BIBLE MEDITATION:
Act 22:16; “And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on His name.”
ENCOURAGING WORD:
There seems to be a lot of confusion within the sects of Christianity as to when we should be baptized. To me, there should be no question about it. There is nowhere in the Bible where infant baptism is even hinted at. Every Bible verse about baptism says, believe and be baptized, not be baptized and believe. I challenge anybody to prove that wrong.
So, as I always do, I’m going to share a few bible verses to prove what I just said to be true. There are many, but I’ll just quote a few. But let me say right up front, getting baptized does not save you, but if you refuse to be baptized, then I would have to ask you, why? If you feel embarrassed or ashamed to take part in a public baptism, then listen to what Jesus has to say in the following Bible verse.
Mattthew 10:33; “ But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”
You’re not necessarily denying Jesus by not getting baptized, but by denying baptism, you are not taking His Word seriously, and that could be an indication that your inward commitment could just be lip service. If Jesus tells us we should do something, then we should obey without question.
Only Jesus can save you, if your commitment to serve Him is real. There is no other way. Baptism falls into the same category as obeying the Ten Commandments. Obeying the Ten Commandments is something that should come automatic once we become Born-Again into the Holy Spirit, as should baptism. It’s not something that you have to do, it should be something that you want to do. If you feel that you will go to heaven by obeying the Ten Commandments, you are badly mistaken. First of all, let me tell you right up front, in order to go to heaven by obeying the Ten Commandments, you would have to obey every one of them every day of your life without one sin, and that is impossible no matter how hard you try, so scrap the notion of being saved by works. Only one person fulfilled all the commandments to perfection, and that is why He is the only one that can pay for our sins. In case you’re not sure who this is in refence to, His name is Jesus Christ! After living a completely sinless life, He then took the sins of the world upon His shoulders and died the most horrific death known to man which was crucifixion. Only by receiving Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior and becoming Born-Again can we be saved.
Galatians 2:16; “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified.”
The idea of being baptized is connected with believing. They go hand in hand. See, children under the age of accountability are automatically Children of God. Baptism is not necessary at that point. All children under the age of accountability go directly to heaven whether they have been baptized or not, if they die before that age. As to what age that is, we can only speculate. Being brought up in one of the denominational churches, I was taught that once you were baptized as an infant, you were going to go to heaven. This is another very dangerous doctrine because it is not true. Every Child that is born is under the protection of God. Once they reach the age of accountability, they have to make a rational decision whether or not they will accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and become Born-Again. If they choose to believe, it is then that they become Born-Again. This is known as the second birth. Born-Again means second birth. If they choose not to believe, then they are outside of Gods will until they decide to become Born-Again into the Holy Spirit. If they choose not to believe, and remain in that state of being, they will die in their sins and be cast into the "Lake of Burning Fire" for all eternity, regardless of what you are being taught.
Here is the Bible verse that validates exactly what I am saying.
John 3: 3-8; “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
See, we are all born once, so when Jesus said that you must be Born-Again, that is in reference to receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. The second birth, which is absolutely necessary to enter into God’s heavenly dwelling for those that believe. If you are not Born-Again, then you will take part in the second death, which comes at the "White Throne Judgment" where you will be condemned to “The Lake of Burning Fire” for all eternity. Here’s where we get the saying, "If you are born once, you die twice, if you are born twice, you die once." Those that are Born-Again, will not die the second death.
So, to get back to my point, when we choose to be baptized, it is our outward expression to an inward commitment. When you get submersed under the water, you are saying goodbye to the old man or woman, and when you come up you are a new man or woman. Once again, you don’t do this to be saved, you do this because you are saved.
2 Corinthians 5:17"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.".
This is what takes place in baptism, “The Old life has passed away and the New life one has begins. As for infants, if you want to commit them over to God, take part in a baby dedication. In a sense you are dedicated your child to God, and you are asking God to watch over your child until the age of accountability. That is when he or she can choose to believe or reject the truth of the Gospel. Know this, if you take your child faithfully to church every week or more, your child will have a much better understand of what is the right road to follow. If you are not taking your child to a Bible believing church, don’t be surprised when they reject the truth of salvation and take the broad path that leads to destruction. Listen to what the Bible says about this.
Matthew 7:13; “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.”
You, as a parent are responsible for your child and how you bring them up. If you are one of those that say, “I’m not pushing religion on my child, I’ll let him or her make up their own mind when they get older. I hate to be so blunt, but you’re a very irresponsible parent. That my friends is the most pathetic thinking that a parent can have. Let me give you an example of what I’m saying. If you have a child and you want him or her to be a professional athlete, what do you do? You spend time with your child teaching them to the best of your ability how to be good. I’ve never heard anybody say, I want my child to be a very good athlete, but I’ll let them make the choice when they get older without any influence from me. You know what, it’ll be too late when they get to that age. In the same way, if you don’t train your child in the ways of salvation, it will most likely be too late when they get to the age of accountability. You are responsible and will be held accountable when you stand before Jesus Christ at the “White Throne Judgment”.
Luke 3:16; “John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Notice, those that John was talking to were all adults. There might have been children at the age of accountability, but no infant was present that we know of.
Mark 16:16; “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
What does it say, “Believe and be Baptized” Not be Baptized and then eventually believe.”
Act 2: 36 - 41; “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah. “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do? “Peter 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. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”
Once again, does it say, “be baptized and then repent”, No! not at all, and this is the pattern that you will find through the scriptures of the Bible. I want to share another scripture that is not understood by most Christians.
Matthew 3:14-17; “But John tried to deter Him, (Jesus) saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.”
When Jesus said it was proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness, He was referring to the day that He would take the sins of the world on His shoulder and die in our place. Jesus Himself did not need to be baptized because He was without sin. He had no sin to confess or repent of, but He had to be baptized for the sins that He would take upon Himself when He hung on the cross for our transgressions. That was the only time that Jesus was out of fellowship with God the Father. This is where we hear Jesus speak from the cross as He suffered for you and I.
Psalm 22: 1-2; “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent.”
Colossians 2:12; “having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.”
This is a good way of explaining Baptism in a nut shell. When we are submersed into the water, that symbolizes us being buried with Him (Jesus). When we come up, it symbolizes us being raised with Jesus through faith in the working of God. I hope this is all making sense to you. If you are attending a denomination that teaches that we are saved by infant baptism, ask your pastor or preacher to show you one example of infant baptism in the Bible. They won’t be able to find one, but they will most likely take something completely out of context to validate what they believe.
I know that I am attacking this subject pretty harshly, but you need to know the truth. You are not saved by infant baptism; you need to be Born-Again and then be baptized after your confession of faith. Now let me explain this one more time. Becoming Born-Again saves you, baptism is just an outward expression of your faith. Baptism does not save you; it just shows your willingness to proclaim to the world that you are a child of God. Like I said at the beginning of this teaching, I said I was going to share scriptures of the Bible to validate what I am try to get across, so here is another Bible verse that clearly says that we need to believe and then be baptized.
Acts 8:12; “But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.”
Read this again, But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.” Crystal clear if you ask me. How can you deny the truth? I will share these last few verses with you that pretty much sums it all up.
John 1: 29-33; “The next day John (The Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know Him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that He might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on Him. And I myself did not know Him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The Man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.”
Let me end by saying this, Friends, We never know what a day will bring. In the last couple years I have had to say goodbye to many friends and members of my own family. As much as I miss them, there is only one thought that races through my mind. Where are they now? Will I see them again? Wherever they are, they are there for all eternity. If they did not accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, I’m sure that they would love to come back and warn their loved ones of what lies ahead if you are not Born-Again into the Holy Spirit. But, you know what, they can’t. We, who are still alive, have that choice yet ahead of us. As long as we are still alive and breathing we can still call out to Jesus Christ for salvation. Once you take that final breath, your decision has been made, no more opportunity to spend eternity with Jesus if you have rejected Him and what He did for you on the cross. You will have no one to blame but yourself for where you end up. So, once you become Born-Again, take that next step and show the world that you belong to Jesus Christ and there is no one that can take that away from you!
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So please, call out to the one that loves you so much. I’ll end with this verse, John 15:13; “
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends”
Do you have a friend that would lay down his life for you? You may know someone that might do that for you, but know this, there is one who already died for you, and if you choose Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and Friend, you are forever His Friend as we hear the words that are sang in the following song.
What a friend we have in Jesus; All our sins and griefs to bear; What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit; O what needless pain we bear; All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!
Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged; Take it to the Lord in prayer!
Can we find a friend so faithful? Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; Take it to the Lord in prayer!
"And now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it."
May God Bless you in all you do and take care!
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