WATER BAPTISM: WHO SHOULD OFFICIATE BAPTISM?

 Water Baptism: Who Should Officiate Baptism?

A moment of truth for the Church

It is time that believers in the Lord Jesus Christ should stand up and speak the truth to one another. Not in the manner some people do today, in a manner that castigates and causes confusion among the people. Those are not speakers of truth but partners with the devil who is the accuser of the brethren. The truth that comes from the Spirit of God is spoken in love.

Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour, for we are all members of one body Eph 4:25NIV

Truth spoken in love through the unction of the Holy Spirit brings liberation from demonic and mental bondage. If we judged ourselves, we can escape God’s judgment.

The Church of Jesus Christ in its present state needs the speaking forth of this kind of truth. One of such truth is that a powerless and impotent Church was never in the idea of our Lord Jesus Christ. A Church that is only sustained by ecclesiastical liturgy is very far from the agenda of Jesus Christ. That is why even after He had spent more than three years with His followers and invested more than forty days teaching them in the upper room, He still instructed them not to move out for the assignment until they are empowered through the coming and outpouring of the Holy Spirit

You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." Luke 24:48-49NIV

He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:7-8NIV

Unfortunately, many Christian congregations lack this power and are only sustained through religious rituals. Of a truth, many minsters of the gospel today will lose their essence for existence if they take away activities like marriage and burial ceremonies from their schedules. The rest try to find relevance by teaching mysteries and eschatology of the end of the ages. These would not be wrong if they were not taking the place of the main thing, which is preaching the gospel in the power and saving knowledge from the Holy Spirit.

Consequently, one fallen generation have begotten another until we have come to the point where the true revelation sounds strange to us. 

Do you know that some Christian believers think it strange that a woman should officiate baptism? I mean to say, they believe that only men can baptise people. This is because all their life, they have only seen men officiating baptism. In many Christian circles officiating baptism is the exclusive responsibility of the most senior pastor. One of my protégée narrated how he managed to bring an old woman to be baptised in the church baptistery but the district pastor refused to baptise her because, according to him, he has already stepped out of the water. The old woman who was also sick was asked to wait for the baptismal ceremony of the next year.

Many believers who would otherwise have been effective in the God’s kingdom business are hereby bound under religious servitude to men because they are not aware of the truth as expressed in the word of God.

Take a look at this;

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.  In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) Acts 1:14-15NIV

These number of believers, men and women, were the ones upon whom the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost.

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them Acts 2:1-4NIV 

The Holy Spirit fell on and also filled all those women. Even the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ was in their number and that means that she was filled in the Holy Spirit and spoke in Tongues like everyone else. All these women joined in the first open air preaching on the Pentecost Day to that great crowd.

We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" Acts 2:11-12NIV

Apostle Peter and the rest of the Twelve would not have baptised three thousand new converts alone. If the Holy Spirit fell on and filled all of them, at what point did they separate men ministers from the their “lesser” women members?

When the Lord Jesus Christ addressed them about their assignment after Pentecost outpouring, there is no indication that He made discrimination between men and women believers, or clergy and laity.

 He said to them, "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. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." Mark 16:15-18NIV

The instruction to go, was given to all genders of believers and the signs followed everyone who would believe, irrespective of their gender. 

Regarding officiating of baptism, even though we have the bible records of when believers scattered and preached in many places, there is no single record where the Twelve or another Christian leader in the bible was invited for the purpose of baptising people.

Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord Acts 11:19-21NIV

The people were recorded as believers because they were baptised. Later the apostles sent Barnabas to them and there was no record that he officiated baptism. Rather, it was stated;

News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts Acts 11:22-23NIV

Barnabas was impressed with the work the church planters had done and encouraged them to continue in the faith. He did not talk about baptism because these believers were already baptised. Even though a lot of the new converts were Gentiles, there was no mention of the taking up of Christian names after they became Christian believers. 

This is a portion of the letter written to Gentile believers by the Apostles in Jerusalem;

It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Acts 15:28-29NIV

So, at what point did officiating baptism become the exclusive responsibility of church leaders? At what point did it turn out that when a believer wins a soul he must wait for the church leader to baptise the convert? At what point was it said that women who won souls cannot baptise their converts?

This is the Promise of God to all believers, men and women;

"'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. Acts 2:17-18NIV

What then is the responsibility of the Christian leaders?

To prepare the church people to do the work of ministry like baptism, evangelism and discipleship of new comers.

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ Eph 4:11-13NIV

Again, they are supposed to watch out that false teachers don’t infiltrate the church with their poisonous teachings. 

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers — not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away 1 Peter 5:1-4NIV

Then to minister healing and deliverance to the people of God.

Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. James 5:14NIV

To teach and build up the entire Body of Christ;

Command and teach these things. Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you 1 Tim 4:11-14NIV

A Body of Believers  who serves God in this manner will never lack the anointing presence of the Holy Spirit.  When we set our own standards we end up edging God out of our midst,  hence the powerlessness we experience today. 

I will love to get your reactions.

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com