Baptism is a priority for the Christian by Pastor Matthew, CAC France Zone

Pastor Joseph Akogun Adepoju Matthew

"On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it." – Luke 11:28

A new-born baby's skin is soft and delicate; to prevent infection proper skin care and bathing with warm water can help maintain the health of the baby's skin. This is to be done by a midwife or experienced woman. Then, the baby can be allowed to mix with the family and being carried by the public.

You cannot join the family of God, without being born into it. Then, the day someone repented of his sins, turned to Christ and accepted Him as his Lord and Savior, is the day he/she becomes a new baby to the God's family.

A new born-again Christian's life is like a new-born baby, that his/her life is fragile, obviously, if care is not taken and not being properly initiated into the real God's family his faith will be put into the danger.

Therefore, Baptism is the spiritual method of initiating a newborn Christian to the family of God, A Christian religious rite of immersing them in water which symbolizes purification or regeneration and admission to the Church of God.

Anybody that is preparing for baptism needs to undergo a thorough Biblical study, though, baptism is highly controversial and many people misunderstand it. The purpose of this study is to discover what the Bible says about the baptism. Why should a person be baptized in water? All these will prepare the person for the challenges that his faith will be facing in the future.

Though, the salvation is by grace through the gift of faith in Jesus Christ who is the architect of our salvation. Our salvation is not the result of baptism. But baptism is the result of obedience to His commandment. Jesus says "be baptized" as a faithful servant you need to obey your master. Even, Jesus Himself was baptized, not as a sinner but for the fulfillment of all righteousness. ‘Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." (Matthew 3:15)

 Baptism is a public confession of our faith and commitment to Jesus Christ; this should be done in the presence of the congregation, that is to say, I am now committed to the Lord Jesus. I quit my old way of life that is controlled by the sins.

To the surprise, some people who called themselves Christian do not know the meaning of Holy Trinity. Going through the baptism study will allow the person to truly understand the basic Christian faith and the divinity of God. Christian believes that the one God eternal exist in three persons: God the father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)

Why the water immersion baptism so important and recommended? Immersion baptism is a method of baptism whereby the whole body of the person will completely be immersed in the water. It is distinguished from the baptism of sprinkling water. It's purely the example that Jesus Christ laid down for His believers.  He passed through this method of baptism during His lifetime.

When a person is being fully immersed in the water, the person is identifying with Jesus' physical death. Immersion baptism symbolizes being buried with the Lord Jesus Christ. Immersion baptism is being baptized into His death on the cross, and we are no longer slaves to the sin. (See Romans 6:3-7).

When the person is pulled out of the water, he/she is symbolically resurrected, raised to new life in Christ,  be with Him forever and belong to the family of our loving God.

Water baptism also illustrates the spiritual cleansing we experience when we are saved; just as water cleanses the flesh, so the Holy Spirit cleanses our hearts when we trust Christ.

To be baptized, the person must be matured enough to use his mouth to make a credible confession of his faith. Baptism should not be imposed on anybody; it is voluntary and personal to the individual, no limited age, but the person must have the knowledge of the gospel and must accept that he is a sinner who can only be saved by the Jesus Christ not by his own goodness. For these reasons, baby or infant is not qualified to be baptized.

Conclusion, any Christian that has the opportunity to read this article but not yet baptized should go and submit himself to the qualified minister of God. He must never compare himself with someone who does not in the position of having the opportunity to be baptized after accepting Jesus Christ as his Lord and savior. For example, a soldier who accepts Jesus Christ in the war front or someone inside the vehicle, then the vehicle has an accident and the person dies.

 Remember that Jesus Christ will never command us to do what is not necessary. Jesus said, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it." – Luke 11:28, and "Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them."  (John 14:21)

Once more baptism is a priority for the Christian according to the Scripture recommendation

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, I acknowledge You as my sure foundation. My security and hope are you, help me to put my trust in your words throughout my life. Amen

PASTOR JOSEPH AKOGUN Adepoju Matthew

Christ Apostolic Church France Zone