Acts 8:35-39 " Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him JESUS. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, 'See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized ?' And Philip said, 'If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.' And he answered and said, 'I believe that JESUS CHRIST is the SON of GOD.' And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the SPIRIT of the LORD caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. "
Many people are confused about the purpose of water baptism. JESUS sent out HIS disciples and instructed them to evangelize, teach, and baptize (Matthew 28:19-20). The book of Acts gives us several practical examples of the proper practice of water baptism, and today's text is one such example. Philip the evangelist had explained the way of Salvation to the Ethiopian man who was reading from the prophet Isaiah. After Philip "preached unto him JESUS" (v.35), the Ethiopian eunuch asked Philip, "What doth hinder me to be baptized ?" (V.36). Several truths regarding water baptism are evident in Philip's response and the account of the Ethiopians baptism.
First, water baptism is only for True Believers ("If thou believest with all thine heart," v.37). The practice of infant baptism is not biblical because a baby does not yet possess the ability to believe with understanding. Second, water baptism is a public declaration that one is identifying with JESUS ("I believe that JESUS CHRIST is the SON of GOD," v.37). Third, the mode of water baptism is by immersion into the water. Not only does the word baptism mean to "dip into," but the Bible declares that Philip and the Ethiopian "went down both into the water" and came "up out of the water" (vv.38-39). Fourth, True Biblical Conversion followed by identification with JESUS CHRIST through water baptism (Romans 6:3-4) leads to great joy ("and he went away rejoicing," v.39).
Have you experienced True Biblical Conversion ? After having trusted in JESUS CHRIST alone for your eternal well-being, have you obediently identified yourself with HIM through water baptism ? What a joy it is to obey and to identify with our SAVIOR ! JMC
Your servant in CHRIST,
Julie
Copyright, Feature: A Daily Bible Study Guide.
Used with permission. www.feasite.org
Quite sad how some push the notion that water baptism is somehow "REQUIRED" for salvation. They love citing Acts 2:38 as some sort of "proof".
ReplyDeleteIf water baptism was somehow "required", then salvation would be nothing more than some works-based righteousness. Matthew 3:11 comes to mind. Luke 3:16 comes to mind. Acts 1:5 comes to mind. 1 Peter 3:21 comes to mind. Luke 23:40-43 comes to mind. Whether or not a person is born again (or "born from above" - John 3:1-21) is much more important than whether or not a person is water baptized.
The $10,000 question they should be asking is which TYPE of baptism?
Baptism is a public demonstration of an individual’s decision. That’s similar to how communion is a celebration of the fact that through Jesus, someone born again is 100% forgiven (Hebrews 10:14, Colossians 2:13, etc.), a birthday is a celebration of the day you were born, an anniversary is a celebration of the day you tied the knot and so on.
Matthew 3:17 is tell-tale. Even Jesus was water baptized. Did He need saving? Obviously no.
In John 3:5-7, it’s mentioned how unless someone is born of water and The Spirit, that person cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. 100% of everyone is born of water. Think of every mother as an example: She may say, “It’s time. We need to get to the hospital. My water just broke.”
AMEN ! JESUS explained in John 3:6 what HE meant by water & people just seem to ignore the whole rest of the Bible verses that quite clearly say that HE is the ONLY WAY to Heaven
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