 | Pastor Bill Emmerling, Jr. is the lead pastor at Grace Place Pittsburg, meeting at the Homer Cole Community Center in Pittsburg. Ordained at Grace Place of Lamar, MO, Bill has a heart to see Godly men together lead their families for the glory of Jesus the Messiah. He has been married to the bride of his youth, Sharri, for 22 years and has two daughters and a son. Bill has earned a B.S. in Physics, a secondary teaching certification and studied Theology/Philosophy at Lincoln Christian Seminary. He may be reached at pittsburg@grace-place.org or by phone at 620-670-4510 |
Religion
2013-02-01 09:37:29
Questions on baptism
A-Wow, so much to address, so little space, and on important issues that have been argued for years. As always, we want to rely on the authority of God’s Word (and as best we, can all of it) to arrive at an answer, and not man’s traditions or opinions. [For the sake of space, references rather than quotes of scripture will be used.]
Must a person be baptized in order to be saved?
God the Father saves through the fully sufficient sacrifice of Jesus, the Infinite Son of God (ref ). HOWEVER, a saved person will seek to be baptized as an act of loving obedience to the one who loves us and saves us, following the example of Jesus himself (Matt 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:31-34) and who commands that his disciples make disciples teaching them and “…baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit…” (Matt 28:18-20).
However, we also need to consider Peter’s words… “Baptism, which CORRESPONDS to this, now saves you, . . . as an APPEAL to God for a good conscience, THROUGH the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21 ESV, emphasis added). Lacking the nuances of the Greek language, we fail to see Peter is referring not to water baptism but Christ’s suffering for sin in verse 18. The word ‘saves’ can be and might better be translated ‘protects’.
Remember, those who are saved, who identify with Jesus the Christ, are going to seek out the opportunity to be baptized (see Acts 8:26-40).
If a person, who is already baptized in a Christian church, changes to another church,
is it necessary for him/her to be re-baptized?
The Apostle Paul speaks of only one Baptism (Ephesians 4:4-5) in calling for unity within the collective body of the church, Christ’s body; therefore there should be no a need to be re-baptized going from one Christian church to another. This would be why Scripture does not specifically speak directly on this issue. There are allusions to letters of reference or commendation from one church to another (Acts 15; 21; 28:21; 1 Cor 16:3; 2 Cor 3:1-3; Philemon).
If one is not sure whether he/she was baptized, should he/she be baptized again?
I’m uncertain as to the intent of this question, so let’s look at the purpose and significance of Baptism. Baptism comes from the Greek word ‘baptizo’ meaning to wash by immersion. Further, when used with a conversion in scripture, baptism is always a repentant response to the Gospel as an act of obedience to being saved, for example, the Ethiopian eunuch with Philip in Acts (8:26-40). This implies that one should always be cognitive (knowing) of the baptism experience.
Baptism is a sign, a symbol, a public acknowledgement of the event in a believer’s life. The believer is identifying with the death, burial and Resurrection of his Savior (Romans 6:1-5; Col 2:11-14).
Ultimately, our salvation is a result of the sacrificial work of Jesus and his Lordship of our lives. What follows after that is our obedience in love for the one who loved us first.
Have you repented of your sins, and acknowledged Him as your LORD and Savior?
