In the first sixteen topics, we saw the aspects of God’s salvation. Now we will study matters that one must practice after being saved. The first of these concerns baptism.
God’s interaction with man and the service He requires of man can be divided into the age of the Old Testament and the age of the New Testament. The former is a type of the latter. Thus, the former is a shadow and prefigure, and the latter is the reality, the body of the shadow. In the Old Testament age of shadows and prefigures, service was a matter of rituals and ordinances; in the New Testament age of truth and reality, service is a matter of spirit and life. Nevertheless, in the New Testament age there are at least four matters that God wants man to practice, which from their outward appearance seem to be rituals and ordinances. These four matters are baptism, the laying on of hands, head covering, and the breaking of bread. Although God abolished the rituals and ordinances of the Old Testament and requires man to serve Him in spirit and reality in the New Testament, He requires man to practice four matters that seem to be rituals and ordinances. This proves that these four matters are very important in God’s eyes; therefore, we should pay attention to them and not despise them. Actually, they are not matters of ritual and ordinance; rather, they are practical steps and concrete processes through which we receive, obtain, enjoy, and utilize God’s salvation and all of its blessings. All that God accomplished and prepared for us in Christ, all that He wants to give us in the new covenant, is dispensed into us through these practical steps and concrete processes. Therefore, if a believer wishes to completely and fully receive and enjoy God’s salvation in His Son, he must properly appreciate and practice these steps and processes. The first of these is baptism.
1. “The baptism which John proclaimed” (Acts 10:37; see also Luke 3:3).
At the beginning of the New Testament age, the first thing God did was to send John the Baptist to proclaim baptism. John was the first servant sent by God at the beginning of the New Testament, and the baptism preached by him was God’s first message in the New Testament. This shows the importance of baptism in God’s plan and arrangement. We can say that baptism began the New Testament. Just as the teaching of baptism was God’s way of beginning the New Testament age, the practice of baptism is man’s way to begin to enjoy the blessings of the New Testament.
2. “It is fitting for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15).
We see the importance of baptism even more in the fact that the Lord Jesus also needed to be baptized. Although He was the Son of God who came to be our Savior, He still kept God’s ordination for men because He was a man. According to His humanity, it was fitting for Him to do this. In doing this, He was a man according to God’s procedure. Before God, He fulfilled all righteousness. Since even the Lord as a man needed to be baptized and since it was fitting for Him to fulfill righteousness before God in this way, how much more should we do the same! Since baptism was the fitting way for even the Lord as a man to fulfill all righteousness, we should realize that baptism is extremely important.
3. “The Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God for themselves since they had not been baptized by him” (Luke 7:30).
This passage also speaks of the importance of baptism. Baptism is a matter in the counsel, or the plan, of God. If a person is not baptized, he rejects the counsel of God for himself. This is very serious. The Pharisees and lawyers who rejected and opposed the Lord Jesus did this; how can we, who receive the Lord today, be like them in this matter?
4. “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).
When we studied regeneration in chapter 11, we saw that born of water refers to baptism. Baptism is a necessary step a person must take to enter into the kingdom of God. It is important.
5. “Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He spent some time with them and baptized”; “Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John” (John 3:22; 4:1).
John the Baptist was not the only one who came out to preach and baptize people; the Lord Jesus also baptized people when He began to preach. Not only was He Himself baptized in order to fulfill righteousness before God, but He, through His disciples, baptized people in order to accomplish God’s will, to be according to God’s procedure, and to fulfill God’s righteousness. All these show the importance of baptism.
6. “Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19).
When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He baptized people through His disciples, and even after His resurrection, He commissioned His disciples to go out into all the inhabited earth to preach the gospel to people and to baptize them. His last command before His ascension shows that baptizing people is an important matter that we must carry out when we preach the gospel to people and when we disciple them. Just as preaching the gospel is important, baptizing is important. To merely preach the gospel to people without baptizing them is not sufficient and does not completely keep the Lord’s last command.
7. “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16).
Here the Lord says that baptism is a necessary step in a person’s full salvation, proving that baptism is important.
8. “What should we do, brothers? And Peter said to them, Repent and each one of you be baptized upon the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:37-38, see also v. 41).
On the day of Pentecost many heard Peter’s word and were pricked in their hearts, so they asked Peter what they should do. He told them to repent and be baptized upon the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. When they heard his word, they were immediately baptized. This also shows the importance of baptism. Peter’s directions emphasize baptism. Peter considered baptism as important as repentance and believing on the name of the Lord. He was not like today’s preachers who mostly emphasize repentance and believing on the name of the Lord but neglect baptism. Baptism is related to a person’s sins being forgiven and to receiving the Holy Spirit. The first group of people, who turned to the Lord and were added to the church after the Lord ascended into the heavens and poured out the Holy Spirit, were baptized. The first mention of any matter in the Bible is a pattern for that particular matter. According to this principle, the baptism of the first group of people who believed is a pattern for all subsequent believers.
9. “The eunuch said, Look, water. What prevents me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:36).
The Ethiopian eunuch spoke this word to Philip, who had preached the gospel to him. This proves that Philip not only preached the gospel but also baptism. If he had not preached baptism, how could a Gentile, who was from a faraway place and had never heard the gospel, know about baptism? How could he have known that he should be baptized and then request baptism? Philip preached the gospel and baptism simultaneously, proving that he saw the importance of baptism. Therefore, when we preach the gospel to people, we should also speak to them about baptism. Baptism should always follow the gospel. Our gospel preaching should not lead people merely to believe but also to be baptized. Believing is important, and baptism is also important. This is the reason that the Holy Spirit did not immediately carry Philip away, even though he clearly had preached the gospel and baptism to the eunuch. Philip was carried away by the Holy Spirit only after he had baptized the eunuch and the eunuch had come up out of the water. This is strong proof that the Lord considers baptism to be very important. In His view, if we preach the gospel to others and lead them to believe in Him without baptizing them, our work of turning others to Him is not finished. Thus, He waited until after Philip had baptized the eunuch before He acknowledged Philip’s work as complete by carrying him away. Since the Lord considers baptism to be so important, how can we ignore it? How can we only preach the gospel without baptizing those who believe? How can we only lead people to the Lord but not baptize them?
10. “And now, why do you delay? Rise up and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on His name” (Acts 22:16).
This was Ananias’s word to the newly saved Saul (who later became Paul). This word shows that the early disciples placed much emphasis on baptism. Ananias knew that Saul had met the Lord on the road to Damascus, that the scales had fallen off his eyes through the laying on of his hands, and that he had received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (9:17-18), yet Ananias still wanted Paul to be baptized and even hurried him to be baptized. If baptism is not important, and if the disciples did not emphasize baptism, why did Ananias hasten Paul to be baptized?
11. “Can anyone forbid the water so that these would not be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit even as we? And he charged them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 10:47-48).
Although the household of Cornelius visibly received the Holy Spirit, Peter still wanted them to be baptized. Does this not prove that baptism is important? Does this not show how much Peter emphasized baptism? He did not do what many today advocate when they speak of only needing a spiritual baptism, not a water baptism. He said that those who had received the baptism of the Spirit still needed to be baptized in water. Moreover, he baptized them in water because they had received the baptism of the Spirit. In Peter’s eyes, being baptized in water and receiving the Spirit were equally important. His view is also the Spirit’s view and the Lord’s view.
12. “He took them with him in that very hour of the night and washed their wounds. And he was baptized immediately, he and all his household” (Acts 16:33).
When the Philippian jailer and his household received the Lord, Paul and Silas, still wounded from being beaten, immediately baptized them. This tells us that baptism is extremely important. If it were not, why would these two brothers, who had been beaten with rods and who were wounded and exhausted from being in jail, immediately baptize the whole household at that very hour of the night?
13. “When they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 19:5).
The day Paul came to Ephesus, he asked the disciples what baptism they had received, because he was concerned about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. When he discovered they had received only the baptism of John, he solemnly told them that the baptism of John was over and that people should be baptized into the name of the Lord. When they heard this, they were immediately baptized. Paul did not merely find out with what baptism they had been baptized, but he also told them with what baptism they should be baptized. Although they had received the baptism of John, they were immediately baptized again when they heard about baptism into the Lord’s name. This proves that they thought baptism is very important.