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The Urgency of Water Baptism

By M. Wayne Benson

For 18 months, we relegated water baptism to an afterglow following the Sunday evening service. We soon realized this was inadequate. The problem wasn’t a matter of doctrinal erosion. We had decided to leave the baptistry in our new sanctuary unfinished as a cost-cutting measure. After all, we still had the baptistry in the old sanctuary.

Within a few months it became evident that the money to finish the baptistry was a great price to pay for eliminating a critical part of our worship. The entire congregation no longer witnessed water baptisms or heard the testimonies of the candidates. Only those interested enough to walk to the other side of the 250,000-square-foot complex where the afterglow took place participated in the service.

We were convicted about the serious loss of emphasis to the body of Christ and made plans to install the new baptistry. The Holy Spirit knew that revival would soon come to First Assembly, and we would need these facilities to baptize the thousands of new converts who would be saved.

THE CONGREGATION RECEIVES A BLESSING
BY WITNESSING WATER BAPTISMS

We still baptize new believers every Sunday evening, and the congregation considers it a highlight of the service. Why wouldn’t any congregation consider the testimony of transformed lives something to celebrate? When one tells how he or she has been freed from sin by the power of Jesus Christ, it encourages the saints and convinces the sinner. We have wiped tears from our eyes as a young woman tells of her freedom from a lesbian lifestyle. We have cheered for the teenager who stands before his peers and commits himself to sexual purity. We have rejoiced in the restoration of a couple whose marriage was on the trash heap of divorce, standing together now, embracing Jesus and each other in the baptismal. Often, after such testimonies, the Holy Spirit woos sinners with such deep conviction they do not wait until the end of the service to be saved, but respond immediately. Such are the blessings to the church that embraces the importance of the powerful ordinance of water baptism.

THE MINISTERS’ MANDATE

Pastors are sometimes criticized for not putting more emphasis on water baptism, a criticism not entirely unfounded. It is my observation (statistics on the ratio of conversions to water baptisms seem to support this) that there are many believers in our Assemblies of God Fellowship who have not been baptized in water. Could it be a lack of understanding on the part of the newly saved Christian? More likely, it is the neglect and failure on the part of ministers to accept the responsibility for these precious converts. Are we giving adequate emphasis to the fullness and meaning of water baptism? Do we help converts understand baptism and why it is essential? Do we challenge our hearers to feel the imperative, the urgency, of being baptized?

Jesus did not make water baptism optional in the Great Commission. The responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of the minister, not only to fulfill the command of the Lord, but also to make known the privilege and meaning of following the Lord in water baptism.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT THAT CONVERTS BE BAPTIZED WITHOUT DELAY?

Baptism is often presented as an outward act picturing an inward experience. The inward experience involves coming out of lostness into the new life in Christ. As important as it is that one give public testimony of this great transforming work of God’s saving grace by being baptized, that is only the first of many reasons for being baptized.

If you read through the New Testament to see why water baptism was stressed, you will see the suddenness with which believers were baptized after conversion, and the great emphasis placed on the ordinance by Christ and the apostles.

Look, first, at the emphasis given to baptism. In the Early Church, there was no such thing as an unbaptized Christian. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter concluded his sermon with this charge, "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" (Acts 2:38).* About 3,000 converts were baptized that day (verse 41). In fact, all converts mentioned in the Book of Acts were baptized as soon as they were converted: the Samaritans (8:12); the Ethiopian eunuch (8:38); the apostle Paul (9:18); Cornelius and his family (10:47,48); Lydia and her household (16:15); the Philippian jailer and his family (16:33); and the Ephesian disciples (19:5).

Second, look at the suddenness with which new converts were baptized. There is no indication in Scripture that anyone was put on probation before being baptized in water. Baptism stood at the very threshold of Christian life. In almost every instance of detailed conversion and baptism, the emphasis suggests urgency and imminence. The Ethiopian was baptized immediately in a pond of water by the road (8:36); Paul was baptized by Ananias within hours after conversion (9:18); Cornelius and his friends were baptized the same day they came to the Lord (10:47); and the Philippian jailer and his household were baptized "immediately" (16:33).

The pattern of immediacy suits the typology. After a person dies, preparation begins immediately for burial. When a person is converted and dies to sin and his old life, preparation should be made immediately to bury the old sinful life. Baptism indicates the beginning of a new direction for life—a "newness of life" (Romans 6:4).

The disciples in the Early Church seemed to know how subtle the enemy is, that delaying obedience to Jesus’ command to be baptized in water opens the door for doubt and spiritual failure. New converts need to quickly make a public confession of their past guilt and sinful lives. The longer they wait for baptism, the less likely they feel the need for it.

FIVE TRUTHS ABOUT WATER BAPTISM

The urgency and emphasis demonstrated in the New Testament are linked to five truths associated with water baptism. First, water baptism is vital because it was commanded by our Lord Jesus. Just before He ascended into heaven He told His disciples, "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…." He then added, "…teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19,20). This would include water baptism. Furthermore, He said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15), and "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you" (John 15:14).

Second, baptism testifies of a new life (2 Corinthians 5:17). It gives public witness to our identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:3–13; Galatians 2:20, 3:37; Ephesians 2:5,6; Colossians 2:12, 3:1–4). The "old man" is symbolically dead and buried in a watery grave.

Water baptism proclaims the gospel. It attests to forgiveness and cleansing from sin. Those who have declared their faith in Christ should not be denied this immediate recognition and public witness to their identification with Him and His body of believers. In essence, it is a declaration that as a child of God, he or she is uniting with the body of Christ.

Third, it declares our allegiance to Christ, putting ourselves on God’s side (Matthew 12:30). Jewish converts already believed in the Father and the Holy Spirit, but had rejected Jesus as the Son of God. After they were converted, they were to acknowledge all three Persons of the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).

Fourth, water baptism indicates the seriousness of our commitment to Jesus Christ. It is the visible sign that seals the spiritual commitment. It affirms our salvation—that we are born again, dead to sin, alive in Him, and now free to "walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4). We pledge to God that we will live for Him. It gives the convert something to live up to.

Finally, water baptism is an act of obedience to our newfound Savior and Lord. Obedience is the first lesson a Christian must learn. God’s abundant blessings follow obedience to this commandment of the Lord Jesus.

We have discovered the newly baptized believer is open and hungry for the power of the Holy Spirit. For this reason, we encourage each candidate desirous of the Spirit-energized life to join the elders in the prayer chapel, immediately after water baptism. Approximately 90 percent of these freshly baptized seekers are almost immediately baptized in the Holy Spirit. This parallels the pattern given in Peter’s sermon in Acts 2:38,39.

Every unbaptized Christian should notice the attitude of Jesus when He subjected himself to baptism by John, not because He needed repentance, but as He said to John, "It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15). Jesus became an example when He surrendered himself to be baptized by John.

Every new person who is saved has the right to be baptized in water and needs to be baptized as soon as possible. Why jeopardize a new Christian’s spiritual security and development? He needs the strengthening benefits of baptism so he may "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18). Let us communicate with passion the urgency of being baptized. Let us teach believers and lead them into all the means of grace provided for them by our wonderful Christ and Lord.

*Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version.