Modern Day Baptism

“Baptism; a ceremonial immersion in water, or application of water, as an initiatory rite or sacrament of the Christian church.”( Geoffrey W. Bromiley , pg 58). Throughout history the debate of whether baptism is crucial for your salvation has been a hot topic among churches of all denominations. In order to find the truth, we must look to God’s word and testimonies of baptisms in Acts, comparing and contrasting through the steps of faith, and investigate how the church views and participates in modern day baptisms.

A great example of the way God uses miracles to bring people to the decision of joining His church by baptism is the: Pentecost.The pentecost is a Jewish celebration also known as, feast of weeks, feast of harvest, and the anniversary

In the modern church we are subjected to the thought of a fast moving world, for which we have to schedule our every move; including our steps of faith. In contradiction to most modern day church practices, Acts presents a whimsical means of baptism. Such as the baptism of the eunuch by Peter in Acts 8:38. In today’s cultural church, we need to incorporate more of the old teachings and traditions, such as in the book of Acts. One tradition contains to not only saving one lost sheep but an entire herd. In Acts 16:31 it is written, “ Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved- you and your household.” It is “only in this way that [the household] would be saved”(David J. Williams, 290). Disciples of Lord did not go out to save one soul in every other town, but to declare a nation for the Lord. We, as Christians, are to witnesses spreading the good news of Jesus’s, life, death, and resurrection, to even the ends of the earth as it is said in Acts one eight. The thought process behind we are not saved, but we are in the process of being saved (NT 121 Acts of the Apostles notes, Professor Stine). Comes for the wording “you will be saved” from Acts sixteen thirty-one as previously discussed. The wording indicates that we, as children of God, have been given the gift of free will. This means we are fully capable of turning our backs on God at any given moment,

The best way to view baptism as a whole is to look at the process or “Steps of Baptism”. This is: hearing the good news, believing and having faith, repenting, confessing, being baptised, and accepting the Christian lifestyle and Holy Spirit (NT 121 Acts of the Apostles notes, Professor Stine). God made a plan for salvation, it is to be followed completely, or ignored. You cannot climb up a flight of stairs if you are missing steps. Such is with steps of faith, you cannot reach the top without first placing your relationship with God on every step. First you must hear the gospel as it is an example in Acts, “but many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand”(Acts 4:4, NIV). Another great example of hearing the gospel and reacting is Acts 2:37 “when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?” Not only did the people respond to the word in a positive and uplifting way, but they responded with a sense of faith, which brings us to the next step. As Christians, we sometimes struggle with the word “faith” and with the awe-struck wonder of the Sovereignty of God, “a large part of ‘christendom’ holds to a doctrine that has been roughly categorized as ‘faith only.’ the only faith doctrine is that baptism is not necessary for salvation” (Reese,76). Yet, faith