Not An Option!

 "And Peter said to them, '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"  (Acts 2:38, ESV).

NOTE:  I AM NOT IMPLYING THAT SALVATION IS A REQUIREMENT FOR SALVATION BUT IF ONE HAS THE OPPORTUNITY AND DOESN'T DO IT, IT IS A SIN OF OMISSION.  

Jesus was baptized with the baptism of John to inaugurate His public ministry, and when asked why:  "To fulfill all righteousness!" We are to follow in His steps.   John's baptism belonged to the Old Testament and was one of preparation for the kingdom of God.  Jesus 'ministry commenced at this time of ordination and He officially became the Christ, being anointed.   Christ was relating to us, as well as condescending, as an example.  We are subsequently commanded to follow suit and do as commanded: to be baptized ourselves as a public testimony of our salvation.

By the way, Jesus never gave suggestions or good advice, but commands or mandates; we are commanded to be baptized in the Great Commission, and it is not an option or a suggestion!  Jesus never mandated anything He didn't do!  The symbolism alone is enough to make one desire baptism, to be a witness to the community of believers that you are not ashamed to own your Lord and follow in His steps.  We should yearn to relate to Christ and be like Him.

In baptism, we declare our allegiance to Christ and are saying that He is Lord of all!  That is, we are no longer secret disciples, but can openly confess His name as it is written in Romans 10:10 that with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

One main draw of baptism in the early church was to put a slap on the face of the emperor, who fancied himself a god, but they were saying their new loyalty oath as, "Jesus alone is Lord!"  They were committing treason by refusing to say the Roman loyalty oath:  "Caesar is Lord."  This opened the door to persecution from Rome.

We must understand that the mere act of baptism doesn't save (Some believe it's the instrumental means of salvation is baptism, while others believe it is faith), but baptism is only an outward sign of an inward reality:  "Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ"  (1 Pet. 3:21, ESV).  It's like saying that your house saved you from the tornado because it took the brunt of the damage. Or you could say, "This verse saved me!" meaning it woke you up spiritually.

Actually, there is only one Savior to be reckoned:  "... [You] know no God but me, and besides me, there is no savior'"  (Hos. 13:4, ESV).  God alone is the Savior and will not give His glory to anyone else:  That's why we say, "Soli Deo Gloria!" which, being is interpreted as, "To God alone be the glory!"  Baptism, as an ordinance commanded by Christ, therefore, is symbolism using water to represent spiritual realities.

We should desire to share our faith and to make a public testimony real to our family of believers in order to feel part of the fellowship. We share in Christ's righteousness or "all righteousness."  Baptism is a wonderful opportunity to make our faith known and show that we are not ashamed of Jesus.  We don't merely do it legalistically because we "have to," but we should have a change of heart that makes us "want to" do it in following our Lord's good example.  It isn't one more hurdle to jump through for our salvation to be deemed legit!

Jesus needed no baptism and John demurred, but did it as our Exemplar to show us the way and give us an open door to testify publicly.  So hearing the testimony of others, how they came to know the Lord, gives us encouragement and helps us to see how people get saved in various ways, that there is no one-size-fits-all methodology.  Faith is the only commonality, and that faith must be tested, as this first step is also a test of our obedience to the Lord (if we love Him we will obey Him!).  Soli Deo Gloria!

My Doctrine Of Cognizance

Some evangelical pastors are overly zealous about how people become aware of their salvation and think there must be a dramatic "attestation" experience. This is called "initial evidence validation" and some Pentecostal churches say that only speaking in tongues is the evidence of being baptized in the Spirit. But Scripture says, "We were all baptized by one Spirit into the body..." (1 Cor. 12:13).

Tongues (cf. Isa. 28:11; 1 Cor. 12:10) are not the only evidence of the filling or baptism: One may prophesy, one may feel great peace and freedom or relief, one may get a thirst for the Word and even a great desire or burden to witness boldly. I was one of the only persons in the Bible study that couldn't nail down my conversion date--I guess I forgot how important it would be and by the time I was asked I had forgotten. For instance, if you cannot pinpoint your salvation to the day and even time you probably weren't saved. This is balderdash! You don't have to remember the precise moment that the Holy Spirit took up residence. Beth Moore says most of us don't remember the moment the Holy Spirit took up residence.

Charles Spurgeon has written that not all of us become aware of instantaneously, but some over a period of time. Billy Graham says, "We may not know the time the sun rose but we surely know it is up." 2 Peter 1:19 says that there is a time when "the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." We may repent one day and commit our lives to Christ another (I can remember when I repented and when I committed myself). We may walk forward to no avail and dedicate our lives or renew them many a time before that real "assurance" sticks. Isa. 32:17 correlates assurance with righteousness ("The work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever"). In other words, being righteous leads to producing fruit which gives assurance. "Bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God" (Col. 1:10). Nota bene assurance is not a subjective thing but from the objective Word of God that we rely upon.

Many people think they got saved when they said a sinners prayer. Actually going through the motions or memorizing the dance of the pious don't save--faith does. The devil can raise his hand, walk an aisle, say a prayer, etc. But can the devil produce the fruit of love for the Lord and good deeds the fruit of repentance (Acts 26:20)? That is like the Roman position that grace comes through the action. It is called ex opere operato. For instance, they believe that the actual baptizing of infants washes away original sin and he would go to hell if not baptized. True faith is tested by its fruit and we are all fruit inspectors--ourselves first! It is the Word of God coupled with the testimony of the Holy Spirit that gives assurance. "The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Rom. 8:16).   Soli Deo Gloria!