BAPTISM
BAPTISM
What? Who? Why? Where? When?
In school I was taught to approach a new subject with five questions: What? Who? Why? Where? When? That seems a good way for us to study the subject of baptism, so please get your Bible and let us begin.
WHAT?
Baptism is the "what", but what is baptism?
Baptism is a burial in water (Romans 6:1-7; Acts 8:38-39; Colossians 2:12), immersion. The sprinkling or pouring of water is not scriptural baptism.
Baptism is the means by which a person puts on Christ (Galatians 3:26-27).
Baptism is an action which, if mixed with faith, will save a person's soul from hell (Mark 16:16; Acts 22:16; Acts 2:38)
.Baptism is the answer of a good conscience toward God (1 Peter 3:21).
WHO?
If you ask a number of religious people "who needs to be baptized?", you might receive various answers such as...
Babies and small children
New Christians
Dead people (who will be baptized by proxy.)
Repentant sinners who want to be saved
Which answer is correct according to the Bible?
"Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' 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 those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added to them" (Acts 2:37-38,41).
"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 8:36-38).
Acts chapters 9,22, and 26 record the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, later known as the apostle Paul. Chapter 9 records the event as it happened. In chapters 16 and 22, Paul is retelling the story of his conversion. Especially notice 9:4-6 and 22:7-10,16.
If you examine these and all the other accounts of baptisms (all recorded in the book of Acts), you will find that the people who needed to be baptized were ALWAYS repentant believers who wanted to be saved. They were NEVER babies, new Christians, or physically dead people.
WHY?
Many people are baptized for the wrong reasons...
baptized as children, their guardians believing they are removing inherited sins [see Ezekiel 18:20 to learn that children do not inherit sins]
as an "outward sign of an inward grace", that is, to illustrate their belief that God has already saved them [neither this expression nor its explanation is found in the Bible]
for the dead, that is, to save someone else who died unrepentant [see Philippians 2:12;1 Peter 4:4-5, Hebrews 4:12-13, and many other scriptures to learn that each person must live and die and give account to God for himself and no one else]
Why should a person be baptized?
To die to sin (Romans 6:3-7, 11-13)
To have sins washed away (Acts 22:16)
To be saved (Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:21)
To put on Christ (Galatians 3:26-27)
To get into Christ (Romans 6:3)
To enter the body, the church, of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 5:23)
To become a new creation in Christ (Romans 6:1-6; 2 Corinthians 5:17)
To be regenerated [made alive again or born again] (Titus 3:5)
WHERE?
The answer to the question "where should a person be baptized?" is in any body of water in which a person can be immersed. Both Romans 6:4 and Colossians 2:12 use the word "buried", illustrating that the person being baptized must go down under the water just as a physically dead person's body goes into the grave. The baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:38) also illustrates this fact.
WHEN?
A person should be baptized as soon as he knows he is a sinner, believes Jesus is the Son of God and Savior of the world, is willing to repent of his sins, and is willing to confess his faith in Christ. Do not wait a year, a month, a day, no, not even an hour if you can help it! Be saved from this perverse generation (Acts 2:40) as soon as you possibly can! This is what the first converts in Jerusalem at Pentecost did (Acts 2:41)! This is what the Ethiopian eunuch did (Acts 8:36-38)! This is what Saul of Tarsus did (Acts 22:16; Acts 9:18)!
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
I have met many people who have been baptized, yet not baptized into Christ Jesus. Some were baptized by sprinkling or pouring; they were not truly baptized. Some were baptized after praying the sinner's prayer and asking Jesus into their lives; such were not saved [because the Bible never tells of anyone praying the sinner's prayer for salvation] and were not scripturally baptized.
These people, like the disciples of John (Acts 19:1-5), need to be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38).
If you have been baptized, why were you baptized?
Have you been baptized into Christ so that your sins might be washed away?
Do you need to be baptized today?
By Michael Hurst