Taylor Powell

HUM 2300
April 30, 2014
Service Paper #2
Baptism and Sacrament
You can smell it in the air. The sun is shining, birds are chirping, and flowers are
blooming. Thats right, its springtime. It is the time of year that rejuvenates the soul, as
everything is coming to life after the long winter rule. Everything has been renewed and
restored to its most beautiful state. This is also the time of year that Easter comes around, and
if youre a Christian, than it is one of the most important holidays to recognize. Easter is the day
to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Savior of Mankind.
In Christianity, everything points towards Jesus Christ. The whole objective of a Christian
is to become like Christ, and live such a life as to please Him, that one may reside with Him in
heaven after this life. I have often wondered how different practices of Christianity tie together,
and how they point towards Jesus. I want to relate my experience as I took a small journey to
discover what Baptism and the Sacrament mean to the Christian, how they are tied together,
and how they point to Jesus Christ.
I had the opportunity to visit the South Valley Baptist Church in Riverton, Utah. It was
truly a neat experience, as it was Easter Sunday. Throughout the Service I was impressed how
focused the believers were on praising God for Jesus Christ and how much they relied on Jesus
in their everyday life. It was during this service, and through talking with the pastor, that I
learned a great deal about these topics, but I feel I have only scratched the surface.
To the Baptist Christian, the focus of life is to get back to Christ. They view both Baptism
and Sacrament as ways of showing their devotion and showing their dedication to Jesus Christ.
They view these things as being very pleasing to Jesus, but not a necessity for salvation. These
are things that they can do as Christians to show their love. They are works that can be done
that point towards the Savior. (Citation)
I interviewed Sam Coleman, the Pastor at the South Valley Baptist Church, and he
explained to me that the way that their church baptizes is by complete immersion. The one
getting baptized is brought completely under the water, and then brought back up. This
symbolizes many different things. It symbolizes the believer's death to sin, the burial of the
life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. (Website) This is shown as
the person is immersed, it signifies their death and burial, and as they come up out of the
water, it represents the newness that the believer has to follow Christ.
The most notable baptism in the world was probably the baptism of Jesus, given by
John, in the Bible. Jesus came to John to be baptized, a baptism for the cleansing of sins. John
was a preacher himself, and was often found baptizing many in the Jordan River. John knew
that his job was to prepare the way for Jesus, and as Jesus stepped forward to be baptized;
John said Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (Bible -John 1:29)
This marked the beginning of Jesus and his ministry, and was to show his dedication and love to
God. Jesus lived his life to show us how to live ours. His life was a blueprint, an example, and
everything he did was to show us what we must do. This baptism is only the beginning of
Christs ministry and is the first example he shows us, though there will be many more things
to come.
This was a really cool concept to me, the cleansing of sin through baptism. I was
impressed with the idea that one could be cleansed from every sin committed. It was beautiful
to me because of the fact that everyone has sinned, Jesus died on the cross for everyone who is
willing to turn to him. The reason He is able to cleanse us is because he was spotless himself.
The sinless cleanses the sinful, making them clean from sin.
I understood this concept and thought that was all that baptism entailed, that as soon as
one were baptized into the church and for the cleansing of sins then that was it for baptism.
Not so. During the service, which I Previously alluded to, the pastor brought out some words of
Jesus that struck me. He was talking about a time when the mother of two of Jesus disciples
asked him a question. She asked Jesus if her two sons can sit on the left hand and the right
hand of Jesus in his kingdom. The exchange went like this,
And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two
sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. But Jesus
answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of,
and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that
I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall
be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. (Bible-Matthew 20: 21-23)
As the pastor started talking about this, I realized that there was another side to
baptism, another type of baptism. I later asked Sam (Personal Interview) what he meant when
he told us this. They have to drink the same cup, and we know that it is a cup of suffering, and
they would suffer the same way. Peter is going to be crucified, and whats the difference
between Peters crucifixion and Christs crucifixion? The Savior takes upon him the sins of the
world.
The thought entered my mind that there are multiple baptisms, and they are all
representations of what Jesus did for us. The Baptism of Suffering is also in similitude of the
death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Sam told me that The baptism that was originally done
with John the Baptist was not a full picture of death, burial and Resurrection. It was a picture of
cleansing. But in Romans 6:4, its a picture of death, burial and Resurrection. (Personal
Interview)
I was wondering why the Sacrament, or The Lords Supper, was so important for any
individual, and Sam pointed me to Hebrews 10:19-20, which says Having therefore, brethren,
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath
consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; (Bible)
The Sacrament is a picture of Jesus death. The unleavened bread represents his body,
and the grape juice represents his blood. This is a token of remembrance for the believer that
Jesus has died, for us. In baptism, there is the picture of death, burial and new life. According to
the Sam, the Sacrament doesnt bring the side of life and renewal. (Personal Interview) It is a
time to reflect upon the broken body of the Savior and His sacrifice for man.
The way that the Baptists look at the Sacrament is that it is a spiritual representation of Jesus
blood and body. Sam showed me the scripture they follow, which is 1 Corinthians 11:24-26. It
says And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is
broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup,
when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye
drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew
the Lord's death till he come. (Bible) To them, this shows the importance of the Lords Supper,
and shows that it is indeed spiritual, pointing to the remembrance of these things.
I mentioned earlier that Sam told me that neither the Lords Supper nor Baptism was
connected to salvation, but were instrumental to the believer to show their dedication. Sam
explained that if you were to ask a religious person why he deserves to get to heaven, that
person would say because I did (fill in the blank), but if you asked someone who knew their
standing before Christ why they deserve to get into heaven, they would tell you that the only
way to get into the presence of God is through the Grace of Christ. Christ is more than sufficient
and it is only through Him that one can enter his presence. This shows that one doesnt need to
pass off a checklist to get to heaven, but one needs to recognize their standing before
Christ.(Personal Interview)
So through my discoveries, I found a really neat way of thinking, which is that Christ has
died for us and taken our sins upon Him. I have found that it is important to be baptized, it is
important to partake of the Lords Supper, but the most important thing is to keep your heart
focused on Christ and always be looking for His Grace, because as Sam says, Christ is more
than Sufficient.(Personal Interview)





Works Cited

Coleman, Sam . Personal interview. 20 Apr. 2014.

"King James Bible Online." OFFICIAL KING JAMES BIBLE ONLINE: AUTHORIZED KING
JAMES VERSION (KJV). N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. <http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/>.

"South Valley Baptist Church." South Valley Baptist Church. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.southvalleybaptist.com/>.