(John 13:1-17) Rising from the table, Jesus looked around at the gathered disciples. They had just finished supper, commemorating the Passover. Jesus knew that He had just a few hours before He would offer Himself as a sacrifice on the cross for the salvation of mankind. This last supper together was a precious time in which Christ established an ordinance to reinforce one of the most important precepts of godly living.Read more
Jesus taught the disciples in John 13 that they should follow His example and do as He had done to them. Jesus gave no guidelines as to how often the ordinance should be observed. An ordinance, by its very nature, is symbolic of something spiritual. If it were observed daily, weekly, or possibly even monthly, it might begin to lose its significance and become a ritualistic practice.
Many of the saints have a special ordinance service during an annual meeting. Some congregations have a practice of washing the saints’ feet around the time of year that Jesus celebrated the Passover.Read more
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins….” —Acts 2:38
In the early 1500s, the flames of reformation were kindled and spread rapidly through Europe as God began to restore the knowledge of Biblical truths. The world had been in relative spiritual night from the dark, papal reign of the Roman Catholic church who had apostatized the truth of the early morning church. The Protestant Reformation, beginning in Germany with Martin Luther in 1517, grew as people began to see the fallacy of Catholicism. Many of the reformers, while not seeing all the light, were getting pockets and rays of truth on various doctrines and practices. Read more
Scripture Reading: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. —Matthew 28:19
Summary: Believers in Jesus Christ are commanded to be baptized by water. This obedient act of immersion under water symbolizes death, resurrection and the changed spiritual life that occurs through the actual cleansing of the blood of Jesus.
Definition of Baptism: From the Greek word baptizo which means to dip, to immerse, to submerge, to overwhelm.Read more
John the Baptist plunged Jesus under the water in baptism. As Jesus broke the surface of the water coming up, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Christ like a dove. A voice spoke from Heaven: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:15-17). Some of the last words Jesus spoke to His disciples were instructions to go and teach all nations and to baptize the believers (Matthew 28:19-20).
There are very few outward rituals or ceremonies to be observed in the New Testament. Baptism is symbolic in nature and was commanded and exemplified by Christ. It is therefore one of three ordinances that Christians are instructed to observe in this dispensation.Read more