BAPTISM IN WATER This baptism by man is an UNDER baptism and speaks of burial. I won’t take the time and space to discuss the mode of baptism. All denominations that do not immerse have founders who taught that the baptism of the early church and the meaning of the Greek word was immerse. The word literally means to immerse. Neither will I enter into a discussion of pedo-baptism (of babies). The Bible is clear about the order. We are to baptize disciples (Mt.28:19), believers (Mk.16:16; Acts 8:36-37), and penitents (Acts 2:38) A person must know what he’s doing to be baptized. We are commanded to be baptized and no baby can obey this command. Nothing in the Bible ever indicates otherwise. If you have not been immersed in water as a follower of Christ you have not been baptized. Enough said. What does water baptism mean and does it do anything for you? It is symbolic and it demonstrates our faith in Christ’s death, BURIAL, and resurrection (1Cor.15:3-4); and also our union with Him. We have died with Him to sin, been buried and raised to walk in newness of life. In water baptism we die to our independence from other believers. Nobody can baptize himself. He must “BE baptized” by another believer, any other believer who has been baptized. Three thousand men who had called for the death of Christ in Jerusalem found themselves on the day of Pentecost submitting to Christ’s followers and being put under water. That’s trust. 1 Cor. 12:21 says, “No member can say to another, ‘I have no need of you.’” You will never make it on your own. God knows that and that’s why at the beginning of your Christian life He commands you to find a church and submit yourself to those people. So, find a church and put your body in their hands for mutual “one another” life. “Symbolic? What of the Bible verses that teach otherwise?” There are no such verses! Let’s look at those that appear to teach otherwise. There is no water in Romans.6:4 or Gal.3:27. The word baptize literally means to immerse and if you use the word immerse you’ll see there’s no water. John 3:5 It is supposed (by some) that the water in this verse refers to water baptism. Not so. It refers to physical birth through a mother’s womb, when the “water” is broken and the baby is born. How do we know this is true? Jesus says so in the next verse. Nicodemus had seen physical miracles with his physical eyes and thought he knew something about Jesus. The Master told him it takes more than physical eyes to see the kingdom of God. Physical birth (“born of water”) is insufficient to see the kingdom of God. That takes another birth, a spiritual birth from above. How does that happen? Jesus answers how to be born of the Spirit in v.8. Mark 16:16 “There it is! You have to be baptized in order to be saved.” Yep. That’s true. Jesus did not say that he who believes and is saved shall be baptized. It is our mistake to change something that the Lord has said. I tell people that I do not believe in baptismal regeneration but I do believe in baptismal salvation. First we need to understand what is meant by the word “saved.” We need to be saved from much more than the penalty of our sins. Salvation is a lot bigger than having our sins removed and being born of the Spirit. Its scope encompasses everything God has done to get us from hell to heaven. Notice again what this verse does NOT say. It does not say: "He who believes and is baptized will be BORN AGAIN.” Or, “… GO TO HEAVEN”. Or even, “BE FORGIVEN OF SIN”. Being saved includes such things (and more) but the particular aspect of salvation in view in any one Bible verse may not include ANY of these others. 1Timothy 2:15 teaches that women are saved by bearing children! And 1Tim.4:16 says that a teacher saves himself and his hearers when he teaches the Bible. Can these be talking about forgiveness, spiritual birth and going to heaven? No. And neither is Mark 16:16. 1 Peter 3:21 helps here. Our conscience needs to be saved. This is very important. In order to gain the assurance of God, concerning our condition before God, we must be delivered from a guilty conscience. Baptism is “the answer of a good conscience toward God.” Have you ever lived under the torment of a guilty conscience? When you step out and declare your faith in Christ in public (Baptisms in the Bible were always done in the public arena.) you are “coming out,” declaring your faith. Your conscience toward God is clear. In that sense, you are “saved.” Now, you are able to get on with it. You’re not hiding anything. You are free. You don’t care who knows. You and God have gone public. In that sense, you are saved. Also, don’t miss the rest of Mk.16:16. “He who does not believe will be condemned.” It does not say, “He who does not believe or be baptized will be condemned.” Condemnation by God comes because of unbelief. Baptism demonstrates that I am a believer. Anyone must question the validity of his faith and his standing before God who refuses to be baptized. Lk.7:29-30 says, “the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him (John).” WOW! Acts 2:38 Some denominations base almost their entire belief about salvation on this solitary verse. They teach what is called “baptismal regeneration.” That is, when one is baptized in water he/she receives the indwelling Spirit and is consequently baptized into Christ. Also, baptism is for the removal of a person’s sins. That’s what they teach. But that is not what this verse teaches. Peter is talking about water baptism, but that is where the similarity between what this verse teaches and what certain denominations teach stops! “You must baptize IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST or your baptism is worthless,” they say. But what of Jesus’ clear command to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in Mt.28:19? Which is it? To further confuse people, every baptism in Acts was “in the name of Jesus.” The question deals with the words to be spoken by the baptizer. The problem arises from people erroneously thinking that certain words spoken over the one being baptized validate or invalidate that person’s baptism; thus his forgiveness, being put into Christ and receiving the Holy Spirit. But baptism is not validated (made effectual or non-effectual) by the words spoken by a man at the baptism, but by the repentance and faith of the one being baptized. Imagine putting the salvation of a man’s soul into the hands of a man! It is too painful and ridiculous to imagine God doing such a thing. Then imagine something even more ridiculous - putting the salvation of people’s souls into the mouths of men, depending entirely upon certain words that come out a man’s mouth at his baptism. The words spoken are not given to validate the baptism, but for the ones who witness it. They simply establish the authority in which it is done. Baptism would be just as valid with NO WORDS SPOKEN! Suppose a man pays you to dig a ditch in his front yard. You don’t have to say, every time you put the shovel into the ground, “I dig this ditch in the name of Shawn Horton.” No, you simply dig it. Now if his wife, Laura, comes out of the house and wants to know what right you have to dig this ditch, you say, “By the authority of Shawn Horton, your husband.” That settles the matter for Laura. Baptism is for the candidate. Authority is for the administrator. Words are for the witnesses. Then again, there is no contradiction between the two formulas. In our day of heretics and heresies, it would probably help everybody if we baptize, “Upon your profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” But then again, these words only express the authority under which the baptism is being done for those who care to witness it. “For the remission of sins”, doesn’t that mean that in water baptism your sins are removed and forgiven? No. You must identify the antecedent of this phrase. That is, to what part of the sentence is this prepositional phrase attached? Does it go with baptism (as some think) or with “repent” as Jesus teaches in Luke 24:46-47. Don’t miss this. Jesus definitely links remission of sins with repentance and NOT with baptism. This is consistent with all the rest of the Bible. How could Christ, His death and blood be given to secure the remission of sins and yet water baptism secure it? Water baptism is “in view of” the remission of sins, not something to secure it. The word translated “for” comes from the Greek word “eis” which means “in view of.” Acts 22:16 Saul was told by Ananias to, “Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” There you have it; baptism washes away your sin, right? Well, God bless the fish! How in the world would physical water wash away spiritual impurities? The participial phrase, “calling on the name of the Lord,” is the complement to, “wash away your sins.” How do we wash away our sins? Not by being baptized in water, but by calling on the name of the Lord. Not only is this the only interpretation consistent with the grammatical construction of the text, it is consistent with what the rest of the Bible teaches about salvation. (See Joel 2:32 and Rm.10:13) The Bible nowhere teaches baptismal regeneration (You get born again and you get the Holy Spirit) or baptismal remission of sins, any more than it teaches salvation by circumcision. We are saved by grace through faith. Water baptism is a symbolic act of obedience that publicly declares our faith in Christ and our identification with Him. It calls us to die of our independence of Him and others in His body. When someone is converted he must find another baptized believer and ask, “Would you put me under water?” This refers to burial. We don’t use dirt. Christ gave us an easier way to demonstrate our faith than being covered with dirt. We are to use water, by which the world of Noah was buried. Our burial says that we have died to sins (like Christ died to sin) and been raised in newness of life. Water baptism is important, it does “save” us, but it does not wash away our sins, put us into Christ or put the Holy Spirit within us. It is an answer to our conscience and it does prove that we are true believers. Many will be in heaven who have never been baptized in water. God has never had more than one way of saving people, either in the Old Testament or the New. It’s always been by grace through faith and will be till the end. Acts of obedience (like water baptism) demonstrate one’s salvation, it does not cause it.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 12:07:03 +0000
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