“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23)
Two friends of mine have decided to get baptized today at Calvary Baptist Church here in Kannapolis. They are older and I admire them for the decision they have made. It demonstrates their commitment as Christians and their willingness to submit to the Lordship of Christ Jesus.
I was saved when I was 38 years old. It wasn’t too long after salvation that I was asked if I had been baptized. I explained that I was baptized at the age of eight and did not feel it was necessary to follow our Lord in baptism again.
As I grew in my Christian faith, I began to wonder whether I should consider baptism again. (I was baptized as a child because that was just what you did.) Baptism is not a prerequisite for heaven and has absolutely nothing to do with salvation. So why should I consider a second baptism? It certainly wouldn’t improve my standing with God, or would it?
When Jesus died for us, there was an exchange at the Cross. Our sins were traded for his righteousness. That’s what redemption means. It’s like those trading stamps I saw my mother redeem at the gift store when I was a child. Those stamps were worthless, but she always traded them for something of real value. The Bible says it another way, “ For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19)
We all know that Jesus’ death and resurrection are pivotal to our salvation. His death on the Cross enables us to stand in righteousness before God, but his resurrection is equally important. When he conquered the grave, he let us know that eternal life was more than an empty promise. The Apostle Paul felt so strongly about resurrection that he said, “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (1 Corinthians 15:17)
I began to realize that baptism had a lot of symbolism in it. For the first time in my life, I could see that my decision to submit to baptism was a simple way to show my obedience to God and affirm my belief in the promise of Jesus death on the Cross and his resurrection.
The symbolism shown through baptism is important, but there had to be more to it. So, I sought advice from other believers. I couldn’t find a Christian anywhere who would downplay the importance of baptism. Yet, none of them told me to do it. Instead, they encouraged me to seek God’s guidance through prayer and study.
I couldn’t have received better advice because the answer to my questions was in the Bible from God himself. Jesus submitted to baptism early in his ministry. In fact, Matthew records that John the Baptist, Jesus’ own cousin, was so uncomfortable with it that he said to Jesus, “I need to be baptized by you, and are you coming to me”? (Matthew 3:14) Listen to what Jesus says: “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness”. (Matthew 3:15)
God had my full attention when I read that exchange. If Jesus was willing to do it, how could I refuse? After all, the Bible says, “ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”. (Philippians 2:5)
There is a whole lot more to baptism than symbolism. Baptism is our opportunity to show that our obedience to God is more important to us than our pride. Indeed, as I soon learned, I had to swallow my pride in order to learn about humility. I will never forget that lesson.
It took Jesus to convince me about the importance of such a simple act of obedience. I was afraid of what others might think of a 38-year-old man getting baptized, something you mostly see children doing on a Sunday morning in our churches.
I will not be able to be there on this morning, but I’ll be thinking of my friends as they demonstrate their faith through baptism. I can promise them it will be a Sunday they will never forget.
Share on Facebook