A Great Day

What a great day we had today, Sunday, August 16th, 2009. We had our first baptismal service today. We baptized three young ladies, young mothers, young wives; all of whom gave great testimonies to the grace of God in their lives. What a joy, both as their pastor and as a fellow believer, to share in their joy on this occasion. Another joy was in the fact that the men who baptized them were not only church members, but men who have been active in their lives and instrumental in where they are spiritually. 

One of the men baptized two of the young ladies, his daughter and her friend. The other man was the father-in-law of the one he baptized. In my pre-baptismal counseling with these women, each one of them commented individually on how much they appreciated these men, and their spiritual influence on them. These men were intentionally active and influential in the spiritual lives of these young women. Yes, God is sovereign in salvation, and sovereign in the means of salvation, but we must do our part as well. 

We baptized in the swimming pool at the home of one of our members, and each of the young women gave a short testimony and then was baptized. Following their baptism I gave a short word aimed at the unbelieving family members present and an exhortation to our church family, and then we had a fellowship meal. There was a joy present that you could both see and feel. 

One of the common elements in each testimony was the fact that all of them had been baptized as young teenagers, but had come to the realization that they had been saved much later, with two of them being saved within the last six months. This is such a common testimony for so many, and, in fact, is my testimony along my wife's. We, the church, do such a disservice to people in our rush to get them to say the prayer, walk the aisle, so we can count them as one of our converts. 

Each one of these ladies told me that they never really understood what they were doing, but assumed it meant they had become Christians, because they were baptized and became church members. Thank God for His sovereignty in our salvation, because we can rest fully assured that if we are His, He will save us; but, with that being said, woe to those who give people false assurance and a false notion that they are truly saved, or do not give a clear and precise explanation of the gospel that will cause a person to truly know where they stand in relation to God, and exactly what saving faith is. 

It reminds me of a time many years ago, at another church, when we were gathered for an outreach meeting and the two associate pastors were trying to teach people how to lead others in the sinner's prayer. When I asked them to show from the Scriptures where anyone had ever prayed to be saved, or where we were told to get people to pray the sinner's prayer so that they would be saved; they acted like I had thrown a bucket of cold water on the whole group. Of course they could not do so and finally admitted as much, and then continued on with what they were doing. I wish I could say this was an aberration, but it is not. In fact, two of the young ladies that were baptized today were baptized in that church under the ministry of one of the associate pastors I mentioned above. 

Getting the gospel right is important, life-altering important, and we must be sure that the gospel we present leaves no doubt in the person's mind concerning the reality of their position before God. I got off track here, as this is something that I am passionate about, but God is sovereign and God is good, His lovingkindness is everlasting, and this was a good day, no, a very great day, as we were able to share and rejoice with these precious ladies the goodness of God in saving them and making them His own.