Water Baptism

“Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

We learn from this verse that the Lord did not tell His disciples to make members! He told His disciples to make fellow disciples of Him. And He said, when a person has come to the saving knowledge of the Lord, where he is willing to submit to discipleship, the outward act which demonstrates that willingness, which seals His profession of faith and obedience, is that he should be baptized in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. After having baptized, he then enters into a further life of discipline and training.

The baptizer, or the leaders that are responsible for his spiritual well-being, must then teach him to observe all things that the Lord taught His disciples to observe. And the Lord said, “This process is to go on until I come back.” Then He said, “I’m with you until the end of the age.” In other words, He commanded His disciples, “You go out and make disciples, and when they receive your teachings and are willing to submit themselves to the discipleship, let the outward evidence of their obedience and commitment to discipleship be that they are baptized in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Then you teach them just as I’ve taught you”.

And as far as God was concerned, the process was to continue the same until the age closed. There was never any reason to change or amend that process because it was the right one, the one that worked, it was the one that God had commanded and authorised.

In Mark 16:15-16, we have a similar commission given to the disciples at the close of the earthly ministry of Jesus. “And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

So, the Lord said, this gospel is to be preached to every human being in all the world and every person who believes the gospel is to show forth his believing—the evidence of his believing will be that he will be baptized. Just as the seal of discipleship was to be baptized, so is the evidence of believing is to be baptized. In other words, the thing that immediately follows believing and becoming a disciple is being baptized. This is the outward evidence that a person has believed and committed himself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

When we read through the scriptures, we notice from the beginning of the Church era in Acts of Apostles, what was the pattern followed for to become a Christian. Immediately after the first sermon was preached by Peter on the day of Pentecost- those who heard the gospel started asking, Acts 2:38 “Men and brethren, what shall we do? Peter said, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

The first thing to do before they could be baptized was to repent—to make a firm decision to turn from their sinful way, their rebellion, their stubbornness, their self-sufficiency, their self-righteousness, to turn and submit to God and be willing to meet His further requirements.

Then we read in Acts chapter 8 that Philip went down to Samaria and preached one message to the Samaritans and the message was Christ. That’s all he preached. But it says in Acts 8:12: “When they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.”

Every person in the book of Acts who heard the gospel and believed knew immediately that it was his responsibility to be baptized forthwith. There is not a single case in the book of Acts of any person who believed the gospel and claimed salvation through faith in Jesus Christ without being immediately baptized.

As we continue reading the Book of Acts, in the 8th chapter, we see Philip was on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, he met the Ethiopian eunuch in his chariot, found him reading from Isaiah 53, the eunuch conversed with Philip and didn’t know about whom he was reading, and then it says, “Philip opened his mouth at the same Scripture and preached unto the eunuch about Lord Jesus Christ. But a little later the chariot was passing a pool of water or stream beside the road, and the eunuch said, not insisted by Philip: “Look, here’s water, why shouldn’t I be baptized?” And Philip said, “If you believe; you certainly may.” And the Scripture says they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and Philip baptized the eunuch. You see that immediately the eunuch accepted the message of Philip, without further instruction or any other kind of preliminary, he knew that it was required of him that he be baptized and he was extremely anxious to be baptized as quickly as possible.