- May 17, 2011
- 11,460
- 4,691
- Country
- United States
- Gender
- Male
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
Think about the significance of baptism in the 1st century.
People would have homes and land confiscated for being baptized. Baptism was in essence declaring to the world, Jesus is Lord and I follow him not Caesar, the High Priest, etc.
This is also why the practice of baptism has lost it's power over the years. Today it is just something most denominations make necessary to become ordained for ministry.
Funny or rather the sad thing about that is most protestant denominations will agree that all believers are priests unto God as per scripture, then say baptism isn't necessary for salvation but it is necessary for service in the denomination. So what they are saying is you can serve God without baptism (that's what priests do is serve God), but you can't serve the denomination without it. They elevate the denomination above the LORD in this way.
But baptism in water in the 1st century was a definitive way of declaring "I'm following Jesus now, He is LORD, not Caesar or anyone else." Then people were stripped of titles, lost jobs, homes, land, even their freedom and lives. Water... baptism... You can't see some mystical mythological heart baptism thing that comes out of the sky.
People would have homes and land confiscated for being baptized. Baptism was in essence declaring to the world, Jesus is Lord and I follow him not Caesar, the High Priest, etc.
This is also why the practice of baptism has lost it's power over the years. Today it is just something most denominations make necessary to become ordained for ministry.
Funny or rather the sad thing about that is most protestant denominations will agree that all believers are priests unto God as per scripture, then say baptism isn't necessary for salvation but it is necessary for service in the denomination. So what they are saying is you can serve God without baptism (that's what priests do is serve God), but you can't serve the denomination without it. They elevate the denomination above the LORD in this way.
But baptism in water in the 1st century was a definitive way of declaring "I'm following Jesus now, He is LORD, not Caesar or anyone else." Then people were stripped of titles, lost jobs, homes, land, even their freedom and lives. Water... baptism... You can't see some mystical mythological heart baptism thing that comes out of the sky.
Upvote
0