A church group went on a tour of the “Holy Lands,” to see the cities, sights and places where Jesus lived while on this earth. No doubt, the trip was a life-changing experience—the Bible stories really come alive when you’ve been there. But, the highlight of their trip is when they got baptized in the Jordan River. These church folks were baptized in the “Holy Lands,” baptized where John was baptizing, baptized where Jesus was baptized. They had never felt more spiritual than they did at that moment. But, why did they do it?
The story of this event is curious to me. The Bible teaches that the purpose of baptism is for penitent believers to obtain “the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). It does not appear that this church group was baptizing “for the remission of sins.” So, if it is a “Bible act” but not done for the “Bible reason,” then why is it done at all? I’m sure it stirred their emotions unbelievably, but it also reduced a holy act instituted by God into a common, man-made, human-centered experience. God has warned us about profaning that which is holy (Ezek. 22:26) and needing Bible authority to do Bible things for Bible reasons (Col. 3:17). This is so important.