Baptism,
of course, is important as it is commanded by Jesus, “Go
ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am
with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” -
Matthew 28:19,20.
However, baptism must be kept in its
rightful place, it is not to be done prior to salvation as the means
of securing salvation, but AFTER salvation as a testimony OF our
salvation. You must be saved before you can get baptized for it to
mean anything, otherwise all you will be getting is wet.
Only
when we keep things in their right perspective can we expect God's
blessings. Should you be one who has never been baptized since you
were saved, then you need not put it off any longer. Obedience brings
fellowship and blessings. Yes, the Christian may have the REST of
salvation , but be void of the REST which results from being obedient
to the Lord. We will take a look at various Baptisms recorded in the
Bible, what their purpose was and why it is important to us.
Jesus
Christ's Baptism
John's baptism of Christ was to
prepare Israel for the acceptance of Christ as their Messiah. It was
time for our Lord to publicly identify Himself to Israel as the
Messiah. Everything works on God's timetable, to the exact minute.
"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan
unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have
need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus
answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh
us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when
he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the
heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending
like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven,
saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
- Matthew 3:13-17
Notice in Matthew 3:15, when Jesus stated
"suffer it to be so now." His
birth, ministry, and His crucifixion were in fulfillment of the Old
Testament prophecies, and fit God's timetable to perfection! By His
baptism, He was symbolically showing what He would do on the cross at
the conclusion of His earthly ministry. Yes, Israel knew what the
prophets had said concerning their Messiah. When He was placed under
the water, this actually fulfilled a two-fold purpose: First, it
reminded Israel of the Old Testament Scripture prophesying of His
death. Second, it was to identify Himself as the One who would
fulfill this on the cross, or, their Messiah. His baptism had
publicly announced to Israel that God had given "his
only begotten Son" to die on the cross and be resurrected
as the payment for the sins of the world.
Notice, the
Scripture says that "all
righteousness," not "his righteousness." We
know our Lord was sinless and remained sinless throughout His life.
Since Christ was sinless, His baptism added nothing to His
righteousness, for He was God manifest in human flesh. Therefore,
since God's Word is righteous and pure, the fulfillment of such would
be the evidence. God's Word had prophesied of Christ's death and His
resurrection. Therefore, Christ's declaration of His identification
by baptism proved God's Word to be righteous or pure, which had
prophesied of this hundreds of years before; hence, fulfilling all
righteousness (God's Word) which spoke of His death, burial and
resurrection. His baptism, pointing to the cross, was looked upon as
though it was already accomplished. That is why He stated "to
fulfill ALL righteousness," for the fulfillment of
those prophecies were as good as done. That's the assurance we have
today in the sureness, righteousness, and pureness of God's Word.
Baptism by John The Baptist
The
purpose of John's Baptism is made clear by the message he proclaimed.
His message was to announce to Israel that the Lord Jesus was here,
and that He was their King and Messiah. "In
those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of
Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The
voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the
Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of
camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was
locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all
Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of
him in Jordan, confessing their sins." - Matthew 3:1-6.
The
Kingdom was at hand, or presented, because the King was present and
at hand. It should be noted that the phrase "kingdom
of heaven" is found approximately 38 times and only in
the Gospel of Matthew. Without exception, it is used in reference to
the glorious Kingdom Age during which Christ will reign and rule as
King of kings, with absolute authority. Not only did Christ come to
Israel, collectively, as their King; but also, individually, as their
Savior.
"Repentance" here is the Greek "METANOIA"
and makes "a change of mind for the remission of sins." One
may ask, "what sins?" These are the sins resulting from the
sin nature every person is born with, which manifest themselves as we
grow up. We do not become a sinner when we sin; to the contrary--we
sin because we are born a sinner.
Religion's way of remitting
sins is to attempt justification of one's self by self righteousness.
The Jewish Pharisees were just such a group. One either becomes their
"own Savior" by attempting self justification; or they
accept God's Savior, which is Christ. Those Jews, who believed John's
preaching, changed their mind (repented) about their own
righteousness and accepted Christ as their Savior. Then, John
baptized them as evidence of their faith and changed mind.
Should
we not allow the Holy Spirit to direct us as he did John the Baptist?
John proclaimed Christ as Savior in preparing the way to the cross.
Our responsibility is the same as we prepare the way of the Lord
toward His return at the Rapture, by our witnessing.
Jesus
Christ's Baptism With The Holy Spirit & Fire
It is
interesting to note the differences in the accounts given by Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John concerning John the Baptist. When John preached,
there was a multitude of sincere people who came trusting Christ and
were baptized. On the other hand, there were the self righteous who
came, known as the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Their purpose for
coming was not that of sincerity, but to mock and cause trouble. They
were claiming Abraham as their father, not Christ, and John knew them
well when he addressed them. "But when he
saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said
unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from
the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our
father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise
up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root
of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good
fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with
water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than
I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will
throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but
he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." -
Matthew 3:7-12. He addressed the true character of this group; even
though "veneered" by religious attire, he called them
"vipers". When addressing those present as "vipers,"
he also made mention that they would be judged by the Christ they
rejected, this is the "baptism of fire".
Christ's
Baptism With The Holy Spirit
John the Baptist was the
first to mention anything about Christ baptizing with the Holy
Spirit. This would be elaborated upon later by our Lord, Himself, as
the Gospels bare record. John also spoke of many other things to the
people, in preparing the way of the Lord, which are not recorded.
Later in Christ's ministry, He would reveal more fully these great
truths that John had briefly touched on, by way of introduction.
It
is imperative to understand the difference between the working of the
Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and that of the New Testament. It is
equally important to realize that the Gospels are, basically, Old
Testament Books; only after the resurrection are we on new Testament
ground. Under the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit never permanently
indwelt believers. Christ, in His ministry, revealed a new working of
the Holy Spirit which was to be manifested after His return to Glory.
In preparing His disciples for the cross, He assures them that He
will not leave them comfortless. "If ye
love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he
shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for
ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive,
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for
he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you
comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world
seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also."
- John 14:15-19.
Christ is telling them that the Holy Spirit
within them would take the place of the Savior beside them. He
then informs His disciples as to the general time the Holy Spirit
would come as promised, this being after His ascension to
Heaven.
Until the cross, they knew only the general time that
the Holy Spirit would come in fulfillment of His promise. It was not
until after Christ's resurrection and His forty days walk with them,
that He then told the Apostles the more specific time of the Holy
Ghost's coming. "Until the day in which he
was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given
commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he
shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs,
being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining
to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them,
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 1:2-5. This was
to be fulfilled in 10 days, on the Day of Pentecost, which ushered in
a new dispensation under the New Covenant made on Calvary. The Holy
Spirit would now indwell believers, permanently, throughout the
Church Age. Every believer would also be baptized, spiritually, into
the body of Christ.
Christ's Baptism
With Fire
"I indeed baptize
you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his
hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat
into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable
fire." - Matthew 3:11,12. The "wheat" is in
reference to the saved as the "chaff" is speaking to the
lost. The "garner" is the storehouse and is in reference to
God's kingdom. Christ will render this judgment when he returns at
the end of the 7-Year Tribulation Period to institute the glorious
Kingdom Age for 1,000 years. The word "baptism" is the
Greek "BAPTIZO," which means "identification" and
"to dip or immerse." It is used metaphorically of divine
judgment upon the lost for rejecting Christ as Savior. This is the
same as the judgment of the nations where Christ will identify the
saved and immerse the lost in fire. Christ illustrated this judgment
just prior to the cross. "When the Son of
man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then
shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be
gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as
a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the
sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left." -
Matthew 25:31-33. To the saved, "the wheat," will echo the
sweetest words they have heard in this life, spoken by the Lord,
Himself. To the lost, "the chaff," the Lord will proclaim
the most devastating words they have ever encountered in their life.
These have been separated from the saved and placed on the left hand
as He pronounces their judgment. These have rejected Christ as their
Savior, while on the earth; now, our Lord honors their decision by
rejecting them for all eternity.
It should be noted that
these two Verses are NOT speaking of the Rapture of the Church, which
takes place 7 years earlier. In fact, just the opposite of the
Rapture takes place here. May we point out that, at the Rapture, the
saved are taken and the lost are left to begin the Tribulation
judgment. Here in Matthew, at the judgment of the Nations, the lost
are taken into judgment while the saved are left to enter the
Kingdom. Remember, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John knew nothing about
the Rapture of the Church. This was a mystery revealed later to the
Apostle Paul (1st Corinthians 15:51,52). Every mention of Christ's
Second Coming, in the Gospels, is in reference to His judgment and
setting up of the Kingdom at the end of the Tribulation Period. This
is what is spoken of by John the Baptist, when he declares Christ's
baptism by fire.
