When Should a Believer Be Baptized?
A simple question, but can be very nuanced, I guess. When should a believer be baptized? The sooner the better, you know, believe and be baptized. I don't know why persons wait.
I don't know why persons don't jump into the water. You know, I remember, I think it was J. Adams, he was mentioning, you know, in the early church there were no altar calls. There were no raise your hand, every eye closed, every head bowed, raise your hand if you want to be a believer.
What he points out is that after receiving the gospel message and believing on it, people were baptized. There wasn't this long span of time. I understand some churches have new member classes where they, you know, for a month or two or three or four or five or six will will take new believers through things. And I don't, at a fundamental level, have a problem with that.
I think there needs to be a recognition of Christian faith and truth. But I don't know that that's required by Scripture either. And I think that when you survey the book of Acts, they didn't wait.
The Pattern in Acts
They got baptized, believe and be baptized. And I think that while it's good to perhaps have those classes to make sure persons know what they're getting into, It seems to me that we want to do a lot of work on the front end to make sure that the church is kept pure, and I respect that. We should want to keep the church pure. However, God's given a tool to keep the church pure, and that's church discipline.
So, you know, if we do baptize somebody and they turn out not to be the real deal, the issue isn't, at least as I reflect on Scripture, oh, man, we shouldn't have baptized him. No, we should exercise discipline. You've got that case with Simon the magician in Acts chapter 8. Peter doesn't lament, wow, I shouldn't have baptized you.
Your profession of faith was fake. No, he tells him, repent, believe, be saved. So, when we look at the book of Acts, which is, you know, descriptive, what's going on, but I think as well in certain instances, prescriptive, what should go on. The response to the gospel is baptism, well, belief, then baptism.
So, in 238, 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. Verse 41, then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about 3,000 souls were added to them. You see it in chapter 8. I've already mentioned with reference to Simon the magician in Acts chapter 8.
But in Acts chapter 8, 12, and 13, but when they believed, Philip, as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. You see it in 836 with the Ethiopian eunuch, and there there is an examination. Philip asks him, You know, do you believe? So the eunuch says, what hinders me from being baptized?
Then Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and he baptized him.
So there wasn't You know, this long span of time, and it wasn't, hey, you know, I've got to get out my confession and make sure you're good on the decree. Not that Philip wouldn't want the Ethiopian eunuch to be good on the decree and what the confession says, but, you know, the question is, if you believe with all your heart, you may. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I understand this is a variant reading.
But this variant reading has ancient pedigree and church fathers very early, and I accept it as scriptural. 918, what happens with the apostle Paul or Saul of Tarsus? Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once, and he arose. and was baptized, the household of Cornelius in verses 10, 40, 47, and 48. Can anyone forbid water that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? And he commanded them to be baptized.
I think we sometimes gloss over that. For the person that's waiting or contemplating, you're not obeying a command. Peter didn't say, well, you know, if you think about it and feel like it and the mood is right. No, it was a command.
Jesus says, go make disciples, baptize those disciples. So there is a responsibility on the part of the believer to be baptized, to publicly identify with the triune God of Holy Scripture. And incidentally, all of these texts indicate faith and baptism. It's not paedo-baptism.
It's not infant baptism. They believed and were baptized. We could continue on. Acts chapter 16, the Philippian jailer, what happens?
They baptized him. So, on and on, over and over, both descriptively and prescriptively, I would argue, for the latter, the book of Acts demonstrates not a long time between a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and baptism. So, if there are listeners, or there are questioners, or there are persons that are kind of, you know, on the fence, this isn't one of those things you should be on the fence about. By the the the exalted Christ with reference to the church with reference to those who believe the gospel So, you know take the plunge.
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah I think some people forgets from my experience right in background people get hung up with what is family gonna think or I was Baptized as an infant and that's enough I So, that has to get out of the way first. Yeah.
And, you know, that's an unfortunate reality that what will family think? What will, you know, my co-workers think? What will the church that I grew up in think? But, you know, when you look at the history of the church, it cost people their lives in time past.
It costs people their lives presently. So, I get not wanting to unnecessarily offend a family member. And what's the alternative? Not obeying Jesus?
I think that trumps the not offending a family member.
Obstacles to Baptism
And if somebody's conscience is bound by the Word of God, you know, say with Luther, here I stand. Or in this case, here I jump and, you know, get plunged into the water. Yeah. Yeah, man.
I guess, Cam, is there any other reasons you've seen that people hold back from it? Even not from a Paedo-Baptist or Catholic background, but just... Yeah, no, I think the reasons are captured in what's been discussed already. I think just one thing to add going back to some of what Jim was discussing there is man
Requirements Not Found in Scripture
One of man's many problems is that man seeks to heap requirements upon things where God, where if we could use the language of Jeremiah 7, it never entered into the mind of God. And I think very often, whether it is the party who should be baptized, or whether it is the party who will be doing the baptizing, the ordained officer of the church, I think there are too many things that get heaped upon the requirements for baptism that should never be heaped on any pile. Whether it's, you know, hey, you need to go through a six-month membership course and understand, you know, every jot and tittle of the church's tradition, or, you know, I need to, as Jim already said, I need to feel it. I need to be in the mood. go through a particular period of whatever it might be.
Baptism as Blessed Ordinance
The scriptures are very gloriously simple in their presentation of believe and be baptized. And yet to put it off is to put off a blessed sacrament, a blessed ordinance, that Christ has commanded, wherein we're declaring and demonstrating our union with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. And so, what a glorious thing not to put off, but to do according to the command of Christ and to do soon. Yeah, and it's interesting because typically most believers, I hope most believers, I'd like to say all believers, but I'm not quite that optimistic.
Just kidding. When we're not obeying commands, if God commands us to do something, say not commit adultery, and we're committing adultery, we're not obeying a command. Or God tells us, you know, positively, you should do this, and negatively, don't do this. Most Christians get convicted.
Most Christians, you know, many Christians will say, ìBoy, Iíve been reading my Bible as I ought, and I know that God commands me to.î Okay, well, God commands you to be baptized as well. I donít know why that doesnít perplex the mind or bring conviction the way that disobedience to other commands do. So, you know, it isnít just a religious right, or it's not just a religious practice without any basis, foundation, or divine imperative.
A Divine Imperative, Not a Religious Rite
It's from the risen Christ. This is what you do. You believe and are baptized. I don't understand why there's a delay.
You know, I think back to when I was baptized. I was sprinkled as an infant, of course, in the Roman Catholic Church. But then when I got converted, born again, saved by God's grace, wanted to get baptized, it was wonderful. It didn't hurt.
It wasn't, you know, ice cold water or scalding hot water, which either way, that's fine if that's what it needs to be. There's nothing in the ordinance or there's nothing in the experience or there's nothing that is contrary to, you know, joy, happiness, and thanksgiving. It's a public proclamation that, you know, I'm dead, I'm buried, I'm risen again with Christ Jesus. And
Baptism, Holiness, and Assurance
Paul uses that in Romans 6 as an argument for us to pursue holiness and righteousness. Think back on your baptism. So, again, if anybody's out there puzzled or perplexed, read Acts and see what they did when they believed the gospel. Yeah.
It's a means of grace. It's a strengthening of faith. I think some of these people are in doubt. Like, am I really saved or just lacking assurance?
But this, ironically, would actually strengthen Their faith, right? Yeah, obedience to God is definitely a help in terms of confirmation. Disobedience never helps in terms of confirmation. Yeah.
Excellent.
Closing Remarks
Oh, I should, before we go on to the next question, is Pastor Cam did a four-part series on baptism. Was it last year? So it was up on Sermon Audio, and we answered a lot of questions in there as well. These different objections, concerns.
So the theology, the practice, different things. So highly recommend those. I'll link those into the description or whatever. You can find them on Sermon Audio.
Excuse me.