1067. Baptized

Baptized

"And as they vent on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

"And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him" (Act_8:36,Act_8:38).

Philip must have spoken of this blessed ordinance as he preached Jesus unto the Ethiopian treasurer. Why else should this man have desired to be baptized?

Baptism surely carries no saving grace, nor did the eunuch think that he would by baptism secure pardon for his sins. He was already saved, but he sought baptism because of what it typified.

Surely Philip made it plain. Salvation was through the death of Christ. But Jesus Christ arose and Philip told of the resurrection, and how we too must rise. Philip set forth baptism as the beautiful emblem which pictures all of this. The eunuch saw Christ dead, and buried, and risen again. He saw that when Christ died, he died; that when Christ was buried, he was buried with Him; that when Christ came forth from the grave, he came forth with Him. And so it was, he asked to be baptized.

Together they went down–both Philip and the eunuch, and Philip baptized him.

Baptism is not a matter for quibbling; it is a matter for obedience. Baptism is not an act that concerns the unsaved; it is an act for the saved alone. Baptism is not an ordinance to be repudiated for any cause; it is an ordinance to be obeyed.

Baptism belongs not to any one church, or to any one denomination; it belongs to all the churches which follow Christ. It is a command to all the saved.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR