The Scriptures on Baptism

         Baptism has been the source of much debate between many different denominations and beliefs in Christianity for many years now. The differences range from if baptism is needed or commanded by God, the technique, if any we should use, and who, if any, can be baptized. Unfortunately, fallible men are leaving these decisions to themselves to make, when in truth, God, through the scriptures, has given us all we need to know about this subject. Now, I want to be clear on this point, I am not trying to attack any particular church or belief, but I am only interested in showing what God says. So many times people think that I only want to put down certain beliefs or poke fun at denominations, but I truthfully am not trying to do that at all. I am only asking that you take the time to study for yourself what the Bible says, for I believe if we do exactly as God says, we can't go wrong. If you do study this and choose to things a different way, well, that is up to you. I only ask that you consider for a few minutes what I'm about to relay.
         First of all, is baptism even needed? If we read the New Testament, we can find many verses that confirm we must be baptized to be saved. After all, it is commanded in Mark 16:16, and there are numerous examples of disciples being baptized, such as John 4:1, Saul in Acts chapter 8, the eunuch in Acts chapter 7, Cornelius and his household in Acts chapter 10, and even Jesus himself was baptized. In Mark 16:16 though, "He who believes and is baptized..." should be ample proof that we must do this, just believing is not enough for remember, even the devil believes. Yet there are some who say this is not the case. Calvinists believe that God chooses who is to be saved, so therefore it doesn't matter what you do, and many mainstream denominational leaders tell their followers that they are saved by the grace of God, which is true, but not grace only. The leadership of the United Methodist Church, which I once was a proud member of, told me through an e-mail recently that baptism is only a symbol of your loyalty to Christ and not absolutely needed. However, if you ask most Methodists if baptism is needed, they will tell you of course it is. They do not know what their own bishops believe, which goes against not only the Bible, but what the founder of the Methodist church John Wesley, believed as well.
         So now we can see that the Bible says we must be baptized, but why? When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in Matthew 3:13ff, Jesus says it is to be done for righteousness sake. Yes, it is a symbol of our faith, but it is also for the remission of our sins, to be born again, and walk upright with the Lord. When Peter was speaking to the Jews in Acts chapter 2, he let's them know that it was they who had known who Jesus was, and yet they killed him anyway. When they heard this, they were heartbroken and asked if anything could be done to repair the damage, and Peter told them they must repent and be baptized. The same goes for Cornelius and the eunuch, who though did not know everything about Jesus, but still had to be baptized.
         Which brings us to the next point, who can be baptized? Well, from the examples above, it is clear the scriptures tell us that any (Jews and Gentiles) who believe AND have sin. The baptism itself is for the washing away of sin, and since we all have sin, we must wash away the filth of sin. However, many practice the baptism of infants. This is not scriptural in the slightest, for children have no sin, they are innocent until they reach an age when they do understand. In Matthew 19:14, Jesus tells us that children are like the kingdom of God, perfect in every way. We can not be born with sin, as some modern day translation try to deceive us with, as in Psalms 51:5. The original scripts say that David was born through the sin of his mother, but modern translations have changed that verse to say he was born in sin. Beware of this, because God did not create anything evil, and we can be deceived by someone else changing a few simple words. If you were baptized as a child and believe that you are saved, I beg you to study this closely, for nowhere in the Bible is a child ever baptized.
         Finally, how, or by what means are we to be baptized? There are three major techniques that people use today, sprinkling, pouring water over the head, and being fully immersed under the water. Are we authorized to use any way? I don't believe the Bible tells us any form can be used, in fact, there is only way that is shown to us again and again in scriptures, and that is the same way that even Jesus used, full immersion. When Philip was teaching the eunuch, they were travelling, and it wasn't until they came upon a body of water large enough for him to fully immersed. Surely they had water with them that Philip could have used to pour or sprinkle, but that was not the case. Some might argue that the Bible does not say we can't pour or sprinkle, but this can be argued down by two ways. Number 1, there is only way the Bible did show, and if God had to tell us everything NOT to do, the Bible would many volumes. And number 2, the word baptism itself. In the original Greek, in which the New Testament was written, baptism means...full immersion (Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words). So God actually DOES tell us how, for every time the Bible says baptize, it is actually saying to be fully immersed.
         I know this was a very long post, and I hope and pray that you read through all of it and this helps you to better understand what God is trying to tell us, for this is such an important part of our salvation. I will gladly listen and discuss with anyone any issues on this matter, because it is that important, it is part of the plan of salvation which is to hear, believe, repent of your past sins, confess Christ as your savior, and be baptized (full immersion) to be saved. God has given us the commands and examples to follow Him, the real question is will we listen? That is up to us, not men who claim to be "leaders" of an organization who try to convince us they know best. Or by incorrect translations of the Bible that can mislead, for God holds us accountable for what we do, even if we are mislead, because He gave us what we need to know, and He can not lie. God love's all of us, and wants us to simply follow Him.

The Providence of God on Pentecost

       Any good Bible student knows the story of the circumstances in Jerusalem on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. All of the Apostles were gathered together, waiting for something to happen, which of course it did, with the Holy Spirit entering the room pouring Himself out upon them. We know that they began speaking in tongues and went out and started working miracles and preaching the Word to all. But have we ever stopped to wonder why this was done at this time? How did the Word spread so quickly throughout the known world. Most scholars believe that all the "farthest reaches" of the world had heard of the gospel within a mere 50 years. Paul wrote in Romans 16:25-26, "Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the MYSTERY, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made MANIFEST, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to ALL NATIONS for the obedience of faith." So by the time Paul was in Rome, all nations in the known world had heard, without cars, telephones, internet, or cable t.v. Miracles were of course involved, but that was normally through physical contact. So how and why could the new concept of Christianity have spread when it has been said that most people did not stray further than 30 miles from where they were born for their whole lives? Let's go back and look at what happened some 2,000 years ago.
       First of all, as Jesus as doing his ministry, He wasn't walking extreme distances. For us today it might be extreme, but Jesus' travels from His home in Galilee to the end of His life in Jerusalem is a distance of about 70 miles. He traveled to other places as well, but not far off, and considering his ministry was 3 to 4 years, His total travels doubtfully was more than 200 miles in radius. The key to all of this was the time frame. He entered Jerusalem for the final time on the last week of His life during Passover. This Jewish feast which dates back to Exodus, was the Holiest of Jewish holidays, and Jews from around the world would make this pilgrimage to Jerusalem at least once in their lives to celebrate. The historian Josephus wrote that the population would swell in Jerusalem to almost ten times it's normal populace, and this was the time that Jesus entered in. This was providence, but also prophecy fulfilled (Zech.9:9), that He came in with one of the world's largest transient populations.
       Of course during that week, Jesus was teaching many, and word was spreading throughout the city, even falling on the ears of the Jewish leaders, but most likely the majority of the people there never saw Jesus personally, and many probably knew nothing at all of Him. Once He was arrested and tried and executed, more people may have come out to watch, but the scriptures don't give us a number, nor does it say those that came out were believers, as we sometimes see in the movie versions. I am certain many were just curious over these events that were taking place. However, this would change when on the moments of His death, a great eclipse and earthquake shook the land. People began to take notice, even as far away as Greece, where the famed atheist Thalus, wrote of both the eclipse and earthquake, giving even more evidence to the story. But it was after these events that the Word really began to spread, as the Apostles were waiting for the Spirit after they had spent forty days with Christ who had arisen.
       Once the spirit entered the room and filled them, they all began to speak in tongues. Now this has been debated over the years as to what "tongues" meant, but in Acts 2:6, it is clear that the tongues were different languages that the Apostles suddenly could speak, because the multitude were amazed that they could understand their own language from men from Galilee. You see, the multitude was there from around the world celebrating Passover, nothing states that they were believers who could speak angelic language. Although the Apostles for the most part were educated, they obviously did not know all the languages of the world, until now. They immediately went out and used this miracle, which got the attention of the whole city, most of which (Acts 2:8-12) were from around the world. The miracle amazed them, the Word made them believe, and on that day 3,000 souls were saved. God uses providence with miracles to get the people to hear, then believe. Many of these same people sold what possessions they had to support the Apostles, and shortly after, the great persecution began, scattering these souls back to their homes around the world, taking the message of God with them. It was not long at all that Asia, Africa, and Europe knew the Truth.
       God is using this wonderful tool today, and providence brings us to people we have never met to tell them about the Word. We have such an opportunity with the internet, social media, phones, and still the most effective, speaking to each other, that we should not overlook these chances and tell people not only what they are missing, but what will happen if they don't believe. The providence of God is all around us, and He uses it every day, but it is up to us to take advantage of these opportunities, we are His mouthpieces, His representatives on earth. He no longer needs to use those miracles of the first century, He has something more powerful, faithful men and women who would lay down their lives to save lost souls. It was no accident that Jesus came into Jerusalem during Passover, this was the plan that God put in motion before time began, and how we are we are today.