Thought from today’s Bible reading from Acts 7-8.
Philip met a man from Ethiopia who was returning from worshiping in Jerusalem. This man invited Philip into his chariot to explain the passage he was reading in Isaiah.
“Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?’ And Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’ And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him” (Acts 8:35-38).
The eunuch wanted to know what prevented him from being baptized. Though they were on a “desert road” (Acts 8:26), with no local church around, this did not prevent him from being baptized. There was no need to wait for a regular assembly of the saints. There was also no need to wait for a special baptismal service like some denominations have today.
Notice what was present under these conditions:
- One who now knew the truth about Jesus (the eunuch);
- One who had been teaching him the truth and could perform the baptism (Philip);
- A body of water.
With these conditions, Philip told him that the only thing that would prevent him from being baptized was a lack of faith. So he said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may” (Acts 8:37). The eunuch believed, so he was baptized into Christ.
This agrees with what Jesus said in the Great Commission: “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned” (Mark 16:16). Do we believe Jesus? If so, we will be baptized as He commanded.
If one has not been baptized, it is because he does not “believe with all [his] heart” (Acts 8:37) what Jesus and His word instructs. The cause of this could be ignorance, deception, or rebellion; but in the end, it all comes down to a lack of faith preventing him from doing what the Lord requires.
Tomorrow’s reading: Acts 9-10
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
