Musings, 7/10/08, Spiritual Baptism, by John.

Musings;7/10/08, Spiritual Baptism

This morning, I picked up my Bible and it happened to be opened to I Corinthians 10. My eyes fell on verses 1,2, "For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea."

The word "baptized" caught my attention, as it never had before. I knew King James was responsible for the English language having the word. When the translators were working on the New Testament, they wrote him a letter telling him that the Greek word, ἐβαπτίσθησαν, meant "they were immersed in water," and that did not fit The Church of England's method of baptizing. He wrote back telling them to bring the word into English and give it the meaning they wanted. They did.

Regardless of how various Christian groups practice baptism, these two verses tell us that it is symbolic. The Hebrew children did not get wet when they crossed through the sea; yet, Paul considered them baptized in the sea. That was symbolic.

Jesus referred to the actual baptism Christians receive in Acts 1: 4,5: "On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: 'Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'"

Spiritual baptism does not require water. It does not require any earthly administrator. It does require a person's acceptance of Jesus as His Lord and Savior.
Jesus does all the saving, and the Holy Spirit is the seal that secures us for eternity. Ephesians 1:13,14 says: "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory." It's obvious to me, that seeing salvation as this depicts it, and seeing baptism as this reveals it to be, should remove most of the hindrances to fellowship with people of different denominations.

I began my ministry in the Methodist Church. When some people were saved, we baptized them in a stock pond belonging to one of the members. The next day, the Baptist pastor called on me, and he asked, "Where did you get the authority to spiritually baptize someone?"
I was floored by the question, and I asked, "Do you spiritually baptize people?"
He said, "Of course!"
I asked, "Where did you get your authority?"
He said, "The church!"
I said, "So do I!"

That dear man left quite upset, but he and I became friends after a time. At that time it was true that the Southern Methodist Church did not allow immersion. My church did, and the next year the whole conference approved immersion as an alternate form of baptism.

It seems to me that Christians constantly look for things to divide us rather than unite us. I personally believe each church should be independent, and at the same time willing, ready and able to help any other church when help is needed.

We don't need physical unity, but unity in the Holy Spirit. We need for the fruit of the Spirit to be evident to anyone visiting our services, meeting individuals in our churches, or even studying our history!

I baptize by immersion, not because I have to, but because as a witness to what has already happened in the life of that believer, immersion gives the best picture of leaving the old life of sin and entering a new life of service and love. It also shows that we are trusting in Jesus to save us, not some high-sounding ritual or physical organization. Can't we truly be brothers and sisters in Christ rather than enemies? I do hope we can.