As Jesus is Baptized

Jesus is Baptized by immersion when he is at an age of accountability. What would John have done if people came to him with their new-born babies?

Authority to Baptize! When Jesus is baptized by a man holding the priesthood of God – Shouldn’t we? There were plenty of Levites around where Jesus lived. Why, then, did he travel such a long way to come to the man who was recognized to have the divine right to baptize for the remission of sins? Because authority from God is essential when we seek to receive the saving ordinance of baptism! There are plenty of priests, ministers, pastors and whatever they might call themselves who profess to have this divine right, but most of them do not. How could we possibly know?

When a Baptism is a Baptism! When Jesus is baptized by total immersion – Shouldn’t we? Think about it; Jesus was perfect in knowledge, and he knew what a baptism was, and how it was to be performed; and he went looking for John the Baptist! John the Baptist is the most renowned baptizer in the history of man! He knew how it was done! And he walked with Jesus - as he had done with thousands before him - out into the river Jordan in order to baptize him. Baptism comes from the Greek and means to ‘submerge’ or ‘immerse’. What Jesus knew, and came seeking, and what John the Baptist knew and offered, in the middle of the Jordan River; it is uproar against the ordinances of God to make changes to the way baptism is performed. This is what the prophets called to ‘change the ordinance’.

The Wisdom of God and the Foolishness of Satan! When Jesus is baptized the right way, is it not a blessing that so many churches baptize people the wrong way? Well, should it not be absolutely clear that a church that is baptizing in a fashion that would be strange and unacceptable to Jesus and John the Baptist, that these churches have lost the authority to baptize along with their losing the true mode of baptizing? Is it not likely that they have lost the purity of the doctrines of Jesus Christ altogether? Would the sprinkling churches of today allow John the Baptist to baptize a convert into their church by immersion? Would John the Baptist consider anyone of the sprinkle-baptized Christians to be baptized unto repentance into the true and living Church of Jesus Christ? Perhaps he would quote the words of Isaiah;

5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. (Isaiah 24:5)

That is what Isaiah said would happen in our days. Is that what we see?

Truth is the same – Yesterday – Today – and Forever!

When Jesus is baptized by a man of God who would not change the message to fit the people – Shouldn’t we? John the Baptist refused to change the message in order to gain more followers! In stead he saw how those who should have been his followers, the house of Israel, sink deeper into the acts of the flesh. His message was not the most popular one, but he was not in it for himself, he was in the service of God! When people chose not to follow his warnings, he would not lower the bar, to see how many he could get to join by asking nothing of the people and by offering funky music and charismatic shows. On the contrary; he would call out to the wicked ones, hoping that among them there would be yet another who would listen: “ Ye generation of vipers”! Such was the man that Jesus went to! Would he be allowed into the Church councils today? Jesus said of this man that he was “more than a prophet”. Jesus wouldn’t dream of changing, removing, editing, or anything like unto this, any of the words of John, or any of the other prophets and apostles. He came to fulfill, not take away.

He Who Seeketh Shall Find! When she/he who is seeking Jesus is baptized by one holding the priesthood of God, her/his life is changed for ever. She/he will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of personal revelation. Why, then, accept the credentials of any Tom, Dick, or Harry?

By Proper authority and by Immersion. A person who is following in the footsteps of Jesus is baptized by immersion by the proper authority. Only such people will experience the lifelong change of his/her nature, as he/she by-and-by becomes holy through the power of the Holy Ghost.

True seekers will know! When a true seeker of Jesus is baptized he/she has avoided the pitfalls by avoiding churches who do not know, understand and follow the true mode of baptism, but have changed the covenant. Truth is only found in its purest form among those who are led by God to keep the ordinance the way God once gave them.

True Seekers Will Obey the Laws! A person who loves Jesus is baptized into a Church where it is vital to obey the commandments of the master. Everyone fails from time to time, and Jesus will have mercy upon those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit. But the genuine Church of the Lord will never lower the expectations of its people, but rather help its people to reach the expectations. And they will always strive to live by the commandment:” Judge not that ye may not be judged”.