And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Mark 16:15-16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.John 3:16-17

Go 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 that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.        Matthew 28:19-20

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:1-4

Baptism

As I arise from the water
I am completely transformed.
Through the Glory of God
I’m renewed and reborn.
I’ve been buried with Christ
And like Him, I’ve been raised.
By His blood and my Faith
Through God’s grace, I am saved.

I now live in Christ Jesus.
am now dead to sin.
The enemy’s wickedness
Will not rule me again.
For, I was called to one hope
On the day I was called,
To one Lord and one Faith
To one Father of all.

 A willing slave to our God,
Wise to the Devil’s deceit,
I can now serve the Lord
With obedience complete.
Ready to do what Jesus decreed
To go make disciples of all.
Ready now to step out in faith
Whenever the Spirit might call.
©Linda Troxell 08/08/2018

 Christians seem to be able to create controversy over anything. Baptism is no different. Baptism is a rich, beautiful, and meaningful ritual symbolizing the process of death, resurrection, and rebirth. It is symbolic of an ending as well as a beginning. It is our public profession that we have committed our lives to Christ as our Savior and it is the beginning of the sanctification process by which we become joint-heirs with Christ.  What could be controversial about that?

 Here are some of the questions Christians argue over:  Is baptism necessary in order to be saved? Why is it so important? Who should be baptized? Should babies be baptized? Will babies go to hell if they die before being baptized? Is sprinkling sufficient in baptism or must we be immersed? Who is authorized to baptize?  Do you see what I mean? We Christians can take a ritual that should be a beautiful meaningful gift and turn it into an anxiety-filled obligation.

I only began to take my Christianity seriously a few years ago. I have always considered myself a Christian but I admit that it was not a serious commitment for most of my life. So when I became serious, I began to do some studying in order to understand what was expected of me if I chose to make this commitment.

As a result of my study, I decided to ask Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Savior and I made a commitment to follow His commandments to the best of my ability. I was ready for this commitment and I was ready for my understanding of this faith to change, expand and take different shapes as I grew in my walk with Christ.

I knew that as I walked with Christ He would give me the strength to meet all challenges. I was also encouraged by knowing our God is a patient God and He understands that we humans are sometimes slow to learn. And by slow, I mean sometimes never.

In the beginning, I didn’t feel it was necessary to be baptized. Every expert I read said baptism is not necessary for being saved. And I took their word for it. But as I studied the Bible this conclusion began to feel less and less secure.

I noticed that I could find no scriptures that expressly said that it is not necessary to be baptized and I found so many that seemed to indicate that it is necessary. For example, And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Mark 16:15-16.

And there are more like that: John 3:5; Acts 2:38-41 & 16:31-33 & 22:16; Galatians 3:27; Luke 3:21-22:  Romans 6:1-5, and many, many more. Consequently, this idea nagged at me for months.

However, as I studied further, I began to see why those experts believed that baptism isn’t required in order to be saved, or born again. The more I read, the clearer it became that reading certain scriptures in isolation is what led me to the erroneous conclusion that baptism is necessary.

But as I  read of scripture more closely, it became clear that it is only through the death of Jesus Christ, on the cross, and God’s grace that we are saved. Among the most important of these scriptures is, John 3:16-17, which is also probably the most famous scripture of the Bible: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.-John 3:16-17.

That is by no means the only scripture saying that we are saved by belief in Jesus. There are many others, such as Acts 4:12; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Romans 10:9-10; and Ephesians 2:8-10. In reading these and other scriptures it became clear to me that according to the Bible the act of baptism alone has no power to save.

But, don’t be mistaken, even though baptism has no power to save, that does not mean it isn’t important. Nor does it mean we are free to choose to be baptized or not according to our own preference. No, it’s not that simple. Because the Bible makes it clear that baptism is very important in other ways.  

For example, if we believe in Jesus as our Savior we will want to be baptized in order to show a willingness to follow His commandments. Jesus tells us, in His own words, that if we love Him we will follow His commands: “If you love Me, keep My commandments”-John 14:15.

Surely He doesn’t exempt us from His command to be baptized all nations:  Go 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 that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20. If we love Jesus and have accepted Him as our Savior why wouldn’t we want to follow His command to be baptized?

We’ve established that baptism is important because in being baptized we are following Jesus’ commandment. But if baptism has no power to save and has no special merit does it have importance beyond proving our willingness to follow Jesus’ commandment? You might be surprised to know that it is powerfully symbolic.

In participating in the ritual of baptism we are symbolically reenacting the death of Jesus, His burial, and His resurrection. Being immersed in the water we are symbolically participating in death and burial with our Lord, being baptized into His death on the cross and symbolizing that through Him we have broken free of slavery, to self, and to sin.

Baptism by water is parallel to the spiritual cleansing experienced when we were saved; our hearts were cleansed by the Holy Spirit when we accepted Christ, and our flesh is cleansed by water when we are baptized.  Being raised from the water, we are symbolically resurrected as Christ was resurrected signifying that we are raised to a new life as a member of the family of our loving God. Romans 6:1-4  says it this way:  What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

After studying, it became important to me that I be baptized. However, I wanted my baptism to be meaningful, not only to myself and God but to my family and those I love. As I thought about it I knew I did not want to be baptized in a mass ceremony before hundreds of people, most of whom I didn’t know. Finally, I decided that I wanted my grandson to perform my baptism in an intimate ceremony including only those close to me.

I was sure my spin on a traditional baptism wouldn’t be a big deal. After all, the Bible does not say or even indicate one must have special qualifications in order to perform a baptism. Actually, the Bible does not speak directly to who can or cannot perform a baptism. 

However, when considering the baptisms performed in the Bible, along with Matthew 28:18-20, The Great Commission, it seems that to perform a baptism one must only be a Godly Christian; one who believes the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus and His blood shed on the cross.

In other words, any true believer has the authority to baptize, just as they have the authority to evangelize and spread the Gospel and teach the commands of Christ. There is simply nothing that points to a different conclusion in the Bible. Biblically, it seemed that having my grandson perform my baptism was not an issue. So, I wasn’t expecting any resistance to my idea. 

Evidently, it is a big deal! But not for the reasons I anticipated. When I took the idea to my pastor, asking if we could use the church baptismal to perform this special baptism He said: “Oh no, we can’t do that.” I won’t bore you with the details of the conversation which followed.

I will, however, share his profound and creative reasoning for saying no: “We just don’t do it that way,” he said. Hmm, what next. I thought about approaching some pastors at other churches but in the end, I decided not to. At first, I was really disappointed. But then I decided if this was God’s decision I would accept it.

So I prayed about it and thanked God for His wisdom acknowledging His ways that are higher than my ways. And then I told Him that if He wanted me to be baptized, I would need some word from Him about how I should do it. Right away I heard the voice of God fill the room and God told me…nothing. I’m kidding. Nothing happened for a few weeks.

A few weeks later I was discussing my disappointment with my family and explaining that I was waiting to hear from God about where I might be baptized. After listening to me whine for a few minutes my grandson said, “Why don’t we just do it in the swimming pool? I live in an apartment and the swimming pool is communal. So, right away I thought, “What, no, I can’t do that.”

I was thinking just like the pastor. “Nobody does that. Baptism is just not done like that. What will my neighbors think?.” And then I thought of the Bible. John the Baptist baptized many people, including Jesus, in “communal” waters. Acts 8:36-40 tells us about the Eunuch who insisted on being baptized in the first water he saw after being saved. So why couldn’t I be baptized in a communal swimming pool?

And it turned out to be just that easy. I invited those I love to come and share my baptism. Next, I read through the Bible and, with the help of my daughter and my grandson, decided what I wanted to be said. Then we all gathered at the swimming pool on the appointed day.

My daughter read from the Bible the story of Jesus’ resurrection and His Great Commission to go and baptize all.  After which, as my granddaughter looked on, my grandson asked me to profess my faith and he immersed me in the water, baptizing me in the name of the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.  It was simple, it was beautiful, and it was intimate. Best of all it was very meaningful to everyone present including God.

Points for Pondering and for Prayer

1. Have you been baptized? 1a. How did you come to your decision about baptism?
2. Were you aware of the symbolism inherent in baptism? 2a. If not does that make a difference in your decision if you have decided not to be baptized?
3. Do you believe that Jesus has commanded us to be baptized? 3a. Did that belief figure into your decision about baptism?
4. What are your thoughts on being baptized in a communal swimming pool?