The book of Acts is the beginning of the new covenant church.  It is not a book of ‘doctrinal theology’, which is open to ‘interpretation’ or ‘different perspectives’, as some would have us believe.  It is simply a record of what the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ did, in obedience to the commands they received from the Lord.  We also see what the first Christians actually did, according to the commands they received from the Lord, through the apostles.

 

The apostles did not sit around asking each other ‘What do you think he meant when he said, “baptising them’’?  On the contrary, like Abraham and Noah before them, they simply did as they were told!

 

It was only after the disciples had been filled with the Holy Spirit as promised, that they began to preach the new covenant of salvation through Christ’s death and resurrection.  “Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd”.  He told the crowd about old testament prophesies regarding the Christ and the Holy Spirit.  He told them of their guilt in regard to Christ’s crucifixion and of salvation through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. (see, Acts 2:14-36)

 

  So, the first thing the apostles did was “preach the good news”!

 

Then it says, -“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ’Brothers,What shall we do’?  Peter replied ‘Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off.  For all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:37,38)

The people’s question was,  “What shall we do?”   The answer was, “Repent and be baptised”.  Who needs to do it?  “Every one of you”.  Why?  “For the forgiveness of your sins” 

 

What happened when this was preached?  “Those who accepted his message were baptised” (Acts 2:41), as is everyone who accepts the message throughout the book of Acts!

  

  So, the second thing the apostles did was, “baptise them”. 

 

The apostles did exactly as the Lord commanded them.  They preached the good news, then they baptised all those who believed in His name.  From that point on, the apostles continued with the third part of the Lord’s command by teaching obedience to Christ.  Acts 2:42 says the believers “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching”.  This teaching of obedience to Christ, continues in the letters of the apostles which make up the rest of the new testament. 

 

The apostles did exactly as Christ commanded them in Mark 16 and Matt. 28.... 

He told them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation, whoever believes and baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:15-16)  And, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matt. 28:18)

 THREE THINGS!  (It’s not complicated)  1) Preach the good news.  2) baptise those who believe.   

3) teach them to obey all he had commanded them.   This is how they made disciples!

 

What was the response of the people?   Three things!  IT'S NOT COMPLICATED!!

 

1)  They believed the good news - Acts 2:37  “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do’?"

2)  They were baptised - Acts 2:41 “Those who accepted his message were baptised”

3)  They learned to obey Christ’s commands -  Acts 2:42  “They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching”

 

Christ commanded it....  The apostles did it....  The people believed and obeyed it...

 

Some may still say, ‘Baptism is not part of my church tradition or teaching’.

But “Peter and the other apostles replied ‘We must obey God rather than men’” (Acts 5:29).  Did the Lord ever say that salvation would come by church tradition?  NO!

​

            THE SAME PATTERN IS REPEATED THROUGHOUT THE BOOK OF ACTS.  

 

                 The good news is preached and whoever believes is baptised.

 

Acts 8:12  “they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women”.

 

Acts 8:36 “As they travelled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said,  “Look, here is water.  Why shouldn’t I be baptised?  And he gave orders to stop the chariot.  Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptised him.”

  

Acts 9:17  “‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here - has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit’.  Immediately something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes and he could see again.  He got up and was baptised”

 

Acts 10:44-48  “ While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.  The circumcised believers who came with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.  Then Peter said, ‘Can anyone keep these people from being baptised with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.’  So he ordered that they be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ.” 

Even though they had already received the gift of the Holy Spirit, PETER STILL ORDERED THAT THEY BE BAPTISED IN WATER!.

 

Acts 16:14,15  “One of those listening was a woman named Lydia.....a worshipper of God.  The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.  When she and the members of her household were baptised, she invited us to her home, ‘If you consider me a believer in the Lord’ she said ‘come and stay at my house’. And she persuaded us." 

She was already considered to be a “worshipper of God” but still needed to believe the message and be baptised.

 

Acts 16:30-33   “Sirs, What must I do to be saved?  They replied,  Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved - you and your household.  Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and all the others in his house.  At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptised”.  They did not wait for a public ceremony.  It was after midnight and they were baptised “immediately”.

 

Acts 18:8  “Crispus, the synagogue ruler and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptised”

 

In Acts 19:1-7, Paul encounters a group of twelve men described as ‘disciples’ and asks them  “‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed’?  They answered  ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit’”. 

If belief alone was enough to save them, then Paul had the perfect opportunity to tell them so - but he did not.  If all they needed was to be filled with the Holy Spirit, then Paul would have simply prayed and layed his hands on them - but he did not. 

Instead, he made an issue of their baptism! 

“So Paul asked ’Then what baptism did you receive’?  ‘John’s baptism’. They replied.   Paul said, ‘John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance.  He told people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus’.  On hearing this, they were baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus.  When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.” 

 Once again;  “On hearing this, they were baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus”!

 

The scriptures above make it clear that the intention of the apostles was to do exactly as the Lord Jesus commanded them to.  So, if preachers are now trying to delete this baptism from scripture; we should be asking - Why?   Why do they want to challenge the words of the Lord Jesus?  Why do they replace the commands of the Lord with their own church traditions?  Are these preachers claiming that the apostles got it wrong?

 

There are still some questions that must be answered, for the sake of those who have been led astray (deceived) by popular theology and ‘church’ tradition:

 

1) Is everyone who believes the good news required to be baptised?  YES!  It says, “Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” and then it says, “Those who accepted his message were baptised”.

 

 2) Is this baptism always by full immersion in water?    YES!  It says, “Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptised him.”  Also - Then Peter said, "Can anyone keep these people from being baptised with water?’" (The reason for this is made clear in ‘BEING BORN AGAIN’)

 

 3) Does this baptism need to be a public event?    Absolutely not!   “Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptised him”. 

There is no scripture that says this must be a public event.  It is between the believer and God!  The eunuch’s question was - “Why shouldn’t I be baptised’?"   Did the eunuch have to give a ‘public testimony’?  NO!  They just “went down into the water and Philip baptised him”. 

And again with the jailer and his family, it says, “At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptised”.  The hour that this took place was after midnight.  It was immediate, there was no crowd of witnesses to the event!  They were not told to wait until the local church had a 'baptism service'.

 

 4) Should we be baptising (or ‘christening’) infants?   NO!  From the time that Christ gave the command to the apostles; “Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved”, it has been made clear that there is one crucial prerequisite to baptism.  That is, we are first required to believe the good news about forgiveness of sins through Christ. Throughout the book of acts it is only those who believe which are baptised - those who are ready to repent.  For it says, “Repent and be baptised” , and again it says, “they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women”.

It says “both men and women”, not babies.  Baptism has to be combined with belief, and repentance.  If a person is not old enough to believe the good news and be aware of their own sin, then they are not ready to be baptised.  This is not something that we should put an age limit on, but Christ must be obeyed and he requires us to “believe”.  Even when entire households were baptised (see Acts 16:30-33) they were required to believe first, and then be baptised.  It must be our own decision to obey!   ‘Baptism’ or ‘christening’ ceremonies for infants, have nothing to do with the teachings of the Lord Jesus.

 

To summarise baptism in the book of Acts.

In Acts 2:41,  “All who believed his message were baptised”

In Acts 9:15, Even though God says of Saul  “He is my chosen instrument, to carry my name before the Gentiles”  He still had to be baptised.

In Acts 10:2, It is written about Cornelius, that  “He and all his family were devout and God-fearing, he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly”  Even though these things were true and they had received the Holy Spirit, they still needed to be baptised!

In Acts 16:14-15, A woman named Lydia is described as “a worshipper of God” yet when she and those in her house believed the message, “she and the members of her household were baptised.”

And in Acts 19:1, Paul encountered a group of men described as "disciples".   Yet when Paul preached the good news to them it says- “on hearing this, they were baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus”

 

 It did not matter who people were, or what God called them; whether they were God’s “chosen instrument ” or “devout and God fearing” or “disciple” or “worshipper”;  they were still “baptised”, “every one”,”in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ”!

 

 

  Did the apostles ever tell anyone to ‘invite Jesus into their heart’? .............. NO!

  Did the apostles ever tell anyone to say ’the sinner’s prayer’?...................NO!

  Did the apostles ever give anyone a certificate of church membership? ......... NO! 

  Did the apostles demand that any one made a ‘public confession’? ..........NO!  

 

If baptism was important enough for the Lord to single out when he gave his commands to the apostles; it should not be questioned.  He did not merely say-  ‘preach the good news and teach them to obey’.  Jesus specifically told his apostles to baptise those who believed, and that is exactly what the apostles did.  Why do theologians think they have the right to challenge God's word?