Baptism is such a topic of debate in the religious world. It shouldn’t be. As we look at baptism, let’s avoid all attitudes such as “I think”, “I feel”, “In my opinion”, “My grandma felt”, etc. Let’s look at what the Bible says about baptism. There’s two areas we’ll look at today.
1) Examples of baptism in the 1st century. There are so many examples of people being baptized in the New Testament. On the day of Pentecost, after Peter had delivered a convicting sermon, the crowd was cut to the heart and cried out to Peter, “Men and brethren what shall we do to be saved?” Peter responded, “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” (Acts 2:37-38) Peter ‘s response addressed how and why to be saved. We’re 1) Baptized in the name of Jesus and 2) for the remission of sins.
Some of the other examples of baptism in the New Testament include: 1) The Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:35-38), Paul (Acts 9:17-18 and Acts 22:16), Cornelius (Acts 10:47-48), Lydia (Acts 16:14-15), The Philippian Jailer (Acts 16:30-33) and Crispus (Acts 18:8).
Paul explains the importance of baptism to the Christians in Rome (Romans 6:3-4). He compares our “Death To Sin”, immersion in baptism and us being raised out of the water of baptism to a “Newness of Life”, to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
2) The Example and teaching of Jesus. Everything Jesus did was an example for us to follow. We see Jesus being baptized in Mark 1:9-11. Jesus taught of the importance of baptism 1:9-11. Jesus taught the importance of baptism in Mark 16:16 when He said, “HE WHO BELIEVES AND IS BAPTIZED WILL BE SAVED.” How can one argue with the words Jesus of Jesus?
We all have choices. We can choose to follow the words of Jesus and the examples of people being saved in the 1st Century, or, we can reject those many examples. The choice is yours, just realize that choices have consequences and this choice is for eternal salvation.
A Big Thank You goes to Bruce Eubank for writing this blog for me. Bruce is a full time teacher and coach at one of the High Schools in Las Vegas, Nv. He also fills the pulpit for the South Valley Church of Christ.
