Stratford Church of Christ
Column
What a great question and full of importance as we learn about obedience to the Lord. Let’s examine this question carefully from the Bible.
On the very occasion that Jesus was baptized by John the baptizer, the waters of the Jordan River were used. Mark 1:9-11 says, “It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, ‘You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” The example of Jesus shows us that baptism has to involve water. The very word in the original Greek language means “to bury; to immerse.” This is the very thing John had just done with Jesus in His baptism.
It was after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus that He gave His apostles their final instructions before He returned to Heaven. These commandments would define what their teachings would be to other people for the rest of their lives. Let’s notice what is often referred to as “The Great Commission” of Jesus Christ.
In Matthew 28:18-20, we read the following: “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”
The Gospel of Mark records the same occasion and records also the words of Jesus. “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned’” (Mark 16:15, 16).
It is not until Acts 2 that these apostles had the opportunity to begin preaching this Good News to the Jews gathered in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. In Peter’s recorded sermon, he reminded his audience of the second chapter of Joel that prophesied concerning that very occasion. In verse 21 he quoted, “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Peter would later reveal to his audience what calling on the name of the Lord meant. After the Jews asked in verse 37, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Peter gave them the saving answer in verse 38, (which was the very commandment Jesus had given him to preach in Matthew 28 and Mark 16). “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call’” (Acts 2:38, 39). Please notice carefully, no one argued with Peter, questioning if there might be some other way to find salvation. Instead, they were anxious to obey the Gospel according to the commandment they had just received. Verse 41 tells us, “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about 3,000 souls were added to them.”
Water was an important part of this occasion as each of the 3,000 obeyed Christ. We can easily know that being baptized was the act of obedience that put them into salvation because of what Peter himself would later write. In 1 Peter 3:20-21, Peter spoke of those “who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us.” Since Peter’s context had just mentioned Noah, the ark and the salvation the eight people on the ark had through water, we can easily know that our obedience in baptism has everything to do with water. The Bible says so.
If we are looking for the same salvation that Jesus promised the early church (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38), then we must do the same thing they did. Why would I want to risk my eternity on anything else? But, there is still more that we can learn.
Water baptism has to be a part of our obedience to Jesus because the apostle Paul informed us that our baptism identifies us spiritually with the death, burial and resurrection that Jesus went through literally. To the church at Rome, Paul wrote, “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3, 4). Later to the church at Colossae, Paul wrote that we are “buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12).
Please allow me to warn you that there are some in the religious world that will give argument with these Bible commandments by trying to claim that ‘baptism is a work’ and that we cannot be saved by a work. Then Ephesians 2:8-9 is usually quoted that says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” And Paul is exactly correct. You cannot earn your way to Heaven, no matter how many good works you try to do. You can never put God into the position that He ‘owes you Heaven’ because of how good you are, or how much you have done. That’s impossible. What these have not considered however, is that baptism is never, never referred to as ‘a work’ anywhere in the Bible. Instead, it is always described as an act of obedience to the command of Jesus (Mark 16:16). That’s not a work that’s trying to earn your way to God. Instead, it is your obedience to the statement of Jesus in John 14:15 where He said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
