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| Volume 26 Number 3 March 2024 |
Page 9 |
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| Volume 26 Number 3 March 2024 |
Page 9 |
The Same Hour of the Night
Robert C. Lupo
Why and when a person obeys the Gospel of Jesus Christ is very important. Denominations discount the importance of the obedience and timeliness of baptism. Teaching faith only or grace only salvation, they do not believe baptism is even necessary to receive the remission of sins.
The When of Baptism
When one studies the New Testament examples of conversion, he will find that people were baptized as soon as they realized their sins and were prepared to obey the Gospel’s plan of salvation. These were sinners who believed Jesus is the Christ (John 8:24), having been convinced by hearing the Gospel message (John 6:45; Romans 10:17). When these believers were willing to repent – to turn from serving sin to serving God, they began to change their lives. There was no waiting to be baptized, and in fact, there seemed to be a sense of urgency in every example of obedience in the New Testament, embracing God’s pattern for our salvation. See the following examples.
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
These convicted people asked what to do, they were told what to do and they did what they were told that day!
Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.” So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.
He could not get into the water fast enough!
And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Ananias asked, “Why are you waiting?” He told him to “arise” or “get up” (NIV) and to be baptized and to wash away his sins. Obeying God in baptism is calling to God for forgiveness. Why wouldn’t someone want to take care of this need immediately? For what are you waiting?
But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. (NKJV)
Note that baptism wasn’t excluded from believing, but instead, faith and baptism were, in a sense, synonyms in this text. Baptism was a part of acting out one’s belief to become a child of God – forgiven of one’s sins.
The Why of Baptism
The urgency seen in the above Scriptures is understood when we remember the purpose of baptism. The Scriptures make it very clear that baptism is a burial or an immersion in water in order to become a disciple of Jesus (Romans 6:3-5; Colossians 2:12) – to be saved, to enter the kingdom of Heaven (Acts 2:47), to receive the remission (forgiveness) of all past sins (Romans 3:25), to have sins washed away (Acts 22:16; Revelation 1:5), to put on Christ (Galatians 3:27), to have newness of life and to be in the resurrection (Philippians 3:11). Baptism, according to the true Gospel plan, is absolutely necessary for the salvation of our souls! Please study the following Scriptures: Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; 1 Peter 3:20-21; John 3:3-5; Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; Galatians 3:27; Romans 6:1-6.
Reasons Baptism Should Not Be Put Off Once We Believe
Time: Some claim they do not have enough time (have to go to work, etc.) or it is not the right time. God, the Creator of time, has heard all the excuses man can make regarding time. We would urge you to make or to take the time. This is the most important time in your life. God said, “For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). There is coming a time when no one will have any more time, according to the following Scriptures (Hebrews 3:7, 13). Life is but a vapor, and you might not have another opportunity to be baptized (James 4:13-17).
I’ll obey once I get everything right in my life: That day will never come! The best that any of us can do is to start living for God now. Even faithful Christians must continually repent of doing wrong or repent of not doing what is right (1 John 1:5-2:6).
Family: Some want to put off their obedience until certain family members can be present. As a teacher of God’s Word, many times I have seen it happen: a person, who determined to obey Christ after studying God’s Word, was talked out of it by family members (Luke 8:9-15). Some have turned away from Christ after obeying as a result of listening to family. I humbly beg that you obey God first and foremost, and then remain faithful to Him forever (Luke 14:25-35).
Sentimental Reasons: Sentiment is ‘a thought, view or attitude, especially one based mainly on emotion instead of reason.’ Do It now because a soul that is lost needs salvation. How could anyone neglect such a need? It is the most important decision of a person’s entire life. If you are lost, nothing else will matter in Hell (Matthew 16:26; Luke 12:16-21; 16:19-31). Now is the acceptable time (2 Corinthians 6:2) because you may have today, but you don’t know about tomorrow. One should not delay one’s obedience to our Lord’s command. He should not casually wait, out of convenience, but rather follow the Lord’s instructions as efficiently and quickly as possible!
