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Baptism
Jesus said,
“Go ye into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."
Mark 16:15-16.
This scripture
shows how baptism is part of the gospel
that you must believe and obey to be saved.
I have heard many sermons saying that baptism is not really necessary for
salvation. But the apostles who wrote the bible taught that baptism was needed
very urgently after believing on Jesus. You find in Acts 2:38 how Peter on the
day of Pentecost preached, “Repent and be baptized,” and
the people who believed were baptized the same day.
(verse 41)
The apostle Paul thought baptism was so urgently needed that he once baptized
some people in the middle of the night after preaching to them. And Paul was
still suffering from a brutal beating received just a few hours before. Part of
Paul’s preaching that night obviously was the need to be baptized. Read the
account in Acts 16:25-34.
These examples show us the “Faith that was once delivered to the saints.”
Preachers today don’t do it like this because they have “learnt better.”
The
degree to which you differ from plainly revealed bible doctrine is a measurement
of how far you have backslid from the truth.
God wants us to return to the way things
were done in the Bible.
Immersion or
Sprinkling?
Every place in the Bible where baptism is described, it is always complete
immersion in water. This is how Jesus was baptized.
And Jesus, when he
was baptized, went up straightway out of the water:
Matt. 3:16.
He had to first go
into the water before he could
come up out of the water. From
this we see Jesus was not sprinkled with water but immersed when baptized.
And Philip baptized the eunuch from Ethiopia. Notice how they went “down
into the water.”
And he commanded the
chariot to stand still: and they went
down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized
him.
Acts 8:38.
These are
descriptions of Biblical baptisms. Anything other than this does not fulfill the
command of Jesus to be baptized. Jesus himself gave us the example of how to be
baptized and we must do like him.
Baptism represents a death, burial, and resurrection. (Romans 6:3-11)
Baptism
would have to be complete
immersion to be a type of burial. No one just sprinkles dirt on dead people, but
they are completely buried.
What Should People Say When Baptizing Someone?
Jesus said, “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost:” Matt. 28:19
The bible shows that God the Father and Jesus have shared the same name since
the beginning of time. Their Old Testament name was Jehovah. Their New Testament
name is Jesus. This is why Jesus said to baptize people in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is also called the
Spirit of Christ or Spirit of Jesus. There is yet another name change planned,
found in Revelation 3:12 "I will write upon him my new name."
If someone is baptized using the exact words from Matthew 28:19, they have in
effect been baptized in the name of Jesus since you would be referring to the
same name that Jesus was referring to. But the correct method would be to say,
“I baptize you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
You must be baptized to be saved
To refuse to be baptized would be
disobedience and no one who refuses to obey God will be saved. The only
exception would be people who want to be baptized, but for some reason cannot be
baptized. For example, people in prison sometimes are not allowed to be baptized
after hearing and believing the gospel. Or if a sick person hears and believes
the gospel but is too ill to be baptized. Being ashamed to be baptized is not an
acceptable reason. God will expect obedience from you if you are able to be
baptized.
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