BAPTISM INTO
THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST
8. Receive Baptism into the Lord Jesus Christ
Most Christians who have the patience and endurance to read
this article to this point will have one of these three feelings. Some will disagree with the contents and feel
negative about it. Others will feel
this article is interesting but will not do anything beyond their
feelings. Then there will be a few
Christians who will agree with the truths taught in this article. They will seek guidance from the Lord Jesus
Christ and consider rebaptism. For
those who have a positive attitude towards this article here are seven good
reasons why they should consider receiving Baptism into the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. To Fulfill all Righteousness
“Then
Jesus came into Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I
need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?’ But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit
it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him.” (Mt. 3:13-15) The word ‘righteousness’ means having the
right relationship with God and with other people. Our Lord Jesus Christ is God Who manifested Himself in the flesh
and He has no sin, therefore the reason for His baptism is to have the right
relationship with mankind. In
considering rebaptism we should ask ourselves this question. Is my relationship
with God and other people correct?
Water baptism is to fulfill all righteousness, as our Lord Jesus
said. If your previous baptism is not
in complete accordance with the Bible, then does it fulfill all the
righteousness that God requires? Jesus
baptized for our sake!
2. To Follow the Example of our Lord Jesus Christ “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered
for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.” (1 Pet. 2:21) Our Lord said to His disciples, “For I have given
you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” (Jn. 13:15) Our Lord did
not baptize for the remission of sins because He has no sins. He set an example so that every Christian
can follow Him. Our Lord chose to be baptized in the Living Water. “It came to pass in
those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in
the Jordan.” (Mk. 1:9) The
site where the Lord Jesus Christ was baptized is Bethabara which is at least
seventy miles or three days walking distance from Nazareth (Jn. 1:28) Today,
churches build baptismal tanks inside their chapels for the sake of convenience. If our Lord had endured the long journey on
foot to receive baptism in the Jordan river, can we not drive some distance in
our automobiles to receive baptism in Living Water? A Christian who wants to be a true follower of the Lord Jesus
Christ must be baptized like Him, that is in the Living Water (Rev. 14:4).
3. In the Likeness of the Lord’s Death Many Christians are baptized by immersion in the backward mode
with face looking up. Romans chapter 6
has a graphic description of the correct baptismal mode. The Christian is “baptized into His
death” (v.3) “buried with Him through baptism into death” (v.4) “united (or planted in K.J.V.) together in the
likeness of His death” (v.5) “crucified with Him” (v.6) Our Lord
died with head bowed, and not with His
face looking up (Jn. 19:30) The correct mode makes a difference. “For if we have been united together in the
likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His
resurrection. Knowing this, that
our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done
away with, that we , that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been free from
sin.” (Rom. 6:6-7). Baptism
in the correct mode with head bowed will enable you to be freed from sin.
4. In the Blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ The blood and water that flowed from our
Savior’s side is clearly recorded in the Bible (Jn. 19:34-35; 1 Jn. 5:6-8).
However, there are not many Christians who believe the Blood of Jesus Christ is
in the water during their baptism. Some
teach the Blood of Jesus is in His Name, but there is no clear scriptural verse
to indicate this point. How does the
Blood of Jesus Christ be applied to our lives.
Through the witness of the Holy Spirit Christians are washed by His
Blood and water during the baptism.
Only those who have been washed by the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
can become kings and priests and have a place in heaven (Rev. 1:5-6; 5:9-10;
7:9-17). When you are rebaptized you
will definitely know that you are washed by the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
5. Spirit-filled
Baptists who are sent by the Lord Jesus Christ Christians commonly do not know nor can they remember the
baptist who baptized them. Even if they
know the baptist they are not certain whether or not he was Spirit-filled
during the time of their baptism. It is
essential for baptists to receive the Holy Spirit because it is the sign that
they are sent by the Lord Jesus Christ, and they also have the authority to baptize
for the remission of sins (Jn. 20:21-23).
The validity of the baptism is in doubt if the baptist who baptized you
did not have the Holy Spirit. Rebaptism
by a Spirit-filled baptist will certainly clear away this doubt.
6. Servants of
God in the End Time must have the Seal The book of Revelation describes two sets of
144,000 servants of God. In Chapter 7
they are called from “all the tribes of the children of Israel” (v. 4-8). These are
all Jews. In chapter 14 they are “redeemed from the
earth” and “redeemed from among men” (v.
3-4). These are all Gentiles
since Jews already belong to the first set.
These servants of God are sealed on their foreheads (ch. 7:3) and have
the heavenly Father’s name written on their foreheads (ch. 14:1). The seal of God refers to the Holy Spirit
(Eph. 1:13; 4:30). The name of YAHSHUA (Jesus in
Hebrew) has the name of the Father (Jn. 5:43; Mt. 21:9). The forehead is the sign of acceptance
before the LORD (Ex. 28:38) “. . . But you were
washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” (1
Cor. 6:11) Every servant of God, regardless of whether
the person is a Messianic Jew or Gentile Christian, must be baptized in the
Name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Adonay Y’shua ha
Masiach), in His Blood and in the likeness of His death for the
remission of sins, and also receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts
2:38). Only the clean person can help
the others to become clean (Num. 19:19-20).
In order to administer the correct baptism for the remission of sins to
others the baptist must first be baptized in the correct mode. This is a good reason for ministers of God
to rebaptize.
7. Every true
Christian needs to receive the biblical baptism The biblical
baptism is the “One
Baptism” that the apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:5. This “One Baptism” has seven essential points. The number seven is God’s number of
perfection. We can learn the lesson of
God’s perfect baptism through the story of Naaman. “And
Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, ‘Go and wash in the Jordan seven times,
and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.’ . . . So he went down and dipped seven times in
the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was
restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean” (2 Kn. 5:10,14) Can you imagine, Naaman had immersed himself
in the water six times, and still nothing happened? It was not until he did it the seventh time that his flesh was
restored and he was clean. It does not
matter how many times you have been baptized.
If it is not in accordance with the word of God, it is not the “One Baptism”
that He requires. Here are the seven
essential points of the perfect baptism for checking:
¨ 1. Believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ as the One True God.
¨ 2. Baptism
in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
¨ 3. Baptism
in the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
¨ 4. Buried
(immersed) with the Lord Jesus Christ.
¨ 5. Baptism
in the likeness (of the Lord’s death
¨ 6. Baptism
by Spirit-filled ministers sent by the Lord Jesus
¨ 7. Baptism
in Living Water that is created by God
After you have checked through all the above seven points and
are aware that you lack one of them, you need to seriously consider
rebaptism. If you need any assistance
concerning your rebaptism you can always contact us. We shall be glad to help you in any way that we can. May the Lord Jesus Christ richly bless you!
This Article is the response of Paul Wong
to a discussion in the ARK Forum on August 12, 2002
For comments please write first to: ark@pdq.net
