〔返回目录〕

受浸

【受浸与读神学】从前有一个弟兄，在神学读书的时候，有一次去找一位神学教授谈到受浸的事。这位弟兄说：『我在神面前看见，我已经与主同钉十字架。我已经死了，我应当埋葬，所以我应当受浸。你看如何？』那个教授就说：『我也有过像你这样的经历。我从前在神学读书，我看见我已经死了，我应当去埋葬，去受浸。可是我如果去受浸，就不能在我所在的公会里作工，所以我就去祷告，我觉得，等我毕了业，当了牧师的时候再说。我神学毕了业，也当了牧师，到今天已经有好多年了，虽然并没有受浸，却还是好好的过去。所以你可以好好的读你的书，毕了业去当牧师，这个问题不会再打扰你的。』人如果一次不接受真理，到后来要再看见那一个真理是很难的事。同时，心一不绝对，就容易着迷，违背了真理，还以为平安。

【逼害受浸的人】在犹太人中，如果有一个人作基督徒，是暗暗的作基督徒，没有一个人逼迫你。你一受浸，就要被赶出去。有的未婚妻，因受了浸，未婚夫就把她用毒药毒死。就是在伦敦，在纽约文化的中心点也是这样。在印度，你不受浸他们不动；你一受浸，他们就把你趁出去。回回教更厉害，他们说，今天不容易有活的信主的同同教人，信一个，就死一个。施维马博士（Dr．Swema)是第一个在回教徒中间作工有成绩的人，他说，我的工作，永远不会发达，都是死的，不是活的，一个人一信主，马上就得用办法将他送走，不然的话，一受浸两三天，就死了。到了今天，还是那样作。

※ 某次施浸时，放一棺材在中间，棺材内只放一面镜子，叫每一个受浸的人往棺材里面看，每个人看到自己的影子在里面，使他们意识到受浸就是自己死了。

【Baptism】A minister was seeking to explain the significance of baptism to a new convert. He was gesturing as he talked and noticed that as he was using his hand its shadow fell on the ground. So he said to the convert, “Do you see the shadow of my hand on the sand? Now this is just a shadow. The hand is the real thing. And when you came to Jesus, when you believed in Jesus, that was the real baptism. You were joined to him, and what happened to him also happened to you. Jesus was alive, then he died and was buried, and then he rose from the dead. That is what happened to you when you believed in him.” He pointed to the shadow on the sand and said, “When you go down in the water and are raised up again, that is a picture of what has already happened.” Water baptism is a picture, a symbol to teach us what happened to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus.

【Baptism】Baptism is like a wedding ring: they both symbolize transactions. A wedding ring symbolizes marriage, just as baptism symbolizes salvation. Wearing a wedding ring does not make you married any more than being baptized makes you saved. To extend the parallel, if a person, especially a woman, does not wear a wedding ring you can almost always assume that the person is not married.

So it was in New Testament times. If a person was not baptized, you could probably assume that he or she was not a believer. On this we must be clear: baptism is a symbol of salvation and only a symbol. But, like a wedding ring, it is such an effective symbol that it should never be taken for granted.