DISTORTION OF THE WORD ABOUT BAPTISM AND BAPTISM AS IMMERSION
Sakkie Parsons
Someone wrote to me and told me that when she decided to be baptized as an adult, she had to handle quite a bit of opposition, even within her own family.
When she asked one of her family members where it says in the Word that babies should be baptized, that person quoted a Scripture to her—which I will now share with you—to show how people, in the case of baptism, can also twist our Lord’s precious Word in order to preach their own version of Jesus’ gospel.
Remember:
I am not proclaiming that anyone who has not been baptized as an adult—or has not been baptized at all—will go to hell.
What I do firmly proclaim is that the closer you live according to the Word, the better your relationship with Jesus Christ will be, and the ultimate determining factor of where you and I will spend eternity depends on whether we will arrive on the other side of the grave with Jesus, whose Holy Spirit already dwells within us at this side of the grave—or whether He does not dwell in us.
Whether Jesus’ Holy Spirit lives in me depends, of course, on whether I have invited Him into my heart/life with sincerity and have received Him as my Lord and Saviour.
Back to the lady who wrote to me:
The “proof,” according to the person who presented it to the lady who wanted to be baptized as an adult, to show that babies should be baptized, is Matthew 19:14—and I will share it with you and then show you how the Word was twisted in that case.
We read:
MATTHEW 19:14 But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
Let us now read that passage again, but not just the one verse. Let us read the verse before and the verse after, and then I will show you how we can clearly see what Jesus is telling us here:
We read:
MATTHEW 19:13 Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, (they did not want the children to be baptized, but that Jesus would lay His hands on them and pray for them), but the disciples rebuked them.
Then we read:
MATTHEW 19:14 But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; (we must never prevent people from bringing their little children to Jesus, so that in Jesus’ name they can be prayed over and blessed through the laying on of hands)for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
Then Jesus demonstrated exactly why He said this—why we should not hinder people from bringing their little children to Him, so that hands may be laid on them in His name and prayer offered for them:
Remember, when you read this, Jesus never, ever did anything just to please people’s whims or fancies.
MATTHEW 19:15 – And He (that is Jesus) laid His hands on them and departed from there.
Jesus certainly did not baptize them.
Simply because the little children were not yet capable, in sincerity, knowledge, and understanding, of making such a life-and-eternal-life-important decision—but what He did show us is what we ought to do for our little children. And you, as a true believer, can do this yourself, but it must be done in true, sincere faith in the Name of Jesus Christ.
From time to time in the future, if the Lord wills, I will share with you other such distortions of our Lord’s precious holy Word.
For now, just this:
When I was converted, I also realized that I had to be baptized as an adult, because it is I who must make the decision. According to the Word, no one may make this decision on my behalf.
You can also test the following if you wish:
Many Christians cannot tell you when they gave their hearts to the Lord—simply because they never really did.
This is such an important decision.
It is a life-important decision.
It is an eternal-life-important decision.
I usually explain it like this:
No one forgets the most important decision they have made in life—assuming it truly was the most important decision.
For example:
I was married to my wife for 37 years, who is now with Jesus, and I never for a moment doubted or questioned that I married her—and that was the second most important decision I ever made.
The most important one was when I received Jesus according to the Word, and on 25 April 1973, I was baptized by one-time immersion in the name of Jesus.
If you have not yet received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour and given Him your heart and life, I want to invite you to do so now—directly after reading this, spontaneously, with your whole heart.
For it will determine your eternal destiny—an eternity with Jesus who loves you, in Heaven, OR an eternity with satan, in Hell.
Then follow Jesus’ example, where He Himself went to the Jordan River to be baptized:
MATTHEW 3:16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.
MATTHEW 3:17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
ACTS 2:38 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.”
Sakkie