There is nothing on earth more beautiful than a baptism. It is the point when heaven literally comes down and fills a soul. It is also the time that we rejoice over the defeat of the devil—he loses his power to accuse and condemn. Jesus saves!
The devil does not sit still. In every possible way he deceives, distracts, and distorts a person from the truth. One of his most successful campaigns against truth has been his distortion of the Biblical teaching on baptism.
According to the New Testament you are saved at the point when God washes your sins away in baptism (Acts 2:38). So, if you have not been baptised for the forgiveness of your sins, you are not saved, and are not yet in the brotherhood of believers—the church. Don’t let the devil convince you otherwise, be saved.
The best way to defeat the devil on this is to pick up your Bible and read it.
I challenge you to do a comparative study. First, read the Book of Acts and write down all the cases where baptism is connected with salvation. Then, go online and note how many articles exclude baptism from the subject of salvation. Yes, some of those will mention baptism, but what they tell you is that baptism has nothing to do with being saved. You are going to have to choose who you are going to believe. I pray that you will believe Luke.
Another way that the devil has corrupted the Biblical teaching on baptism is through the practice of ‘Infant baptism’ or ‘christening.’ Though a long-established tradition in many churches, there is neither teaching nor example of the practice in the New Testament. Instead, we consistently find that it is only adults who responded to the Gospel by believing in Jesus, repenting of their sins, confessing Jesus as Saviour and Lord, and being immersed for the forgiveness of their sins.
Finally, the “Believer’s prayer” is often taught as the point when a sinner is ‘saved.’ In this you are told to “Invite Jesus into your heart.” I would never doubt the sincerity of someone praying this prayer, but it too is not found in the New Testament as the way to be saved.
When the Ethiopian Eunuch was taught the Gospel by Philip he responded to its call:
“And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him” (Acts 8:38).
John Staiger
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