A Case for Public Baptisms

“Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” Acts 2:41

Last April as I stood on the southern steps to the Temple in Jerusalem I wondered to myself if the ritualistic baths that had been chiseled into the stone were the same ones used on the Day of Pentecost to baptize 3,000 new believers. If so, the site of their baptism was a hustling, bustling place. After all Jews and God-fearing Gentiles came from all over to celebrate this ancient Jewish festival. These steps were most-likely full of spectators coming back and forth from offering sacrifices at the Temple as they witnessed thousands of new believers declaring “Jesus is Lord!” (the original baptism declaration) before or after they got plunged into the water.

Sure it could have been a river or stream where they were baptized but whatever or wherever it was baptism in the book of Acts tended to be a very public event. Think about the power of that for a moment. You just put your faith in Jesus and make that “public declaration of your inward transformation” in front of believers and unbelievers alike. You were identifying with this new tribe of people nicknamed by Jesus as “my church” in Matthew 16:18. Keep reading