Baptism: The Right Start in the Christian Faith

There is an old story about Ole the farmer. When Ole quit farming and moved, he discovered he was the only Lutheran in his new town of all Catholics. That was okay, but the neighbors had a problem with his barbecuing beef every Friday. They were not allowed to eat red meat on Fridays, but the tempting aroma was getting the best of them. Beside themselves, they got together and confronted Ole. “Ole,” they said, “since you are the only Lutheran in this whole town and there’s not a Lutheran church for many miles, we think you should join our church and become a Catholic.” Ole thought about it for a minute and decided they were right. Ole talked to the priest, and they arranged it. The big day came, and the priest had Ole kneel. He put his hand on Ole’s head and said, “Ole, you were born a Lutheran, you were raised a Lutheran, and now,” he said as he sprinkled some incense over Ole’s head, “you are a Catholic!” Both Ole and the neighbors were happy. But the following Friday evening, the aroma of grilled beef still wafted from Ole’s yard. The neighbors went to talk to him about this, and as they approached the fence they heard Ole saying something strangely familiar to the steak: “You were born a beef, you were raised a beef, and now” he said as he sprinkled salt over the meat, “you are a fish!”

In this article, we want to look at baptism.  What is the big deal, and why it is essential to advancing the mission of making disciples. Let’s do that by examining a story in the book of Acts regarding the Ethiopian Eunuch.  

Philip obeys the command to go.   

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”… The Spirit told Philip, Go to that chariot and stay near it.” Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.  

Acts 8:26, 29-30

This is a strange direction for him to head…Like one of those towns you go through on your vacation destination where you’re driving down the road and the speed limit is 55mph and all of the sudden it changes to 25mph, and there’s 9 police cars hiding behind a sign… and you can just tell it would make their day to write you a ticket. This road would have been about a 60 mile trip. Even more, it was a traditional area of the Philistines.  They were the most hated people by the Jews. (Remember David and Goliath? Goliath was a Philistine.) This is an encouraging example that as the church matures, the Spirit presses them to go to areas where they are less comfortable.

Phillip encounters a far off gentile.   

So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch , an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship… 

Acts 8:27

There are a three things which make him unusual:

First, he is from the furthest borders of what people in Israel knew, Ethiopia. That is like Timbuktu. The Ethiopian Eunuch traveled about 1000 miles by chariot. Those from Ethiopia worshipped things like the sun, various animals, idols. But maybe this guy had the sense that there was more out there, there is someone larger than the sun and the animals, a God behind it all.    

Second, he is a powerful man.  He was the treasurer for a powerful nation.  This chariot was quite a ride.  He is chauffeured and he would have this entourage with him. 

Third, he is a eunuch.  If you were going to work in the palace with the queen, they wanted to make sure you didn’t get any bright ideas with the ladies of the court. So they took care of that.

According to Deuteronomy 23:1 he can’t even enter the Temple. He would have fit the profile of those worshiping at the Temple: pagan, powerful, eunuch. (The Temple bouncers kept him out.) Yet, just because he has had this bad experience, he still continues to seek.  (Purchases this           scroll with Isaiah, a book written 700 years previously.)     

…and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

Acts 8:28-29

Phillip proclaims the message of grace.

30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. 31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. (Who has just been humiliated?) 
    Who can speak of his descendants?
    For his life was taken from the earth.” (Who has no descendants?)  

34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”       

 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 

Acts 8:30-36, 38

Answers to Questions  

What is baptism?  Immersion

We read above, “They went down into the water…“  Baptism in the Greek, “baptizo,” was not a religious term.  It means simply to dunk or place thoroughly in water, like dunk tank. It was often expressed of a sunken ship. It means to put under.  Every case where a baptism is performed in the Bible it is done by immersion–the placing of the whole body in water. 

But the meaning is interwoven with the method. I do not feel I am righteous enough.  The whole point of baptism is your declaration that Christ alone is my righteousness. (I don’t trust my best 15 minutes to get me to heaven.)      

What is the big deal about baptism?  It begins discipleship. 

There are two mistakes made regarding baptism.  One mistake is to say that if you don’t get baptized you can’t go to heaven.  You don’t enter into a Father/child relationship with God. That is not true.  Two chapters later a guy named Cornelius comes to faith in Christ.  He receives the Holy Spirit and has a spiritual birth experience. After that he is baptized.

Then Peter said, “Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

Acts 10:47-48

The other mistake is to say that since baptism does not save you, it is not really important.  Think about this. How did Jesus begin His ministry?  He was baptized.  He took a 60 mile trip by foot from his hometown to the desert of Judea. He did not do this because it was convenient, but because it was necessary to obedience.  What is the last thing He told His disciples to do?  Baptize in the name of Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19) So Jesus emphasized it.  What he emphasized, we dare not minimize.  

Who are you to say God’s first command to you is not that important? If you won’t obey God in this one small step, why do you think you’ll obey God in the other areas of your life? That’s like telling your spouse on your wedding night you’re going to go out with some old friends to a club. Not the way to start your marriage. The way to start your walk with Jesus is not by postponing what he’s clearly told you to do.  

When Jesus healed He called for an external expression of faith. 

• “Stretch out your withered hand”

• “wash in the pool” 

• “take up your mat and walk”

• “go show yourself to the priest”  

Every impression that does not have an expression leads to depression.  If you find something humorous you laugh.  If you find something sorrowful you cry.  If you find something pleasant you smile.  An important process of our spiritual growth is that we have a proper external response to what God is doing inwardly through faith.

 When am I ready for baptism? When you have saving faith.  

I’ve often heard, baptism is something you can’t rush.  It is something you have to be ready for.  So, maybe you will be ready in a year, five years, or ten years.  What determines if you are ready?  If you are trusting Christ to take your soul into eternity, you are ready to trust Him to take your body in the baptistery waters.  Further, do we do take the same attitude or approach with communion? No. I never hear people who have come to faith in Christ say, “I am just not ready to start taking the communion elements.” I am glad we do not. Yet, too often we take that approach with baptism.  

What about children? The age of eight.

My practice has been not to baptize a child until the age of eight. To be baptized you do not have to fully comprehend baptism, but you have to sufficiently comprehend it.  However, I have made exceptions as I rely on the judgement of the parent.  

You say, “I was baptized as a baby.” Great!  But baptism is presented in the Bible as your own profession of faith. When you were baptized as a baby, that was a statement of your parents’ faith and thank God for that. But now it is time to ratify their decision and declare your own faith in Jesus.  There is no dishonor.  It is making your faith your own.