In The Garden…Wet

I’ve talked with many people over the years who feel like God is not with them, helping them, or is far away.  Many of these people are Christians.  As I speak with them about their journey, sometimes light is shed on a part of the problem.  Their salvation experience doesn’t match those in Scripture.

Baptism...now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (1 Peter 3:21-22 ESV)

Some of them had never been baptized.  Maybe if you come from a Christian tradition that does not baptize, that will sound strange to you.  But when someone in the New Testament era believe that Jesus was the Christ, they turned back to God (repented), confessed Jesus as their Lord, and were baptized.  That was their way of accepting God’s free gift of forgiveness.  The idea that baptism was not the way to accept God’s gift didn’t begin until over 1500 years after Christ, during the Protestant Reformation.

Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?" And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. (Acts 8:35-39 NIV)

There wasn’t any magic in the water.  No one had blessed it and made it holy.  In fact, they would use any water that was available.  That’s because it wasn’t about the water.  It was about the person who was going into the water to reconcile with God.  They wanted to be with God.  This was God’s plan.  They followed God’s plan, just like Jesus did his part of God’s plan.

Now why are you waiting? Get up and be immersed, and wash away your sins, calling on His Name. (Acts 22:16 TLV)

The word “baptize” in Greek simply meant “to dip or immerse.”  The different forms of baptism (pouring, sprinkling) didn’t come about until at least a hundred years after Christ.  People faced with death-bed confessions would adjust the form.  They would do things like taking three buckets of water, pouring them over the person in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Then they would pray and ask God to consider that good enough.

"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Matthew 3:11 NIV)

Some will say that we don’t need to be water-baptized because Jesus brought a Holy Spirit baptism that was different from John’s.  This is a good insight.  The baptism that we do today is not the same as John’s baptism for repentance.  John was trying to get people to turn away from their sin and turn back to God.  Our baptism today originated on the day of Pentecost.

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." (Acts 1:4-5 NIV)

Our’s originated at Pentecost because the day of Pentecost was when God poured out the Holy Spirit on all nations – all who would come to God. Our baptism was intended to turn people back to God, like John’s baptism, give them forgiveness of their sins (now that Jesus had died, risen, and asceded into heaven), and to receive the Holy Spirit (which had just been poured out that day).  There’s much more happening than with John’s baptism, even though both take place in the water and even look similar.

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. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call." (Acts 2:38-39 NIV)

Whenever I have someone who has done only a part of the picture described here, I encourage them to have a day where they match the picture we find in Scripture.  This is what Jesus did, to fulfill all righteousness.  This is what Jesus taught.  This is what the Apostles did.  This is what the Apostles practiced.  So, we teach and practice the same thing too.  It helps us in the garden, because we know that God is true to God’s promises.  And, in this way, God promised to let us back in.

How about you?  Are you in the garden…wet?