Why Shouldn’t I Be Baptized

“He was led like a  sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.  In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.  Who can speak of his descendants?  For his life was taken from the earth.”  The (Ethiopian) eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet (Isaiah) talking about, himself or someone else?”  Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news of Jesus.  As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water.  Why shouldn’t I be baptized?”  And he gave orders to stop the chariot.  Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.  When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.

-Acts 8:31-39

Are you wondering today if you should be baptized or not?  Maybe you have already confessed with you mouth and believe with your heart that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, yet you wonder if that is all you need to do to be Saved.  Well, the Word of God does say that whoever confesses with their mouth and believes in their heart that Jesus Christ is Lord will be Saved.  However, there are many people who stop there and forget to read what the rest of the Bible has to say about it.  In Mark 16:15-16, Jesus spoke to his disciples saying, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”  Since these two verses of scripture are contradictory on the topic of Salvation, the real question becomes… What is the extent that you will go to be Saved?  If you desire to be Saved and you want to be thoroughly sure of it, then why not be baptized?  Being baptized is only going to solidify your assurance of Salvation… and isn’t that a good thing?  In this passage of scripture in Acts, we read that Philip was led by the Spirit to come up to the chariot of the Ethiopian eunuch while he was reading scripture written by Isaiah the prophet.  Philip asked the eunuch if he understood what he was reading and the eunuch responded by asking: how could he understand without someone explaining it to him?  So Philip began at that very passage of scripture the eunuch was reading, explaining the good news of Jesus to him.  As you can see, this passage of scripture in Acts did not say that the Ethiopian eunuch confessed with his mouth or believed in his heart that Jesus was his Lord and Savior, instead, as they passed by water, the eunuch asked Philip why he shouldn’t be baptized?  This goes to show that baptism and salvation were in all actuality the same thing!  We don’t have to read that the Ethiopian eunuch confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord with his mouth or that he believed Jesus is Lord in his heart because he wanted to be baptized, so we automatically know that he believed the good news of Jesus based on his actions!  Baptism is an outward expression of an inner change of heart and it has everything to do with the recieving of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is vital for us to have because the Word of God says that if we do not have the Holy Spirit, then we are not God’s children!  Today, if you are wondering if you should be baptized just read what the Ethiopian eunuch said, “Why should I not be baptized?”  This is the same question I pose to you.  Why should you not be baptized?  It is only going to lead you into a deeper walk with the Lord through the Holy Spirit and that is a WONDERFUL Thing!