(Matthew 28:19-20)
I remember my baptism as if it happened yesterday. I was 13 years old when I was baptized. I had failed believers baptism the year before when I was 12. So as a repeater, seeking affirmation for the forgiveness of my sins, I was back on the mourner’s bench in my Missionary Baptist Church praying for a sign that would let me know that my sins had been forgiven and I had been saved in order to get baptized.
Opinion
A year later at age 13, God had not spoken to me, but I stepped out on faith, gave my life to Jesus, and was baptized. I told the church that Jesus had forgiven my sins, and I had been saved. Those seemed to be the right words because everyone approved.
I understood what I had to say to prove to the pastor and the congregation that I had been “saved.” I knew, at age 12 that I wanted to follow Jesus, but I didn’t have the right words to get past the gate keepers of the faith who wanted me to be saved.
Over these past 60 years, I have come to understand that my salvation comes through my faith in Christ and salvation belong to God and God alone. It does not rest with having to right words to receive God’s grace through baptism.
It is estimated that there are over 45,000 Christian denominations around the world and more than 200 in the United States of America. They all hold one thing in common, that is baptism. Needless to say, baptism is the cause of division for many denominations. Of all the doctrines that divide Christians, none is more hotly debated than the doctrine of baptism. For centuries, godly men and women have come down on different sides of this question. Entire denominations have sprung up and been named as a result of disagreements over the way, meaning and purpose of baptism. There is no virtue in ambiguity when the Bible speaks with clarity even about baptism.
Why should we get baptized? To this question, there is only one answer: We get baptized because Christ commanded it. Baptism is the one single thing that every person must undergo before they can claim the title Christian. Jesus said: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
Matthew records these words as the final explicit instructions of Jesus before he ascended into heaven. This passage is called the Great Commission because it is the foundation for our missionary outreach. But if going is a part of the Great Commission and if making disciples is a part of the Great Commission and if teaching is a part of the Great Commission, then so is baptizing.
Notice the logical progression. We go and spread the gospel. In our witnessing we will make disciples. We are to baptize those disciples in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and then teach them to obey the words of Jesus. Baptism is part and parcel of Jesus’ command to the church. It is fundamental to our mission in the world. So, it is an honor to be a disciple of Jesus Christ through baptism and to teach the faith. Put simply, baptism is a clear command of Jesus Christ. We obey him when we baptize with water and the Spirit, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and we disobey him when we don’t.
If the meaning of baptism could be boiled down to one word, that word would be identification. Baptism speaks primarily of a personal and public identity with God in Jesus Christ. God identified Jesus as His Son in the waters of baptism. “This is my Son of whom I am well pleased, listen to him.” When we are baptized, we are marked as Christ’s own forever.
How important is baptism for discipleship? It is our personal identification with the greatest act of human history, the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptism doesn’t save us; salvation comes by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). Our guilt before God is removed the moment we trust in Christ. But baptism is our personal testimony to, and the inward assurance of, our passing from our old life to our new life.
Finally, faith in Jesus Christ and the renunciation of evil are always the prerequisites for baptism. When I was 12 and 13, I prayed to be saved. I did not understand that it meant the renunciation of evil and always returning to Christ as my Lord and Savior. Note again, the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus says, “Go…make disciples… baptize them.” Acts 2:38 says, “Repent and let each one of you be baptized.”
Baptism in the Bible expresses an identification with Christ’s death and resurrection. The old self was crucified with Christ (through the waters of death), and now followers of Jesus have risen with him in “newness of life” (Romans 6:3-11. The Great Commission is sufficient for me. My baptism was the beginning of a loving relationship with Jesus Christ who is my salvation.
Rev. Bill Alford is a retired priest who served St. Alban’s Episcopal Church for the last 30 years and who has been priest-in-charge of the Church of the Atonement in Hephzibah for the last three years. Originally from Albany, Ga., Rev. Alford is a Navy Veteran who sings with and who is on the Board of Directors for the Augusta Choral Society.
