As we continue to study the “ones” of Ephesians, we have continually been reminded of the theme of unity. By reminding ourselves God is interested in only one thing, our salvation. His glorious plan was to send His one and only Son into this world to save each of us, John 3:16. Salvation is God’s demonstration of His love and redeeming His creation.
Of all the ones listed in Eph 4, this week’s study of baptism is what causes the most division in the relationship between God and man. I am not sure why there is so much controversy when it comes to the issue of baptism, but there is! There are great debates over the essentiality of baptism for salvation. Also, who should be baptized and when one should be baptized. There are disputes about how many baptisms exist in our modern day. Another issue that has divided individual groups is the mode of baptism. Needless to say, baptism has been a very divisive topic for years, but if we just stay with the scriptures, these issues are easily resolved.
This Lord’s Day we will strive to answer these questions because the scriptures have an answer for each of these questions. As for now, we will just give a brief introduction into this week’s sermon.
First and foremost, the first century Christians did not dispute baptism or even the mode of Christian baptism. These issues never existed among believers in the first century.
At this time, because we are currently studying the one baptism here in Ephesians 4:5, let’s just follow Apostle Paul’s understanding and example. We see clearly how Saul, who became Apostle Paul, was converted and redirected his life and religious agenda. How he went from persecuting the church to becoming a preacher for His Lord’s church. In Acts chapter 9, it lays out beautifully the simplicity of how one becomes a Christian. Act 9 gives us the “where and when” Apostle Paul heard about baptism. After his conversion, we see his focus and practice drastically changed forever. Apostle Paul also repeated this historical account and conversion during his defense before the Jews recorded in Act 22. Please read it for greater insight. We who are Christians have a similar story; after we were taught the truth, we were called to make a decision; accept Jesus as Lord of our lives or reject Him and His teaching. We heard the message of salvation and understood it was going to set us in a different direction, with purpose. Baptism is not what troubled Paul’s listeners; it was the fact he was preaching Jesus.
To support this thought we can see in 1 Corinthian 1:10-17 Paul was posing the question about who one should follow in his/her spiritual journey, not if one should be baptized or not, or the mode of baptism.
Please join us this Sunday as we try to answer these questions that the world has confused many with by either adding to God’s commandments or diminishing the power of baptism by dismissing the essentiality of it.
In Christ, Steve