Humility in Baptism

Humility in Baptism

Author: Ian Young, Middle School Director
Path of Victory - Part 1

I had the honor and privilege of being able to baptize four individuals between both of the services this Sunday. One of the things that stands out to me about each individual who gets baptized is their humility.

At The Ridge, each person who is baptized during our services writes their testimony—the story that led them to take this step of faith and obedience. It is read before the congregation and will also be available online for them and others to revisit later.

The humility to stand in front of others, hear your story read, admit your shortcomings, show that you aren’t perfect, that you were not in right standing before God, and say out loud in your own way, “I am not perfect, I have fallen short, and I need a Savior, and that Savior is Jesus. I have placed my faith in Him.” Then, to be immersed in water shows a heart that has been humbled by the grace and mercy of Christ.

Acts 8:26-40 tells the story of an Ethiopian high official, who was a treasurer for their queen. He heard the good news about Jesus, the gospel, from a man named Philip and placed his faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and the free gift of eternal life. We know this because the first thing we read after Philip shared the gospel with him was that he wanted to be baptized!

As they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look, there’s water. What would keep me from being baptized?” So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.

– Acts 8:36-38

What humility to stop what he was doing, pause where he was going, take a step of faith, obey the Lord, and publicly declare that he is a sinner who was saved by God’s grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

This Jesus who, as Pastor Josh put it on Sunday, “...is the perfect embodiment of humility,” also humbled Himself by asking His cousin John to baptize Him. I’m not sure about you, but I think I would’ve had the same response as John if the Messiah had asked me to baptize Him!

– Matthew 3:14

What John did not understand was that Jesus was not saying He needed to be baptized for repentance from sin, but rather that Jesus, who was perfect and without sin (1 Peter 1:19; 2:22), wanted to be baptized to identify Himself with sinners, just like He did when He took on flesh (John 1:14), and He added humanity to His divinity.

Jesus was baptized because “...this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15), and according to gotquestions.org, “By this, He alluded to the righteousness that He provides to all who come to Him to exchange their sin for His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).”

Wherever you are today in your walk with Jesus, know that God is not some distant God up in the clouds anxiously waiting to bring the hammer down or is disinterested in you, but is One who took on humanity, can sympathize with your weaknesses, was tempted in every way that you are, but praise God—He did so without sin—showing us He can guide us through and help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16).

This week, I encourage you to take a humble position before God. Go to Him with your most honest thoughts and concerns. Go to God with gratitude for what He has done for us, and go to Him with an open heart and mind, asking Him what He wants you to do next. Whether it’s placing your faith in Jesus, getting baptized, or putting others first (Philippians 2:3), know that God is with you, leading you where He wants you to go.