OF BELIEVERS AS
BELIEVER'S BAPTISM
Mark 1:9-11
Undergoing Baptism was the first public act performed by Jesus.
--Baptism was important to
Jesus.
--The Lord Jesus was involved
with Baptism as the
very first thing to do when
He went "public".
Baptism is an important part of what we have to do as new
Christians.
Baptism activity was mandated by our Lord Himself, Matt. 28:19, 20.
--"having gone",
aorist tense (completed act), "make disciples" "baptizing",
present participle (...making sure each is baptized)
--in the "Name",
singular. (What a statement about the Trinity!)
WE SHOULD UNDERSTAND BAPTISM.
For nearly 2,000 years there has been a lot of misunderstanding about
baptism...
--IT'S MODE About 350-400 A.D.
"clinical" baptism,
(pouring while in bed
with illness) was introduced
as a matter of
convenience, a method that found
wide acceptance as a
standard practice.
(Yet, hrantizoo (
rJantivzw ), "sprinkle", used in the
N.T. only of the
ceremonial application of blood
of sacrifice, supremely
that of the great sacrifice
of Jesus. Heb. 9:13, 19, 21
Heb. 10:22
Heb. 12:24 hrantismos ( rJantismov")
1 Pet. 1:2 hrantismos (
rJantismov")
BAPTISM'S PURPOSE ...In N.T. times,
Baptism was
THE MEANS of making a
PUBLIC testimony.
(Today, we might
emphasize walking forward in a
service to make a
"profession" of our faith - as
distinguished from the
evangelistic invitation, a
different matter.)
...but by 350 A.D. it
was firmly established that
Baptism was the MEANS
of MAKING some-
one a Christian.
BAPTISM'S SUBJECTS ...The erroneous view of Baptism that
outward application of
water washes away sin and
changes the heart led
naturally to the baptism of
babies.
TWO GREAT ERRORS WE NEED TO FACE these days is...(1) that baptizing
babies makes them Christians, or in some way saves them, and (2) that Baptism
has something to do with MAKING A BELIEVER...a message taught by many otherwise
Bible teaching churches. (Baptizing
those who receive Christ in order to make them Christians is somewhat a
carryover from the early 1800's here in America. The practice was a reaction to the
misconception that conversion HAD to be accompanied by great emotional
upheaval.)
Let's focus on the error that BAPTISM MAKES BELIEVERS, and that one is
not truly saved until baptized.
LET IT BE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR...A person is saved by faith in Christ,
alone! (1 John 5:13). It is clear, too, that Baptism is commanded
upon every believer as a matter of obedience to the known Will of
God...and the new Christian may know very little about the Will of God. Every child of God should do what the
Heavenly Father asks. Notice that the
Lord Jesus Himself was baptized. He was already
the Son of God, His was eternal life before He was baptized. He pleasure was to do the Will of His Father,
to "fulfill all righteousness." (Matt. 3:15)
Now, let's go to work on some of the misunderstood passages.
John 3:5
"Except a man be born of water and of the
spirit, he
cannot enter into the Kingdom of
God."
--It is supposed that this is a reference to Water Baptism
in the context of the New Birth
Discourse.
Remember three factors--this
passage refers to the Heavenly Father's deposit into the life. Jesus' teaching begins with a Father
metaphor, not a Mother metaphor, although Teacher Nicodemus understood
it from a Mother standpoint. (gennaein
- gennavein - the word is used both for the father's "begetting" in
fertilizing, and the mother's "begetting" in giving birth.)
Three elements are involved in
the New Birth. The Word (in modern
terms, teaching from the Bible about the Lord Jesus as Savior), man's choice to
respond, and the resulting work in the life of the Spirit of God.
There is nothing in the
context, or in the entire Gospel of John to suggest that Baptism is assigned a
sin-cleansing role (least of all in the Baptism of Jesus at the start of the
Gospel). Jesus is talking to Nicodemus,
a man trained in the language and thought patterns of the Jewish Rabbis. Nicodemus would be familiar with the usual
interpretation of "water" as meaning "Torah" (The Law of
God revealed in the Word of God). (Sifre
'Ekebh, 37 c, d of the Mishnah, a record of the oral teachings of
the First Century, "The words of Torah are likened unto water. Just as water is to the world, so the words
of Torah are priceless. ...do not the
words of the Torah make the heart glad?"
Other passages from Rabbinic writings also suggest the same idea that
God's Word is thought of as water.
But we can turn to the New
Testament, itself:
Eph. 5:22, 26 "...by
the washing of the water by the
word."
John 15:3 "...now ye are clean through the word
which
I have spoken unto you."
Titus 3:5, 6 shows the
cleansing dimension of the
New
Birth.
...And, for the closeness of
identification between the Spirit of God and the Word of God, see John
6:63.
"The words that I speak unto
you, they are spirit, and they are life."
MARK 16:16 "He that believeth and is
baptized shall be
saved; but he that
believeth not shall be
damned."
Here is a positive and negative
statement in one verse. Remember, the
Disciples work was to go and preach and baptize. It would be unusual for a new Christian in
the First Century church to not be baptized.
BAPTISM WAS PART OF THE TOTAL CONVERSION PROCESS. For example, when you fly to Los Angeles from
San Francisco, what do you do? You go to
the airport, check your baggage, board and plane and sit down in your assigned
seat. But you could simply say,
"I boarded the plane."
"Period!" The one
"boarded the plane" is necessary, the other does not necessarily
follow. Perhaps there was chewing gum on
the seat, and you remained standing for the entire trip! BUT YOU WERE ON THE AIRPLANE.
Acts 2:38 "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
Spirit."
The words are Peter's answer to
the question put to him on the Day of Pentecost. Peter tells them to do two things....
REPENT -- Get saved. Turn from sin as a life
principle, and trust the Lord Jesus, and
BE BAPTIZED -- Be
baptized on the command
of Jesus. "In the Name"
here
.
suggests "by authority" of
Jesus.
The phrase "...for the
remission of sins" is rendered from
eis aphesin toon hamartioon hoomoon ( eij" a[fesin tw'n aJmartiw'n uJmw'n ). "eis" (eij") is here to be translated
"because" or "with reference to"...it is so used in this
very chapter. Acts 2:25, David speaks
with reference (eis) to Him, "For David speaketh concerning
him.".
PETER IS VIEWING THE ENTIRE
CONVERSION PROCESS AS A PACKAGE HAPPENING IN THE SAME TIME FRAME...but the
component parts can be seen at Acts 11:15-17 where the Belief comes, followed
by the Indwelling of the Spirit, followed by Baptism.
To summarize,
"Repentance" is another word in the vocabulary of God's grace that
describes the Salvation Experience. It
describes the "change of mind and dependence dimension" of
salvation. Cf. Acts 11:18, Rom. 2:4.
Acts 22:16 Addressed to Paul, "Arise
and be baptized,
and wash away thy sins,
calling on the name
of the Lord."
Ananias tells Paul to get
going! Enter into the conversion
experience, and identify now as a Christian.
"Wash away your sins." -how?
By Baptism ? No! Baptism pictures the washing.
How? By "Calling on the name
of the Lord"
NOTE WELL..."Calling"
is in the Aorist Tense. epikalesamenos
to onoma ( ejpikalesavmeno"
toV o[noma ). It is a
completed past action. It should be
translated, "having called on the name" --exactly the terms of salvation
set forth at Rom. 10:13, 14.
Rom. 6:3, 4 "Know ye not, that so many
of us as were
baptized unto Jesus Christ were baptized
unto his
death?
Therefore, we are buried with him by
baptism unto death: that like as Christ
was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father,
even so we
also should walk in newness of life."
Here, also, "unto", eis, is to be translated,
"because of", or "with reference to". When we are baptized, we portray how Jesus
DIED, was BURIED, and ROSE AGAIN for us.
1 Pet. 3:21 "The like figure whereunto
even baptism
doth also now save us (not the putting
away of the
filth of the flesh, but the answer of a
good
conscience towards God,) by the
resurrection of
Jesus Christ."
Here, again, is seen the
"coupling" of what normally takes place of things that occur
sequentially, one following another, in point of time...trusting Christ, then
being baptized.
You might ask, Is all this
important? Doesn't it come to the same
thing if adults or young people are baptized to "make
believers"? Yes, it is
important!...important because peace and assurance can only be had in
trust in Jesus Christ alone!
Affirm the ALL-SUFFICIENCY OF
JESUS and there is a basis for assurance for
salvation.
Eph. 2:8, 9. "For by grace
are ye saved ... not of works".
Where once Circumcision was viewed as a condition of admission to God's
favor, now Baptism has been viewed by some as a means of admission to God's
favor and God's salvation. The result of
this is the "I'm saved because I
was baptized" error. The only basis
for eternal life is to place trusting faith in the PERSON OF JESUS. Christ alone is the hope for
eternity. Not Christ, and Baptism. Confusion here can lead to defeat and
discouragement in an attempt to live the Christian life erroneously, based,
however sincerely, on works. Baptism is
the first step of the Christian life. It
is the way one begins the life of Christian Victory!