 | Reverend Terry G. Fox is Senior Pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church. He is Chairman of the North American Mission Board, member of its Executive Committee and the FamilyNet Broadcast Communications Committee, as well as numerous other subcommittees. He's listed on the Who's Who Among Outstanding Corporate Executives. He is a sought after speaker and has traveled and ministered in many places in the United States, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Rev. Fox and his wife Barbara have three children. You may contact him at Immanuel Baptist Church, 1415 South Topeka, Wichita, Kansas, 67211; phone (316) 262-1452; or Fax (316) 262-4704. |
Religion
2005-10-01 14:59:00
Is baptism required to enter heaven?
: Does a person have to be baptized in order to enter heaven? Abraham and Isaac and Jacob were not baptized, yet Scripture affirms that they are in heaven. Did the Old Testament have a different type of Baptism than we have?
ANSWER: Baptism was not practiced by Jews until a few decades before Christ. It is not mentioned in the Old Testament or the Apocryphal. The Dead Sea Scrolls imply that some Jewish sects practiced it as a symbol of repentance and spiritual washing. John the Baptist used it in this way. Jesus adopted baptism for His followers and gave it new meaning. As He died for us and was buried and raised again, we who receive Him are to die to our old life and be raised to a new life. Romans 6:1-12 explains this. Baptism is to represent burial and resurrection, and is done to one who has received Christ as his/her Savior. It is a public acknowledgement of new allegiance to Christ and usually serves as an initiation into a Christian church. Acts 8:26-39 tells the baptism of a new believer. Phillip explained the Gospel to the Ethiopian who then asked to be baptized when they came to an oasis. Phillip said that he could be baptized if he truly believed. Being assured that he did, Phillip led him into the water and baptized him.Baptism, according to the Bible, is an act of obedience on the part of a new Christian. It symbolizes death, burial and resurrection. Baptism requires a new believer to be laid back into the water and then lifted up. In some southeast Asian cultures burial is done in a round basket which is lowered straight down into the ground. So they baptize by taking the shoulders and pushing the person down into the water and raising him straight up. You ask if baptism is required for salvation. The thief on the cross was not baptized, but was saved. A person is required to be saved before he is permitted to be baptized. Since this is an initial act of obedience of a new Believer, you might doubt the sincerity of the person if he neglects to be baptized, but there is no Scriptural grounds for requiring baptism for entry into Heaven.I know that baptism has been altered in the centuries following Christ. It was simplified by putting the water on the person instead of putting the person in the water...but this rather destroys the symbolism of burial and resurrection. Some baptize infants as a dedication by the family to bring up the child as a Christian, then the baptism is "confirmed" when the child is old enough to choose to be a Christian. The danger in this is that the child may think he has some special relation to Christ because of an act he does not remember. Every person must make a commitment to Christ himself, receiving Him a his only hope of forgiveness and as his Lord and master for life.
