How
Can You Be Saved?
What’s the TRUTH
about BAPTISM?
Is 'baptism"
necessary for salvation? Just what is baptism,
anyway? What about different forms of
"baptism"? Is sprink-
ling,
pouring, baptism of babies, all right?
What is the Biblical,
inspired
method of baptism? What is the PURPOSE
of baptism?
Is it necessary for
salvation? Here is VITAL TRUTH every
one
needs to know and understand!
William F. Dankenbring
To
most people, today, baptism seems like an archaic, ancient custom with no
relevance to modem life. It seems like
some mysterious ritual performed in various churches -- and different churches
teach different methods of baptism. I
heard of one church in
What
is baptism, anyway? What relevance does
it have to you, your life -- your eternal salvation? Is baptism necessary to be
"saved"? What does
"saved" mean, anyway? What is
this thing we call "salvation"?
Why do we need it? When do we
"get" it? What does baptism
have to do with it? Can a person enter
the
It
is time we cleared away the cobwebs, and took a NEW LOOK at this thing called
"water baptism"! Your eternal
life and destiny could be at stake!
The
Baptism of John
The
first mention of baptism in the Word of God occurs in the gospel of
Matthew. We read that John the Baptist
came preaching in the wilderness of
Notice,
first of all, that this "baptism" was done in a river -- not a
church, synagogue, or building. But now
notice further. "But when he saw
many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to
where he was baptizing, he said to them: 'You brood
of vipers! Who warned you to flee from
the coming wrath? Produce fruit in
keeping with repentance. . . . The ax is already at the root of the trees, and
every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into
the fire. -- I baptize you with WATER for repentance. But after me will come one who is more
powerful than 1, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and
with fire. His winnowing fork is in his
hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn
and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire'" (verses 7-12).
The
purpose of baptism was to show a person's repentance from sin and
wickedness. But self-righteous
hypocrites were not to be baptized. Only
those who truly repented of their sins, and sincerely wanted to serve God and
give their lives to Him -- and who sought the
The
Baptism of Jesus
Shortly
after this, we read an astonishing thing.
Notice! "Then Jesus came
from
"As
soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw
the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my
Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased'" (Matt.3:13-17).
First
of all, let's ask ourselves, Why was JESUS
baptized? As John said, he needed to be
baptized by Jesus, not the other way around.
The Son of God, who was perfect, did not have any sins to repent of. So why was He baptized? Jesus explained that it was proper for Him to
be baptized "to fulfill all righteousness." What did He mean?
The
answer is given by Peter. He writes,
"To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an
EXAMPLE, that you should FOLLOW IN HIS STEPS" (I Pet.2:21). The apostle
John adds, "This is how we know we are IN him: Whoever claims to live in
him must WALK AS JESUS DID" (I John 2:6).
Jesus
was baptized in water, in the
Notice,
further, that when Jesus was baptized, He "went UP out of the water."
This implies very plainly that to be baptized, He went down into the water --
His body was submerged into the river, and then He came up out of the
river. This shows us plainly that such
things as "pouring," "sprinkling," and so forth are NOT
BIBLICAL FORMS OF BAPTISM! The Greek
word for "baptize" is "baptizo" and means, literally:
"to dip repeatedly, IMMERSE, SUBMERGE (of vessels
sunk); to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with
water." It means literally to be "overwhelmed with water."
What Jesus Commanded
After
Jesus began His ministry, we read, "After this, 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. This was before
John was put in prison" (John
Continuing
the account, we read, "The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and
baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who
baptized, but his disciples. When the
Lord learned of this, he left
Like
John the Baptist, who went before Him, Jesus came preaching the gospel of the
Kingdom of God, telling people, "The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news" (Mark
1:15). When people accepted the message
from God, and repented of their sins, they were baptized. Jesus Himself did not do the actual
baptizing, but His disciples whom He had called to be leaders in the Church did
it under His supervision and guidance.
Clearly, baptism was part of the message Jesus brought -- it was an
outward sign of the inward repentance of the people who accepted the truth of
God and repented of their sins.
After
His resurrection, as He gave His final instructions to His disciples, He told
them: "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 observe everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very
end of the age'" (Matt.28:18-20).
The
gospel of Marks records Jesus' final commands, "He said to them, '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 [judged]'" (Mark
16:15-16).
It
should be obvious that water baptism is VERY IMPORTANT! It is not something to be taken lightly, or
dismissed as unnecessary. Jesus
commanded it! And He is the Son of God,
the Messiah, the Saviour!
If
YOU desire salvation, and entrance into the Kingdom of God, THEN YOU MUST BE BAPTIZED!
If you desire to be among the
saints, in the First Resurrection, on whom the second death has no power, and
to rule with Christ, THEN YOU MUST BE BAPTIZED!
Repentance from sin, and from going your own way, like a lost sheep,
must be followed by WATER BAPTISM, as the outward sign of your inward
repentance!
Baptism in the Early Church
In the first sermon given in the
early Church, on the day of Pentecost, when the Church was founded, and the
Spirit of God came upon all the disciples, Peter addressed the
unconverted crowds who had witnessed the miracles of the Holy Spirit empowering
people to speak in various languages (Acts 2:1-14). He told the gathered crowd that these
disciples were not drunk with wine, but that the prophecy of Joel was
fulfilled, and the Spirit of God had descended upon men. He then told them that Jesus Christ was the
Messiah, sent from God, and had been resurrected from the dead, and the one
they had crucified was now made both Lord and Christ (verse 36).
The
people were so shaken by the miracles they had just witnessed, and this
powerful testimony of Peter, and his indictment of their sins, that they cried
out to him, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
Peter
replied, in timeless words, that apply to you and to me, "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. The promise is for YOU and YOUR CHILDREN and for all
who are far off -- for all whom the Lord our God will call" (Acts
2:36-39).
With
many other words, Peter spoke to the crowd, and exhorted them, "Save
yourselves from this corrupt generation" (Acts 2:40). Luke, the author of the book of Acts,
records, "Those who accepted his message were BAPTIZED, and about three
thousand were added to their number that day" (v.41).
Those
who come to see themselves as sinful and filthy in the sight of God, covered with
sins, and who want to be SAVED, and to be a part of God's coming Kingdom, and
to be spared from the WRATH OF GOD which is shortly coming upon this wicked
world, must REPENT of their sins, in humble and sincere contrition and
humiliation, and TURN TO GOD, asking for His forgiveness. And as the outward SIGN of this deep,
sincere, inner repentance, THEY MUST BE BAPTIZED! Those who are NOT baptized, Jesus said to
His
disciples,
WILL BE JUDGED! That is, they will be
judged by God, and they will suffer the wrath of God poured out on this world,
and this end-time generation! Millions
will suffer grievously, and will die, because they refused to repent when they
had a chance, when the message of Christ's salvation and God's merciful love
came to them! Those who ignore it and
reject it will perish!
Baptism
is not merely a "doctrine' of God which we are to give intellectual belief
or mental agreement with, it is something we must DO -- something we must
determine to TAKE ACTION to ACCOMPLISH!
It is a physical act that we must fulfill, even as Jesus HIMSELF
fulfilled setting us an example! No
matter how "foolish" it may seem to some people, in this modern
perverse generation, it is a simple ritual which Almighty God has commanded and
REQUIRES for salvation -- the outward SIGN of our inward REPENTANCE!
Unless
we repent of our sins, and are baptized, we CANNOT RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT
which God promises to those who OBEY Him (Acts 5:32).
After
persecution came upon the early Church, and Stephen was martyred in Jerusalem,
the Church became scattered, and those who fled to other regions preached the
word of God wherever they went (Acts 8:1-4).
Philip, one of the original deacons in the Church, went to Samaria and
preached Christ there (verse 5), and many believed. "But when they believed Philip as he
preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they
were BAPTIZED, both men and women" (v.12).
Later,
God sent Philip to meet an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of
the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia, as he traveled in a chariot through the
Judean desert. Philip joined him, in his chariot, and preached the Word of God
to him (Acts 8:26-35). We read: "As
they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said,
'Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be
baptized?' Philip said, 'If you believe with all your heart, you may.' The
eunuch answered, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' And he gave
orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down INTO the
water and Philip baptized him. When they
CAME UP OUT OF THE WATER, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and
the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing" (Acts
8:36-39).
Notice
that when this man was counseled about baptism by Philip, there was no long and
lengthy "third degree" session involved. He did not have to come back for meeting
after meeting, and 'prove himself' to Philip.
There was no long dissertation on legalistic principles and lengthy
interrogations concerning a multitude of doctrines, such as Church government,
tithing, ministerial "authority," and so forth. This man had been in Jerusalem. He no doubt was a believer in the laws of
God,
and the prophets, and was reading the book of Isaiah when Philip stopped
him. He was undoubtedly an Ethiopian
convert to Judaism, or at least a "righteous Gentile" or
"God-fearer" who had been in Jerusalem, worshipping God. He had a
basic understanding of the Old Testament and the laws of God. When he heard the truth about Christ
explained, he accepted it, believed it, and was ready for baptism at that very
moment!
How
unlike so many Churches today, which go far afield when they counsel new
prospective members about baptism! Far
too many churches today, when they counsel about baptism, are like the
Pharisees of whom Jesus spoke, saying, 'Woe to you . . . you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single
convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as
you are" (Matt.23:15).
The
First Gentiles Baptized
In
Acts, chapter 10, we find that God miraculously opened the door of salvation to
the Gentiles by calling into His truth Cornelius, a Roman centurion. Cornelius was a devout God-fearing man, and
God sent him a vision that he should send to Joppa for one Simon Peter (Acts
10:1-8). Meanwhile, God also gave a
vision to Peter of a sheet of unclean animals which God had cleansed. In the dream, God told Peter to rise up and
kill and eat the animals, but Peter replied, "Surely not, Lord,"
since the animals were unclean. God
replied, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean"
(Acts 10:9-17).
The
Spirit then informed Peter that three men were looking for him, and that he was
to go with them (vs.17-23). Peter went with them to Caesarea, to the house of
Cornelius, even though Jews were, according to Pharisaic custom and rules,
generally forbidden to associate with Gentiles.
However, Peter knew that God had shown him he should go with these
Gentiles, and accompany them. After
hearing why Cornelius had sent for him, Peter replied, "I now realize how
true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every
nation who fear him and do what is right" (vs.34-35). As Peter spoke
to them of the gospel of Christ, suddenly "the Holy Spirit came on all who
heard the message. The circumcised
believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy
Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and
praising God.
"Then
Peter said, 'Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we
have.' So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ."
(Acts 10:44-48).
In
this rare exception, God gave His Spirit BEFORE the ordinance of baptism was
carried out Under normal conditions, however, the individual must first be
baptized, and then God gives the Holy Spirit.
The Symbolism of Baptism
What is the real meaning of
baptism? Why is it that the person who
is baptized goes down into water, is immersed in it, and then rises up out of
it, as happened with Philip who baptized the Ethiopian eunuch? What does this act signify?
The custom of baptism is explained by
the apostle Paul most thoroughly in the epistle to the Romans. He writes: "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.
"If we have been united with him
like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his
RESURRECTION. For we know that our old
self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,
that we should no longer be slaves to sin -- because anyone who has died has
been freed from sin.
"Now if we died with Christ, we
believe that we will also live with him.
For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die
again; death no longer has mastery over him.
The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives,
he lives to God.
"In the same way, COUNT
YOURSELVES DEAD TO SIN but ALIVE TO GOD IN CHRIST JESUS. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal
body so that you obey its evil desires.
Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of
wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought
from death to life; and offer the parts of your body as to him as instruments
of righteousness" (Rom.6:1-14).
I have quoted this passage of
Scripture at length, because it all deals with baptism, its
meaning and significance, and its role in the Christian life. When we are baptized, for repentance of our
sins, accepting Christ's death for us as atonement for our sins, we become
reconciled to God. ALL OUR SINS are
washed away by the waters of baptism, figuratively. God forgives every one of them. We "bury" our sins in that watery
grave; we come up out of that water, CLEANSED, SIN-FREE, a "new
creature" or "new CREATION" in Christ! God forgives us our filthy, evil, wicked
past. It is all buried in the watery
grave, because Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins when He died on the
cross. All those sins, therefore, are buried
and forgotten -- completely erased -- in the sight of God!
Therefore,
when we go down into the water, submerged beneath it's surface, we are burying
the old "self," the old "man," which was wicked and evil
and lawless in God's sight, which was ruled by the evil impulses of human
nature (see Rom.8:7; Jer.17:9). When we repent of our sins, and are baptized,
we are getting rid of the "old man." We come up out of that watery
grave, our sins all washed away, cleansed and purified by Christ's shed
blood. We come up a NEW CREATURE -- a
NEW SPIRITUAL CREATION! We were formerly
children of disobedience; but we come up out of that watery grave, children of
obedience! We were children of death; we
come up children of life! We were children of carnal lust and wickedness,
darkness, children of the devil (John 8:44); we come up children of holiness,
children of light -- children of God!
Paul
writes, "Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision mean anything; what
counts is a NEW CREATION" (Gal.6:15).
Paul
wrote to the Ephesians what this all means.
He said, "So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that
you must NO LONGER LIVE AS THE GENTILES DO, in the futility of their thinking.
They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God
because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given
themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with
a continual lust for more.
'You,
however, did not come to know Christ that way.
Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the
truth that is in Jesus. You were taught,
with regard to your FORMER WAY of life, to PUT OFF YOUR OLD SELF, which is
being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be MADE NEW IN THE ATTITUDE OF YOUR
MINDS; and to PUT ON THE NEW SELF, CREATED TO BE LIKE GOD in true righteousness
and holiness" (Eph.4:17-24).
In
Christ Jesus, we are NEW CREATIONS OF GOD -- "new creatures." We put
off the old self, the old man, and put on the NEW SELF, patterned after Christ
and His holiness and righteousness.
Paul
goes on, "For you were once darkness, but now you are LIGHT in the
Lord. Live as children of light (for the
fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find
out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing
to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the
disobedient do in secret" (Eph.5:8-12).
The
Promise of God
Once
we are baptized, as a symbol of our repentance from sin, and accept Christ as
our Saviour, who died for us, paying the penalty for our sins, God promises to
give us the Holy Spirit, even as He gave it to the original disciples.
As
Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "And you also were included in Christ when
you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with
a seal, the PROMISED HOLY SPIRIT . . . a DEPOSIT guaranteeing our inheritance
until the redemption of those who are God's possession -- to the praise of his
glory" (Eph.1: 13-14).
Paul
wrote to the Corinthians, "He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on
us, and PUT HIS SPIRIT IN OUR HEARTS as a DEPOSIT, guaranteeing what is to
come" (II Cor.1::21-22).
"Now
it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the SPIRIT AS
A DEPOSIT, guaranteeing what is to come" (11 Cor.5:5).
Paul
goes on, "So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of
view. Though we once regarded Christ in
this way, we do so no longer. Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW CREATION; the old has gone, the new has
come! All this is from God, who
reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ not
counting men's sins against them. And he
has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
"We
are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal
through us. We implore you on Christ's
behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made
him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God" (II Cor.5:16-21).
Once
we receive the Spirit of God, as a "deposit" as the "earnest
money" of our future inheritance, we become literally a NEW CREATION -- a
NEW BEING -- a NEW PERSON! God's Spirit
unites with our mind as a begettal, even as a male sperm unites with a female
egg, to create a new baby, a new human being.
But when God's Spirit unites with our human spirit, in the human mind,
we become A NEWLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD!
As
Peter wrote, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath BEGOTTEN US again unto a lively hope
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for
you" (I Pet.1:3-4).
John
wrote, "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born [or,
begotten] of God: and every one that loveth him that BEGAT loveth him also that
is BEGOTTEN of him" (I John 5:1). John
goes on, "We know that whosoever is born [or, begotten] of God sinneth
not; but he that is BEGOTTEN of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one
toucheth him not" (verse 18).
Jesus
Christ was the first begotten of the Father (Heb. 1:6; Acts 13:33). When we repent of our sins, accept Christ as
our
Saviour,
and are baptized, God gives us His Holy Spirit as a begettal in our minds. We become begotten children of God, even as
Christ, the firstbegotten, was. The
Spirit of God, dwelling in our minds, enables us to grow up into the fulness of
Christ (Eph.4:13-15). Christ begins to be FORMED within us in His very
character stamp image (Gal.4:19). We begin to grow into and to reflect His very
"express image" (compare Hebrews 1:1-3).
Paul
writes concerning this, "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful
nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of
Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But IF Christ is IN you, your body is dead
because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus
from the dead is LIVING IN YOU, he who raised Christ from the dead will also
give LIFE to your mortal bodies through his Spirit [which] lives in you"
(Rom.8:9-11).
Paul
goes on, 'Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation -- but it is not to the
sinful nature, to live according to it.
For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by
the Spirit you PUT TO DEATH the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because
those who are LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD are sons of God" (verses 12-14).
Paul explains further, "And we
know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have
been called according to his purpose.
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the
LIKENESS OF HIS SON, that he might be the FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BROTHERS. And those he predestined, he also called;
those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified"
(Rom.8:28-30).
What an awesome calling, and destiny,
we have! Think of it! To be begotten, and later born, at the
resurrection, as the literal, real, actual, SONS OF GOD! Jesus Christ will be our ELDER BROTHER! We will be LIKE HIM, IN EVERY WAY! Even as He is the express stamp image of the
Father, WE WILL BE IN HIS VERY IMAGE, TOO, SPIRITUALLY! We will be VERY GOD, EVEN AS HE IS "VERY
GOD"! We will be His very
"BROTHERS" in the resurrection, resurrected to GLORY, just as He
was!!!
THINK about it!
How
AWESOME, how MIND-BOGGLING, it all is!
This
is what water baptism is ALL ABOUT!
The Laying on of Hands
In
addition to being baptized in water, we also read about another part of the
baptism process in the Scriptures. It is
often referred to as the "laying on of hands." What is this, and is it also necessary for a person to receive the
Holy Spirit?
We
read in Acts 8 of Philip preaching the gospel, and baptizing people in Samaria,
performing great signs and miracles. The
account in the book of Acts continues, "When the apostles in Jerusalem
heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and
John to them. When they arrived, they
PRAYED FOR THEM that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy
Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into
the name of the Lord Jesus. Then
Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit"
(Acts 8:14-17).
Why hadn't they received the Holy Spirit when
Philip baptized them? Here was a man who
even did miracles, signs and wonders, and yet the people had not received the
Holy Spirit after they were baptized. If
all that was needed was the "laying on of hands," then why hadn't
Philip done this himself?
Two points we need to notice here: First, Philip
preached the gospel vigorously, but he had not been ordained as an elder or
minister. Furthermore, the gospel was
being preached in a NEW AREA, where it had never gone before. Therefore, Philip did not have sufficient
authority to "lay hands" on the new disciples so they would receive
the Holy Spirit. Only the apostles at
this time had such authority. No doubt
that is why he did not perform this simple function. He could preach and even baptize, but he did
not have authority to "lay on hands" so another could receive the
Holy Spirit.
The account continues, "When Simon [Magus,
the magician] saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the APOSTLES'
HANDS, he offered them money and said, 'Give me also this ability so that
everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit'" (verses
18-19). Simon Magus recognized that the
apostles had the authority to lay on hands, so that people could receive the
Holy Spirit. He lusted after his power
for himself, so Peter rebuked him for his evil attitude of trying to
"buy" this power (verses 20-24).
This power to "lay on hands" so that
people would receive the Spirit of God was only given to the apostles (or
ordained ministers) at that time.
Is the laying on of hands necessary, then, when
a person is baptized?
The answer is that if a person who is doing the
baptizing is not sufficiently qualified, for God to use to give the baptized
individual the Holy Spirit, then it is necessary for another qualified individual
to "lay hands" on the baptized person. Some
people may be qualified to counsel a repentant
person, and to baptize them, but not qualified to "lay hands" on
them, because they are not ministers of God, but only a "lay person"
in God's Church.
On the other hand, if a true minister of God, or
an apostle or prophet, baptizes a person, it is evident that such people do NOT
always need the laying on of hands -- because God honors the baptismal
authority of such individuals. When Cornelius and his household received God's
Spirit, even before they were baptized, Peter had them baptized anyway as a
symbol of their repentance and conversion -- but they were not required to have
hands laid on them, because they already had the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, the only reason why baptism itself
had not been sufficient when Philip baptized the new believers in Samaria was
he had not been an ordained minister of God at that time. However, there is nothing said, in Acts 2, about
the apostles laying on hands on the people they baptized on that first
Pentecost, when 3,000 were converted.
Evidently, only baptism was necessary at that time, since the apostles
had done the baptism (Acts 2:38). Later,
when Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch, there was no need for laying on of
hands -- just baptism (Acts 8:38-39).
Similarly, when Christ Himself was baptized by
the prophet John, the Holy Spirit came upon Him without the need of
"laying on of hands." In the
example set for us by Christ Himself, such a thing was not done. Therefore, laying on of hands is NOT
necessary in all cases when baptisms are performed. Laying on of hands only becomes necessary
when the baptisms are done in an incomplete way or by a person who lacks
authority in God's sight to give God's Holy Spirit to another repentant person.
In Acts 19 we find a good example. When Paul arrived at Ephesus, he found some
disciples and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you
believed?" They answered him, "No, we have not even heard that there
is a Holy Spirit." Then Paul replied, "Then what baptism did you
receive?" They answered, "John's baptism" (Acts 19:1-3.) Paul
explained to them about Jesus, and "they were baptized into the name of
the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his
hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and
prophesied. There were about twelve men
in all" (verses 5-7).
Notice that these men had not been baptized into
Christ. When they were, and Paul laid hands on them, God gave them His Spirit
so much so that they spake in tongues, or foreign languages, as the apostles
had on Pentecost, and Cornelius' household had at Caesarea.
Is laying on of hands necessary, then, to
receive the Holy Spirit? In most places
where baptism is mentioned, in the gospels and the book of Acts, laying on of
hands is not even mentioned. Jesus did not
command His disciples to baptize AND LAY HANDS on all repentant people
(Matt.28:19-20), He just said to baptize them. That is all.
In most cases, therefore, when baptism is performed
by a true minister of God, one whom God is using, the laying on of hands is not
always necessary. In such cases, the act
of baptism itself is sufficient. The
only time this would not be the case would be in special circumstances where a
non-minister did the baptizing, or where a new area was being opened up to the
gospel, and those with greater spiritual authority were needed to validate the
preaching which had been done. In the
case of the men at Ephesus, they had not been baptized into Christ at all --
they only knew John's baptism.
Therefore, they had to be baptized again, in the name of Christ, and to
have Paul's hands placed on them, to receive the Holy Spirit. God thereby testified that Paul was indeed
His servant.
The strongest proof that the 'laying on of
hands" is not necessary for a new convert in Christ when the baptism is
done by an authorized person, or when the recipient is truly qualified, is, of
course, the example of Christ Himself.
The only reason Jesus was baptized by John was to "fulfill all
righteousness" -- that is, to set us an example, showing that we, too,
must be baptized! But in the Biblical
account of the baptism of Jesus, we find that after He came up out of the
water, the Spirit of God descended upon Him like a dove. NO LAYING ON OF HANDS WAS NECESSARY OR
REQUIRED! Yet the entire purpose for
Jesus being baptized was to "set us an example," showing us precisely
what we needed to do!
How clear, then, that when baptism is done
properly, by a true servant of God, with the authority to baptize and preach,
the laying on of hands is not required or necessary.
How Should Baptism Be Performed?
Throughout the book of Acts, we find that
baptism should be performed "in the name of Christ." What does that
mean? The Greek expression for "in
the name of" actually means "by the authority of." To do
something in somebody else's name means to do it by their power or authority,
with their approval and consent. Anyone
who would claim to do something "in Jesus' name," who did not have
His approval, consent, and permission, would be blaspheming His name arrogating
authority He never gave to them -- encroaching where they do not belong --
seizing power God never gave to them!
Such people are sinning, and will
incur the wrath of God (see Acts 19:13-16).
To do something, such as baptism, in the
"name of Christ," means BY HIS POWER AND AUTHORITY, as His
representative. Anyone doing this
who is NOT His representative would be standing on very dangerous ground
indeed! Unfortunately, some think they
have this authority, and baptize on their own recognizance, and
it is very doubtful that God would honor their
baptisms at all. For such people, a
"baptism" becomes a mere ritualistic "dunking" under the
water! This would be especially true of
any who have rejected God's truth, and the government of His Church, over
themselves. Only Jesus' true ministers
really have authority to BAPTIZE others, and to delegate this authority to
others, when circumstances require it.
Even then, such a delegation would not be a "permanent"
extension of authority, but done on a "case by case" basis, unless or
until the other individual himself became a true minister of God, anointed by
God's Holy Spirit.
"In
the Name of the Father . . ."
But Jesus also commanded His disciples to
baptize people "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit" (Matt.28:19). What does
this mean?
The original Greek word for 'in" here is
eis and literally means "into." Thus when people are baptized,
they are baptized IN the name of [that is, by the authority of] Jesus -- by His
true representatives. But when they are
baptized, they are also baptized INTO the very name of the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit -- that is, into the name of GOD Himself! In other words, they are baptized into the
very FAMILY NAME of GOD -- the GOD FAMILY!
Thus they become a very member of the divine
Family of God!
How many ministers, and churches, understand
that vital truth -- that important distinction?
Not very many, for sure!
Obviously, then, baptism is a vitally important
ritual or custom. It is something we
must not take lightly, or pass off as of no or little importance. It is CRUCIAL to salvation and entrance into
the Kingdom of God, and the Family of God!
Do YOU want to have a part in the Kingdom of
God? Do you want to share in the eternal
Kingdom of Almighty God, as a very member of the GOD Family, a Son of God the
Father, and brother of Jesus Christ, IN GLORY, with the very powers of the
Godhood at your disposal, to use, and to exert, FOR ALL ETERNITY? DO YOU EAGERLY DESIRE TO BE A PART OF
THAT ETERNAL DIVINE FAMILY AND KINGDOM?
Then heed the warnings of the gospel, the GOOD
NEWS! Repent of your sins, believe
the gospel, the good news, and BELIEVE on Jesus Christ as your Redeemer,
Saviour, and the Messiah! Accept Him as
your Lord of Lords and King of kings!
REPENT OF YOUR SINS!
AND BE BAPTIZED, IN THE NAME OF JESUS
CHRIST!
Don't put it off! Don't procrastinate! Don't wait for a "more convenient
season" which may never come!
DO THIS -- and you will receive the gift of
God's Holy Spirit as a begettal, to enable you to OVERCOME, and to endure to
the end, so that you can be SAVED -- saved from corruption, and eternal
destruction -- saved from the DEATH PENALTY, which your sins have incurred, and
which you have earned -- SAVED from the wrath of God which will shortly be
poured out on this wicked, corrupt world -- SAVED, by being born INTO the very
KINGDOM OF GOD, as a literal SON OF GOD, and given eternal life, so you will
live and rule as part of God's Family, FOR EVER AND EVER -- WITH ETERNAL LIFE,
AND ETERNAL GODHOOD, AND ETERNAL DIVINE POWER AND EVERLASTING GLORY!!! Paul declared, "The Spirit itself bears
witness with our spirit that we are the CHILDREN OF GOD: And if children, then
heirs; HEIRS OF GOD, and JOINT-HEIRS WITH CHRIST; if so be that we suffer with
him, that we may be also glorified TOGETHER" (Rom.8:16-17).
Paul wrote, "I consider that our present
sufferings are not worth comparing with the GLORY that will be REVEALED IN
US. The creation waits in eager
expectation for the SONS OF GOD to be revealed.
For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice,
but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself
will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious
freedom of the CHILDREN OF GOD" (Rom.8:18-21).
Water baptism is the key first step on the
pathway to salvation. It is not just
some mindless ritual that makes no difference and has no real importance. It is VITAL REQUIREMENT for salvation! Water baptism is ESSENTIAL for salvation, for
all who are physically capable of being baptized! God makes no exceptions. Those who "put it off," who are
dilatory, who want to wait for a more "convenient season," will find
out that they foolishly neglected the most truly important thing in all human
life!.
When governor Felix heard Paul preaching on
"righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid
and said, 'That's enough for now! You
may leave. When I find it convenient I
will send for you'" (Acts 24:25).
Felix never found a more "convenient"
time. He missed out. What about you?
Paul wrote, "We must pay more careful attention
therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was
binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment HOW
SHALL WE ESCAPE IF WE IGNORE SUCH A GREAT SALVATION?"
(Heb.2:1-3).
Think about it.
A New Look at Baptism
How should
"baptism" be administered? How
should
it be
performed? The Greek word for baptism, baptizo,
means "to make whelmed," or "fully
wet." It means,
literally,
"to dip repeatedly, to immerse, submerge."
How should
this be done? Should you be
"re-baptized"?
William
F. Dankenbring
In ancient Judea, a person had to be
in a state of ritual purity in order to enter into the Temple area. If a person had become ritually impure, he
was required to undergo a ritual immersion in water -- t'vilah in
Hebrew. The apostle Paul, and early
Jewish Christians, participated in this ritual (compare Acts 21:23-26; 24:18).
Archaeologists have discovered
almost fifty ritual baths -- called mikva'ot -- in the excavations
around the southern wall of the Temple precincts.
The Jewish ritual of purification by
immersion, the mikva, is undoubtedly a forerunner of the practice of
baptism. In ancient Judaism, a cleansed
leper, a woman after her menstrual period, any ceremonially defiled person, and
a Gentile convert to Judaism, had to undergo the mikva and be immersed
in water, prior to being declared "pure" and able to enter the
Temple, or re-enter society.
The first mention of baptism, as
such, was that of John the Baptist. He
came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, calling upon people everywhere to
repent of their sins, telling them the kingdom of heaven was at hand. "Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all
Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him
in Jordan, confessing their sins" (Matt.3:5-6).
The
Example Set by Jesus Christ
Even Jesus Christ came to John the
Baptist to be baptized by him.
"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized
of him. But John forbad him, saying, I
have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it
to be so now: for thus it becometh us to
fulfil all righteousness. Then he
suffered him. And Jesus, when he was
baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto
him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon
him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt.3:13-17).
Jesus set an example for each and
every one of His true disciples and followers, to be baptized as He was
(Matt.28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16). Baptism
is a "type" of our complete "burial" of the "old
man" who "dies" to the power of sin. As Paul wrote, "Know ye not, that so
many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his
death? Therefore we are BURIED with him
by baptism into death: that like as
Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life. For if
we have been planted together in the likeness of his death [by being immersed
in water through baptism], we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is
crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that
henceforth we should not serve sin" (Rom.6:3-6).
When we come up from the watery
grave of baptism, a type of "death," we are to live a new life to God
through Christ, even as Jesus Himself arose from the dead. As Paul continues: "For he that is dead is freed from
sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we
believe that we shall also live with him:
Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath
no more dominion over him. For in that
he died, he died unto sin once: but in
that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but ALIVE
unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it
in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye
your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that
are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God"
(Rom.6:7-13).
Importance
of Baptism
Physical baptism, as an outward
"sign" of inward repentance toward God and cleansing from sin, and
the power of sin, is a requirement for salvation. It is no trivial matter. Although God certainly could save
someone without baptism, if circumstances prohibited baptism being performed,
nevertheless, God clearly commands baptism to be performed in all cases
where it is possible! Jesus
commanded: "Go ye into all the
world, and preach the gospel unto every creature [person]. He that believeth, and is BAPTIZED, shall
be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark 16:15-16). On the first day of Pentecost, when God sent
the Holy Spirit, and it came upon all the disciples, Peter preached to the assembled
Jews at the Temple during the Holy Day, "Repent, and be baptized, every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).
Luke, the early church historian,
records, "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto
them about three thousand souls" (v.41).
Thousands were added to the Church, even as God the Father called
them
through the Holy Spirit, they heard the word, believed, and were baptized.
But how was this act of
"baptism" performed? When
Jesus began preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, calling people to
repentance (Mark 1:13-14), those who responded were baptized. We read in the book of John: "When therefore the Lord knew how the
Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,
(Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,), he left Judea, and
departed again into Galilee" (John 4:1-2).
Notice! Jesus Himself did not
perform the ceremony, but He had instructed His disciples, and they were the
ones doing the baptizing of new converts.
But again, how was this done? Obviously, it required an act of immersion or
submergence under water -- like the ancient mikvah. However, although a ritual bath could have
been used, at times John the Baptist, and Jesus and His disciples, used the
Jordan River as a place to perform baptism.
In another case, when Philip and an Ethiopian eunuch came to "a
certain water," the eunuch said, "See, here is water; what doth
hinder me to be baptized?" (Acts
8:36). Philip replied, "If thou
believest with all thine heart, thou mayest." He answered, "I believe that Jesus
Christ [Yeshuah Ha Moshiah, in Hebrew, or, Yesou Christo, in Greek] is the Son
of God." So they stopped the
chariot, in which they were riding, "and they went down both into
the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water,
the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no
more: and he went on his way
rejoicing" (Acts 8:37-39).
Old
Testament Baptismal Types
A type of "baptism" is
found in the Old Testament Scriptures.
As the apostle Paul wrote, "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye
should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all
passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud
and in the sea" (I Cor.10:1-2).
These people were down in the Red Sea, although it was not touching
them, but they were also under the "cloud." This was a type of baptism. They were leaving "sin city," or
Egypt, as it were, and passing out of that country, where they were
"free" from the fetters and shackles of Egypt (a picture of
"sin"). It should be noted
that they individually put themselves down into the passage-way through the Red
Sea. No man took them by the garments, or by the hand, and pushed, pulled, or
shoved them. They did not on their own,
under the guidance and direction of Moses.
In another example of
"baptism" in the Old Testament Scriptures, we read the amazing story
of Naaman the Syrian general who was a leper.
The story is told in II Kings, chapter 5. Naaman came to Elisha the prophet to be cured
of his leprosy, after hearing about him from an Israeli maid (vs.2-3). He came
"with
his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of
Elisha" (v.9). Naaman was a very
important man, obviously, a powerful and honorable general, the "captain
of the host" of the Syrian army (v.1).
Yet Elisha did not go out to meet him, as some might have thought a good
thing to do to curry favor with the general.
Rather, he merely sent a "message" to him, saying, "Go
and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and
thou shalt be clean" (v.10).
Naaman was angry, and turned away in
a furious state of mind, feeling humiliated and treated with disdain. As he left, he said to his attendants,
"Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me [the prophet did
not even do that!], and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his
hand over the place, and recover the leper.
Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the
waters of Israel? may I not wash in
them, and be clean?" So he turned
and went away in a smoldering rage. But
his servants, of a wiser state of mind and not caught up in the "vanity
trip" of the glamour and adulation and egotism of their master, humbly
asked him, "My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing,
wouldest thou not have done it? how much
rather, then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?" (v.13).
Naaman got a hold of himself,
controlled and subdued his emotions, and "took a chance." We read the chronicle: "Then went he down, and dipped himself
seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh
of a little child, and he was clean" (II Kings 5:13-14).
The Hebrew word for
"dipped" here is tabal, and means "to dip, plunge,
immerse." In this verse, Naaman
"immersed himself" in the Jordan River seven times! And his leprosy was cleansed. He was healed! But because of his original prideful,
somewhat arrogant attitude, he almost lost out on God's blessing of healing,
and almost condemned himself to leprosy for the rest of his life.
Naaman, like all of us, had to learn
a lesson -- that we must obey God, no matter what He says, or how silly or
foolish it may seem in our own human eyes.
For, as God says through His prophet Isaiah, "For my thoughts are
not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts"
(Isaiah 55:8-9).
The
Mikvah in Ancient Israel
In
ancient Israel, when a person became "unclean," he or she was
required to "bathe" themselves (see Lev.15:5, 6, 7,8, etc.). When the High Priest on the Day of Atonement
prepared to perform his duties, he was required first of all, before all else,
to "wash his flesh in water" (Lev.16:5), and then to put on the holy
garments. Later the same day, after performing his
major duties, involving the cleansing of the sanctuary, the sacrifice of the
live goat, and the confession of sin over the Azazel goat, and banishing it
into the wilderness, he was required once again to take off the linen garments,
and to "wash his flesh with water" in the holy place, and put on his
garments, and make an atonement for himself and for the people (v.22-24). The person who takes the Azazel goat into the
desert also had to "bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the
camp" (Lev.16:26). Any person who
ate something that died of itself, or that was torn by beasts, also had to "bathe
himself in water," and then would be ritually "clean" that
evening (Lev.17:15). Anyone who refused
to do this would "bear his iniquity" (verse 16).
The sacrifice of the "red
heifer" was a special rite performed only a total of 7 or 9 times during
the history of Israel and Judah, till the destruction of the Temple. It was sacrificed on the Mount of Olives,
facing the Temple to the west, at the very spot where Jesus Christ Himself was
later crucified, the red heifer being a "type" of the sacrifice of Christ
for our sins. The High Priest, upon
completing the sacrificial ceremony, was required to "bathe himself in
water, and afterward come into the camp" (Num.19:7). The one who assisted the High Priest and who
performed the actual killing of the red heifer, and who burned her flesh to
ashes, also was required afterwards to "bathe his flesh in water"
(v.8).
The word for "bathe" in
these verses is the Hebrew word #7364 in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, the
word rachatz, and means literally "to wash oneself," "to
be washed." When one was commanded to
"wash" or "bathe" oneself, it required a total bath or
immersion in water. For this purpose,
the ritual baths, or mikvah, was used.
The whole being of the person was to be submerged, immersed in, and
overwhelmed with water. This ritual
bath later became the ancestral "type" of the New Testament act of
"baptism."
Baptism
-- A Self-Administered Rite
Now, back to baptism. The ordinance of baptism is patterned after
the ritualistic mikvah or sacred bath.
The practice of ceremonial immersion, the forerunner of Christian
baptism, was a "self-administered" baptism, in which the person, or
priest, walked out into the bath, or pool, and then immersed himself (or
herself). In light of this, Dr. Robert Lindsey
of Jerusalem has suggested that John the Baptist himself did not actually
"baptize" people, by putting his hands on them and pushing them under
the water. Rather, the baptism was a
self-administered procedure to which John bore witness and supervised. Similarly, in the Jewish ritual of the mikvah,
the person is forbidden to touch anyone else while in the baptismal
pool or bath. Such touching would
"contaminate" the process and render it "unclean" and
unfit.
How does this relate to the
Christian practice of baptism?
Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, and
the early apostles were all Jews. They
were well acquainted with the mikvah, and the rites of
purification. It is undoubted therefore
that baptism, which was based on and patterned on the mikvah purification
ritual, should also be performed in a similar fashion, without human hands
of another person interfering with the process. Baptism is literally between each man or
woman and God. It should be
performed by the person himself, standing in water, and immersing
himself! This should be done, of
course, under the supervision of the one responsible for conducting the
"baptism" ceremony -- but without that person actually
"laying hold" on the individual being baptized. Thus, the vast majority of so-called
"Christian" baptisms performed down through the years have missed the
point, and failed to fulfil this ritual in the strict sense of the word.
To have another human being plunging
another beneath the water is contrary to God's intent on two counts:
1) It interposes another human being
between each person and God: yet the
word of God says, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus" (I Tim.2:5). For one man to literally "baptize"
another interposes a fallible human being in the middle of this divine
relationship.
2) It interferes with total and
complete ritual purity and the symbolism of true and complete
"baptism" or immersion: When
one man "baptizes" another, pushing him below the water, wherever
his hands touch the individual or the clothing of the individual, that spot is
not "washed," or "cleansed," but is prevented from
being touched by the water. But even more important, baptism is a purely voluntary
act, which a person decides to do of his own free will. Therefore, for another person to "plunge
him under the water" implies he needs human assistance to do this,
and perhaps is even forced or coerced into doing it. This obstructs the "voluntary"
nature of the act itself, and contradicts the whole sacred meaning of a person
choosing to immerse themselves in the water, to become cleansed of sin,
and to become spiritually "purified" in the sight of Almighty God.
Baptism is a symbol of our
"death" in the water, and being raised by God to newness of
life. In true death, no human being
would be touching us. Also, no human
being can raise us up to live again, in newness of life -- only God and
Christ can do that. Therefore, the
symbolism is violated by a man plunging a person into the water, and
then a man lifting us up out of the water.
How Baptism Should Be Performed
What is the purpose of a man, or
minister of God, "baptizing" another?
Of course, ministers of God are commanded to "baptize" people
who have repented of their sins. But
what does this entail? What does it
mean? How is it to be done?
Obviously, those in charge of the
baptismal ceremony are actually there to SUPERVISE each candidate as they
perform their own self-immersion, and to see to it that they do it properly,
and go all the way under the water, in complete "burial." They need not touch the individual or his or
her clothing in carrying out such supervision.
They merely need to be attentive, and to watch carefully, insuring that
the person being baptized completely fulfills the requirement.
The candidate and the person
"baptizing" should both go into the water, as John the Baptist did
with Jesus, and Philip did with the Ethiopian eunuch, and then on confession of
sin and repentance, the candidate should gently lower themselves all the way
beneath the water, in a sitting position, and then rise up from that position
out of the water. How simple. How plain.
How divine and pure and sensible.
Too many times I have seen churches,
and ministers of various churches, try to inject themselves, and their systematic
theology, into the lives of people, commanding them to be baptized their
way, and only in their church, insinuating their self-proclaimed
authority over the new Christians.
In this way they bring them into a state of religious
"bondage" and spiritual slavery to their dictatorial and
dogmatic "authority."
Such a system of baptism is
definitely not God's way.
Although we at Triumph Prophetic
Ministries (Church of God) do not endorse the common type of baptism performed
by most so-called "Christian" churches, we do not condemn the
baptisms themselves, either. Rather,
even though such baptisms may not have been "perfect," in a technical
sense, still, we believe God accepts them, and honors them, as real baptism, so
long as the person being baptized at the time of baptism, knew and accepted
Jesus Christ as the divine Messiah, and repented of their sins, and
committed their lives entirely to Christ as His servants and followers,
completely. The inward motivation and
genuine sincerity of the individual accepting Christ as Saviour, and repenting
of their sins, and giving their life over to Him in total surrender of
self-will and one's entire self, is the most important thing -- not the
"mechanics" of the baptism having been performed "perfectly."
As Paul said to the Athenians,
"And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men
everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30).
We accept such baptisms as valid and do not require "re-baptism"
in such cases. However, for those who
would like to be baptized over again, as a sort of "confirmation
ceremony," that would be all right.
Even as some married couples go through a "second" marriage
ceremony, later on during their marriage, as a sort of "celebration"
of their first marriage, even repeating the nuptial vows, and perhaps even
having a
"second
honeymoon," in the same manner it would not be wrong for a person who has
been baptized once to under-go the ceremony again, at a later time, as a
"celebration" of their baptism, and as a "confirmation" of
it.
Baptism
2,000 Years Ago
When Peter preached that first
sermon on Pentecost, in 30 A.D., and 3,000 observant Jewish believers in the
Torah repented of their sins, and accepted Messiah Yeshuah as their Saviour, it
is interesting to note that this event was at the "Feast of Weeks" --
called "Shavuot," which occurred fifty days after Passover. This was one of the three pilgrimage
festivals, and that is why Jews from around the Roman Empire were found in
Jerusalem at this time. Josephus states
that hundreds of thousands came to the festivals at these times.
When the Spirit of God descended on
those who were gathered "in one place," the Jewish pilgrims from
throughout the diaspora heard those local Jews glorifying God in various languages
(Acts 2). Peter's call to repent and to
be baptized would have been familiar to his Jewish audience. When he explained this should be "in the
name of Jesus Christ," they understood their repentance and purification
would be in the context of the ministry and life of Jesus Christ, as
Messiah.
Since 3,000 Jews heard the message,
and repented, and believed, and were baptized that day. Where is it likely that such a crowd would
have been gathered, to hear Peter? Where
in Jerusalem would there have been sufficient water to baptize 3,000
individuals?
It is very likely that this message
or discourse was delivered in the court of the Temple, to the East or
South. The baptisms would most likely
have been performed in the numerous ritual baths, or mikvahs, located
near the entrance to the Temple Mount.
These ritual immersion baths served the needs of the thousands of Jewish
pilgrims who streamed into Jerusalem at the three major annual festivals --
Passover, Pentecost (Shavuot), and the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall.
It is surely not beyond the realm of
possibility that these ritual immersion baths served the needs of the Messianic
Community of the Early Church, especially on those days when thousands of
Jewish converts accepted Yeshuah as their Messiah and Saviour. Three thousand were converted and baptized on
Pentecost. A few days later, another
5,000 were added: "Howbeit many of
them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five
thousand" (Acts 4:4).
Thirty years later, in about 60
A.D., when Paul returned to Jerusalem on a visit, James and the other apostles
at the headquarters church told him, "Thou seest, brother, how many
thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law"
(Acts 21:20). The word translated
"thousands" here is murias from which we get the English word
"myriads," and means literally "ten thousands." It means "an innumerable
multitude," "an unlimited number." The same word is used in Jude 14 where we
read, "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his
saints" (Jude 14). These could have
numbered between 50,000 and 100,000 or more before the Jewish-Roman War of 70
A.D., a short ten years later. The
ritual baths near the Temple Mount would have been a very logical place where
many were baptized. Many others may also
have been baptized in different pools around Jerusalem, such as the pool of
Siloam, and many others in the Jordan River.
Have YOU Been Baptized?
Baptism symbolizes a person's
"death and burial" of their human flesh and desires, the "old
man," and their rising up out of that watery grave having obtained
"new life" and becoming a "new man" in Messiah
Yeshuah. As Paul wrote, "That ye
put off on concerning the former conduct the OLD MAN, which is corrupt
according to the deceitful lusts; and that ye put on the NEW MAN, which
after God is CREATED in righteousness and true holiness" (Eph.4:22-24).
Baptism, then, is a vital and
integral part of the Christian life. It
is the beginning of a NEW LIFE -- a life destined to live for all
eternity. When we are baptized, having
repented of our sins and accepted Christ Yeshuah as our Saviour, God promises
to give us His own Holy Spirit (Acts 5:38) -- a part of His very own Being, and
Life, within us. From this point on
Christ and His character is being "FORMED" IN US (Galatians
4:19). And if we grow, and endure, and
remain faithful to the end of our lives, then we will inherit ETERNAL
LIFE in the Family and Kingdom of GOD!
Have you been "baptized"? Remember Peter's words:
"REPENT,
and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive
the gift
of the HOLY SPIRIT" (Acts 2:38).
"REPENT
YE THEREFORE, AND BE CONVERTED, that
your sins
may be blotted out, when the times of
refreshing
shall come
from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:19).
"The
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand:
REPENT
YE, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15).
Have you "repented"? Do you "believe"? Have you accepted Jesus Christ -- Yeshua --
as your personal Saviour?
What hinders you from being
baptized?
"Repent, and Be Baptized . . ."
"Repent, and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ [Yeshua Ha Moshiach] for the forgiveness of your
sins. And you will receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).
"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that
your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you -- even
Jesus" (Acts 3:19-20).
"The time has come, the kingdom of God is
near. Repent, and believe the good
news!" (Mark 1:14-15).
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together
become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one"
(Rom.3:10-12).
"For all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God" (Rom.3:23).
"For the wages of sin is death; but the
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom.6:23).
"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each
of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of
us all" (Isa.53:6).
"For God so loved the world that he gave
his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life" (John 3:16).
What about you?