Archive for July 2024

Many years ago, while working at a job I had at the time, I had a conversation with a coworker, a woman I worked with, and as we talked about our families, she told me about her kids when they were very young. She told me she didn’t want her children to go out of the house until they have been baptized. She had a Catholic background and what I gathered from her comment about baptism to mean was that in the event something should happen to her children she wanted to have some sort of assurance that her children were going to Heaven, and she apparently felt that that’s what being baptized would do for her and her children. This woman’s feeling about baptism represents the way an untold millions of people feel about baptism. They believe being baptized is an act in itself that they can do that gives them some sort of assurance that when they die, they are going to heaven. Now the question that has to asked here is this,.. “Is that what the Scriptures say? Does the mere act of being baptized because you believe God exist, mean that the person baptized is surely going to Heaven? When I say the Scriptures, what I am referring to here is the Bible. It is there, in the Scriptures that the righteousness of God is revealed from heaven according to (Romans 1:16-17).

When you read through the Gospels, ( Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) what you can’t help noticing is that whenever the Lord Jesus Christ was questioned about any matter by the religious leaders of that day, He always referred to the Scriptures when He gave an answered to those who were questioning Him, and because that’s what Jesus Christ did, that’s also where we should look too, because what we really want to know is “what has God said about the matter?  People may have many different opinions about baptism, but there’s really only one opinion that really matters and that is what God has said, because when God speaks on any matter,.. and anybody,.. or even everybody else disagrees with Him,. then everybody else, including all the social media world,. is wrong. The Scriptures tell us that in (Romans 3:4), it says,..   “let God be true but every man a liar”….. (Romans 3:4).  In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus after His resurrection gives a command to His apostles to baptize people and reminds them why they were to do so to those who believed in Him. In Matthew 28, beginning at v18 it says,….

“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.”….( Matthew 28:18-20 ).

I want to point out four very import things that Jesus says should be true of those who are ready to be baptized by His apostles. First, Jesus said that those who the apostles were going to baptize should recognize His authority over all as the eternal Son of God. He says ,.. “All authority”.. has been given to Me in heaven and on earth”.…  It is extremely important to recognize the Lord Jesus Christ for who He really is,..God the Son, who has “All authority.” Those who the apostles were to baptize had to recognize Jesus’ authority over them as Lord first before being baptized. The Scriptures tell us, in Him we all live and move and breath and have our being as (Acts 17:28) says.  Our very next breath comes from Him. The time that you and I will live on this earth has been preappointed by Him long before the world was ever created according to (Acts 17:26).  Let that just sink in for a moment. That’s who we are talking about when we talk about Jesus Christ. The One who has “All authority in Heaven and earth.”   Colossians, chapter one says this of Jesus Christ,..

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him…. (Colossians 1:15-16). Think about the last part of this passage a minute. “All things were created through Him and for Him”. 

That means you and I were created through Him,.. and,.. for Him. He determined, as God the time period you and I were going to live here on this earth. So, then the first thing we can see right here in the Scriptures, is that those the apostles were commanded to baptize were those who had come to believe in who Jesus Christ really is,.. the eternal God, who has “All authority” in Heaven and Earth, and because they recognize His authority, they willingly submit to His authority over them as God. The very God to whom every one of us will give account of our lives to one day. Anyone not ready to recognize Jesus’ authority over them is not ready to be baptized. Then there’s a second thing,.. you see here as you look this command Jesus gave to His apostles here in the Scriptures. They were commanded to baptize those who had made a decision to willingly be made one of Jesus’ disciples by following Him. Look at that passage again,..

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations”,…

A disciple by definition, is a “follower of his leader,” who in this case,.. is the Lord Jesus Christ.  In John’s gospel Jesus says these awesome words of comfort to those who willingly follow Him as His disciples,…

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, “and they follow Me”.  And I give them “eternal life”, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.  I and My Father are one.“….(John 10:27-30).   Then in John chapter 12, He says this,..

“If anyone serves Me, let him “follow Me;” and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor….(John 12:26)

And so, what we can very clearly see, right here in the Scriptures, is that Jesus said those who the apostles were to baptized were those who recognize His authority over everything that is in Heaven and Earth and that included those who believe in Him. Then they were to baptize those who were willing to become followers of Jesus Christ as His disciples. Then there’s a third thing we can see in this command Jesus gave His disciples to do to those who had willingly become His disciples, and that was to baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, meaning the people they baptized had to be willing to “be publicly identified with the Lord Jesus Christ as God the Son,” by being baptized in His name as the second member of the Godhead. Look at it again,…

“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;

All three persons of the Godhead were now being declared to have a place of authority over the life of the follower of Jesus Christ. They knew about God the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ. They would soon learn about God the Holy Spirit and what it means to follow Jesus Christ which the Holy Spirit of God would teach all those who willingly choose to follow Jesus as His disciples as He tell us in John 16….

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come….( John 16:12-13 ).

 The Holy Spirit of God would guild those who willingly follow Jesus into truth. What an awesome promise the Lord gives here. And so, the apostles were to baptize those who had come to see who Jesus Christ really is, “the Son of God” who has “All authority in Heaven and on Earth,” meaning, over everything and everybody. The apostles were to “baptize those who willingly choose to follow Jesus” and be made His disciple. They were to “baptize those who were willing to be identified with Jesus by being baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” realizing Jesus’ position in the Godhead as the Son.  Finally, they were to “baptize those willing to be taught and observe all that Jesus commanded them.” Look at again,..

“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”.

They were to baptize those who were willing to be taught and to observe all things that Jesus had commanded His apostles. Teaching those who become followers of Jesus, all that Jesus commanded would take time, and required that those who willing become disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ had to be willing to come together in an assembly which we call the church. That is what the church is by definition, “ an assembly of called out ones”.  This is what Jesus meant when He said, through the apostle Paul, that the church is “the called of Jesus Christ,” (Romans 1:6).  

So then, baptism is for those willing to hear Jesus’ words and have willingly decided to learn what it means to follow Him in their daily lives. Where there’s no willingness to follow Him that person’s baptism is meaningless. Why? ..Because baptism, is an outward testimony of a new inward reality toward Jesus Christ in the heart. It is identifying with Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. It is saying the old you who did not acknowledge Jesus’ authority as God over your life, and who trusted in your own goodness to get into Heaven, that person has died, and now a new person, the new you, has risen up, who acknowledges Jesus’ authority as God over you, who is ready to follow Him and trust Him alone to get into Heaven, not my goodness, not my church attendance, not even religious activity, but Jesus Christ alone and now I am willing to be among others who have like precious faith as a member of His church following Him in the church He wants you to attend so you can learn about Him.  The Lord Jesus Christ made Himself an example to His apostles, and all who would believe in Him in the ages to come by being baptized Himself by John the Baptist, Matthew’s gospel tells us in Matthew,.. 

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”  But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him…..(Matthew 3:13-15),

Think about that a minute…. If you are outside as you read this, or near a window look up into the sky for just a minute and think about this. The God that made the clouds and the Sun you are looking at, or the stars and the moon if it’s nighttime where you are at the moment as you are reading this,.. is the God that became a man,.. in human flesh, in the person of Jesus Christ, was being baptized by a man,.. “a man whom He created.” Just pause a minute and think about that a minute…. Jesus made Himself an example for His disciples and us to follow. He said,.. “I came down from Heaven not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.“.(John 6:38).  It’s about His will not ours. That’s following His example.

The apostles were very careful about who they baptized as we can see from a story in (Acts chapter 8), that tells the story of an Ethiopia eunuch, a man of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, who had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning. Here was a man that believed in God and was even reading a bible as he returned home but didn’t understand what the Scriptures taught about Jesus Christ or the teaching about baptizing  that we just looked at and God, in His perfect timing, had Phillip the apostle nearby and sent Phillip over to him to explain to him what he was reading in the book of Isaiah about Jesus. Phillip gets into the chariot with him and begins teaching him.

The Scriptures tell us in Acts chapter 8,…then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him… (Acts 8:35-38).

Phillip wanted to know that this Ethiopian eunuch believed with all his heart, the message of the gospel that Jesus commanded His apostles to preach before he would baptize him. He wanted to know that this Ethiopian eunuch was ready to acknowledge Jesus as his Lord, who has All authority in Heaven and Earth as the Son of God, and that he was ready to be identified with Him. He wanted to know that this Ethiopian eunuch was now willing to walk with Jesus in the newness of life as His disciple, and so he asks him,….

“if you believe with all your heart you may be baptized” ..and the Ethiopian eunuch then replies,. , “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.“ So, he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him… (Acts 8:35-38)..

Phillip most likely had seen people who had been baptized who really had not believed in Jesus as the Son of God with all their heart. People who wanted Heaven to be their eternal home, but didn’t want the Lord of Heaven ruling their life here on earth. People whose profession of faith in Jesus did not result in a newness or changed life toward Jesus Christ as the Scripture says should happen to those who believe from the heart in who Jesus Christ is,..

“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life”….( Romans 6:4 )

So, does being baptized in itself guarantee that we will go to heaven? Absolutely not. In the gospel of Luke 23:39-43, Jesus tells one of the two criminals who was crucified alongside Him who came to faith in Jesus as his Lord right before he took his last breath and died, “today you will be with Me in paradise.”  The man never got baptized but he still went to Heaven. Why?  Because it is faith alone in the person of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who this man willingly receiving as his Lord, recognizing His authority as God, and now willing to be identified with Him, and trusting Him alone to get him into Heaven. You see it was not his moral goodness, he didn’t have any,.. nor was it his good deeds, or his feelings or his church attendance, or even his religious activities that saved this criminal, but was seeing himself as a bankrupt sinner willing to trust Jesus Christ alone. It is when a person is willing to be identified with Jesus Christ this in this way, then they are ready to be baptized in Jesus’ name. Anything short of that would just you just getting wet in front of people. As we just saw in the Scriptures that God actually said that. What about you? Are you ready to allow Jesus Christ His rightful place as God in your life? If so, go to the “Encouragement” menu on the Home page and look for the “Prayer tab.” There you will find a prayer you can pray to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and have assurance of eternal life that He gives to those willing to place their trust Him.

 

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