by Richard Shin
Learning the role baptism played in the ministry of the apostles will shed light unto us how important baptism is as a response to conversion.
Jesus had ascended into Heaven after promising His apostles that the Father would send them the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:1-11). Jesus also told them that while “John the Baptist baptized with water, [the apostles] will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:5). It’s interesting to note that when deciding on the twelfth apostle who replaced Judas, the apostles saw fit that he was there “with [the apostles], beginning from the baptism of John until the day [Jesus] was taken up from [them]” (Acts 1:21b-22). The priority that was placed in one’s tenure since John’s baptism reveals to us how significant John’s baptism ministry was.
At the Day of Pentecost, the Church Age officially started with the coming of the Holy Spirit as seen in Acts 2:1-13. It surely was a sight to be seen as the “mighty rushing wind” filled the house in which they were. And the apostles received “tongues as of fire” to speak in other languages that attested the “mighty works of God” (2:11b). Then Peter gave his first sermon, which recounted various passages and prophecies concerning Christ. Peter expounded the sovereignty of God and His perfect timing in sending Christ to be crucified on the cross for our sins.
In response to Peter’s powerful sermon, the apostles asked him what they should do. Peter answered them saying, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). We have to be careful here. Baptism doesn’t mean we attain our salvation; that is works-based salvation, a doctrine against which Paul strongly admonished the Galatian church (Gal. 1:9; 2:15-16; 3:1-9). In Peter’s first sermon, he was teaching the apostles that they had to repent for their sins and trust in Jesus Christ for the atonement of their sins. It’s recorded at the end of Acts 2 that those who “received his word were baptized,” indicating they understood and accepted the message of repentance before being baptized.
Philip’s ministry helps us understand the relationship between the kingdom of God and baptism. The kingdom consists of a fellowship of the redeemed on earth; they have submitted to Christ in His humility. Their public confessions that Jesus is Lord and their acknowledgement of faith in His work of justification are made in baptism. For this reason, when the Samaritans believed the preaching of the good news about the kingdom of God, their status as subjects of the kingdom was marked with baptism (Acts 8:12). When the Ethiopian eunuch encountered Philip on the road from Jerusalem, Philip made it clear to him that the passage from which he was reading (Isaiah 53:7-8) was about the good news of Jesus (Acts 8:35). Philip undoubtedly shared with the eunuch the importance and necessity of a convert’s baptism, the eunuch was compelled to get baptized in the next body of water they passed on his chariot. And we find that eunuch’s conversion and subsequent baptism brought him rejoicing (Acts 2:39), undoubtedly out of obedience to Christ’s command given from Matt. 28:19-20.
The baptism as seen at Pentecost and in the ministry of Philip teaches a particular pattern: genuine repentance involved knowledgeable dependence on Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection as the only hope of forgiveness of sins. As I mentioned last week, Jesus got baptized to effect His earthly ministry. Those who follow Him in baptism do so in the same confidence of Jesus’ unique qualifications and work.