by Tad Lindley
Imagine a sentencing hearing where the judge sits there in his black robe and tells the lady who recently bent her husband’s nose 15º left of center with a frozen whitefish, “Ma’am, seeing as this is your first Assault IV charge, and you have no priors, I hereby sentence you to repentance, baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin. After that you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, because it is a promise pursuant to the book Acts chapter 2 verse 39b and 39c. The court will assign you a probation officer and you will meet these conditions of release…”
Where is the precedent?
Now you might be thinking, “Bro. Lindley, that is totally ridiculous, nothing like that has ever been done before, there simply is no precedent!” Actually, there is a precedent. And in the case I am about to tell you about, it wasn’t simply a case of domestic violence, it was a case of murder in the first degree. (According to Alaska Statute 11.41.100 A person commits the crime of murder in the first degree if (1) with intent to cause the death of another person, the person, (A) causes the death of any person…)
The charge: Murder I
The case involved the brutal torture and subsequent murder of a man nearly 2,000 years ago. You can read the facts of the case in Matthew (26:47-27:50). In Acts 2:14-36 Peter clearly lays out the evidence and the case against the people of Jerusalem. He charges them with having killed Jesus! Look at your Bible: Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah. (Acts 2:36)
The guilty plea
When the people heard the evidence against them, they knew they were guilty. The Bible says, Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37) They didn’t plead, “No contest”, they didn’t try to get the charges reduced to reckless endangerment, they straight up said, “We are guilty, what do we need to do?”
The sentence
Having presented the evidence and the charge, many of the people present (about 3,000 to be exact) realized their guilt and they were ready to receive their sentence. Then Peter said unto them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38) It came to pass as a matter of fact that there was widespread repentance and probably several hours of baptizing, because …they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:41) Everywhere the church spread people believed and repented, and then were baptized in Jesus’ name and received the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Many never reoffended
Their lives were changed. Many of them never went back to their old lives. If you have a moment, read I Corinthians 6:9-11. It contains a list of sin, some criminal in the eyes of the State of Alaska some only in the eyes of God. It clearly shows that the early church was full of people from all walks of sin, but heard the message and were baptized in Jesus’ name and filled with the Holy Ghost.
So why can’t the court sentence people to be baptized in Jesus’ name?
Ignoring any Constitutional conflicts, baptism only works under certain conditions, and being forced by your probation officer is not one of them. First of all, the precursor to baptism is believing and repenting (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38). Without repentance there is no hope.
A heroin addict or an alcoholic can go to how many treatment programs, but until they want to quit, there really is no hope. Until we are sick and tired of our sin and want to turn to Jesus, there is no point in baptism for us. Look back at Acts 2:41.
Secondly, you will notice that it clearly states that those who “gladly received the word” were the ones that got baptized. This is why we don’t baptize infants. They cannot yet comprehend the message. Colossians 2:12 teaches us that if you just hop in the river and someone pushes you under water in Jesus’ name, without faith of the operation of God you are just getting wet. But when we have repented and we have faith, then God does his part, and our sins are forgiven in his eyes. Others might remember them, but as far as the Lord is concerned we have been cleaned on the inside!
So to answer my original question, “Why doesn’t the State of Alaska sentence people to Jesus’ name baptism”, salvation is a choice. Without repentance and faith we limit the power of God in our own lives, but when we repent and exercise faith and obey Acts 2:38, regardless of the crimes of our past, this promise will come to pass: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (II Corinthians 5:17)
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.
