The Jailor: "And he took them same hour of night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized." (Acts 16:33)

Corinthians: "Then Crispus, ruler of synagogue, believed on Lord with all his household. And many of Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized." (Acts 18:8)

Again we say, how much clearer must it be for us all to agree that baptism is a necessary part of salvation? There are those who say that faith is all that is necessary. Then why does book of acts show us that in every case recorded for us to learn from, baptism was practiced?

Who is baptism for? I have a dear friend who is in a brotherhood that teaches and practices infant baptism. Is baptism for infants? Or is baptism only for those who know significance of act and what it represents?

Let's consider those things which Scriptures teach that must precede baptism. First, person must believe. This is emphasized strongly by Jesus, read again Mark 16:16. Can an infant have faith that Jesus is Christ, Son of living God? Do you remember what you "believed" when you were just a few months old? How significant are those "beliefs" to you today? Can an infant be taught about God? Can an infant respond to that teaching? We all know answer to these questions: Of course not! Another act which must precede baptism is repentance. Can an infant repent? Again, answer is no. And for what sins would infant be repenting for? Confession of one's faith that Jesus is Son of God is another act which must precede baptism. It is equally clear that an infant cannot confess to have a faith that they are incapable of having.

So, who should (must) be baptized? If you still don't know answer to this question, then you should read again eight accounts of people being converted in book of Acts. This time read full accounts. They are found in following chapters of Acts: two, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, sixteen, and eighteen. However, answer is one who believes that Jesus is Christ, Son of living God; one who has repented for all sins he/she has committed and strives to sin no more; and one who is willing to and has confessed his/her faith in Jesus as Son of God. Only for these people is baptism appropriate, and a meaningful act. Remember, you can fool man most of time, but you can never fool God!

The form of baptism is also subject of much false teaching. Here again, Bible is quite clear as to form. The Greek word we translate as baptism is "baptizo." It means to dip, immerse or plunge. There is no one who is a serious student of Word that can deny this fact. If Jesus had intended for disciples to pour as a method of baptism, He would have used word "ekcheo." But He didn't! If He had meant for disciples to sprinkle He would have used word "rantizo." But He didn't! And if He had intended for method of baptism to be any and all of these He would have used words interchangeably. But He didn't! God's word tells us method of baptism: immersion, and that's all.

What does baptism do? Well, first of all it is a picture of death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul tells us this in a beautiful way: "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from dead by glory of Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:3,4) It is also a picture of birth, for Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit, he cannot enter kingdom of God." (John 3:5)

Baptism is necessary for remission of sins. In Acts chapter 2 three thousand that responded to gospel on that day had said, "What shall we do?" (Acts 2:37b) "Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins; and you shall receive gift of Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)

Brothers and sisters, don't accept false teachings. Go to God's word for yourself and learn what It says about these and other subjects which are important to your salvation. May God be with you in your studies.

All scriptures quoted are from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Stephen Kingery is an author, preacher, teacher and founder of Be Ye Doers Of The Word.

Visit our site at http://www.james1-22.org

Our Spirit:

Does your spirit long to be with God? There are times that I wish that Christ would return immediately and put an end to this wicked world and take His church to glory with Him. I know that we are to wait patiently and expectantly for His return. We are not to decide when right time is, but rather God will decide. But nonetheless, I still long for day that I will enter gloryland and be with God and His Son eternally. Another favorite song of mine says, "What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see. I will look upon His face, One who saved my by His grace. He will take me by hand, and lead me through promised land. What a day, glorious day that will be." Oh how I long for that day to arrive! To enter Heaven and see angles and be able to join with them in singing praises to God. To know that we will have a new body which will not die and that we all will be in harmony on everything. Just to sit and imagine how wonderful that day will be is to "Be still, and know that I am God."

The Nature of Life:

The very nature of life itself tells us that there is a God in Heaven. Consider that we are conceived as two microscopic parts which are joined together and emerge as a fully formed, very complex, immensely helpless being capable of growing into adults that can achieve sending man to moon. Think of complexity of human body. How can we even imagine that such a miraculous creation as human body could have developed without a Creator? Think of emotions, thoughts and ideas that we have. Consider love that we have for each other as well as our Heavenly Father, His Son and Holy Spirit. What about pain we bear when tragedy strikes one of our loved ones. Then there is joy and happiness of seeing a loved one graduate from high school or get married. All of this and much more concerning nature of life itself tells us, "Be still, and know that I am God."

Little Children:

Have you ever looked into eyes of a little child? What did you see? Jesus said, "Let little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 19:14) What was Jesus talking about when He said, "of such is kingdom of Heaven?" He was talking about very thing we see when we look into eyes of a little child, pure innocence. Little children with their purity, innocence, undying love for mother and father are very essence of Heaven. This is really what Heaven is all about. I have been fortunate as an educator to have had opportunity to work with children. They have been a great joy and blessing to me. And it should go without saying, that when we see little children arrayed in all their love, innocence and purity we hear that familiar message from our Heavenly Father, "Be still, and know that I am God."

Isn't it wonderful to know that we have a Father in Heaven who cares and loves us. Isn't it really a grand thing to know that we can take all our cares to Him and that He hears and answers prayer. I hope that this article has given you inspiration to consider all many ways God shows us His divine existence. There are many ways that God tells us this. These thing in this article are but a few.

Stephen Kingery is an author, preacher, teacher and founder of Be Ye Doers Of The Word.

Visit our site at http://www.james1-22.org