Baptismo

Matthew 28:18-20, “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”

I have started attending a new church upon our return home from India; one that I have the opportunity of becoming employed at in the near future. At their Wednesday night Bible study, they have been talking about their different doctrinal beliefs, which is wonderful, as it gives my wife and I the ability to see what they truly believe. We can know for sure whether or not we hold the same position as the church.

One topic that came up was baptism and how that works within our lives. Should we be baptized after we are saved? Does it really matter? What is the importance anyway? These questions have been coming up lately in some circles and then it came up at the Wednesday night Bible Study. Let’s look at what the Bible tells us about baptism, because that is our authority.

First of all we see above that Jesus commanded that we be baptized, as seen by the above verse. Secondly, Peter repeated at Pentecost in Acts 2:38, “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” Then lastly, Paul was directed to be baptized as well, and if there was a human that may have been exempt, it would have been him, but he was not exempt. “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). Three prominent men, and one the Son of God, all demanded baptism and were baptized as believers. This is the strongest case for baptism of an adult believer. I use adult believer, meaning one who knows what they are accepting when they accept Christ as Savior; one who is at the age of accountability, which seems to be the only true sense of baptism within Scripture.

Why not be baptized? Are you afraid of what it will look like to others? Does your ego get in the way? Maybe it has been too long and you think it is only for new believers. So what? You do not matter, Christ does, and He was baptized as an example and commands us to follow His example, so it should be an honor and privilege to be baptized.

More than that it shows your true commitment to Christ. You have to stand up before the church and proclaim Christ. It makes a statement that you are a follower of Christ, and you follow the commands given by Him, by His example. Today baptism has lost its importance in representation of our faith, at least in the U.S. While serving in India there was a deep correlation between accepting Christ and baptism, because it identified you with Jesus and Jesus alone. Many families in India are okay with someone “accepting” Jesus, but if you are baptized then you are many times kicked out of your home, abused and many other things. Why? Because just saying it with words to them in many ways was just adding to their pantheon of gods, but to go before the world and be baptized as Christ, becoming one with Him demonstrated your commitment, a real commitment, because now everyone watching sees you doing the same as Jesus did.

Again I ask, if you are making excuses for not being baptized, why? Why wouldn’t you want to do what Jesus did, and commanded, and what all the other apostles did and commanded? If the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, then you are to be baptized if you accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord. Not to add to salvation, but to demonstrate your true commitment to the world and Christ that you are His follower.

What is holding you back, ego? Pride? What if Christ had too much pride to die for you, because it was too embarrassing to die on a cross, naked for your sins?

Colossians 2:11-14, “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”