A Few Bars From The Jail

Have you ever considered the subject of Baptism. This is a topic that has many in Evangelical circles locked in debate. The debate ranges from should we baptize - to how should we baptize - to when should we baptize. All of these discussions are interesting but they miss the mark. They miss the arrow aimed from Heaven at the hill called Golgotha – that is the purpose of baptism ...restoration to right standing with the Creator.

We need to follow the “Plan of Salvation” from the beginning to fully understand the desired results. So today let's start with point one – We must hear the Word of God.

In our society, we go to concerts to hear the orchestra (or the band). We go to rallies to hear the speaker. We listen to the radio to hear the music, news or commentary. We ask our friends and neighbors “Did you hear?” We suggest that someone should have heard a message or a thought. But, what we mean is that folk should be reflectors and receptors of sound – rarely showing an impact on their lives. Our hearing activities have become quite passive – that is they require little or no participation on our part.

Biblical hearing is more than just listening it is applying what we hear to our lives. It is listening so intently that the words yield a change in lifestyle, or behavior. The words must become more than just thoughts arranged in sentences and paragraphs. They must become for us the “Bread of Life.” Deut 8:3, Matt 4:4, Luke 4:4, John 6:35 & 6:48

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Colossae these words – “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” – Col 3:16. This indicates that we as hearers of the word must do something with what we hear. We must give permission for it to dwell in us richly – it requires that we go from passive to active listening, looking for ways to make application to our lives.

During our times of Bible study in the Justice Center, are we looking to see if the words we read and the concepts we share are making an impact. You see we need to have more than “Head Knowledge” of the Word of God we need to have “Heart Knowledge” if it is to make a change and yield good fruit in our lives. James 1:22 – 25 says “Keep on being doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at himself in a mirror. For he studies himself carefully and then goes off and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the one who looks at the perfect law of freedom and remains committed to it, thus proving that he is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of what it requires, will be blessed in what he does.”

Notice that James doesn’t say just to listen to the Word, he says to do the Word – that requires personal application through participative listening. We must hear the Word to begin down the road of Salvation! And when we truly hear the WORD of Salvation we will gladly follow the instruction down into the waters of Baptism.

Scott