Wet With Meaning

Today is baptism Sunday at Samaritan’s Heart. Two sisters in Christ in our church family (and I) will enter Lake Michigan’s waters as they publicly acknowledge the surrender of their lives to Jesus. Whenever I’m having a conversation about Samaritan’s Heart with parents of young children, at some point they will invariably ask: “Do you baptize babies?” Ah, the uncomfortable infant baptism question. No, we don’t. To understand why, you need to know what baptism does and doesn’t do.

So, what does it do? As someone at church says, “it gets you wet.”  Practically speaking, she is correct. Infant baptism is typically linked to the belief that the act of baptism brings about salvation. It does not.  It proudly proclaims that salvation has already occurred in the person being baptized. So, the appropriate question to ask about baptism is not “what does it do?” The appropriate question is, “what does it mean?” It means

  • Those who have put their faith in Christ as Lord and Savior are publicly acknowledging that they have done so, as we are called to do: “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:32 (NIV)
  • The symbolism immersion baptism is rich. Being submersed in the water symbolizes you have died to your old way of life. Rising from the water symbolizes that you are being raised to a new life in Christ: We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans 6:4 (NIV) Also see II Corinthians 5:17.
  • Baptism shows that because you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have dedicated your whole life to Him. Jesus is called the groom and the church His bride. This is the same type of commitment we proclaim when we are baptized.

Because infants cannot make these proclamations, there is no biblical foundation to baptize them (However, like many churches, we perform infant dedications, acknowledging the parents’ commitment to raise the child in a godly environment). So, who should be baptized?

Anyone who has given their life over to Jesus Christ. I have had more than one person ask me to baptize them to wash away their sins. Only Jesus can do that. So yes, what baptism does is it gets you wet. But it’s a wet that shares with the world the Good News that no other wet can.

So, when is the right time to be baptized? If you now understand what baptism doesn’t do and what it does do and you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then the time is now!

Pastor Jerry Bader

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