November 16, 2023

Mark 16: 16 “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (NIV)

I am not being saved – I am saved.*

I was baptized when I was eight years old. I made the decision on my own. It was not a completely informed decision – I didn’t understand everything about the new life I was taking on. But I knew that if I didn’t do it, I would not be saved. More than that: if I died without being baptized, I believed I would go to hell. I knew that my eight-year-old list of sins needed to be washed away in order for me to be forgiven.

Was it necessary for me to have a complete understanding of baptism before it was valid? If it was, there is little hope for any of us. Forgiveness is only one element of baptism’s purpose and I suspect that very few people have entered into the new life with full knowledge. While your sins were being washed away in the “watery grave,” were you also thinking about:

• clothing yourself with Christ? (Galatians 3: 27) 
• being baptized by one Spirit into one body? (I Corinthians 12: 13) 
• putting off your sinful nature? (Colossians 2: 11) 
• being buried with him in baptism and raised with him through faith? (Colossians 2: 12) 
• receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit? (Acts 2: 38) 
• being baptized into his death? (Romans 6: 3, 4) 
• receiving the pledge of a clear conscience toward God? (I Peter 3: 21)

I am better-informed than I was on that December day many (many!) years ago. Knowing more about my baptism and its purpose has served to make me more confident about my salvation, but increased knowledge and greater understanding have not made me any more saved. The walk of faith requires that we learn and grow but salvation itself is as simple as believe and be baptized.

God expects growth from the point of receiving His Spirit.*