Cleaning the Soul, Not the Body

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The apostle Peter, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, explained the purpose of baptism. Baptism "doth now save you . . . not the putting away of the filth of the flesh. . ." (1 Peter 3:21). Just as water was a means of saving the eight human inhabitants of the ark (1 Peter 3:20), so today water plays a role in our salvation. It does not clean the body, it is for cleansing of the soul (cf. Acts 2:38; 22:16; Romans 6:3, 4).

This afternoon when Carey had finished teaching the Saturday afternoon session on New Testament Survey he drove with Jacob, Charles, David, and Degratius (nicknamed "Deo"). Meanwhile, I was driving with Joy, Luke, Lindsey, Editha, and Olivia. We would meet together at a petrol station. Joy had already gathered some towels and I had a camera ready. We were all anxious, since both Dao and Olivia were desiring to be baptized.

Carey had to first drive Deo to his place, to get a change of clothing. So while we waited at the fuel station, I took the opportunity to fill our jerry can with petrol for our generator.

Once we were all together, we left the vehicles and began our walk along the dirt pathway down to the riverside. This was the path we trod when Shadrack was baptized not long ago. I thought to myself, how wonderful to wear this path again and again for such a purpose.

Once we reached the water's edge, Deo went off behind some foliage to change. David began to roll up his pants, then with stick in hand, began to assess the water's depth. The river today was considerably lower than it was before, and the bushes are so much dryer.

Charles said, "lady first," so Olivia joined David in the water. She made a confession of Jesus as the Son of God and her Savior. She was obviously a bit scared as she got lower into the flowing water. We watched with delight as she was plunged beneath the waters and come up "a new creature" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Later, when we were back in the vehicle, I confirmed that this was the first time ever for her to be in a large amount of water.

Next Deo made his confession and was "baptized into Christ" (Galatians 3:27). We all gave our new brother and sister our congratulations. What a wonderful blessing!

Nearby, at the river's edge, I saw a woman washing clothes, and some others were wet from recent bathing. Consider the title of this article. Some were at the water to clean their bodies, but two precious people were there to fulfill God's requirement for cleaning of the soul.

We gathered in a small circle and had a prayer of thankfulness for our new brother and sister, and that God would bless them in their new life. We sang together as we walked back to the cars. I ask you - would you consider all your support and prayers worthwhile for these two souls? We cannot put a price on even one saved soul.

We will pillow our heads tonight with anticipation of worshipping our God in the morning, should He grant us to see another day! If the Lord wills, I shall preach tomorrow on Sowing and Reaping.
George 2011
P.S. Scroll down to the bottom for more pictures! Unfortunately, the set blog format cannot be changed.

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