Baptism

This coming Sunday, I’m getting baptized. This might surprise you, so let me explain. Jesus rescued me from an eternity in hell about 7 years ago. He saved me! A miracle, praise the Lord! I should have gotten baptized 7 years ago, but I didn’t and I have no real reason. It’s been on my mind quite a bit the last couple of years. So now, finally, I’m getting baptized.

My parents did their best to raise me to be a Christian. And that began with being baptized as a baby. I grew up going to church and Sunday school. I even taught Sunday school and Bible school. And I have to tell you, I thought I was a Christian. In reality, I wasn’t. How do I know? Because I was the center of my world. Everything was about me. I certainly didn’t love God and didn’t give a thought to loving others more than myself. I had no interest in the Bible. I really only did church stuff because church wasn’t optional in my family. All that church stuff came to an abrupt end when I went to college. I didn’t set foot inside a church—it was awesome sleeping in on Sunday mornings! Once I graduated, my guilty conscience made me go once in a blue moon. I’d go to church at Christmas and Easter but that was it. When I moved to Fort, and Rick and I got married, church seemed like the right thing to do. So we went. We found friends, and church became part of our social life. I still didn’t crack open a Bible. I never prayed except when I had some sort of emergency. I never thought about God except on Sunday mornings. I certainly didn’t think about Jesus or the Holy Spirit. That all changed when Jesus graciously worked His miracle of salvation in my heart.

You know, there are two distinct parts to my life. Part 1 was a total waste—it was my life before Christ. Part 2 is my life now, in Christ. I know that I’ve been saved because Part 2 of my life is completely different—and, let me tell you, it’s not me making myself different. God is. Jesus is. The Holy Spirit is. It’s the power of the Trinity living in me that is transforming my heart, my interests, my priorities, my life—and I’m being transformed more and more every day. So, I’ve been saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus. Which is one of the reasons why I’m getting baptized. You see, by being baptized, I’m making a public declaration of my faith in Jesus. The other reason I’m getting baptized is because I want to be obedient to Jesus. He told His disciples to baptize new believers in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). So, being baptized is being obedient to what Jesus said to do.

Before being baptized, I had to go to a class on baptism at my church. Someone asked if baptism is required to be saved. The answer is “No.” Think of the thief on the cross. The man was nailed to a cross, dying. Jesus didn’t say, “Sorry about your bad luck—you can’t be with Me in heaven unless you first get baptized.” Of course not. Jesus promised that thief he would be with Him in Paradise (Luke 23:43). Someone else asked if being baptized means you go to heaven—in other words, does baptism guarantee you heaven? The answer is “No” (my “baptism” as a baby did absolutely nothing except give me a wet head). Why not? Because the Bible teaches us that every person is spiritually dead in their sins (Ephesians 2:1.) You remain dead in your sins unless you are made alive in Christ by God (Ephesians 2:4). Now if you’re dead, it’s impossible to do anything for yourself, right? If, by the grace of God you are saved and are alive in Christ, then you get baptized to let the world know you’re a follower of Christ and are obedient to His teaching. If you have questions about baptism, let me know.