“They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.” 32 And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. 33 Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized.” – Acts 16:31-33 NLT
Now… the thing that caught my attention in this passage is the issue of baptism. You see… as a pastor and a person who has been fortunate to walk with people in their journey of coming to a personal commitment and faith in Jesus I have faced many different reactions to the issue of baptism. In this story after accepting the message of Paul and Silas the ENTIRE household of the jailer believed and then they were IMMEDIATELY baptized!
There was NO… “I’ll wait”… NO… “ I don’t like to speak in public”… NO… “I don’t need to do that”… NO… “I’m not ready to make that commitment”
The TRUTH is… in the New Testament records there are NO accounts of anyone waiting to get baptized upon belief in Christ! In fact… a putting off of baptism or a waiting to be baptized was simply seen as DISBELIEF and DOUBT in the TRUTH of the message the apostles were bringing to the people of the 1st century. And as I continue to study this reality in the scriptures I have to admit that any EXCUSE by a believer to refuse baptism is quite simply an EXCUSE… and I believe that these EXCUSES actually keep us from fully realizing the power and strength of God in our lives!
You know… in our Christian culture in the 20th and 21st century there has been a push to separate baptism from acceptance in Christ… as IF they are two separate things. However there is NO evidence of this in God’s WORD… there is NO precedent for this in the Bible! Somewhere… and some how this fallacy has crept into the church and I believe we need to be ever careful to not follow cultural opinion on this very important issue in our faith community.
In the gospel of Matthew… probably the strongest words on this issue are written… even though we sometimes gloss over them… check out what Matthew records for us…
“Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?” 15 But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” So John agreed to baptize him. 16 After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” –Matthew 3:13-17 NLT
Need I say more… except this… let us follow the example of our Lord as we live for Him in this thing called the journey of life and faith!
Bless ya richly as you follow Him…
Rev Trev
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