Matthew 28:19 — “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Acts 2:38 — Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
So far in the different parts of this series, we have looked at reasons to pray (and attend a prayer meeting), reasons to read God's Word (and hear it preached), reasons to enjoy fellowship, and reasons to take the Lord's Supper (and to do so frequently). We are turning now to a fifth means of grace provided for us by our gracious God - baptism. Sadly, this subject is often one that divides believers and becomes a theological football, used by those who hold different views to score points from each other. We have no intention of dealing with the subject in that way here, and neither is there any need to. We will see that there is much to learn about and much to rejoice in from a consideration of baptism, regardless of our leanings on the more controversial points of subjects and modes. It turns out that those who use this topic as a reason to divide from brothers and sisters in Christ probably believe many things in common with their "adversaries" if they care to think about it. It is on this area of commonality that these meditations will focus. Our prayer, as always, is that the Lord may make these few devotions useful in His Kingdom, for His glory alone.
The first thing we want to see, as we did with all the other means of grace, is that baptism is not optional for a true believer. How often do believers say that they are "praying about it" - to discover if baptism would be right for them. We would answer that this is not something a Christian has any need to pray about at all! Indeed, we would urge those who counsel such souls, not to tell them to go and pray about it in order to know the Lord's will for them. Why? Because the Scriptures above could not be clearer. Jesus commanded His apostles to baptize new believers, and Peter commanded the crowd on the Day of Pentecost that having repented of their sin (and believed on Christ), they should be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. They were not told that baptism was optional - something for "super-Christians" to do, but basically an optional extra in our walk with Christ. They were not told to pray about it to see if this was a step they might take. So if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you must be baptized - it is a simple matter of obedience to your Lord's command.
It is very interesting that we are commanded to participate in all the means by which God has made grace (the influence of the Holy Spirit) available to His children. One might imagine that we would need no command to do the things by which we are so wonderfully blessed and strengthened spiritually. However, God knows us very well. He knows the sin nature that still lives within and he knows the enemy who roams around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. He knows how prone we are to wander, to forget. He knows the unfulfilled good intentions that often strew our pathway through this world. So He commands us to do these things that are for our blessing and our good, so that we will understand that it is important for us to use all the means of grace and to do so as often as possible.
As we examine the subject further, and see all that is symbolized in baptism, we will begin to understand why it is imperative for the Christian to submit to this wonderful ordinance - why we must indeed be baptized if we are born again of God's Holy Spirit.
So if you are a believer and you have never been baptized, you are disobeying Jesus! What are you waiting for? You must be baptized!
As we close, though, we want to stress (as we will throughout this series), that being baptized is one thing; deriving the full benefit of baptism is something else. Unlike the other means of grace, baptism is a once-only event for the Christian, but one that is intended to supply continuing grace as we walk with the Lord. For many of us, our baptism was years ago. We probably think very rarely about it nowadays. Perhaps we have never really meditated on the full significance of what took place - what the baptism was a sign and a seal of for us. Here, we believe, lies the source of grace for every believer, no matter how long since they were baptized. There is a richness and a fullness in the act that cannot but be a blessing if we review it prayerfully in the light of Scripture. So let's start now - by meditating on the wonderful fact that in your baptism you were submitting to the command that came to you for your benefit and blessing from the King of Kings, your Savior, the Lord of Glory!
