I’ve seen several baptisms the last few weeks at Spring Meadows and camps and other places I’ve preached. Last week a friend showed me a video of a person being baptized in the ocean. The person baptizing them did not take them far enough out and then “took the back” just as the tide was going back out and laid the person on dry land 
! Well, all of that and a study I had with a young couple last week got me to thinking:
I have to come clean on something. This will shock some of you, but stay with me and hear me out. I feel like I’ve spend the last 10 years trying to convince people NOT to be baptized. Whoa – wait – what?
Before I go further let me make a couple of very clear statements. I believe one MUST be baptized for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). I believe it is a requirement and a command and that that is the part of the process God uses to save men and women lost in sin (1 Peter 3;21. I believe that baptism is the act through which God adds people to His church (Romans 6:3-4). I have delivered the Lord’s invitation thousands of times and submitting to His Will in baptism is always a part of the invitation I close with.
So, why the statement above? Because I do not want to denominationalize the church. Let me explain. As people have come our way and asked to be a part of the church here we always talk to them about their soul and their relationship with God. Most often, if they do not have a background in the churches of Christ they just ask: “We want to be a part of your church. What do we need to do?”
Now’s where it gets tricky. If I just said: “To be a member of our church you have to be baptized into it.” Other than the “our church” part technically that would be correct. But, in their mind they would only be becoming a part of a denomination. They would not be doing it for a true Bible reason but only to fulfill some request made by a church. So instead we find ourselves talking about the Bible – the who, the why, the when of Bible baptism.
I believe too strongly in the way God’s Word teaches about the “why” of immersion to compromise just to get a person to do what I think they should do if it is for the wrong reason. As I read the Bible I never find that the “where” of the baptism or the “who” is doing the baptism are emphasized but the focus is on the submission of the person and their understanding of God’s Will. Let’s be careful that in our excitement over a person wanting to be baptized we do not mis-teach for numbers or any other sake. Or that we don’t baptize a person just to get them to do what we want them to do or to satisfy human understanding. But most of all, let’s get busy fulfilling the Great Commission! Go, teach, baptize, teach!
Indeed! The Greek word eis means “unto” and not “because of” in the context of Acts 2:38. When people want to “join” the church – read carefully – we cannot do anything for that to happen (see Acts 2:47). There is no such thing as “getting baptized for Jesus.” He remains the Savior of His body. He knows who is added. We would do well to teach and preach the truth and be ready for God to facilitate the increase when people repent and are immersed for the remission of sins. Getting’ busy…
Amen! I couldn’t not have said it better myself! As an aside, when I preach on the cleansing of Naaman I usually title the sermon “Coming Clean with God.” I appreciate that you include baptism in the invitation of Christ. We must be faithful in telling people what the Bible (the Lord) says about how to be saved.
Well, I didn’t really intend the double negative in my first full sentence. Most of you will know what I meant to say!
Amen and Amen!!!
This is a great article and I agree wholeheartedly. For this reason I find myself increasingly changing the way I appeal to people to respond at the end of sermons. I usually conclude by saying, “Would you like to experience a relationship with God? Do you want to be a part of God’s kingdom? Then let’s sit down and have a personal study from the Bible together. Let’s open the Bible together and study so you can develop a faith of your own from your own copy of the Bible. If you would like to have a study like this to explore what God’s will is for your life and how to come to know him on a personal and intimate level, please come and talk with me privately after the service.”
Years ago I studied a great deal with Texas inmates one on one. Most of these were “follow ups” from Bible correspondence courses. Often their question was, “Do I have to be baptized?” I would tell them they were not ready, encourage them to study more, and often give them specific texts to consider. I would tell them that when this truth finally “hits home” they will be banging on the red brick walls and saying with the Eunuch, “What can keep me from being baptized??” The word got out that I was discouraging inmates from obeying the gospel, which was not true. I did, however, want them to respond and obey for the right reasons and motives. Most of them did at a later time.