Last week I shared the heartwarming story of many Port Charlotte High School football players accepting Christ and being baptized in the Gulf of Mexico following the death of their beloved assistant coach. On July 8^th, 2023, at just 27 years of age, Coach Jace Norus died suddenly in his sleep. Coach Norus was an impactful coach, teacher, and athletic director, and he was also a newlywed, having been married just a few months earlier. Understandably, his family, the football team, and the entire community were devastated. My son Rusty is the lead pastor of the New Day Christian Church in Port Charlotte and the team’s player development coach.  Five years earlier, Coach Norus renewed his faith in Christ, and Rusty baptized him in the Gulf of Mexico. After Coach Norus’ death, many players began to reflect on the young coach’s impact on their lives, contemplate the fragility of life, and consider their own eternal destiny, which allowed Rusty to share the gospel with them. Over the past two weeks, more than twenty members of the team have accepted Christ and were baptized in the same area of the Gulf of Mexico where Rusty baptized Coach Norus several years earlier. A local newspaper even covered the story.

Watching the video of those baptisms prompted me to reflect on the significance of the act of baptism. The Bible makes it clear our good works do not save us. Rather, it is having faith in Christ’s work, through His sacrificial death on the cross, which offers us grace and forgiveness. So, when someone expresses their faith, acknowledging Jesus’ grace, and their desire to accept Christ as savior, what should we have them do?

Today, it is popular for many churches to forego the act of baptism and instead advise new believers just to repeat the “sinner’s prayer.” For example, “Dear God, I acknowledge I am a sinner needing forgiveness. I know that Jesus Christ died for my sins on the cross. I now ask you to forgive me through His blood, and I receive Christ into my heart.” Offering a simple prayer of repentance is likely derived from the simple prayer offered by the publican in Luke 18:13, who pleaded, “God have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Yet nowhere in scripture after Jesus’ death and resurrection is a new convert asked to repeat a prayer of repentance for their salvation. While such a prayer reflects the humility that should be present in the life of a new believer, it is not a scriptural requirement. Neither should it be a substitute for what the Bible actually instructs.

In the Biblical accounts of conversions to Christ, new believers were instructed to repent and be baptized into Christ. For example, in Acts 22, when the Apostle Paul was converted on the Damascus Road, a bright light appeared, blinded him, and the voice of Christ chastised him. Paul humbly asked, “What do you want me to do?” Jesus instructed him to go to Damascus and wait to be told what to do.

God then sent Ananias, a Christian living in Damascus, to restore Paul’s sight and tell him of God’s plan to use Paul as an ambassador to the Gentiles. Afterward, Ananias asked Paul, “’And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'” (Acts 22:16)

On the day of Pentecost, when the believing crowd asked, “What should we do?” They were not instructed to repeat the “sinner’s prayer.”  Instead, “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” (Acts 2:38) This same instruction was given to the Samaritans (Acts 8:12) the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:38), Lydia, (Acts 16:15) and the Philippian Jailer (Acts 16:33) as well as the Apostle Paul (Acts 16:22).

Often when Jesus healed someone, He asked for a tangible demonstration of their faith. For example, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam,” or “Go show yourself to the priests,” or “Stretch forth your hand,” or “Take up your bed and walk.” So, it is not surprising that when we want to be spiritually healed of sin, Christ asks us for a demonstration of faith. “Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). While it is our faith in Christ that saves us, our obedience offers evidence of our faith.

Some are concerned that a convert may erroneously put faith in the act of baptism rather than trusting fully in Christ. So, they argue that telling converts that baptism is necessary is akin to teaching them that salvation results from a person’s good works. However, the act of repeating the sinner’s prayer is actually more of a work than the act of baptism.  Repeating the sinner’s prayer requires someone to carry out the task themselves, while baptism requires someone else to carry it out while the new convert physically submits to them.

Jesus was crucified, buried, and raised to life in three days. Christian baptism symbolizes that our sinful life has been put to death, that we are buried (briefly) in the water, and that we are raised into a new life by the power of God.

So rather than seeking to substitute baptism, those who believe in the authority of scripture should follow the Biblical instruction that was given to the Apostle Paul. “’And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on his name'” (Acts 22:16).

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