Preparing our hearts for baptism
Is it necessary to get baptised? Acts 2:38-39 shows us that baptism is for the remission of sins. The Lord Jesus insisted on being baptised (Matthew 3:15-17), in spite of having no sin to repent of (Acts 2:38-39). Jesus said He was being baptised to “fulfill all righteousness,” which means to be “in a right relationship with God.” These are startling statements for the Lord to make. What does baptism have to do with being in a right relationship with God.
(See Chinese versions: 简体中文 > 为洗礼预备我们的心 | 繁體中文 > 為洗禮預備我們的心 )
Matthew 3:15-17 NKJV 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. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Acts 2:38-39 NKJV Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
First, let us spare a moment to worship our loving Saviour who humbly chose to be baptised by John, a man whose DNA and destiny He had written even before John existed. He did this out of His love for us, to set a precedent for us to follow. He didn’t need to be baptised for the remission of His sins, but we do. Being our good Teacher (Matthew 23:8), Jesus leads us by example.
The significance of cleansing and Jewish bathing rituals
The significance of being immersed and washed in water was not lost on the Jews in biblical times. In Jewish weddings, brides are ceremonially bathed in purification rituals before they are married. When the Jews heard Jesus refer to Himself as the Bridegroom (Mark 2:19-20), they intrinsically understood that they had to wash and purify themselves before they could be united with Him. This is the essence of water baptism. In fact, before His death and resurrection, Jesus washed His disciples’ feet and said, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me” (John 13:8 NKJV). By this, He demonstrated that our inward spiritual unification is linked to an outward washing with water.
Jewish bathing rituals required “living water” from natural streams or springs. To be united with Jesus in spirit, we need to be spiritually cleansed by the living waters of the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39).
Two other significant things happened at Jesus’ baptism. Firstly, Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit, who symbolically alighted on Him in the form of a dove. Secondly, Jesus heard the voice and approval of His Father in heaven (Matthew 3:16-17). Once we are spiritually cleansed through water baptism by the Holy Spirit, we are reconciled with God the Father through the Holy Spirit, and can also call Him “Abba,” which is “Papa” in Hebrew (Romans 8:15).
Baptism is the spiritual ceremony of being born again
Baptism is the spiritual ceremony to be ‘born again’. Jesus explained that “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5 NKJV). The apostle Paul described it this way, “we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4 NKJV).
When we have a right understanding of baptism, the Holy Spirit will come to renew us and give us a new spiritual life.
Human traditions rob baptism of its true power
Faith must accompany baptism, faith that is according to God’s Word and not according to the word of people, even if they appear to have authority or seminary certificates.
When baptism is only seen as a ritualistic act of dipping in water, there is no power because the Holy Spirit is not invited to immerse and resurrect the person to new life. For many, baptism has become a human tradition that simply qualifies them for church membership, declares their faith to family and friends, or hopefully qualifies their children for heaven. The key biblical Word of repenting and following Jesus into His death and resurrection is missing. We ought to undertake baptism as seriously as we would, solemn marriage vows.
Some places only allow one or two ordained people to baptise others. This is also not biblical. Over and over again in the book of Acts, those who believed in Jesus got baptised immediately. The only requirement was to be baptised by someone who knew the Lord and was walking with the Holy Spirit. It is recorded that 3,000 believers got baptised in Jerusalem in one day (Acts 2:41-42). It is highly likely that they baptised each other in Jesus’ name. (If one ordained minister were to baptise that many people, it would have taken him or her 100 hours, assuming each baptism only took two minutes.)
Mark 7:7 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ (NKJV)
The power of being baptised with the right understanding
Fortunately, we can consider being baptised again if we did not have the right heart or understand its spiritual significance the first time. In Corinth for instance, believers were baptised again after they understood its true meaning. It was only at their second baptism that they began speaking in tongues and prophesying as they were anointed with the Holy Spirit this time around (Acts 19:1-6).
Here are a few testimonies.
Testimony 1: A change of heart after baptism
“My friends always suggested I should go to church with them, but something in me would tell me if I truly believed in God, why do I need to go to church? After all, it’s about the relationship between me and God. And every time when I did go, I would find myself falling asleep. I also couldn’t concentrate on reading the Bible. Last year, I signed up to get baptised at church. But in the end, I cancelled it because the thought of getting baptised in front of so many people scared me. I also had this immense fear when I was writing my baptism testimony. I didn’t want people to know I secretly suffered from anxiety and panic attacks. I was ashamed about it. Afterwards, I cancelled my church baptism and felt very guilty for the next few days. I thought I let God down and that He wouldn’t love me anymore. But that was a lie.
God has his timing and He knows exactly what I need. Around two months after I cancelled my church baptism, I was on the phone with a friend and she suddenly asked me if I was baptised. I said no and she offered to help me with baptism. She explained that baptism is not an act before people but one before God. We are to declare to God that we choose to die Jesus’ death to our flesh and rise again into His resurrected life through the power of the Holy Spirit. So I instantly said yes! At that moment, I knew God had not given up on me and He is not petty! His love is unconditional. We arranged for my baptism to be on a quiet beach. After I got baptised by the Holy Spirit, things began to change significantly. I slept every single night and it was also deep sleep as well. I also had the urge to always listen to worship music and read the Bible. It was my source of comfort. Praise God!”
Testimony 2: Freed from a spirit of depression
“I never really had a proper water baptism at any of the churches I went to before. My friend encouraged me to get baptised and offered to baptise me in the bathtub of her home. When I needed to say the baptism prayer, however, I wasn’t able to utter a word. I was crying and just didn’t want to say the prayer. I was in deep sorrow and deep sadness. My friend explained that this was a sign of evil spirits inside me not wanting to let me go. She placed her hands on my shoulder and encouraged me to say the baptism prayer, as she prayed for me. After a short while, I was finally able to utter the first word and went on to say the rest of the baptism prayer. After I said the baptism prayer, the deep sorrow and sadness I carried with me all my life went away. Suddenly, my mind gained clarity. My mind wasn’t as clouded as it was before! My depression left me that day. Praise God!”
Testimony 3: Delivered from a spirit of death and hopelessness
“I used to go to church every Sunday and thought I knew God, but I did not know who He really is. Last year, I started to feel anxiety, stress and body aches. One night when I was sleeping, I suddenly felt so anxious that I felt my breath would stop and I would die in my sleep. In a panic, I woke up and cried out to God for help. Later, I spoke with a friend who asked me if I wanted to be baptised, but I didn’t answer because I wasn’t sure if it could help or was necessary. When she explained that I would be renewed and die to my old self, I was even more afraid. Then she asked me to watch a short video about baptism on Youtube. Suddenly, I decided to say yes. I was baptised in my friend’s bathtub. After baptism, I cried tears of joy because I could feel that God was now in me. For many months, I could not cry and I did not know why. I felt very, very light after baptism. To explain how I felt, I used to be a pail full of water. The water was my fears, anxiety, anger, hatred and body pains. After baptism, my pail was emptied. From that day, I have learnt to read the Bible, pray, and know more about God and His words. Even though my problems have not changed, I am happy, content, and stress-free. I have changed.”
Testimony 4: Delivered from spirits of witchcraft
“A friend has asked for prayer because she wanted to grow closer to God. She was actively serving and had been baptised in church six months earlier. The Holy Spirit impressed on my heart to baptise her before we prayed for her. Although this did not make sense logically, we decided to go ahead by faith. We sprinkled water on her head as an act of baptism, rather than full water immersion, because we didn’t have a bathtub. At that moment, evil spirits began to manifest and we spent the next three hours conducting deliverance to free her from spirits related to witchcraft and idol worship from her family. It was a wondrous, Holy Spirit-led victory! In hindsight, we should have done her baptism the proper way and arranged for a full body baptism in water, as the deliverance might have been quicker.”
A biblical prayer of faith in the Lord for baptism
If you are considering being baptised with faith in Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit to give you new life, here is a prayer you can declare before you are immersed in water and baptised by a believer who walks with the Holy Spirit.
“I declare that Jesus Christ is my personal Lord and Saviour, that He died and rose again after three days and has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Today, I choose to crucify my old self to the cross and bring my body of sin to nothing. In the name of Jesus Christ, I repent of all my sins, my fears, my wounds, and my idols, and choose to die Jesus’ death to my flesh and rise again with Him in His resurrection – into newness of life through His Holy Spirit. Father in heaven, please give me a new heart and a new spirit. Put the Holy Spirit in me and cause me to walk in Your ways and Your will. I choose to be reborn today!”
As you are baptised to new life, we encourage you to fulfill the great commission to go make disciples, baptising them in the name of the Father, Jesus, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that Jesus has taught us (Matthew 28:19-20). He is worthy of praise and glory.
For more on baptism, please refer to Romans 6.
May this sharing be a blessing to you as you seek to love the Lord with all your heart and live out the new life Jesus purchased for you through His death and resurrection.