Baptism (Part II)

By Odon Bulamba (8th February 2001)

What happens when a king has to be baptised? A king cannot go into the dirty river Jordan; this is why it changed to a christening. They took some water and put it into a container and said, if we pour this water on our prince he’ll become wet and this could humiliate him, so let us take a few drops of water and put it on his head because it is only symbolic. This is how the first baptism changed; from this time the universal church started to baptise this way. Also to immerse 1000 people was too much trouble. This was the second reason why it changed.

The Bible says we must die with Christ and be buried with Him. Christians must be immersed because it is a picture of dying with Christ and rising with Him in the resurrection, and those who can’t accept this way go against the Bible. We are called to be Christians and be baptised in an honest way.

Colossians 2:12 “Having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead”. Amen.

This how the Bible defines baptism, to die with Jesus Christ and be raised with Him. What does it mean to die with Jesus Christ? It means we must give up all our wrong doings with our physical bodies as Paul said, “it is no longer I that live but Christ that lives in me”. When we can fully give our lives to Jesus Christ we accept to die with Him. What do we do when someone dies? We go to the cemetery and bury them. When our physical actions die we must bury them completely. If you are a drunkard, you must bury this drunkenness, and when you see a drunk you'll say, I use to be like that. Have you ever seen someone laughing at a cemetery while burying his brother? As people enter a cemetery they become serious and their conversations change, why is this? It is because we fear death, but as Christians when we bury our sins, why don't we fear these sins? Why do we want to dig our sins up to play with them?

There was a man who confessed his sins 5000x. He would tell God and those around him that he was giving up drinking. A few days later he was drinking again so God took his soul. Our decision is essential and we cannot joke with sin. If we do, our baptism is nothing. Your name may be written in the church book but not in the book of life. When you are baptised in Congo you are given a membership card and you are counted as their Christians, but you are not Christians of any church but of Jesus Christ. Make sure your name is written in the book of life where Jesus is and not written in a book on earth. When I got baptised the Pastor asked me my name? He wrote my name with nice handwriting but I thought that if Jesus wrote my name I could jump for joy. The Pastor told me to shut up because I talked too much. I was right to say this and even though I was 12 years old, I spoke in a mature way. The Pastor didn't like what I said but a few years later he understood. Christ’s book? People then start fearing the Pastor instead of Jesus Christ.

If you want to be baptised go to your Pastor and ask him to explain what baptism is. Also ask him if baptism is important for Christian life and what are the changes that should take place?

The robber who was crucified next to Jesus wasn't baptised, but Jesus said you will be with Me today in Paradise. So how can this man go to heaven without being baptised if the Bible says that after baptism you'll be saved? Try to think in depth about what you are doing and this will help your faith mature, but if you give up wanting to understand because you think it is a custom woe to you. Try to ask your Pastor or the church more questions about baptism. We have two baptisms, the baptism of the Spirit and the baptism of water. The right baptism is done by immersion. Make sure the water is blessed and also be sure about the one who baptises you. On top of this, your conscience and final decision must be your own, be sure you are doing it to please God and not man. Protect your soul and spiritual life, do not allow man to play with your life and do not allow the devil to play with your life, but invite Jesus Christ to rule in your life and when Jesus will visit your life you will be safe.

Questions:

What do you mean by knowing the one who baptises you? When someone has a problem and you want to pray for that person you will talk with them, they will tell you where they are up to in their spiritual life. The one who talks with this person must have the gift of discernment to know what spirit is living in this person so they can help you be delivered.

What do you mean when the water must be blessed? The word of God is the water, Jesus says He is the word Himself, He also said He is the bread of life. Before giving the bread Jesus would always bless it before sharing it, so before preparing your exhortation you must bless the word and pray for it. Before burying someone you must dig up the dirt, and in the same way you must prepare for a baptism. We must pray for the water because the devil uses it a lot. 75% of magic happens under water and many devilish spirits live in water, so you must pray and take authority. If you are not careful preparing the water, the person being immersed can rise with impure spirits. This is why we must pray for the water.

In what name must we be baptised? Some people say the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and others say Jesus Christ. Which one shall we chose? You can be baptised with both names.

Is spiritual baptism different to water baptism? Yes, the baptism of the spirit is different to the water baptism. Remember Cornelius in Acts 10? He prayed and the angel came. First he received the Holy Spirit and then saw and received messages from the angel telling him to call Peter and Cornelius had not been baptised at this stage. Many people were baptised first then received the Holy Spirit, some people didn't received it until people laid hands on them, it doesn't mean they didn't have the Spirit but the Spirit wasn't acting in their lives. It is like the baptism of fire. You can have firewood, matches and petrol but you need someone to start the whole process. Many Christians have these three things in their lives but if you ask them, where is your fireplace, they don't know. That is why God sends someone to help you light the fire in the proper place.
Water baptism is a decision to turn your life to Jesus forever, to die and be raised with Him.

How many baptisms are there? Word baptism, baptism by anointing, water baptism by immersion, baptism of fire that is the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the baptism in the second body we'll have one day.

I Corinthians 15:29, “now if there is no resurrection what will those do who are baptised for the dead, if the dead are not raised at all why are people baptised for them?”

If there are no results why do we do it? Lack of knowledge pushes people to baptise people who are dead and if it is not this reason then it is for the devil's glory. In Congo, the water that dead people were washed in protected you. The water that Catholics use is called blessed water believing it can perform miracles. The dead are dead; there is nothing in-between a human who is alive and one who is dead. When someone dies he must go back to dust. The Bible doesn't say to baptise your brother when he is dead, so why do people do it? It is because they have another book but woe to man who put their trust in man.

When John baptised people he would speak repentance, but Jesus was also baptised by John, what do you think about this? If Jesus was baptised for our sins why should we be baptised? Why was Jesus baptised by John because the Bible says He was sinless? John's baptism was to admit your sins first and then be baptised, so why did Jesus do it? What was the fulfilment? Exodus 12 reveals that before the lamb was slain he had to be washed, not by anybody but a priest and John was that priest. May God help you understand baptism and if you want to learn more go and see your evangelist or Pastor.