Our Foundations in Jesus – Baptisms

foundations Dunk, drizzle, splash, sprinkle… It seems every church has its own way of baptizing and its own philosophy of when and why it should happen.

  • Does it wash away some vaguely-defined “original sin”?
  • Does it make you a Christian?
  • Is it essential for salvation?
  • Does it save you all by itself?
  • Is it more proper to pour a small amount of water over a baby’s forehead, or should we dunk adults in over their heads?

All that folderol is religion. Religion is a man-made philosophy of pleasing God. In an earlier article we spoke of pleasing God as “dead works.” What does the Bible say about baptism? There are four types of baptism in the Bible.

  1. The Baptism of John the Baptist/Repentance
  2. Christian Baptism
  3. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
  4. Baptism of Suffering

Baptism of John the Baptist/Repentance

John started before Jesus began and was done during Jesus’ time. John preached repentance from sin and that after him would come One more powerful than he. John emphasized that he baptized with water and that the One to come would baptize with the Holy Spirit.  (Read Mark 1:4-8) John was what we might today call a front-man. His job was to get the hearts of the people ready to hear Jesus’ message. When people came to John for baptism, they confessed their sins and committed to change, opening fertile ground in their hearts to receive Jesus’ message of salvation. (Matthew 3:1-3, 7-11)

Christian Baptism

Christians are to be baptized after we have received Jesus. Baptism is an act of outward obedience following the example that Jesus established by Himself being baptized. (See Matthew 3:13-17 & 1 Peter 2:21-22) Christian Baptism identifies us with three events in Jesus’ lift

  • His death (Romans 6:3)
  • His burial (Colossians 2:12)
  • His resurrection (ibid)

Christian Baptism is a public confession that you are committing your life to Jesus. It shows the world that you are a new creature with a new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17), and a changed heart  (Romans 2: 28-29). In Exodus we see a grand example of water cleansing. The Israelites passed through the Red Sea unharmed, but their enemy was destroyed in the water. Examples of believers being baptized are found in Acts 2:38, 8:16, 10:48, and 19:5. Read! The catch? OK, no catch… but there are two conditions for Christian Baptism to be effective:

  1. Baptism is not your ticket to God. Repentance is, and baptism is the outward declaration. (Acts 2:37-38)
  2. Believe. Salvation is based upon belief and faith, not proof. God asks only that we accept Him wholeheartedly and He will reward us with eternal paradise. (See Mark 16:15-16 & Acts 16:25-34)

Holy Spirit Baptism

“… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” Acts 1:8a

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a supernatural empowering, released by faith that we may be confident to accomplish all that God calls us to do.

To receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, you must:

  1. Be born again (John 7:37-38)
  2. Have a repentant heart (Acts 2:38)
  3. Hunger after God (Matthew 5:6)
  4. Have faith to receive (Galatians 3:13-14)

Here is a famous (or infamous) before-and-after example of a believer receiving the Holy Spirit. Before: Peter denied Jesus three times, even after declaring that he would lay down his life for Him. (John 18:15-18 & 25-27) After: Peter unashamedly preached in public, saving 3000 people (Acts 2:14-41). He spoke boldly to religious leaders, the same ones he fled from earlier (Acts 4:1-21).

Baptism of Suffering

Hookay… this one takes a greater understanding and faith. While everything will be peaches and cream in Heaven, life on this planet is not so rosy. Christians will be (not might be, will be) persecuted for their faith. Non-believers will do all sorts of nasty things to drag us down and keep us in the slime of sin with them. But with God in our corner, we can persevere. And not merely survive, but emerge victorious. What will we suffer for Jesus?

  • We’re going to face bad treatment (slang: getting “dissed”) for well-doing (1 Peter 2:20 & 3:17)
  • We’ll be persecuted just for believing in Jesus (just read the secular news these days, and compare with 2 Timothy & 2 Corinthians 12:10)
  • We’ll always be tempted; that doesn’t stop (1 Corinthians 10:13, 1 Peter 4:1, James 1:12)

What will we NOT suffer for Jesus?

  • Suffer for eternity. Jesus took our place for punishments for sins, so we don’t have to. (Luke 22:44, Isaiah 53, & Matthew 27:27-50)
  • Sickness (1 Peter 2:24 [You’re looking these verses up and reading them, right?])
  • Poverty (2 Corinthians 8:9)
  • Suffer as a murderer, thief, evildoer, meddler (1 Peter 4:12-16)

Remember, Jesus took all these sufferings upon Himself to spare us the same.

Joy in suffering

What’s so… ggggrrrrrrrr… joyous about suffering??? For one thing, we are told in 1 Peter 4:13 that we are to rejoice that we suffer for the name of Jesus. As we suffer for Him, the love of God continues to grow inside us so we can shine even brighter for Jesus, being examples to the people around us. (Romans 5:3-6) Just as a broken bone becomes stronger in the healed place, you can be stronger for having suffered for Jesus. So the story has a happy ending after all.

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