Wednesday, September 21, 2011
WHERE IS BAPTISM DONE?
Some people say: "Unless you have 'holy water' that has been blessed by a priest, a baptism cannot be done correctly."
But God's Word says (Acts 8:36): "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?'"
I've been pondering over these questions about baptism this week for a variety of reasons. The best of them all is the reminder again of just how much love and grace God reveals about Himself in His commanding to baptize. I'm reminded God DID "command" baptism. It's not simply an act we choose to do when we want to or think we are ready, but something God wants done. Jesus said in Matthew 28:19-20, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
If my Almighty Father commands me to do something or not to do something, I want to be quick to jump to His command. How frantic we might be to always have water around to perform such a great command! But isn't God's grace amazing? It is true that in some cases a person is saved without ever being baptized (such as in the case of the thief on the cross), but why wouldn't we want this special blessing from God? Why would we withhold it? Like the eunuch from the verse above, why wouldn't we want this for ourselves or for our children as soon as possible?
God's grace again shines through. He made it as easy as ever by using the most abundant resource in the world: water, combined with the simple, yet unfathomable power of God's Holy Word, in order to give you and me the spiritual blessings of life, forgiveness, and peace in Christ that we cannot truly comprehend. Praise the Lord that I have been baptized and have His blessings, in abundance!
