Christ Leads The Way

“Then Paul said, ‘John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus’.” – Acts 19:4

Hi, everyone! I hope that you are well! Thanks so much for reading! I appreciate you!!!

Jesus commands our obedience to Him. There’s no question about that. However, many people question His command about baptism. Jesus said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). You will be saved if you believe and are baptized. Yet some believe the second part of Jesus’ statement removes the need for baptism for one’s salvation. But, it doesn’t. There are many who have been baptized for different reasons. But is a baptism valid if it was done for the wrong reasons?

In the book of Acts, we see several people being saved. In Acts 19, Paul found some disciples who were baptized with the baptism of John and not with the baptism of Christ. Paul told them, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus” (Acts 19:4). Christ’s baptism is for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). It is what puts a person into Christ, and saves him (Galatians 3:27, 1 Peter 3:21).

Today, some people are baptized because:

1. They simply they think it’s a good thing to do.
2. They believe it’s an outward show of their inward change.
3. They believe they were saved when they first believed in Jesus as Lord and wanted to be baptized for some other reason.
4. They do it as children and want to participate in activities in the service, like communion or singing in the choir.

And some people have never been baptized because they don’t think it necessary. Those all are what would be considered “baptisms of John”, if you will allow the analogy. Basically, they are not the baptism of Christ. And in those cases, a rebaptism is necessary, just like it was for the people in Acts 19.

Any baptism where a person lacked understanding of why they were baptized and where they lacked the meaning that Christ assigns to baptism is not valid. Most would agree that a person needs to know why they believe in Jesus, why they are making a decision to become a follower of Christ, and what the Bible says about it not just what a person told them.

We have an example in the Bible where people needed to be rebaptized. They did not have the correct understanding, even though they believed in Jesus and were following Him. The same can be true today.

If you were baptized, did you believe it was a requirement? Was it for the forgiveness of sins, so that you could be baptized into Christ? Or did you have other reasons? I invite you to reflect upon your motives for being baptized if you were and to be rebaptized if they were not aligned with Christ’s design for baptism.

Feel free to share your experience with baptism and your thoughts about its purpose. I’d love to hear.

“There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” – 1 Peter 3:21

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