The Baptism of Repentance

The pictures attached to this post are of a couple friends of mine who my girlfriend Robin and I got to baptize in bathtubs recently. Our small group has been blessed to be leading people to Christ on a regular basis. These pictures were taken a couple months ago (a few weeks apart), and the man and woman being baptized are today radical followers of Jesus who come every week to our small group and have seen multiple miracles happen in and through their lives since coming to Christ. In fact, the young woman who was baptized only a couple months ago got to help guide another girl to Christ last week as she drove her home from our small group meeting!

I want to encourage every reader--if you have not already--to be baptized. And not only that, but I want to encourage you to feel free to baptize others! Philip did it in a little pool of water (Acts 8:36-38); and John did it in the desert region--specifically the Jordan River (Mark 1:4). And you don't have to be a member of the clergy to perform a baptism:

John 4:1,2--The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples (NIV).

Jesus put the ministry of baptism in the hands of the disciples! And who are the disciples?

John 15:4-8—[Jesus said:] Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who parts from me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! My TRUE DISCIPLES produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father (NLT, emphasis added).

You are Christ's disciple if you remain in intimate relationship with Him as evidenced by the "fruit" in your life. "Fruit" is simply evidence of the life within. If you are demonstrating the power and nature of Christ through the Holy Spirit in your life, then you are His disciple!

Today's post is all about baptism--specifically the spiritual and supernatural dimension that's involved.

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Ever heard of "water baptism?" This tends to be a matter largely disputed among denominations--one group says you can baptize babies; another group says the person must be old enough to make a conscious decision to follow Christ. One group says all you need to do is sprinkle the person with water--another says they must be fully immersed.

While I personally favor the idea that you should be fully immersed in water (and only when you can make a decision based on personal conviction), I do not believe I have the right to dictate whether or not God honors other forms of baptism--actually, I think He does for the most part.

In the book The Heavenly Man, Brother Yun recounts one of the times he was in prison for his faith. Long story short, through a miraculous course of events, the Holy Spirit used Yun in such a way that his cellmates (there were many prisoners in a cell) started coming to Christ all at once--falling on their knees and repenting! And since their water was strictly rationed, they only had a few drops of water available to baptize each one. Yun reports that their lives dramatically changed that day, and for days they all walked around with tears in their eyes. From then on they shared the Gospel in the prison yard and many prisoners came to Christ! Can you rightly argue that their "sprinkle" baptism is any less valid than someone who was fully immersed in water? I can't!

The method of baptism is less important than the spiritual dynamic behind the ritual. However, the full symbolism is only seen in total immersion: dying with Christ, being laid in the grave, and then being raised back up in new life.

Baptism is all about new life. According to John the Baptist and Jesus, baptism with water is a baptism of repentance. "Repentance" means to utterly change direction--a 180 degree turn. It is to dramatically change your way of life, your way of thinking, and your way of acting. It is not just to "turn away" from sin; it is also (most importantly) to "turn toward" God. Baptism with water is often called "the baptism of repentance" (Mark 1:4).

But righteousness comes by faith, not by baptism; so why do we need to be baptized? Well, why do you need to pray? Why do you need to fast? Why do we need to do anything? It’s a matter of relationship with God. Peter seems to imply that baptism is a form of prayer—an appeal to God.

1 Peter 3:21b—Baptism is not a removal of dirt from your body; it is AN APPEAL TO GOD from a clean conscience (NLT, emphasis added).

Maybe that’s why Luke’s account of Christ’s baptism reads like this:

Luke 3:21—When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And AS HE WAS PRAYING, heaven was opened…(NIV, emphasis added).

I believe water baptism is a form of prayer designed by God as a prophetic declaration to the kingdom of darkness that "this person belongs to a different King!" Baptism is a form of spiritual warfare!

Do you need to be baptized in order to be saved? Well, the thief on the cross next to Jesus didn’t get baptized, yet Jesus responded to the man’s faith and conviction by saying, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Salvation comes by faith, not by baptism.

But if you’re going to start living as an ambassador of the Kingdom—helping "God’s will" happen on earth—then you should be baptized. Baptism gives you authority over Satan and his demons. Come to think of it, the Orthodox Church has an icon (picture) of Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist and demons fleeing from the water. There is a very real spiritual dynamic to baptism--it's not just a symbol as many people believe.

Water baptism is a public confession of faith done in submission to the order of God. Not only is it a confession before man, but more importantly it is a confession of faith before the entire kingdom of darkness! We are often taught that baptism is for the church's sake and therefore must be performed with the church present. I don't see this anywhere in the Bible--in fact, I see the opposite. I see John baptizing in the desert (Mark 1:4) and Philip and the Ethipoian stopping at a pool of water by the side of the road (Acts 8:36-38)--who knows, it might have even been a puddle left over from the rainy season! Grated, there were always people present to witness the event, but there does not appear to be any requirement as to who those people were. The Ethiopian was baptized in front of the people in his procession, but it does not appear that any of these people were Christians! Nor do they appear to be repentant or else Philip might have baptized them too!

In a very real spiritual sense, a person does receive a certain grace from God when they are baptized.

On the other side of the coin, the more you question baptism and whether or not it’s necessary, the more you are questioning God’s order. The enemy will go to town on that one! They’ll know you’re not in line with the heavenly King or His authority.

The word "Kingdom" literally means "King’s domain," and the King’s domain is everywhere that His authority is expressed. Jesus told His disciples, "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you." And Jesus said that we should pray for God's Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth just like it is in Heaven. Water baptism is the first step of submission to God’s authority and is therefore the first stage of His Kingdom coming to the earth through you! The question is: Are you helping the process or hindering it? Are you submitted to His authority or arguing against it? Are you looking for every reason not to be "baptized" in the way we've discussed here, or are you excited about the opportunity to publicly demonstrate your love and obedience to Christ?

Are you like the rich young man (Mark 10:17-23) who counts the cost of repentance and decides it is too much trouble? Or are you like the Ethiopian Eunich (Acts 8:6-40) who was still in the process of hearing the Gospel when he said to Philip, "Look! There's some water! Why shouldn't I get baptized?!" Apparently the man didn't need to be taught any further because when he came up from the water, Philip disappeared as the Holy Spirit miraculously transported him to Azotus!

The emphasis the Bible places on baptism should give us a clue about how important it really is! So go get baptized and start to live in the authority you're given! And furthermore, look for opportunities to baptize others!

Matthew 28:18-20--Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age"(NIV).