{"id":3273,"date":"2022-02-11T16:20:12","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T21:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riveroflifetwinlake.org\/riveroflife\/?p=3273"},"modified":"2022-06-15T09:57:55","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T13:57:55","slug":"the-power-of-baptism-the-public-declaration-of-your-allegiance-to-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riveroflifetwinlake.org\/riveroflife\/the-power-of-baptism-the-public-declaration-of-your-allegiance-to-god\/","title":{"rendered":"NEXT STEPS: Baptism Is The Public Declaration of Your Allegiance to God"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is great power in proclaiming your faith to family and friends. One of the opening steps to prove that your new life is all about Jesus, is through baptism. But you need to to understand that baptism is a sacred step of obedience in the Christian Church. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"The great purposes for all Christians, who are the called out ones of the world (defined by Jesus and called the church) are given clearly. Once baptized, you join the church team and help them continue obeying the great commission given to all of us from Jesus. Make disciples. Baptize new disciples. Teach the disciples. Today we call disciples… Christians, or followers of Jesus.<\/p>\n

Matthew 28:18-20 (NLT) <\/b>
\n18 <\/sup>\u00a0Jesus came and told his disciples, \u201cI have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.<\/span>
\n19 <\/sup>\u00a0Therefore, go and make disciples<\/strong> of all the nations,<\/span> baptizing them<\/strong> in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.<\/span>
\n20 <\/sup>\u00a0Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you<\/strong>. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, baptism is never to be thought of lightly because the King of the Universe calls everyone to follow Him to expand His Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. If you are now a narrow road follower of Jesus you must think through the Biblical teaching concerning baptism.<\/p>\n

However, baptism is a celebration, and I urge all true believers to quickly be baptized as the Bible commands.<\/p>\n

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What is baptism?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Baptism is the action of being submerged under water as the first obedient act of a new Christian. Sounds funny doesn\u2019t it? But this is an ordinance that is rich in meaning! Many of the most profound truths of Christianity are represented and celebrated in this practice. <\/span><\/p>\n

1\/<\/strong> Primarily, baptism symbolizes our union with Jesus Christ<\/strong>, and our reception of all the saving benefits that Christ has provided for us through His life, death and resurrection. <\/span><\/p>\n

2\/<\/strong> Baptism is also a beautiful picture<\/strong> of the truth that our sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus. <\/span><\/p>\n

3\/<\/strong> In addition to these meanings is the fact that baptism is also a public declaration<\/strong> of our allegiance to the Triune God. <\/span><\/p>\n

Like the wedding ring is to a marriage, baptism is to the church. It is the beginning of a new union with the community of the narrow road followers of Jesus. It is publicly proclaiming the change to the whole world like the wedding ceremony announces the husband and wife are a new family. In a marriage two families join in a whole new connection. In baptism, the new allegiance encompasses more than just Jesus and me. It unites you with the local church for eternity.<\/p>\n

It is apparent, then, why baptism is a very sacred event and so powerful in the life of the Christian believer. \u201dSo through baptism we have been buried with Him in death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father\u2019s glorious power, so we too should live an entirely new life.\u201d <\/i>Romans 6:4 Williams<\/span><\/p>\n

Why be baptized?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

There are three primary reasons why we practice believer\u2019s baptism:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span>Our<\/strong> Lord was baptized as an example<\/strong> for us. Even though Jesus was without sin, and did not need baptism, He chose to identify Himself with those He came to save from sin by being baptized. This is recorded in Matthew 3:13-17. Therefore, He shows us His acknowledgement of the importance of baptism.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span>Jesus\u2019 divine mandate<\/strong> for baptism is in the great commission given to all His followers in Matthew 28:16-20. Jesus declared His supreme authority in heaven and on earth and commanded His narrow road followers to fully embrace new believers and welcome them by baptizing them. We dare not disobey this command.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span>All believers<\/strong> in the New Testament accounts were urged, commanded, and expected to be baptized. In every recorded instance of a person or group of persons repenting and following Christ there followed a record of their baptism. Baptism is most certainly commanded for us as Christians. \u201c<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

When they heard this, they were stabbed to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, \u2018Brothers, what shall we do?\u201d Peter said to them, \u2018You must repent\u2014and, as an expression of it, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ\u2014that you may have your sins forgiven\u2026\u201d<\/strong> <\/i>Acts 2:37-38 Williams<\/span><\/p>\n

Who is eligible for baptism?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"The Bible speaks only of believers being baptized. The Great Commission says \u201cmake disciples\u2026 baptize them\u2026\u201d Obviously disciplined followers of the Lord Jesus are the only ones eligible for baptism. This means only those who have repented and professed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for the pardon of their sin.<\/p>\n

Biblical faith demands repentance which is more than verbal agreement with some church teachings about Jesus and what He did for mankind. It is embracing the Person of Jesus Christ, God in human flesh who lived, died and rose again to purchase our pardon and save us from sin. This \u201cfaith\u201d in Christ produces a loving relationship with God. We turn from sin (die to our old life) and live for Messiah, the King.<\/p>\n

Why we do not baptize infants?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

There are two basic reasons for not baptizing infants.<\/p>\n

1.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0In each of the examples in the New Testament, infants are never mentioned as candidates for baptism. In every instance only disciples are recorded as proper subjects to be baptized. Remember, Matthew 28 says, \u201cgo make disciples \u2026 baptize them\u2026\u201d It does not say \u201cgo make disciples\u2026 and then baptize their babies<\/strong>\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

2.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0The very nature of baptism prohibits infants from being baptized. Baptism is a sign and a celebration of new faith and life in Christ which a baby does not know or believe. Therefore, it is wrong and not Biblical to baptize babies.<\/span><\/p>\n

What about those who were baptized as infants and are now believers?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We can only view such so called baptisms as a child dedication at best. We recognize that the parents of these infants offered their babies to God, promised to raise them in the ways of the Lord, and to faithfully pray for them. In other words, all they did was publicly dedicate themselves to raise their child in the faith. But now we encourage all such believers to obey Matthew 28 and be baptized as believers.<\/p>\n

Why practice immersion as the mode of baptism?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The very word baptism means immersion. The Greek word \u201cbaptizo\u201d is not translated but brought into the English language. A different word is translated sprinkle. In ancient secular Greek writings that have survived until today \u201cbaptizo\u201d always meant to be submerged under.<\/p>\n

Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. You do not need a river to sprinkle. The examples and meaning demand immersion.<\/p>\n

Finally, the act of immersion pictures the fundamental truths of baptism. It is clearly represents being symbolically buried in death and risen in new life in Christ Jesus. If disability or age makes submersion is impossible, we immerse them by pouring water upon them instead of dipping them under water.<\/p>\n

So is this your next step?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If you have been born again and now follow Jesus Christ, you need to show quick obedience by publicly being baptized. This means you have changed your mind about living your life your way and have now received Christ\u2019s forgiveness for disobedience to God\u2019s law and surrendered to Him as your new boss, King and Lord.<\/p>\n

Not sure or have questions? click here<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

NEXT STEPS |\u00a0\u00a0BAPTISM<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0JOIN THE FAMILY<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0RELENTLESS PURSUIT<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0GUIDELINES FOR NEW CHRISTIANS<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0READ THE BIBLE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is great power in proclaiming your faith to family and friends. One of the opening steps to prove that your new life is all about Jesus, is through baptism. But you need to to understand that baptism is a sacred step of obedience in the Christian Church. The great purposes for all Christians, who are the called out ones of the world (defined by Jesus and called the church) are given clearly. Once baptized, you join the church team and help them continue obeying the great commission given to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[238,379],"class_list":["post-3273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discipleship-3","tag-baptism","tag-next-steps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riveroflifetwinlake.org\/riveroflife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riveroflifetwinlake.org\/riveroflife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riveroflifetwinlake.org\/riveroflife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riveroflifetwinlake.org\/riveroflife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riveroflifetwinlake.org\/riveroflife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3273"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/riveroflifetwinlake.org\/riveroflife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3770,"href":"https:\/\/riveroflifetwinlake.org\/riveroflife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3273\/revisions\/3770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riveroflifetwinlake.org\/riveroflife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riveroflifetwinlake.org\/riveroflife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riveroflifetwinlake.org\/riveroflife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riveroflifetwinlake.org\/riveroflife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}