The Significance of Baptism

“And, being assembled together with them, (Jesus) commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of Me.  For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”  Acts 1:4-5

Before Jesus ascended back to the Father, He gave His disciples specific instructions for the next couple of weeks as they met together.  He commanded them to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Father which Jesus had told them about (John 14:16-17).  The promise was that of another Comforter, the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, who would abide with them not only for the rest of their physical lives, but also throughout eternity.  One would think that the disciples’ natural inclination would be to scatter to other parts of Israel because they were considered associates of the One whom the religious leaders had put to death for His supposed plan of insurrection against the religious leaders and the Romans.  The disciples were likely considered fugitives because the chief priests and scribes had bribed the soldiers to spread the rumor that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body.  At this point the disciples were not known for their bravery or boldness.  However, they did not yet operate in the full power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus wanted the church to begin in Jerusalem and then spread out from there worldwide.  Therefore, He told them to wait.

Just before Jesus began His earthly ministry, His forerunner and second cousin, John, whom we know as John the Baptist, had been preaching repentance and water baptism to the Jews around Jerusalem.  John’s baptism was an outward sign that one had repented of sin and made a commitment to live righteously before God.  Water baptism could never and can never save a person from God’s wrath without an inward, spiritual baptism of a person’s heart which by repentance and belief in Christ cleanses a person’s soul from the sin which has so polluted mankind and made him an enemy of God.  For that cleansing to be accomplished, the blood of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross must be applied by faith in Christ, repentance of sin, and a lifelong commitment to live for Christ which enables the Holy Spirit to indwell within the faithful.  Jesus called it being “baptized with the Holy Ghost”.

As far as water baptism is concerned, folks have different ideas about the method of baptism.  Some believe that it is by complete immersion into the baptismal waters.  Others sprinkle or pour water over the head.  It occurs to me that to be baptized with the Holy Spirit means to be completely immersed with the Holy Spirit from head to toe, inside and out, and not just have a sprinkling of the Holy Spirit which would indicate incomplete coverage.  A person who gives his or her life to Christ becomes a new person all over.  The Holy Spirit, at the moment one receives Christ as Lord and Savior, comes in to abide in the repentant sinner’s body and soul for all eternity.  A person is either saved 100 per cent or not saved:  there is no partial salvation–it’s all or nothing, a complete surrender of the body, soul, and will of the person to Christ.  Everything about the one who is saved is new.  Paul wrote in II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new”.  One of the most significant privileges in the life of the new believer is the addition of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  Only those who are born again into the body of Christ receive the Holy Spirit, and He is received at the moment one surrenders to Christ.

I believe that Jesus, who did not require baptism but submitted to it to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:13-17), was immersed by John the Baptist because it symbolized His future death, burial, and resurrection, but all churches do not practice immersion as the sacrament of baptism.  Water baptism is symbolic of what has taken place internally within a person’s soul.  Thus, it is not so much about the water nor the method of how the baptismal waters are applied, but it is more of a matter of the condition of the heart of the one who has come for baptism into the family of God.  Baptism is like a pledge which is made publicly to identify with Christ.  Wedding rings are symbolic of the promise that a man and a woman make to each other to love, honor, and care for one another for life, but the rings are not the marriage.  They show the world that folks have made a commitment to his or her spouse.  A diploma or degree is symbolic of one who has completed a course of education, but the certificate is not the education.  Water baptism shows that the person being baptized has made a profession of faith, but baptism is not salvation.  Baptism is the first act of obedience after one has received Christ.  Without true repentance and surrender to Christ, a person just gets wet.