Dear friends, you should already know that there is one ‘body’ of believers, the body of Jesus Christ. He is the head of this body, and the rest of us are different (yet equally as important) parts of the rest of His body. There is also one Spirit, the Holy Spirit of the Father, who unites us as believers all together as ‘one’ in Christ, regardless of race, tribe or gender. Each of us have been called to one GLORIOUS hope for the future, when all things will be revealed, so we must therefore remind ourselves and each other often that there is only one true LORD and Father of all creation, and only one true faith in Him, all through the Lord Jesus Christ. A personal witness to these profound truths is in this spiritual initiation ritual we do as followers of ‘the Way’, called the ‘water baptism’, which is a beautiful, symbolic, public testimony of one’s commitment to a genuine, heartfelt repentance away from sin, along with a promise to continue striving for holiness and purity, in humility, from that point forth.

The sharp point of this particular baptism that I speak of is that once a confession to repent occurs, one goes down into the water and is completely submerged, as if buried, metaphorically ‘dying with Christ’; then one is ‘risen’ out from the water; cleansed, washed, renewed, resurrected; now ‘alive with Christ’ forevermore. It is a sacred act, full of meaning and weight, a most sober oath to undertake, and it must NEVER be taken lightly by anyone. One must be CERTAIN that they want to be a disciple, and be committed thereafter to keeping the oath of repentance and servitude. Why? Because the old self, the flesh, is spiritually crucified with Christ on that old rugged cross, 2000 odd years ago. He mystically bears the weight of OUR iniquities there, whilst we have literally nothing to give Him in return, except our allegiance. Once this commitment to Him is made, it is no longer we who live in these earthly bodies, but Christ who lives in us. We personally each become His ‘temple’. We then continue to live in these earthly bodies after this ritual is undertaken by completely trusting in and serving the Son of God, who has proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that He loves us, by giving Himself for us as a perfect sacrifice.

“Did John’s authority to baptise come from heaven, or was it merely human?”, the Pharisees were once asked by Jesus. In their pride they were afraid to answer Him, because to admit it was from heaven was to affirm what everyone else there knew, that there was great POWER in such a ritual, and that John’s method of washing away the sin in the symbolic waters was a prophetic move to what would later happen at the cross for all who believe; the washing away of sin through innocent blood. The fact is, we as new testament believers also have a heaven sent authority to baptise others into the faith, because of the great Spirit who lives within us, and because we all share in one body, the body of Christ; one does not need a piece of paper or a theology degree to utilise that authority; one must simply be ‘born again of the Spirit’.

John also baptised the only person who has ever lived who didn’t need a water baptism! Yet simply to fulfil the Lord’s will, John did so, and after he had completed Jesus’s baptism, and as Jesus came up out of the water, the ‘heavens were opened’ and John literally saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on Him. The heavenly Father condoned Jesus as His Son in that moment, which is another useful picture for those of us who have been adopted into His family as sons or daughters. If water baptism was necessary for Jesus, it is certainly necessary for the iniquitous who are looking for pardon from their sins. It is important to mention here that Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son both by His baptism in water, AND by the shedding of His blood on the cross – not by water only, but by both water and blood. It is therefore important for us all to realise that by undertaking such a repentance commitment to the Lord in our water baptism, that any of us may well be called to finally give our lives and shed our own blood for the sake of the kingdom, for it is written that just as they hated the Master, so they will hate us, the servants. Our allegiance to Him will often mean dying physically for Him, for many of us, and that promise of scripture should be taken into account in the decision of making this solemn promise to be His disciple, and forsaking sin for the rest of our lives.

Remember friends; only eight people out of the population of the entire world were saved from drowning in that terrible flood in Noah’s time. Yet, those with eyes to see spiritually can see that those flood waters are actually a picture of baptism for us who live in the new covenant, those deathly waters which save us, not at all by removing dirt and filth from our physical bodies (as water usually does), but instead spiritually, as an affirmative personal response to God, where we repent from our wickedness from a clean conscience. One must note that the flood waters (not so much the ark) ‘saved’ Noah because they provided a ‘separation’ between Noah and sin, or in his case, the sinful wicked world around him.  Hence the parallel with baptism as it is done today. Those waters completely destroyed that world of unrepentant, flagrant sinners who only ever thought and acted evilly, and therefore saved Noah and his family from out of it. In the same way, baptism marks a whole new way of life for the believer, outside of the world’s will and influence. This parable is also why the ark itself is actually a picture of Christ Himself, who protects us from the just wrath of God on unjust sinners, and takes we who are ‘in Him’ safely into a new world where sin is eradicated.

In Peter’s day, people who believed and repented were usually baptised immediately. There were 3000 converts in one day, it was recorded, after Peter preached in Jerusalem, and the hearts of the people were cut at his words about the cross, which had happened only a few short weeks beforehand. The offer then later became open to non-Jews, as is recorded with Cornelius and his household in the book of Acts (he was a Roman centurion living in Jerusalem) which was wonderful news for the rest of the world, even for us today thousands of years later! The Lord’s mercy through the cross isn’t just for the nation of Israel, but for the whole world, open to anyone who believes and places their faith fully in Him. Regardless of whether one is slave or free, Jew or non Jew, the offer was back then, and still IS, open, to all of us – for a short time more, at least. We who have already been baptised have all been baptised into one body, by one Spirit, and we all share in this same Spirit. I mention this because we must confess that Christ cannot be baptised into factions; for example, one cannot be baptised into Mark, or Paul, or Peter… no, there is only one name someone can be baptised into, and that wonderful name is the precious, powerful, holy name of Jesus, the only name under heaven by which we can be saved.

John the Baptist said this; “I baptise with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be His slave and carry His sandals. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire”. John’s baptism in water is both necessary and good, but there are also other baptisms we need to be aware of. Water baptism isn’t strictly necessary for one’s salvation, for the thief on the cross was unable to be baptised in water, yet Jesus invited him there and then to be with Him in paradise. But having said that, unless your excuse is as good as being nailed to a cross, unable to move until death, then water baptism is certainly a necessary commitment for anyone seeking to start a relationship with the Lord, as it proclaims Him as Lord of one’s life, along with a promise to Him to shun sin and live purely. The baptism of the Holy Spirit may come before or after the baptism in water, but again, it’s just as necessary to have both a relationship with the Lord AND walk in power through His Spirit.

Then there is also the baptism of fire. Everyone seems to have pride enough to think they are ‘able’, just as the disciples once did. Jesus called them out, saying; “you don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptised with the baptism of suffering I must be baptised with?” Interestingly, the disciples WERE able to go through this baptism of fire, for once one is walking in the miraculous power of the Lord through His Spirit, one is firstly ‘able’, by His grace, but also one is then walking on eggshells with those who hate God, and it’ll only be a matter of time before the real fiery test comes… persecution unto death isn’t too far away for those sorts of believers. To be clear, the point I’m making here is that one must also take the other baptisms into account when committing to the water baptism, for all three will surely come to the true seeker of the holy.

Think on this for a moment: if the dead will NOT be raised, if there really is NO resurrection, what point is there in people being baptised? Why do it, unless the dead will someday rise again? The very act of being baptised is to also proclaim one’s faith that one day, very soon, all souls will be ‘exhumed’, and that we will get NEW bodies, eternal bodies, without corruption. That’s because the end of the baptism is being ‘raised’ out of the water, which symbolises burial. Our very hope as believers is in the resurrection of the dead! Yet, only the blood of Christ can take anyone safely into the Father’s presence… without it, these new incorruptible and eternal bodies people will get will be cast out into damnation fire, where there is severe weeping and dreadful gnashing of teeth. That is why anyone who believes in and follows Christ, and who is baptised, will be saved on the day of Judgement coming; yet anyone who refuses to believe upon truly hearing the good news of Christ here and now will one day (very soon) be eternally condemned. I pray, listener, that that isn’t you.

So, what are you waiting for, then? Get up and be baptised, as soon as possible! Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord! For one is buried with Christ when one is baptised, And with Him one is raised to new life, because they trusted in the almighty power of God, who has already raised Christ from the dead; He, who is the first fruits of the resurrection. 
If one wants to truly die to sin, how then can one continue to live in it? If we are joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we actually join Him in His death, for (it’s worth repeating) that we die and are buried WITH Christ by baptism in water. And therefore, just as the Lord Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of our heavenly Father, now we may also live new lives, which are wholesome, pure, honest, humble… not to mention loving! The true believer will never regret a decision to follow the Lord Jesus!

To conclude, all who have been united with Christ in baptism have ‘put on’ Christ, like putting on fresh new clothes. These are the untainted, beautiful wedding clothes that the guests invited to that promised heavenly wedding banquet MUST wear. ALL of us are invited to that feast, but you HAVE to be wearing these wedding clothes to remain in there, without being thrown out… so, make sure you are properly dressed for the occasion! Baptism is a milestone in one’s journey with the Lord, don’t miss out.