It is ever the tendency of
fallen man to run to extremes. Nowhere is this tendency more evident than in
religious customs, doctrines, and practices. With regard to the matter of
baptism, almost all men run to one of two extremes. Some make baptism a means
of salvation. Anyone who reads the Word of God with honesty,
immediately recognizes that such doctrine is heresy. "Salvation is of the
Lord." It is not the water of baptism that washes away sin, but the blood
of Christ. We are not saved by baptism, but by grace. There are others, who run
to the opposite extreme, who make baptism an insignificant thing. Some even
neglect it altogether. This too is a perversion of Scripture. Baptism is
important. Baptism is essential!
Baptism is essential
as a matter of obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ. By example and by
commandment our Lord requires that all believers (and only believers) be
baptized. To rebel against this ordinance and refuse to be baptized is to
expose rebellion, not submission of heart to Christ. Such rebellion is a fair
indication that a person is not saved. I have searched the Scriptures
carefully, and I have not yet found a single believer in the New Testament
(other than the penitent thief) who was not baptized. Baptism is an act of
obedience to Christ our Lord.
Baptism is essential in
confessing Christ before men. This is the New Testament way of confessing faith
in Christ. We who believe are symbolically buried with Christ in baptism, and
we arise from the watery grave with him to walk in the newness of life. Baptism
is a vivid picture of the believer's death, burial, and resurrection in Christ
our Substitute. By this public ordinance we confess to all men our faith in
Christ.
Baptism does not save; baptism does not put away sin;
baptism has no merit before God. But baptism is essential. It is "the
answer of a good conscience toward God." If you believe on Christ, obey
him and confess him before men in baptism.