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Signs of the Times Australia / NZ edition — lifestyle, health, relationships, culture, spirituality, people — published since 1886 |
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Signs of the Times Australia / NZ edition — lifestyle, health, relationships, culture, spirituality, people — published since 1886 |
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I’d have scoffed if anyone had said to me, as I witnessed my mother and father’s baptism in 1989, that I, too, would one day be baptised,” says Kerri. “I used to speak with the devil, and he told me if I ever tried to leave him, something precious would be taken away from me. I ‘knew’ Brendan had died because of me. I was the bad one and, when I sought help, my brother died.”
After her father died, Kerri accompanied her mother to church to keep her company. But one day in church, “Something happened,” she says. “Something stirred inside.” But she resisted because she thought Satan would take away her baby.
“Slowly the realisation hit me, Mum loves me not for anything I did or didn’t do. If she loves me and can forgive me, why couldn’t I believe that Jesus could do the same?” So, after giving her heart to the Lord, Kerri was baptised in 1999.
John the Baptist baptised Jesus. Jesus said it was “proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness” (Matthew 3:13-15).
1 How was Jesus baptised?
Mark 1:9, 10 “Jesus . . . was baptised by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.”
the meaning of baptism
2 On what great acts of Jesus does salvation centre?
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 “I want to remind you of the gospel. . . . Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures . . . he was buried . . . he was raised. . . .”
3 In what way does baptism by immersion symbolise and commemorate these events?
Romans 6:3-6 “All . . . who [are] baptised into Christ Jesus [are] baptised into his death? We [are] therefore buried with him through baptism into death . . . just as Christ was raised from the dead . . . we too may live a new life” (vv 3, 4, italics added).
The resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Without it there would be no Christianity or hope of eternal life. Faith in Jesus would be “futile” (1 Corinthians 15:17).
the Great Commission
4 What commission did Christ give His church?
Matthew 28:19, 20 “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them . . . and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
5 What did Jesus say it means to be His disciple?
Luke 9:23-26 “He must deny himself . . . and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it” (vv 23, 24).
the spreading flame
6 On the Day of Pentecost, what were the people told they should do to demonstrate their repentance?
Acts 2:38, 41 “Repent and be baptised, 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.” “Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”
7 In the story of the Ethiopian treasurer, how did Philip baptise him?
Acts 8:26-39 “Both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptised him. . . .”
Entering the water itself indicates that Philip’s intention was to baptise his convert by complete immersion, not by some other form, such as sprinkling.
8 What great experience is commemorated for us when we are baptised?
Galatians 3:26-29 “You are all [children] of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (vv 26, 27).
the body of Christ— the church
9 Of what do we become part at baptism?
1 Corinthians 12:12, 13 “The body is a unit . . . and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptised by one Spirit into one body. . . .”
Baptism first symbolises our identification with what Jesus did for us in His death, burial and resurrection. What happened to Jesus is counted as having happened to us. Second, baptism symbolises the change that takes place in the lives of those who accept Jesus and commemorates the beginning of a new life in Christ (see John 3:1-8). And, third, baptism represents the entrance into membership of the body of Christ—the church.
It would have been wrong for Kerri to have been baptised with her parents in 1989, when she hadn’t accepted Jesus and fully committed her life to Him. But once she understood and had accepted what Jesus had done for her, it would’ve been inconsistent not to have been. After all, Jesus had freed her from her guilt and changed her life.
Articles of interest:
Extract from Signs of the Times, October 2003.
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