The Importance of Water Baptism
Introduction:
It has been quite a few years since I had the opportunity to listen to the late Bishop Robert McAlister’s tape on the “Significance of Water Baptism”, but since that time, I have never viewed the act of being baptized as just “an outward sign of an inward work”, but rather a significant spiritual step of obedience to the New Testament Word of God concerning those who would enter His kingdom. And, I should add, a step that should be taken either at the moment of salvation or as soon after as it is possible to draw the water!
What we have seen in recent years in some “Pentecostal” churches is reluctance on the part of the pastorate to fill the baptismal for one or two new believers, and instead they plan the event as a religious service of Baptism to be held once or twice a year. What I hope to do in this treatise is to show how the dumbing down of water baptism brings spiritual weakness in to the church body and makes believers ineffective for the service of kingdom building as Jesus commanded us to do it.
Since we are “Full Gospel” ministers, I am directing this to the fellowship that believes in the Baptism of the Holy Ghost as you cannot separate the act of water baptism from the filling of the Holy Spirit, at least not in the “Pentecostal” denominations, although many try!
What is Water Baptism?:
The act of baptism is found only in the New Testament and is taken from the Greek “Baptizo” meaning “to make whelmed” or “covered with fluid”. (Strong’s reference number G907). Water, historically has been the preferred medium for cleansing which was the reason John the Baptist first preached baptism for repentance (Matthew 3:1 – 3:3) as the way to prepare the path for the coming Messiah on the banks of the river Jordan, and everyone that was moved by God through John’s preaching got baptized in the Jordan, including Jesus. In order to eliminate any confusion later on, we are talking full immersion here! Every reference to “baptism” in the New Testament means “to make whelmed” or “covered with fluid”. In other words we are literally “buried” in the water as Jesus was buried in the tomb, then “resurrected” out of the water as Jesus was resurrected from the dead as noted in the following scriptures:
Since the resurrection of Christ, “Water Baptism” is the act of obedience that new believers in Jesus Christ should participate in directly after repentance or the turning away from their old nature which is sin. It is so important that Peter issued this instruction in the book of Acts, chapter 2 verse 38:
“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
The Holy Spirit and Water Baptism:
When I tell you that it is imperative to be water baptized before receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, I will hear from some of you that know someone that received the Holy Ghost before they received water baptism! Scripture relates this account also. His name was Cornelius, and God was teaching Peter that the Gentiles were being accepted into the church because Peter, being a good Jew, was not about to baptize a Gentile! (Acts 10:47 “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?” Act 10:48 “And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord …”) While God certainly can do anything He wants regarding the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the normal order is Repentance, then Water Baptism followed closely by the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and until I have a word from the Lord on the matter, I will not teach anything else. Friends, we are talking about the empowerment of the Church body here! Can we any longer afford to let our pride keep the move of the Holy Spirit out of our fellowships?
Take a good look at the much used verse of Acts 2:1: “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” Note that there were several things that these 120 men had in common:
Jesus Himself was baptized by John and received the Holy Spirit immediately after coming out of the water. Matthew 3:16 “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:”
In the upper room were 120 men that were not only full of prayer, but also so obedient in following Jesus commands that when the Holy Spirit showed up as a sound of a “rushing mighty wind”, they were filled with the awesome power of the Holy Ghost and began prophesying to the nations in other tongues!
Importance:
So important was Water Baptism to the early church that the Apostles went to great length to make certain that their disciples were baptized. The reason was because the imparting of the “Gifts of the Holy Spirit” did not take place until after the disciples had been baptized in the name of the Lord! I have heard many pastors and evangelists encouraging the various congregations that we have been in to pray to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit while neglecting to preach one word on Water Baptism. Look at the following examples of scripture with me. In the first example, found in the eighth chapter of Acts, Peter and John are going to check up on some well meaning fellows that have been saved but not filled. Notice what they had received:
“Now when the apostles which were at
Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 8:14-17)
We are all familiar with the
Damascus experience of the Apostle Paul, but you may not have paid attention to
the following event: “And Ananias went his way,
and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul,
the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest
receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell
from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and
arose, and was baptized.” (Acts
9:17-18) Before one of the greatest preachers who ever expounded on the cross
of Jesus did one thing in the
Last, but certainly not least is the account of Paul encountering a group of twelve men that were apparently not getting much done for the Kingdom although they must have been putting forth a sincere effort. (Does this sound familiar?)
“And it came to pass,
that, while Apollos was at
He said unto them, have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.
And he said unto them, unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. And all the men were about twelve.” (Acts 19:1-7)
In Summary:
What I am teaching here is not a new doctrine nor is it unheard of in most full gospel fellowships, but what has happened is that over the past few generations has been a gradual weakening of the church in the areas of the Power Gifts of the Holy Spirit, i.e., healing, prophesy, words of knowledge, casting out of demons, and an absolute focus on Kingdom building, which in turn has led to more emphasis being put on the things that we can accomplish with limited spiritual support, i.e., bake sales, food drives, car washes, etc., and while all of these may be beneficial from time to time, nothing replaces or builds the church like the exercise of God’s powerful gifts! In order for these gifts to be evident in the body we must return to the order that Peter proclaimed: “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38)
There will always be those that do nothing after salvation, being satisfied to just make it in the door so to speak, but for those individuals with true desire to give their all for Jesus, why make them wait one second longer than necessary to experience the wonderful gift and power that God has purposed for His children? Teach and preach the importance of water baptism subsequent to repentance, whether for the first time or the fiftieth, and baptize with water immediately after salvation then pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit immediately after baptism. You will find as we have that the Holy Spirit unleashed in the congregation will effect more change in the community for Christ that all of our puny efforts combined.
Remember our focus, the thing we are in one accord with:
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mar 16:15-18)
In His Grip,
Will
Straight Talk
http://www.willdallas.org