We are faced with many questions regarding baptism. Especially for those that have been lifelong followers of Christ and yet were never baptized or have been informed that their baptism was not Biblical in some way (i.e. – sprinkled as a baby or adult). With that said, let me do my best to answer some questions such as: What does it mean to get baptized? Do I have to get baptized to go to heaven? Why do I have to be immersed? etc.
Looking at it from the big picture, let me put it this way. We are all sinners in need of a Savior. Our sin separated us from God and there is nothing we could do to fully atone or make payment for our sins. God is a just God and the wages of our sin is death (Romans 6:23). However, God is also a loving God and knowing that we couldn’t make that payment, he decided to make it for us by sending his son Jesus to die on the cross (Colossians 2:13-15). That is why we say and believe that we are saved by God’s grace.
Without his part, I could do nothing to gain forgiveness and eternal life.
However, that gift that God has given must be accepted by each of us individually. How do we accept that gift? The Bible says we basically do five things
1) Believe (have faith) - John 3:16; Hebrews 11:6; Romans 10:10 - It all starts with faith. If I don’t believe it then none of the other things we do matter (Confession becomes a lie, baptism become a bath, etc.). What do I believe? I believe that Jesus really was the son of God, that he really did die on the cross for my sins, and that he really did rise again proving that death could not hold him or those that follow him.
****Please note though, that there must be more then just belief. It starts with belief but it doesn’t end there. James 2:19 says that even the demons believe these things. What it means is that I must respond to that belief. How do I do that?
2) I Repent - the Greek word repent means to change directions. And what I find is that this belief in my head now moves to my heart and becomes more then just mental agreement. It means that I am convicted of my sin and want to make a change. I’ve been following my own way of doing things and now I’m going to change directions (repent) and follow Jesus Christ. When the people asked the Apostle Peter what they must do to be saved he said you must "repent and be baptized" (Acts 2:38). Acts 17:30 & 2 Peter 3:9 also emphasize the essentialness of repenting.
So what we have is a mental understanding (belief) that has moved to the heart in a decision to follow (repentance) and God in his wisdom has given us two ways to express this newfound conviction.
3) Confession - the first of these is to confess with our mouth - And we are seeing a progression, it has moved from my head (belief) to my heart (repentance) to my mouth in the form of confession. It is not a confession of sin but a confession of Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Romans 10:9-10 says that we are to "confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord...for it is with our mouth that we confess and are saved." So obviously confession
plays an essential role. Confession gives us accountability as well as that public declaration of whose side we are on. Jesus said in Matthew 10:32 "if you confess me before men then I will confess you before my father."
And so the progression continues. From my head (belief) to my heart (repentance) to my mouth (confession) and then in a beautiful pledge to God it goes to my entire body as I am immersed in the waters of baptism.
4) Baptism - The Greek word baptizo literally means to immerse. Why did God choose immersion? And the answer is that it unites us with Christ in his death and resurrection. He died, was buried, and then rose again. That’s what we see in baptism. It is a plunging beneath, a burial in sorts, and then a rising again. It’s interesting that God chose baptism to represent going from death to life because if you think about it, when you are under
the water you are closer to death then at any other time. Your senses are muted, you are devoid of outside essentials needed for life. It is a BEAUTIFUL picture of giving everything to God. It is also just as essential as belief, repentance or confession. Let me give you some scriptures to show this:
-Jesus himself said in Mark 16:15 "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."
-When the people asked Peter what must we do to be saved he said "Repent and be baptized FOR the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)
-Romans 6:4 says "We were therefore buried with Christ through BAPTISM into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."
-In Acts 22:16 the Apostle Paul is telling of how he was saved and he has met Jesus on the road and believed and he has even begun to follow his instructions and then we read in Acts 22:16 "And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name."
-In 1 Peter 3:21 we read "This water symbolizes baptism which now saves you. It is not the removal of dirt from the body, but it is the PLEDGE of a good conscience towards God."
I think you see the key to baptism in that last passage. We are in this process of becoming the Bride of Christ. There are many passages that talk about Jesus as the bridegroom and we are the bride. In the analogy of getting married there is always a time of making a pledge or a vow. 1 Peter 3:21 says baptism is our "pledge" towards God. We are saying to him, "God, you gave it all for me, you buried yourself in the ground for me, and now I am making the same pledge back to you. I’m giving it all for you."
Now, if I didn’t make it too confusing, I think you can see the progression going on, Mental consent (belief) to a heart decision (repentance) to a vocal admission (confession) and then to an all encompassing pledge (baptism). That is how we receive the gift of God, we believe, repent, confess and get baptized. And that is then followed by
5) Obedience. God never calls for us to make the decision and then go our separate way. We are entering into a covenant, a marriage relationship and while he will never ever walk out of that marriage, we are free to do so. We can obey or disobey but we cannot abandon the marriage and then expect to see the benefits of that relationship (Mark 13:13 says "He who stands firm to the end shall be saved.)
Now, it would be silly for us to leave any of the above steps out. Why would we? We would no more leave out baptism from the process then we would confession or repentance.
So why does it appear to be left out in cases like the thief on the cross. Well, let me back up and say that the new testament means the new agreement - God had an old agreement with Israel called the old covenant or old testament. He then opened the way for all mankind with the new covenant. Please note that the new covenant does not begin until after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
Hebrews 9:15-16 says "For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant....In the case of a covenant (will) it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it because a will (covenant - same word) is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is still living."
This is important because it means that all the people in the Gospels, including people like the thief on the cross, were living under the terms of the old covenant. They didn’t need to repent, confess, get baptized, etc, because the new covenant had not begun yet. I say that for the purpose of showing that we do not look to those people in regards to how we are to be saved.
With that said, following Jesus’ death and resurrection there are nine times that we read about someone becoming a Christian. The process is always the same, a person believes, repents, confesses and is baptized and then lives an obedient life. These things were never intended to be separated from each other. It wasn’t until hundreds and hundreds of years later that the church began baptizing babies and separating the process out.
One last question:
Do I need to be immersed or is sprinkling enough?
First off, that’s in God’s hands. If he chooses to accept those who are sprinkled because they’ve never understood the concept of immersion, that is his prerogative and frankly, he is a gracious God, a loving God and a merciful God who knows the heart. As far as the 99% of your family that was baptized in this way, I think he will look to their hearts and say, "you know what, they did what they thought was what I wanted, their heart was right. Come on in." That’s not my decision, that’s his and he is a gracious God.
However, what concerns me are those that realize the word means immerse, realize that God intended it that way as a burial (Romans 6:4) of the old self, realize that it was the ONLY way the church baptized for hundreds and hundreds of years, and yet for some reason says "Nah, I’m not gonna do that." What I’m afraid of is that there are some with the mindset of "what’s the least I can do and get by" instead of saying "God, I will do whatever you’ve asked in the way you’ve asked to the fullest extent that I can."
Summing up the immersion part of it:
-It is what the word baptism means
-It is what the act symbolizes - a death and burial
-It was the only way we see people baptized in the Bible (i.e. - Acts
8:39 "they came up out of the water")
-It was the practice of the early church for hundreds of years
-It is a way of pledging my whole life - submitting it all to God.
I hope you’ll consider these things.
