Why is Baptism in water so important?
People argue about water baptism; people ignore baptism; but what people should be doing is obeying the command to be baptized. What will people say when they stand before the throne of a living God one day when they refused to be baptized on earth? Which excuse will be good enough?
Perhaps it is time that all of us think about the seriousness of water baptism again.

Why is Baptism in water so important?
While Jesus was living in the Galilean hills, John, called “the Baptizer,” was preaching in the desert country of Judea. His message was simple and austere, like his desert surroundings: “Change your life. God’s kingdom is here.”
John and his message were authorized by Isaiah’s prophecy:

“Thunder in the desert!
Prepare for God’s arrival!
Make the road smooth and straight!”

John dressed in a camel-hair habit tied at the waist by a leather strap. He lived on a diet of locusts and wild field honey. People poured out of Jerusalem, Judea, and the Jordanian countryside to hear and see him in action. There at the Jordan River those who came to confess their sins were baptized into a changed life.
When John realized that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he exploded: “Brood of snakes! What do you think you’re doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to make any difference? It’s your life that must change, not your skin! And don’t think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as father. Being a descendant of Abraham is neither here nor there. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it’s deadwood, it goes on the fire.
“I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama—compared to him I’m a mere stagehand—will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”
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Jesus then appeared, arriving at the Jordan River from Galilee. He wanted John to baptize him. John objected, “I’m the one who needs to be baptized, not you!”
But Jesus insisted. “Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” So John did it.
The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God’s Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.”

Baptizo in Greek means to be overwhelmed with liquid (Strong’s 907 and 911). The people in Jesus’ time had no question about what baptism meant. They knew they would have to go down into the water and to pass underneath it before the baptism was over. Jesus was willing to go through baptism as well. How can someone who professes to be a follower of Christ refuse to be baptized or even prevent others from being baptized into the new life? It does not make sense.

Jesus clearly said that he had to be baptized in order to begin the new work God had sent him to do. John warned the Pharisees that they prevent people from entering into the plan of God by telling them not to be baptized. Baptism is the physical sign that your life has changed inwardly. Restitution should be made: you should make right what you did wrong wherever you can.
When my father got baptized as a young man he had to return a wood plane that he had stolen to give to his father as a birthday present. He was so embarrassed to go and tell his father that he had stolen the plane, but his father said, ‘my boy the fact that you admit it, means more than the present you gave me.’

Nowadays baptism is made easy, speaking in tongues is made cheap and salvation has become lip service to some or the other doctrine of a church! Let us remember the full price that Jesus paid for our salvation. Let us grasp the seriousness of water baptism and cherish the incredible gift of the Holy Spirit as something divine and eternal.

When my grandfather had to be baptized he thought he was going to die in the water because the doctor told him not to go near water as his lungs had packed up at the age of 41. The doctor gave him 2 weeks to live and told him to go and make right with his maker. He had never been in church before and found a small Pentecostal church in Brixton, Johannesburg where they told him to confess his sin, accept Jesus Christ and to be baptized in water. He made up his mind rather to die than to disobey God. When he came up out of the waters of baptism he was totally cured and lived till a ripe 85 years of age! Before his death a doctor examined him and told him, ‘Oupa you have the lungs of a 17 year old man!’ It is because of divine healing that the Pelser family became believers.

When my grandfather on my mother’s side, the Bailey family from Edinburgh, Scotland, got filled in the Holy Spirit in a little country town called Vrede in the Orange Free State, he and another man lay under the power of the Spirit till after midnight speaking in tongues and the glory of God rested on them for three days! They could not speak Afrikaans or English – only in tongues! They had to be excused from work until they could speak a normal language again!

Every salvation is a memorial in the earth of the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. He paid with his own blood for every soul that accepts that forgiveness of sin comes through him. People who are truly born again show fruits of salvation in their lives. There has to be a change in a person who says he is born again, otherwise Christianity becomes a farce. Mental conviction that Jesus died for our sins should produce a heart-felt change. Repentance of sin in Greek is ‘metanoia’ and it means 180 degree turn about! You change direction by accepting Christ and turn your back on all the world has to offer!

One of the serious warnings Jesus Christ gave to the churches in the book of Revelation is that they have become lukewarm. If they were hot or cold it would be much better, but because they have become lukewarm he would spit them out of his mouth. They had lost the fervor of their first love. They were merely keeping the ceremonies and going through the rituals, they were singing songs and hymns, but their hearts were far from God. They were becoming hypocrites who go to church to still their conscience but they could not wait to get out of the service to go and do things they prefer above worshipping God and hearing his word.

The way we view the cross of Jesus Christ determines our attitude towards serving God. If we honor him because of his suffering on our behalf and we show respect when we have communion together as believers it will enhance our experiences of salvation, baptism and baptism in the Holy Spirit. The old hymn, be thou my vision, makes Christ central in all we ever do or say, sing or pray. Paul said he knew nothing amongst the believers except Christ and him crucified.

Baptism is a command not a choice. God’s word says, ‘Be baptized’. You cannot excuse yourself with lame excuses such as, ‘I do not feel ready yet,’ or ‘when I really feel convicted I will consider it’ or even the extreme case of ‘our church does not believe it is necessary!’ In a war zone the soldiers obey the command of their senior officers. Jesus is the High Commanding Officer in the forces of heaven and he te