Conversion
#5 - Baptism (1)

We have been studying the subject of conversion. The apostle Paul asked a probing question to the Romans in the sixth chapter of his letter to them. "What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death." (v.21) Paul reminded them that before Christ, they had nothing. They had a fruitless life of sin and frolic. But now they had the hope of everlasting life in heaven. This is conversion and there is nothing like it. There is nothing more important - in all of life's endeavors. Since we're now five articles into this series, let's take a moment to review.

We've noticed so far that the first element in conversion is faith. Faith is that which involves the change of a person's intellect. A person must be convicted by the truths concerning Christ Jesus. This should lead to the second element, which is repentance. Repentance is that which involves change in a person's will. The penitent, convicted person has a sorrow within him for not living up to God's expec-tations. He resolves, therefore, to become somebody new. This led us, in the last article, to discuss the third element of conversion, which is confession. Confession is that which signifies the change in a person's allegiance. When the Ethiopian, whose conversion is recorded in Acts 8, heard the word of the gospel declared to him, he believed in Jesus and wanted to be baptized. The penitent sinner was not told to confess his sins to Philip. He confessed his newfound faith in the Savior of the world.

What Hinders Me From Being Baptized? This brings us to baptism. Philip was preaching Jesus to the man. (Acts 8:35) Somewhere in the preaching of Jesus there is the preaching of baptism because after hearing the gospel message, the Ethiopian had a great desire to be baptized. (v.36) Why did he want to be baptized? It's easy to piece together the answer to this question.

He Went On His Way Rejoicing. This man learned that he was a sinner. He learned that the one led as a lamb to the slaughter (v.32) was a man named Jesus who had lived less than ten years earlier. He, because of this new information, now believed in Jesus. He had resolved to change his life and do the New Testament will of Christ. This is evident in his desire to be baptized. He had confessed this allegiance to Christ in the presence of Philip. Then the text reads,

"So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing." (vv.38-39)

Notice that this man did not rejoice when his intellect had changed (the point of faith). He did not rejoice when his will had changed (the point of repentance). He did not rejoice when his allegiance had changed (the point of confession). This man had no reason to rejoice until his relationship with God had changed. This is the point of baptism.

The Change of Relationship. Baptism is that which marks the change in a person's relationship with God. That's why he wanted to be baptized. That' s why the Spirit of the Lord didn't catch Philip away until after he had baptized the Ethiopian. That's why the Ethiopian didn't rejoice until after he had been baptized. That's obviously what this man had learned from the preaching of Philip.