REPENT AND BE BAPTISED, EVERY ONE OF YOU, IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST
Author: Sakkie Parsons
Translated from Afrikaans
Translator: Robin Barker
Someone wrote to me and the person is worried/concerned that she will not go to Heaven because she was baptized/christened[a] as a baby.
This is how I view this matter and to begin with it is only right I mention that I was also baptized/christened as a baby, catechised and all the other ‘correct/right things’, in my case, to become an unsaved member of the Dutch Reformed Church.
After my conversion/repentance, however, it was the most normal thing to be baptized, after confessing my faith to my Pastor.
Well now –
You are not alone in the struggle about this matter. Many people walk around worrying about this matter.
Of course, as I understand the Word, you will definitely not go to hell because you have not been baptized as an adult, because the only all-embracing requirement to pass through Heaven’s Gate is, whether you have accepted Jesus as your Redeemer and Saviour.
I could quote many sections from the Word to show you that it is so but I will suffice with the following:
JOHN 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
JOHN 1:12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
JOHN 3:14-19
14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Look at the high premium that Jesus and His Father put on His baptism.
Jesus – through what He said and did, and His Father – what He said and allowed to happen.
MATTHEW 3:13-15
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.
14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” Then John consented.
Look at Jesus’s Father’s actions after Jesus allowed Himself to be baptized:
MAT 3:16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.
MAT 3:17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
I was also baptized/christened as a baby but when I came to repentance, I was baptized again primarily for the following reasons:
Remember now that this is what I discovered in the Word. This is my opinion.
According to what I have seen in the Word, baptizing/christening your baby is completely unbiblical[b].
ACTS 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Then, every person who was called by Jesus to follow Him, needed to make the decision to follow Him openly/publically in front of witnesses.
Then Jesus also regarded it as a necessity that He would take the decision to be baptized and I only follow Him. Do you remember what He said?:
MATTHEW 3:15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” Then John consented.
Eventually this is a matter between you and our Lord.
I close off by quoting a section from the Word, which I believe, pertaining to baptism and many other things in the Word that is applicable, that has been removed or changed by some people, teachers and denominations. I would classify the statement as evil: “It is no longer applicable to us today”.
I believe, that the closer you live to that what is written in the Word that was told to Jesus’s followers, how much more valuable it is in this life to build on the foundation of Jesus Christ and I also experience it in my own life that the closer I live according to the Word, the better my relationship and communication with our Lord becomes
I also believe one of the reasons why the church has become so weak and what according to some people, has become a worthless institution, is particularly because the church in many denominations deflates the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that it is more acceptable to the world.
1 COR 3:11-15
11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.
14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.
15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
Greetings,
Sakkie