Baptism: Option or Obligation? (Part 3)
Acts 8:26-39; John 4:1-2; Acts 2:37-38; John 3:1-6; Mark 16:12-16;
2 Timothy 1:8 NIV
What is the relationship of baptism to salvation?
Baptism is not essential for salvation. Some people believe that baptism is essential to your salvation; meaning that you can trust Jesus Christ as your Saviour, but if not baptized will not go to heaven. They call it “baptismal regeneration” – that is, you are only fully saved after you are baptized. The word of God does not teach that.
If that were true, Jesus would have said; “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him and is baptized, shall be saved”. Paul would have not said; “whosoever should call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”. There should be no question at all about your personal eternal destiny.
Let us turn to Acts 2:37-38:
Peter preached this rather long sermon. This was at the beginning of the church. When he finished preaching this is what happened:
37When the people heard this, (his message) they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38Peter replied, “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.
When you first read that, you may think that when you are not baptized you are not saved. What Peter was saying is that when you repent of your sins, placing your trust in him, and be baptized, you are taking a firm stand of what you believe. This was the beginning of the church, and they were living in a very hostile environment. Baptism was very essential, that is, to make a public stand of your willingness to confess Christ.
Let’s read John 3:1-2.
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
This is Jesus’ response to this very important Jew.
John 3:3-6:
3In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
4″How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
5Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
You see, that was very important. Their whole eternity rested on the fact that they believed being a Jew, or being in the family of Judaism, or being a Hebrew, they were absolutely secure. What Jesus was saying is that you can be an important Jew, born of a Jewish mother, Jewish heritage. But your heritage is not enough, except a man be born again, of water and the Spirit of God.
When you and I were born again, what happened? The Holy Spirit of the living God convicted you and me of our sins, and that we can no longer live in that condition. We asked him to forgive us of our sins. We trusted him as our personal savior. We repented our sins and we have never been the same since. That was the work of the Holy Spirit. Our heritage was not enough; is not sufficient and won’t work.
That is what God is saying to some people today. To those who think that because their parents were Christians, they too are alright. Your grandfather was a preacher, your grandmother taught in Sunday school, your mother teaches in Sunday school too. Some people say that their family has always been Christians, and they therefore claim, with all sincerity, that they have also always been saved. No, your heritage is not enough. A definite decision must be made by you in order to be a believer. That is what those scriptures mean.
Let us turn to Mark 16:12-16:
12Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. 13These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either. 14Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. 15He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Baptism is not an act of salvation. It is an act of obedience, because we are saved.
So now I ask you again; why won’t you be baptized? Are you afraid of the water? No one has ever drowned in the baptism pool. No one is left floating around. You do not even need to know how to swim. It is very simple. We immerse you into the water and bring you right back up. You will not find any excuse for not getting baptized. The water is usually warm, and you will not be lost in the baptism pool. You do not need to be afraid. If you are worried about your hair, and your makeup, that is pure flesh. Remember Jesus was baptized and he is saying; “follow me”. What does he mean by “follow me”? Do what he says do, the way he says do it, when he says do it.
Why should we be baptized?
– Jesus commanded it, and it is clear in the scripture.
– It is a public confession that we are following Jesus.
You are following Jesus publicly. You are not ashamed of your confession of faith in Jesus Christ, which is very important in the eyes of God. Paul said to Timothy; “do not be ashamed”.
2 Timothy 1:8 states:
8So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God…
Some one might say; “what are my friends going to say?” When it comes to obeying God, this is not the question. The question is; “what does God think?” Any other question is unnecessary. When you are baptized God approves and he will reward you.
– To portray what happened to us.
When somebody says; ”have you ever been saved”? You say yes. “Have you ever been baptized”? You say yes. And when they say; “Why were you baptized?” Here is your answer. First of all Jesus commanded it. Secondly Jesus was baptized, and thirdly because it pictures what happened to Jesus. He died and was buried and raised to walk, not in the newness of life for him, but in God’s will for his life. And your forth answer is; that is what happened to me. When I was saved I died to my old ways, buried in Jesus Christ, that is, connected to him, and now risen to walk a godly life. That is why I was baptized.
– It is an identification with the body of Christ.
In those New Testament times, how did the people identify themselves with the church? It was through baptism. They trusted Christ as their Saviour.
– It declares our faith in our future bodily resurrection.
If I would ask you; Do you truly believe that when you die, that you are going to be bodily resurrected in a body which in form and substance is like the body of Jesus Christ? Me I believe that? Well, why would you be ashamed of being baptized? Baptism pictures what happened to you. It pictures what Jesus did. It is identification with the body of Christ, but it is also a public declaration: “I am going to trust Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour. I am walking in the will of God, and I know that one of these days, ‘absent from the body present with the Lord’. Jesus was bodily resurrected; I too shall be bodily resurrected and on my way to heaven because of his atoning death at Calvary. And if he loved me enough to identify himself with sinful mankind I too love him enough to do what he says when he said ‘follow me’”.
If you say to your 10-year old son, when for example, you are walking through a very dangerous part of the woods, and you say to your son; ‘follow me’. But he instead goes off strolling in the woods somewhere and you say again; ‘follow me’. Why? It’s because you want to protect him. Jesus has a very specific reason; first of all it pleases the father; secondly it is part of his purpose for your life.
I want to encourage you, if you have never been baptized. I am not giving you my opinion. I am giving you those three verses, which the word of God teaches so clearly. To follow Jesus means to do what he said. To follow his path and to be baptized is part of obedience. I want to challenge you to ask yourself two questions; “why have I not been baptized?” You may say, “Well, today I realize because I have never been saved”. Good answer.
If you will ask Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins; tell him you place your trust in what he did in Calvary to pay your sin debt in full. He will save you right now.
Then ask yourself another question; “when am I going to be baptized?” That is the question you need to answer, and I trust that you will. I pray that the Holy Spirit will convict you in the most loving way to act in obedience to Jesus’ command.
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. In reality there never has been ‘a day of miracles’; there’s only a God of miracles, and He never changes. So don’t limit Him!
