Baptism

Religion has turned baptism into this: your father and your mother take you as a baby, they dress you in this white long dress, and then somebody sprinkles water on your head, and they call that baptism. That per se would not have been the issue. But let's talk about a few realities here quickly. Firstly, let's ignore the white dress thing – let's not get stuck on the wrong things.

There is no example in the Bible of water being sprinkled on a child's head and it being called baptism. Some of you look shocked – do we have the same Bible or not? There is no such example in the Bible. But can you see what religion achieved? Everybody calls that baptism, and everybody sprinkles water on the head of the baby and calls it baptism, yet there is no such example in the Bible. After the first week that my life changed and I started communicating through the Holy Spirit, He started showing me a lot of things that are in the church which are not in the Word of God, and vice versa – and one of them is this thing the church calls baptism.

As if that isn't bad enough – that there is no such thing in the Bible, but we do it and call it baptism – it gets taken so much further: if you as an adult then get baptised, you negate the baptism you received as a child, and in most cases you will be thrown out of the church. In most of the sister churches we still have, if a preacher gets baptised as an adult, he needs to leave the church. There are a few churches that apply it differently, but as soon as someone wants to do something different, that person has to leave and form a new church, because it's not accepted there. So it is taken so much further – not only is the thing that happens to a baby not consistent with the Word of God, but it is protected so much through the bending of religion that Satan did, that people are actually told, "If you now get baptised, you negate your baptism as a baby."

It is probably the most often asked question I get about baptism – people come to me and say, "What will happen now if I get baptised as an adult? Will that not negate my baptism as a baby?" Which is ridiculous, because it is not consistent with the Word of God. The reason it's simple to pull these things apart is that we don't have to make a religion out of it, or argue about it for ten hours. If you understand what baptism is, it is very simple to understand what should be done.

Let me jump straight into it and tell you what baptism is. Firstly, baptism is a declaration that you are making. You are announcing, you are declaring, you are making a statement – firstly towards God, secondly towards the people around you, and thirdly into the spiritual realm, to every single angel and demon out there.

So it's a declaration, firstly. Secondly, what is that declaration about? It is about your identification – identification with the death of Jesus, the burial of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, and the new life in Christ. There are four things you are declaring in that process, identifying with every one of those components.

Now it starts to become simple to understand a few things. If it is a declaration, and we are talking about the identification with Christ in all those components, how can you do that as a baby? That is where Satan took the power out of baptism – and I'll show you there is tremendous power in baptism.

What the Bible describes as baptism can only happen if you choose it, because you have to be able to make that declaration. In the absence of that declaration, baptism means nothing. So what did Satan do? He turned something that has life, purpose and spiritual significance into something in religion that has zero power in it, and that is how he succeeded.

I'll show you something from the Word of God, because I already said to you: if I say anything that's not in the Word of God, you are welcome to shout and throw stones at me.

“Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.”

Acts 8:36-38 (NKJV)

So the question is: is there a requirement for you to be baptised? Yes, there is. You need to declare that you make Jesus Lord of your life. In the absence of that, it is not baptism – and that again is where Satan succeeded through religion.

Now let me answer the question, because I see a lot of frowns: is it then wrong to sprinkle water on a baby's head and call it baptism? The sprinkling of water on the baby's head is not the issue. The issue is that it is called baptism, which it isn't, because baptism can only happen when you choose it – you need to be able to make that declaration. And secondly, the component that goes with it: afterwards they say, "You can never be baptised again, because you would negate or nullify your baptism as a baby."

There is something consistent with the Word of God that we should do, and that is called baby dedication – but that is something different. As much as we get out of religion, you can turn anything into a religion. You can take the truth and turn it into a religion, and that takes the truth and the life and the ability out of it. So let's not get so far out of religion that we take our being out of religion and turn that into a religion.

I don't particularly care whether you drop water on the baby's head or not, as long as we don't call it baptism, and by that prevent that person from actually knowing and being baptised later according to what we tell them.

Here is what we do with baby dedication, whatever format it takes: remember, we are talking about a faith community, a family standing together, taking care of each other. That's probably the biggest thing left for us as the body of Christ – to realise I don't live for myself, I live for the body, for all of you. So if I have a baby, I have to say to each of you, "You need to help me raise this child as a God-fearing child. It's your responsibility." If you are in a faith community where people have children, those children are your children too – you have an equal responsibility to help raise them as God-fearing children. So it's fine to bring a child and say, "Here's my child, and I'm committing in front of all of you, my family, to raise this child as a God-fearing child." We call it baby dedication, because I'm dedicating that child. That's fine – but let's not call it baptism.

The eunuch said to Philip, "If you believe with all your heart, you may" – that was the requirement. And Philip knew exactly what he meant, because the eunuch said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." The fact that you get baptised is something you physically do, because in that action you are declaring.

When I baptise people – let me jump right to the end and bring the end to the beginning – I'm going to show you everything from the Word of God. Look at what the Word says about baptism, and I can assure you, if you haven't been baptised yet, you should be. I'm not saying I need to baptise you – whoever the spiritual leader is in your life, you can go and discuss it with them. The only problem is if they don't agree with baptism, then you have a challenge, but that's a different story – you're probably at the wrong place anyway. I don't have a problem baptising you, but that's not what I'm talking about tonight.

I've baptised hundreds of people, and when I baptise somebody, I ask them, "Are you born again?" They say, "Yes." Then I say, "Do you want to be baptised?" They say, "Yes." And then I baptise them, because it is an acknowledgment, the same way as becoming born again – something you have to declare. You believe in your heart and you declare it, and then there is power in it. You need to speak it, and the physical action that takes place is a demonstration of the declaration you are making.

There is no example in the Word of God of sprinkling water on somebody and calling it baptism. All the examples in the Bible are of somebody being put under the water and coming up out of it. If you understand what baptism is, all these arguments and religious practices fall away. Just understand what it is, and if you have a conviction about what it is, you will understand why it needs to be what it is.

If you want to be baptised, you need to go under the water and come up – your whole body needs to be under the water, and you come up out of it. Let me show you from the Word of God why, and what you are identifying with.

“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

Romans 6:3-4 (NKJV)

When you physically get baptised, you are put under the water – you cannot live under the water. Baptism is an identification with the death, the burial, the resurrection, and the newness of life. All four things are baptism – not just "I've died" or "my sin has been washed away." You go under the water; you can't live under the water; that is the declaration that your old creation is dead. The Bible explains that when you accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you actually die with Him on the cross, you go to hell with Him, you are resurrected with Him, and you are seated with Him at the right hand of the Father. You are identifying with all of that in the process of baptism.

You go under the water – that is the death; you can't live there. You come up out of the water, and it's your declaration as a new person, in the newness of life you have received in Christ. Can you see why all the examples in the Bible illustrate going under the water and coming up out of it?

So there are two components: newness of life, and walking in that newness of life. It's not meant to be a religion. When you get baptised, it's the same thing as when we came to that decision last week and said, "Okay, Jesus, I'm truly making You Lord of my life." You need to understand the decision you are making and what you are declaring through it. It is your final statement that you are separated from the world. You are set apart for God's purpose. The Bible says you have been set apart, you have been called, you are a peculiar nation, a peculiar people, set apart for what He has called you for. So your baptism is that final step to say, "Now I'm separated from the world." It's as if the day you get baptised, Jesus knows, "Now I really have you. Now I have your heart."

Wasn't it amazing when we were singing that song earlier – it first said "here's my heart," but did you realise that after that it says "here's my life"? We often ask somebody, "Have you given your heart to Jesus?" But what does that actually mean? The only way God can have your life is when He has your heart. So when you give your heart to Jesus, it means you have given everything – you have given your life to Him. We generalise it when we say, "Have you given your heart to Jesus?" as if asking, "Have you become born again?" But it's more than that, because it starts with your heart. That's why the Bible says in many places that what God wants is your heart – where's your loyalty, your conviction, your purpose? The Bible says, "From the heart flow the issues of life." If God has your heart, He has your life.

Continuing to read: we must walk in newness of life. So that's what you are declaring. When you get baptised and come up from the water, you are saying, "I have made a stand. I have made a declaration. I am walking in the newness of life I have in Christ Jesus." We are not talking religion, but I can tell you, if we make this kind of commitment and declaration, your life needs to start looking different. It has to. As I've shared about my own life, there are things the Holy Spirit simply said to me: "You can't do that anymore." It's got nothing to do with religion – it has everything to do with the difference between righteousness and holiness, but that's not for today.

“For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.”

Romans 6:5-8 (NKJV)

Are you following? I am getting baptised. I am declaring my identification with all the different components of what Christ did. It amazes me – and it's part of what religion did – that people so easily associate with the death of Christ. It's easy for them to say, "What Jesus did is pay for my sins." But going to the next step and saying, "He's not dead anymore – He was raised, He was resurrected," we need to identify with that too. I identify with it in my baptism by going under the water and coming up, but now I need to understand there is a newness of life I need to live. I have declared, "Jesus, I've made You Lord of my life. I have given my life to You, and my purpose in this world is now to live the purpose and the life You have given me."

There are things that need to follow after that, which is why you cannot do this in isolation. When you become born again, it's your spirit that becomes born again. What you need to work on is your soul – your mind, your will, your emotions. You have exactly the same mind you had before you became born again, so it's still going to think exactly the same. Yes, you've got eternal life, but nothing in your life changes until you receive new information and new convictions and start doing things differently – otherwise your life will look exactly the same.

“Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.”

Romans 6:9-10 (NKJV)

How many times do we want to hear the same thing? You've associated with the death part, but what about this part – the life He lives, He lives unto God? That is what you are identifying with: Christ, who lives unto God. That comes with commitment. My life must look different. I have given away my old creation, and this new life I want to live unto God.

In case we thought that was only for Jesus, verse 11 says:

“Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:11 (NKJV)

Alive to God. Say with me: alive to God. Do you understand the purpose of baptism? You can physically demonstrate and declare to God, to the people around you, and into the spiritual realm, that you are identifying with Christ – which means you know who you are. You are not a mere poor sinner. If you are born again, you can't describe yourself as a mere poor sinner anymore. You have died with Christ; the old creation has died.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

Something that didn't exist before. You go under the water and you die, but there is something new that comes up from the water, and you are declaring that you are going to live that newness of life unto God. The things of this world start losing their value; the only thing that remains is to live unto God – not in religion, but in reality, in truth.

That's why it can't happen as a baby – it can only happen at the point where you decide for yourself that you are making Jesus Lord of your life. And now you've understood I've separated the two: it's not just about being born again; it's about making Jesus Lord of your life.

The Bible talks about us being living epistles – you are the living Word of God. The same way the Word came down from heaven and became flesh, we have now become the Word that became flesh. Being the Word that has become flesh, you need to be that living testimony in this earth, so that people will look at us and glorify God – they will just look at you and say, "There must be a God." Who of you wants to live a life like that, where people look at you and say, "There must be a God"? That's what our lives are meant to be like, and that is what you are doing through baptism.

“There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

1 Peter 3:21 (NKJV)

Can you see where the good conscience comes from? From the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You are associating with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Much more we, having received abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness – you receive the gift of righteousness when you receive the life of God inside of you, and that is part of what you are declaring. That is why you have a good conscience.

There's a difference between righteousness and holiness, and we need to accept that righteousness is a gift. When you became born again, you received the life form of God, the ability of God, the nature of God. When the Father looks at you, He cannot see sin, because the blood of Jesus has cleansed you. He has purified you. He has made you one hundred percent righteous, and you will forever be righteous. That is how God sees you.

That takes us a long way out of condemnation and removes a lot of the places where the hooks of Satan could still grab us, because now I know I'm righteous, pure, holy – a son of the living God, and there is no sin that can ever separate me from God. That's great. But then there is something else when we talk about holiness.

I said to you previously that the Holy Spirit can be quenched and the Holy Spirit can be grieved. The power we have to effect change in this life – the dunamis power of Acts 1:8 – is by the ability of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the sensitive one; He gets quenched, He gets grieved. If we want to attract the presence of the Holy Spirit – and the Holy Spirit doesn't get manipulated – then the condition of your heart and your mind are important, because there are things that attract the presence of the Holy Spirit. That is why, if you want to continuously increase the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life, you need to start moving towards living in holiness, which is something different from righteousness. Religion mixed this up, saying, "You must live right and do good, then you become acceptable to God, then you can go to heaven."

Now that we understand we have become righteous, and that we will forever be righteous, I need to understand something else: God is jealous as far as you are concerned. He wants to set you apart unto Himself. You are a peculiar nation, a holy priesthood, set aside for Him, and that requires that there are things in your life which grieve and quench the Holy Spirit and prevent you from experiencing the fullness of God. You get rid of them.

Let's not over-spiritualise it. In the New Testament, sin is specific to you, because sin is missing the target, and we each have a different function to perform. That's why for some people it's still fine to use alcohol, and for some it's not. Don't try to enforce on others what God is dealing with you about, and vice versa – when God tells someone else to stop drinking, you don't need to say, "Oh, I'm still drinking, I'm a sinner." No – you need to listen to God and respond to what He tells you, because it is very specific. To do that, you need the presence of the Holy Spirit to continuously guide you into the things you need to get rid of. Sometimes it isn't massive spiritual changes – sometimes it's about timing.

I've realised, for instance, my life has changed a lot from rocking and rolling at two o'clock in the morning to now praying. When I spend time with the Holy Spirit on a Friday or Saturday evening, if I've had a big meal and I'm totally stuffed, wanting that special time with Him just doesn't work – I just want to sleep. So when I know I have a responsibility to take up, like when I used to prepare for church services on a Sunday evening, I know I can't eat too much beforehand, otherwise I'm not going to be as efficient spiritually to hear what the Holy Spirit wants to say to me.

So, righteousness leads to holy living, but holy living is not a requirement for you to go to heaven or to please God. That's where religion messed it up.

Who's with me so far? Okay, thank you. Right, so verse twenty-two: "Who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him." Again, it's about that association. Now I want to answer one or two practical things that people normally ask. It doesn't help that we over-spiritualise these things, but people have practical questions about baptism. I've explained to you that you have to do it at an age where you can choose. I'll show you some verses now, and the Bible describes people being pushed under the water and brought up.

Then people start asking, "Okay, but what is the sequence?" Because we understand that we become born again, then we receive the Holy Spirit, the infilling of the Spirit, and then we get baptised, which is that declaration, and there's tremendous spiritual power in that. Now people start asking, "Should I first be baptised or should I first be filled with the Spirit?" That's religion – it doesn't matter. I'll show you from the Word of God that there are examples of it happening both ways.

“Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."”

Acts 2:38 (NKJV)

You see here he's saying, "You go, you get baptised, and when you get baptised you're actually going to receive the Holy Spirit as well." So here it's happening that way around. It so happens – I'll show you now the other way around as well – as I've already said to you, I've baptised hundreds of people, even in prison.

Where's Philip? There he is. The two of them went with me when we ministered in a maximum security prison at Helderberg, and they gave us the opportunity to have a baptism service there. It was one of the most spiritually significant experiences that I had. We had this small pool that we had to use – like these blue pools with the grids around – and it even had a hole in it, so they had to keep filling it as we were baptising. We baptised, I think, about forty people.

Seventy? Okay, even more. But the amazing thing was that we didn't speak about praying in tongues to any of them, but most of them became born again that day that they got baptised. And most of them, from about the third person onwards, two things started happening. The first is God would show me a vision about their life and give me a word for them. And I'm talking about maximum security prison – most of those people have seven life sentences, so physically for them to get out of there seems impossible.

But it has happened – that's a different story. In this, God shows me a vision of their life, of what they will do in the kingdom, and gives me a word to prophesy into their lives. And you would think, "Man, these are the outcasts of the world – just leave them there, we have no responsibility." So that's the one thing that happened. Then the second was that, from about the third person onwards, nearly without exception, as we pushed them under the water and they came up, they started speaking in tongues. I didn't even talk about that. So there is something tremendously spiritually significant about baptism.

It's not, again, what religion made it out to be – to say, "Okay, it's just an illustration; the real thing already happened, you became born again, now this is just an illustration." It's not just an illustration. There is something spiritually significant that happens there. Apart from that occasion in the prison, there have been many cases where people struggle a bit to pray in tongues, and when you baptise them, as they come out of that water, they start praying in tongues. You'd think they'd been praying in tongues for ten years already, because there is something spiritually significant about it. Remember, at the age of thirty, Jesus got baptised.

And when Jesus got baptised, He was pushed under the water by John, and when He was brought up from the water, at that particular moment, the heavens opened up above Him. Doesn't that say something to us? Why, at that particular moment when He got baptised, did the heavens open up and the Father say, "This is My beloved Son"? That shows you something about the spiritual significance of baptism. It's not just a religious thing.

Okay, so some of the other questions. Let me just give you the verse about the other way around. Let's continue this.

“For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation.”

Acts 2:39 (NKJV)

Why is he saying that? The setting aside – He's setting you aside. Remember, the Bible talks about the ark and says eight were saved by water. They were saved by water. Saved from what? From a perverse generation. God is jealous about taking you out of this world and isolating you away from this world's influences, so that you can show forth His glory. Yes, we need to infiltrate the world, but He wants to take you out of the world in terms of influences, et cetera.

“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.”

Acts 2:41 (NKJV)

So I want to show you something else, and that is the timing of baptism. The next question that comes up is, "Okay, I'm born again now, I've made Jesus Lord of my life – so when do I actually get baptised?" The Bible shows us: as quickly as possible. For them, it was like the same thing – you become born again now, you actually get baptised right now. That's how it is. Not this lengthy process where we still debate it six months from now. It's like born again, same thing – you get baptised right away.

Then I want to show you the other one, Acts 10, where it worked the other way around.

“While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.”

Acts 10:44-46 (NKJV)

So them speaking with tongues was, for them, the sign that they were filled with the Spirit. I've explained that to you before: if you are not praying in tongues yet, it doesn't mean you are not filled with the Spirit – it just means you need to get your mind a bit out of the way, and then you will do it. But we'll get to that.

“Then Peter answered, "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.”

Acts 10:47-48 (NKJV)

So here it worked the other way around: they got touched with the Holy Spirit, they got filled with the Holy Spirit, they started speaking in tongues. Now you would say, "Ah, well, they sought it." No, man – he says in that last verse, "And he commanded them." It's not a friendly request, because he knows. The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as the seal – but I don't want to get too technical now, that's going to take too long. In essence, the baptism is doing exactly the same thing in terms of the seal that is taking place.

So I just want to read to you the way Jesus got baptised. Can we go to Matthew 3:16?

“When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."”

Matthew 3:16-17 (NKJV)

So can you understand what baptism is? There is tremendous spiritual power in it. It's your declaration of your identification with all the components of what Jesus did, ending up in you being in Christ and your ability to live Christ in this earth and live unto God, and there is tremendous spiritual power in it.

Okay, any quick questions? I can maybe take one minute. Is there anything I haven't covered? I want to move to the next topic. Is there anything burning in your heart? Please ask, because there might be other people sitting with the same question.

I was baptised when I was a teenager, and then went away again, and now I feel this urge again. Great question. I'm glad you asked that, because I had it somewhere in my mind, though I hadn't written it down physically. That's often why people ask, because one of the categories will say to you, "If you have been baptised, you cannot baptise again – that's a once-off thing that you do."

Obviously, what happens with a lot of people – and I'm talking even about when somebody was able to decide – is that some people will get the opportunity, and they're in an environment where it's promoted, and at the age of ten they will decide and get baptised. That's great, and it's significant, and that is baptism. But they may go astray a bit and live a different life, not acknowledging God in their life, not living as if Jesus is Lord in their life. Then maybe at the age of twenty-five they recommit their life to God. That doesn't mean they become born again again – you can only become born again once. But they become recommitted.

And then they will often ask, "Is it wrong if I get baptised now? Does that negate or nullify my baptism at age ten?" For me, there is nothing wrong with being baptised again. But you cannot become a serial baptiser or baptised – a serial baptist. You can't get baptised every single year, because that means you don't understand what you are doing.

You are committing your life unto Jesus as Lord of your life. That should mean something in terms of how you live. And again, you should surround yourself with the right people and become involved with a faith community that can take care of you, because if you have to do that every year, you are messing it up. So I wouldn't recommend that. But if you really feel it – sometimes people say to me, "I had a conviction, but I didn't fully understand. Now that you've explained it, now I understand what it is, and now I actually want to be baptised" – I say, "That's great." Let's not make a religion out of it.

If you now have a conviction, even if you were baptised earlier, there's nothing wrong with it, because it's again that commitment – the same way that many of you made Jesus Lord of your life last week. Maybe you have done it before, but there's a recommitment to say, "Okay, but now I understand, now I'm convicted, now I have people around me that will ensure I'm able to live this life that I intend to live." So there's nothing wrong with that. Thanks for that question. Any other question?

There's one where if your baby doesn't get baptised, then if something happens to that child before it is grown up – let's say the child would die – then the child wouldn't go to heaven. Is that the answer?

Oh, from a religious perspective, yes. People have that misconception that the baptism thing will determine whether a baby will go to heaven or not. But the Bible explains to us that if a baby below the age of accountability dies and the parents are born again, then that child goes to heaven because of the faith of the parents. Okay, so that's that.