blessings.

Baptism saves us.

Among those who heard Jesus just before he ascended to heaven was the apostle Peter. In his first letter he wrote that just as Noah was saved through water,  so we are saved by baptism of which the waters of Noah's flood were a symbol.  (1 Peter 3:21) This teaching is in complete harmony with the last words of Jesus, "whoever believes and is baptized will be saved" (Mark 16:15,16), and with what Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost,  "Repent 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." (Acts 2:38).

It's important!

Remember, Jesus said "whoever believes and is baptized will be saved."  Jesus had earlier said that he came into the world "to seek and save the lost." (Luke 19:10) In his final words he tells who will be saved.

Have you obeyed Jesus in this way?

Much confusion today.

There are many kinds of baptism practiced these days.  On the understanding that children are born sinners, many parents "christen" their babies for the forgiveness of "original" or "Adamic sin."  A search of the Bible will not support this teaching and practice.  It's true that households were baptized, as in the case of the Philippian jailer, but it's also clear that the members of these households were old enough to be preached to, and old enough to believe. Besides they had to be old enough to sin! To Saul of Tarsus Ananias said, "be baptized and wash away your sins."

I am not the judge, nor are you! The words of Jesus will judge us! (John 12:47,48). But knowing what I've read in the Bible, and you've now read, I personally would not feel comfortable if I were trusting in my parents' having had me "christened" ignoring my own sins and focusing on Adam's original sin.

Many others have discovered that in the Bible baptism was an immersion of a person old enough to believe. They practice what is commonly referred to as "believers' baptism" by which they mean that a person is saved when they believe, and later they are baptized to show that they have already been saved.  This baptism denies that New Testament baptism is the point at which one is forgiven of sins (Acts 2:38, 22:16) and is saved (Mark 16:16; 1 Peter 3:21). It is a baptism that denies the way Jesus chose for people to become his disciples (Matthew 28:19), children of God (Galatians 3:26,27), and members of the household of God or the church (1 Corinthians 12:13). It is a baptism that is purely symbolic and has no connection with the death of Jesus (Romans 6:3) where he shed his blood. It is a baptism that claims that a full relationship with Christ exists before one has risen from the waters of baptism to walk a new life (Romans 6:4).

I am not the judge, nor are you! The words of Jesus will judge us! (John 12:47,48). But knowing what I've read in the Bible, and you've now read, I personally would not feel comfortable if I were trusting in being saved having been baptised in this way.  In fact, even though I had received "believers' baptism" I was later convinced that I needed to be baptized for the reasons that Jesus and his apostles taught.

How about you? There are people all around the world today who are concerned to do this, and they would be happy to help you to obey Jesus in this way so that you too can enjoy the blessings that he promised. 

If you would like to "arise and be baptized and wash away your sins," as Saul of Tarsus did, send us an email and we'll endeavour to put you in touch with someone who will help you.  If you have any questions about this, we'd be happy to try to answer them for you.

God bless you.
Bob Marks
Sydney.

bobmarks@hotmail.com