Baptism is Obedience

Baptism is Obedience
by Don Vess

2 Kings 5:1-13 NKJV  Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.[a]

2 Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

4 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents[b] of silver, six thousand shekels[c] of gold and ten sets of clothing. 6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”
7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”

8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” 14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.

I have been asked many times, “Pastor is it necessary for me to be baptized in order to be saved. My answer to that question is, “No, but if you are truly saved you will want to be baptized.”
Mt. 3:13-16 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”
15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and [a]He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
He was being obedient to His Father because as He was being baptized by John in the same river Naaman was baptized in, He was being obedient to the commands of Yahweh in fulfilling the washing requirements of a priest before he was qualified to minister as a priest.  Likewise: Peter says of all believers 1 Peter 2:9 NASB- But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
We don’t have to go the Jordan River to be baptized, but we do have to obey the Father.

Mk. 16:15-18 NKJV- And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

The act of obedience in Water baptism says, “I Believe!” it is an outward expression of an inward work.

Matt 28:18-20 NKJV- “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 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, 20 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.” Amen.

The Scriptures doesn’t single out certain individuals to be baptized. This is for all believers! It is a commandment of our Lord Jesus! He was even baptized Himself in order to “fulfill all righteous requirements” as an example. 1 Peter 2:21 NKJV- He has set us an example that we should follow in His steps.

Acts 8:25-40 NLT-  After testifying and preaching the word of the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. And they stopped in many Samaritan villages along the way to preach the Good News. 26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south[a] down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah. 29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.” 30 Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”31 The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.32 The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter.    and as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. 33 He was humiliated and received no justice.   Who can speak of his descendants?   For his life was taken from the earth.”  34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” 35 So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus. 36 As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?”  38 He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther north at the town of Azotus. He preached the Good News there and in every town along the way until he came to Caesarea.
I am most impressed with the response of the Eunuch when He heard the gospel and believed. He was eager to obey the gospel message and be baptized.

Some people argue about the method of baptism. Dip or sprinkle? Many don’t see it necessary to submerge in water. But, in order to be Scripturally correct we submerge as the word baptize itself means, to submerge or as it is taken from a term which referred to dipping wool in dye, “Dip in dye.”

On the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given, Peter preached a powerful message to mass of people who had gathered in response to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the message the Spirit was saying to them in their own languages. When Peter had finished speaking, Acts 2:37-40- Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Repentance means to experience a change of mind or a sorrow for unbelief and sin, and a turning from them, to God, and thinking differently about them afterwards.

Water Baptism declares to yourself and the world, “I am declaring that I am dead to sin as I enter the watery grave. My old life is washed away in the water of repentance, and I am being raised again to a brand new life. 2 Cor. 5:17 NKJV- IF anyone (that includes me!) is in Christ (and I am, because I believe His word and accept His blood sacrifice for my Sins), He (This is ME) a new creation (I am not who I was, for I am born-again by the seed of the Father!), old things (My old desires, my old sinful lifestyle, the things that I did that were not pleasing to God) have passed away (that means they are GONE! My past no longer defines me) and BEHOLD (look at me now!) all things have become new!

 Hallelujah!”