How to View Baptism

Thursday, September 16, 2010

This week brings us to Luke 3:16, where the apostle John is preaching.

¹⁶John answered them all, “I baptize you with water, but One is coming who is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Luke 3:16 (HCSB)

Today we'll take a quick look at baptism. While many different religions use baptism to symbolize many different things, we'll look at how it was used in the New Testament around the life of Jesus. In this passage, Luke is summarizing John the Apostle's ministry. John has called out in the wilderness, worn his animal skins, eaten locusts, and called the people a bunch of snakes. Most of the people who had come out wanted to be baptized, and some were even speculating that John was the one who was prophesied. His response is the verse above; he told them that he was going to baptize them with water, and that while he was not the Messiah, the Messiah was coming soon.

Just a few verses later in Luke, but out of sequence (as John was locked in prison in the previous verse in Luke), Jesus Himself was baptized. Matthew goes into more detail about this occasion.

¹³Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴But John tried to stop Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and yet You come to me?”

¹⁵Jesus answered him, "Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him [to be baptized].

¹⁶After Jesus was baptized, He went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on Him. ¹⁷And there came a voice from heaven:

This is My beloved Son.

I take delight in Him!

Matthew 3:13-17 (HCSB)

Can you imagine being John? Here you are, telling people that Jesus is coming, and here He shows up wanting to be baptized just like these “snake” people! I can completely understand John's reaction. I know I wouldn't think myself worthy of baptizing my Savior! However, notice what Jesus tells John. Not only should John baptize Jesus, but Jesus said that it is the way for them to “fulfill all righteousness.” That's an interesting term; while I'm not going to try to come up with an exhaustive list of what that might mean, one meaning we can take away from it is that Jesus was confirming both John's message and methods. Jesus came to this earth as a man, so that He could live the way we do. If he had refused baptism, this would have introduced a conflict into what John preached and what Jesus did. Was John wrong for proclaiming their need for baptism? Was the One who was going to baptize them above baptism Himself? God sent a dove to illustrate His pleasure with the baptism that had just taken place, confirming John's message and Jesus' identity.

Baptism was mentioned again by Jesus just before He ascended back into heaven.

¹⁹Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…

Matthew 28:19 (HCSB)

Here, Jesus commands His disciples to go and make disciples of everyone. Once they had done that, they were to baptize these new converts, in the name of each member of the Godhead. There is nothing magic in this; Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, not known as the cleanest body of water in Judea. However, the baptism has a great symbolism. When the body of a new convert is lowered below the water, this alludes to the death and burial of Jesus; when the body is raised from the water, this symbolizes Jesus' raising from the dead. By choosing to be baptized after accepting Christ, the new believer is publicly identifying themselves as a follower of Christ.

Apart from the public identification, the other main point of baptism is obedience. In Matthew 28:19 above, Jesus commanded those who were doing the converting to baptize their converts. It's very difficult to baptize a person who doesn't willingly go along with it. (I think of the child's sentence gleaned from a report - "No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.") This means that the new converts were supposed to voluntarily get baptized. And truly, if you think about it, it is a great first public act of a Christian life. There is no cost involved, no studying required, no fees to be paid - all that is involved is a submissive heart willing to obey what God has told them. The only thing required, at its most inconvenient, is a change of clothes. At a camp we attended this summer, though, they did baptisms in a lake; after the baptism, the lake was open for swimming. It was an amazing celebration of new life in Christ, followed by an afternoon enjoying God's creation.

Are you saved? If so, have you been baptized? If you haven't, ask your pastor about it; I'm sure he'd be happy to explain it more in depth, if you need it, and help you follow in the steps of Christ with this obedience. If you have, praise God for His salvation, and join Him in celebrating another soul saved from hell.

How to Live Up to God’s Expectations

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

This week, we'll take a look at Philippians 3:16.

¹⁶In any case, we should live up to whatever [truth] we have attained.

Philippians 3:16 (HCSB)

In this case, I believe that some context would help. Philippians 3:14 is a very popular verse, but let's look at verses 12 through 16 to get the full picture.

¹²Not that I have already reached [the goal] or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. ¹³Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, ¹⁴I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵Therefore, all who are mature should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this to you also. ¹⁶In any case, we should live up to whatever [truth] we have attained.

Philippians 3:12-16 (HCSB)

Paul was a traveling evangelist, and the last person to see Jesus face to face (Acts 9:1-7). If there was anyone on this earth who would have achieved “perfect Christian” status, it would have been Paul. But, here in verse 12, Paul tells the church that he is not a fully mature Christian - he still struggles to grow in Christ. In verses 13 and 14, he tells them that he doesn't think that he's arrived, but that he pushes on every day, reaching towards that goal.

In verse 15, Paul encourages the church to adopt his mindset. And, we should adopt it as well - none of us will ever know everything there is to know about the Christian life, and the blessings that God has in store for us. And, notice what Paul says will happen to us when we do this - if we “think differently about anything,” God will correct our errant thinking.

This brings us to verse 16. Whether we're striving towards the goal, or we're content to sit stagnant in our current level of knowledge and fellowship with God, we are responsible for living up to the knowledge we have. As the Spider-Man adage goes, “With great power comes great responsibility.” We have been given knowledge and power by the One Who has all the power and knowledge in the universe. We are definitely responsible for discharging this power and using this knowledge the way He wants us to.

When Jesus was on earth, He told a parable about a servant who had been given responsibility while a master was away, and what happens when that servant does not faithfully use what he has been given.

⁴²The Lord said: "Who then is the faithful and sensible manager his master will put in charge of his household servants to give them their allotted food at the proper time? ⁴³That slave whose master finds him working when he comes will be rewarded. ⁴⁴I tell you the truth: he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female slaves, and to eat and drink and get drunk, ⁴⁶that slave's master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷And that slave who knew his master's will and didn't prepare himself or do it will be severely beaten. ⁴⁸But the one who did not know and did things deserving of blows will be beaten lightly. Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more.

Luke 12:42-48 (HCSB)

Notice verses 47 and 48 - the one who knew what he was supposed to do and did not do it would be punished severely, while the one who didn't know what he was supposed to do would be punished much more lightly. In the case of us knowing God' Word, though, knowing that God expects us to study and learn the Bible means that we know our Master's will.

So, then, our responsibility with regards to Philippians 3:12-16 is two-fold. First, we must strive to know God on a deeper, more intimate level, and the way to do that is by studying His Word. Second, we must live up to the knowledge that we do have. While ignorance of the law does not necessarily make one's actions illegal, knowingly violating the law not only makes one's actions illegal, but shows a lack of respect for laws and the ones who have made them. The same principle applies spiritually - knowingly disobeying God's laws shows contempt for the One who has made them.

I pray that each of us will gain knowledge and understanding, and, having gained it, be able to live up to its expectations in our lives.