On November 16 it will be our privilege to gather for worship and witness followers of Jesus stepping into the waters of baptism.
Why practice baptism? Because Jesus tells us to do so. “Go and make disciples among all people groups, baptizing them…” (Matthew 28:19). We’re under orders: as church leaders, to provide baptism opportunities; and as Christ-followers, to give a public demonstration of our faith in Jesus by being baptized. This commission is in force “until the end of the age” (28:20).
The biblical sequence is: when people come to faith in Jesus, baptism follows. “Repent and be baptized” (Acts 2:38; see also 8:12; 16:14-15, 31-33; 18:8; 19:4-5). Repentance is the flip-side of faith: we turn away from sin and to Jesus in humble faith. And baptism is an outward sign of an inward trust in Christ. Of course, we’re saved by faith alone (Eph. 2:8-9), but true faith is never alone—it’s a heart dynamic that arouses us to obey God outwardly (James 2:14-26; Galatians 5:6). And being baptized is a vital way of doing just that—of affirming Christ’s lordship over our lives.
Baptism is a kind of dying and rising with Jesus (Romans 6:3-4); in this act we’re “saying” we give thanks for all that God accomplished for our salvation in the death of his Son, and that we are trusting in him for the hope of resurrection life.
So, have you stepped into the water grave yet? If you’ve put your trust in Christ but haven’t been baptized by immersion, let this be the time. After all, Jesus doesn’t command us to practice baptism just so we can “dialogue” over whether we’d like to do it or not!
I’d encourage any believers (older children, teens, adults) who haven’t been baptized since coming to faith in Jesus to take the public plunge: show the world that you belong to Jesus, accept his lordship over your life, and mean business about leading a life of grateful dependence on God’s grace. The next step is: sign up in the Lobby for our baptism class at 10:00 a.m. on November 9.
