No doubt you’ve heard someone share a personal testimony, or “faith walk” story which usually begins with their conversion. But have you heard a testimony which begins with baptism? This is not only how the Bible speaks about testimonies, but how they often play out for Christians today. Here are such four examples:
The Baptism of Jesus
This is the O.G. baptism story. This is the baptism that tells us why we baptize others. Jesus is baptized for the sins of the whole world. For your sin and for my sin, because he took on the sin of the whole world. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).
So here is the story of the baptism of Jesus, summarized from Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3, and John 1:
Jesus brought some disciples along and went to see his cousin John in order to be baptized. John saw Jesus coming and said: “No, you should baptize me! I am not worthy.” Jesus responded: “Shut up and do your job, Preacher-Man! I didn’t ask you about your perceived worth, I called you to do a job, so do it. Hand over the goods. Jesus was then baptized by John; John dunked Him in the water and said the words to the Word made flesh!
Suddenly, the Father started preaching and claimed Jesus as his only Son with whom he’s well pleased. The Spirit of grace and peace descended on him in the form of a dove. The angels rejoiced. And because of Jesus’ baptism, by which he took on all our sin that day and thereafter, we are all given grace and peace—really, for the first time.
Charlie's Baptism
Last year, my friend Daniel Price called me and said, “Hey, Jess just popped out a baby girl, do you want another God-baby?” I said, “Sure man, when is the big day? Dan said, “I have no idea, we should probably let the ladies work it out.” I said, “Agreed!” A few weeks later, Joy and I made our way out to beautiful Northwest Arkansas. Why would we travel more than 2,000 miles to Arkansas just for a baptism, you ask? More on that at the end of this story.
So, we hung out. We met the little baby girl (who was not so little anymore). We ate some good Bentonville grub. I did a little mountain biking. We went to church the next Sunday, as is our habit. In our gathering with all the Saints at Faith Lutheran Church that Sunday, we said: “Hey preacher-man, get on over here and do your job. Hand… over… the Goods!” The water was poured upon the head of little Charlie, and the Word was proclaimed. “I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” The Father spoke: “This is my daughter Charlie, with whom, in Christ, I am well pleased.” The Spirit descended and turned that little-sinner-baby heart of stone into a little-saint-baby heart of flesh. In that very moment, Charlie was made part of our collective family of God in Christ. A miracle happened right before our very eyes. In that moment, Charlie was given God’s everlasting grace and peace. We all reveled in God’s grace and peace that day.
Why would I drive to Arkansas for a baptism? If someone tells you to come on over to witness a miracle of God happen right before your eyes, you say yes!
Euna’s Baptism
Not long after that, my son, Caleb, and his wife, Erika, had grandbaby number five. So another baby had to have the devil run out of her. Another baby needed God’s grace and peace in that real personal way. But we don’t have a pastor at our little church in Big Bear, California. How’s this going to go down? Caleb and Erika decide to do the baptism at the annual 1517 Here We Still Stand conference. How glorious! I only wish my good friends, Jim Nestingen and Ron Hodel could have been there with us to see the miracle. I rejoice that Rod Rosenblad was still with us at the time. Our 1517 Chaplain, Darrin Sheek, was there, and he baptized that baby. We didn’t even have to tell him to shut up and do his job. He, as the kids say, was “here for it.” He was there to hand over the goods.
The devil was really run off that day as Euna was baptized in the presence of a room full of people who already loved her so much. Darrin poured water upon her beautiful little sinner head, and he proclaimed God’s Holy Word: “I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” And therefore the Father spoke: “This is my daughter Euna, with whom, in Christ, I am well pleased.” The Spirit descended and turned that little sinful – yet so adorable – baby heart of stone into an even more adorable heart of flesh, and she was made part of the family. Part of our family. Part of the family of God, in Christ. A miracle happened. Euna was given God’s grace and peace forever. We all reveled in Euna’s grace and peace, in Christ.
The Story of Your Baptism
People often tell me they are worried about their children who have fallen away. I always ask, “Are they baptized?” God has promised that plucking them out of his hand will not be very easy, so be patient. Keep on reminding them of their baptism. Pour the Word over their head again and again and again. Trust in the promises of God, not your strength or their strength. Be patient. Trust in Christ’s grace and peace given to them in their baptism.
Others tell me that they doubt. They doubt if they can hold on to the end. “I am weary,” they often say. “I am tired. The world has beaten me down. Everything is so crazy. The world seems topsy-turvy and gets nuttier every day. I am scared! The devil assails me. He places doubt in my head.” He says to me, “Did God really say that you are his child?” Do you even remember when he said this?”
They often continue: “My own sinful flesh tempts me and seems to be at war with my spirit. Sex tempts me. Hatred tempts me. Self-righteousness tempts me. I am not strong enough to resist it anymore, I am going to give in.” What, then, should I say to them? What can you say to someone in your own life in a similar situation? What words are there for those of us who find ourselves in doubt too? What words can give us grace and peace?
Do grace and peace come from words like,
“Suck it up. Do better. Try harder.”
“Pray more.”
“Make sure you are getting your quiet time in.”
“Focus on perfecting those spiritual disciplines.”
“Check in with your accountability partner.”
You already know the answer. There’s no grace and peace in these words.
So when I’m on my game, that’s not what I say, because for those in doubt and despair, those words will only lead to more doubt and despair. Instead, when I am on my game, I say: “Are… You… Baptized?” If so, then I tell them the testimony of their baptism, which is the testimony of your baptism. It goes like this:
One day, when you were an adorable little baby, or not long after you were converted as a less adorable adult, someone who loved you brought you to the water and word of the Lord our God. That person went and found a preacher for you and said, “Hey Preacher-Man, hand over the goods!” Then the Preacher-Man said, “Yeah-Sure-You-Betcha, I’m here for it!”
The Preacher-Man poured the water over your head, or dunked you in a tank, or submerged you in a river and proclaimed the Word of God over you: “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Therefore the Father spoke and said: “This is my son or daughter in whom, in Christ, I am well pleased.” The Spirit descended and turned your sinful heart of stone into a heart of flesh. In faith, you were made part of the family. Part of our family. Part of my family. Part of the family of God in Christ.
A miracle happened. You were given God’s grace and peace that day, now, and forever. Amen. No one can take that grace and peace from you. Not the devil, not the world, not even your own sinful flesh. We all revel in your grace and peace in Christ because you are baptized into Christ. 1 Peter 3:21 and many other verses tell us about this promise: baptism now saves us, this is grace and peace in baptism.
So now, when you doubt, remember 1 Peter 3:21, and maybe remember the words of Martin Luther as well, when he reminds you of your baptism story in his little Treatise on Baptism. Here’s what he wrote:
For this reason, we must hold boldly and fearlessly to our baptism, and hold it up against all sins and terrors of conscience, and humbly say: “I know full well that I have not a single work which is pure, but I am baptized, and through my baptism, God, who cannot lie, has bound himself in a promise with me, not to count my sin against me, but to slay it, and blot it out.
May the Lord bless you and keep you; may his gracious face shine upon you, in Christ, and may he give you his peace. In the name of our baptized Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus.
This article is an adaptation of Scott Keith’s recent talk at the HWSS NWA conference.
