APOSTLE EDWARD SSEWANYANA: THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS: PART 3

“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls” (Act 2:38-41).

(v) Converts baptised n Samaria by Phillip

“But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done” (Act 8:12-13).

(vi) The Ethiopian Eunuch

“And as they went 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 Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 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 8:36-38).

(vii) Paul/Saul baptized by Ananias

“And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized” (Act 9:17-18).

(viii) Converts baptized in Caesarea

“Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days” (Act 10:47-48).

(ix) Lydia and her household

“And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us” (Act 16:14-15).

(x) The Phillipian jailer and his household

“And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway” (Act 16:30-33).

(xi) The Corinthians

“And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized” (Act 18:8).

“I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other” (1Co 1:14-16).

(xii) The believers at Ephesus

“And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Act 19:3-5).

Who should baptize?

One time when I was in a conference with other Christian Union leaders, we were told by the leaders of the organization that we were not allowed to baptize anyone. This came as a shock to me since in the Bible I had not read any passage that forbids any believer from baptizing regardless of whether they have ordination papers. I asked them whether John the Baptist was ordained by anyone to baptize by they could not answer. Let's find out from he scriptures who did baptize. "And there was A CERTAIN DISCIPLE at Damascus named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and WAS BAPTIZED” (Act 9:10,18). Here we clearly see that Ananias who is simply referred to as a "certain disciple" baptized Paul upon meeting him. Moreover Ananias was not even a perfect or mature believer since he still clung to the law of Moses, “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there” (Act 22:12). This is supposed to be the typical occurrence since Jesus gave the great commission to all believers and if he expects all of us to preach the gospel then he also needs all of us to baptize those whom we win to Christ and those we find have never been baptized. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, BAPTIZING THEM in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Mat 28:19-20). This commission belongs to every believer and you should not allow Satan to rob the church through religious traditions that stop anyone without a cassock or dog collar from baptizing. Form now on if anyone asks you who gave you the license to baptize, tell them God gave it to you in Matthew 28:19-20.

When should one be baptized?

A believer should be baptized as soon as they confess Jesus Christ as the Lord of their lives. There should not be delay as happens in religious circles today. Jesus put salvation and baptism together, "He that BELIEVETH AND IS BAPTIZED shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mar 16:16). The early church did not wait for a month before baptizing new converts, they exhorted them to be baptized as a next step after salvation and conferred baptism immediately, "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls” (Act 2:38-41).

I was personally born in Ukraine, a country where the Orthodox religion is the most dominant and was baptized in an Orthodox church as an infant. However, after I was born again and understood what baptism means, I chose to be immersed in water according to the scriptures. I was baptized almost two years after being born again and this was simply because no one had taught me right concerning that foundational doctrine till that time. I was dipped in the baptism tank at the front of Kampala Pentecostal Church in front of thousands of witnesses and walked away with a clear conscience, knowing that I had fulfilled all righteousness. Subsequently on some of the missions we have had to Kenya I have gone ahead to baptize some of the Ugandan missioners we went with who had never been baptized and some of the Kenyan converts as well. This has been a great joy to me since I see myself fulfilling the scriptures in their entirety. I pray you step out to do the same!