Baptism
Baptism Discussion
Greetings everyone,
The writer of Hebrews would have us leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ and to
go on to perfection. Baptism is one of those principles that the church just
cannot seem to get right. Something this foundational has divided the church for
almost since the beginning. So I have started with this and will continue with
those doctrines mentioned in Hebrews 6, so we can go on to perfection from here.
This is a long essay, I hope those in the future will not be so long or take me
so long to put together. I had not intended it to be as one of my web pages, but
it has turned out that way. More than asking questions like I did before, they
are more like statements. Nothing is in stone so lay into me if you disagree.
Actually the baptism debate includes several controversies, maybe more than I
list. Rather than just the divisions for discussion, I have just decided to
include all that I have. I would like to see us agree, this is only the way I
see it. Those responding to discussion have replied to me personally rather than
to the whole group. I suppose everyone is comfortable with that but anyway is
fine. Pray that the Lord has His perfect way with us to come of one accord.
Jay.
Discussion items:
1. Does baptism save you?
2. Is infant baptism valid?
3. Should you be baptized in the name of Jesus?
4. Is immersion the only way?
5. Symbol or sacrament?
Baptism is the rite of admission into the Christian church in line with the
Jewish rites of purification and as a symbolical representation of cleansing
from the sins of which they repented. The law of Moses spoke of a water of
separation, a levitical purification for sin and the entry into a new and purer
life. Christian baptism represents the response of our faith of Jesus'
sacrifice. It is the symbol of the fact of our faith, repentance and the gift of
the Holy Ghost. As Paul said, "For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the
ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the
flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit
offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God?" This is where salvation lies. Paul would also consider
the types of Israel in that "our fathers were under the cloud and all passed
through the sea. And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea
and did eat the same spiritual meat and did all drink the same spiritual drink;
for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was
Christ." Christian baptism is considered a symbol and a sacrament.
We find John the Baptist from the beginning of his ministry baptizing unto
repentance as a Jewish rite; the Essenes had their own baptisteries. John's
baptism of repentance included the metanoia which means a change of mind. John's
baptism was incomplete, "I baptize you with water, He will baptize with Holy
Ghost and fire." John's baptism was a preparation for the other, "repent, be
baptized, receive the Holy Spirit." Jesus' baptism from John was "to fulfill all
righteousness." The obligation of Christian baptism rests completely on the
command of Jesus at His ascension. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost." Jesus never commanded His followers to be baptized, He command us to go
out and baptize His followers. Paul would also have others do it and had only
baptized a few, saying that "Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the
gospel" He had others do it so that no-one could say that they had been baptized
into Paul's name. In Acts there is no trace of one set of people only to
baptize.
Through the teaching of the Didache, we see in the early church that baptism was
considered to be connected with the washing away of sins, accompanied with the
unction with imposition of hands for the gift of the Holy Spirit. This was an
institution taken for granted in the Jerusalem community as well as in the
missionary endeavors of Paul. Baptism and the laying on of hands could be at any
time at any place there was water. There is evidence that baptism also took
place at dawn on Easter or Pentecost. Generally preceded by a fast, they
renounced paganism, satan and all his works, and received an anointing with oil
from head to foot, baptized and again anointed with oil and dressed in white.
>From the beginning, a candidate for baptism would begin to associate with those
already baptized and learn a great deal from them in the process.
Pere Teilhard wrote "By baptism in cosmic matter and in sacramental water we are
more Christ than ourselves, and it is precisely because of this predominance of
Christ in us that we can one day expect to be fully ourselves." Watchman Nee:
"Baptism in scripture is associated with salvation. By that aspect of the cross
which is figured in baptism, you are delivered from this present evil world and
by your baptism in water, you confirm this. It is baptism 'into His death',
ending one creation; but it is also baptism 'into Christ Jesus' having in view a
new one. You go down in the water, the world goes down with you; you come up
with Christ, but the world is drowned. Something far greater, relating to both
the death and resurrection of our Lord, and having in view two worlds.
Paul wrote in Romans that "we are buried with Him in baptism into 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. For if we have been planted together in
the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His
resurrection." "We are buried with Him in baptism, wherein also you are risen
with Him through the faith of the operation of God who has raised Him." John and
Paul looked at baptized persons as being just as impervious to sin as a dead
person is to outward things. Baptism is representative of us as new creatures,
we have already been reconciled and received the grace, now as a public
profession of that faith, we are obedient in baptism and become part of the
Body. Grace is poured out if we have truly responded in faith.
Baptism suggests immersion and means burial, only the dead needs to be buried.
To baptize in the first century was to immerse or to dip. A person would baptize
a garment into a dye and had to completely immerse the fabric into the solution.
The Didache prescribes immersion but pouring under exceptional circumstance.
There is a definite mindful break with the past in baptism and that is the
important thing and what makes is especially symbolic; Jesus' resurrection
enters into us, imparting to us a new life, I in Christ and Christ in me.
Immersion is the proper way and the way that the apostolic fathers have done it
but if baptism is to represent the inner reality of resurrection into the
newness of life, sprinkling or pouring is also valid, not ideal but valid
nevertheless. The problem with this and maybe not co-incidentally, those
churches that hold to sprinkling have the least among them that have been fully
immersed in the Baptism with the Holy Ghost and the ones that hold on most
firmly to the traditions of men.
Does baptism in itself save you? Can you not receive the Holy Ghost until you
are baptized? Those are doctrines hard to accept since those that think this
have also caused division. Paul was filled with the Holy Ghost first and then
baptized and many others in the book of Acts. Those that think that baptism has
saved you have turned the fact of a spiritual resurrection into a magical
formula of baptism thinking even that unbaptized infants will go to hell, or if
you haven't been baptized in a certain way that you are not saved. The false
doctrines of baptism has turned false teachers into schismatics and many
worshipers into superstitious fools. That said however, we must realize that
baptism is done in obedience to the command of Jesus and the apostles and
therefore in effect baptism has a saving influence. If we cannot be obedient,
how can we therefore say that we have been saved?
Baptism then should be taken very seriously and transcend mere symbolism. The
Corinthians were so sure of the saving act of baptism that some were vicariously
baptized for those who had died without baptism to insure that they would be
raised from the dead. This practice continued into the fourth century. The first
effect of baptism should be the admission that it is for the remission of sins.
The second effect is that the inward and spiritual grace is a death unto sin and
a new birth unto righteousness. We are by nature born into sin and the children
of wrath, now we are raised into newness of life and made the children of grace.
The medieval church controlled the sacraments and the sacrament was essential to
salvation. The voice of protest was called heresy. Thomas Aquinas: "The Lord
said 'He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.' Baptism without faith is
of no value. The effect of baptism is to remit both original and actual sin as
well as all guilt and punishment which they incur." Saint Thomas omits the words
of Jesus following which stated that he that believes not shall be damned,
baptism is not mentioned in the damnation.
Paedobaptist is the word for those who practice infant baptism. Baptism began
with baptism of adults and their family, therefore, infant baptism was practiced
in the book of Acts and still recognized in the second century. Lydia was
baptized with her household. It was not only the adults who were to repent of
their sins and give evidence of their faith in Christ, but also the children of
the Christian parents who would consecrate and hold them to separation. Children
were thought of as being of the kingdom of God and entitled to baptism. Those
baptized in infancy can pick up the catechum later, but it was not considered a
guarantee of conversion. The Didache showed the practice as still comparatively
simple and preceded by instruction, the training of the catechumens, an argument
against infant baptism since an infant cannot be instructed. Tertullian
recognized the practice in his day, though he strongly disapproved of it.
Augustine emphasized infant baptism. By the time of Constantine, he and others
would defer baptism until the moment before death in the belief that sins
committed after baptism might not be forgiven. Many feel that infants are in
danger of dying without hope of salvation unless they receive baptism, but that
is mistaken. Even though, if the kingdom belongs to children, how dare we refuse
them baptism, especially in the last days when there are woes pronounced on
pregnant women and infants. If it is our responsibility to get others baptized,
then we may have to alter our former ways of thinking.
From the first day of the church on the day of Pentecost, baptism was in the
name of Jesus Christ. On that day, they were all with one accord and filled with
the Holy Ghost. Peter said unto those Jews in attendance "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 Ghost." The Greek is "into the
name" not "in the name" of Jesus, not just the formula for baptism but the
purpose and effect of baptism; Paul confirms this. Peter was to later say that
"there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
And Paul, "Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord
Jesus" So it is not just faith in Jesus, it is faith in the power of His name.
Hermas, another Apostolic Father, describes the obedient as "They are such as
who have heard the word, and were willing to be baptized in the name of the
Lord." The practice of baptizing into the name of Jesus continued throughout the
second century and does not seem to have changed until sometime before the
Nicene Council. For us to be baptized into the name of Jesus, we are brought
into the life-giving relation with the Divine Person that he is.
Most of us, myself included, have been baptized in the name of the Father and
the Son and the Holy Ghost. This is not the apostolic way but the traditional
way, yet still in response to the original words of Jesus. We have heard the
arguments before, these are not names, they are titles of the Godhead and not
the way the apostles did it. However, if this was done from our faith in Jesus
and was done in His name, then we should believe it is valid, there is no reason
to be re-baptized. There is still "only one Lord, one faith and one baptism." It
may not be proper according to what the apostolic fathers have done and knowing
that should lead us to re-evaluate our understanding in a different way, but
nevertheless it is valid as to our salvation and according to the unity of the
faith.
All churches have false doctrines to a certain extent, some worse than others,
but some will manifest real doctrinal hatred. For example, We need to believe
that the Baptism in the name of Jesus is the proper formula used in baptism
because this is what the apostles did in response to what Jesus commanded. Peter
and John did it, so did Paul and none of us can deny that this is the way it was
done in the early church and continued for two centuries. It cannot be a matter
of Jesus being right and Peter being wrong. We are bigger than that. The name of
Jesus is exalted above every other name, who can dispute that? The problem with
some who also believe that, is that many of them have gone beyond the formulas
used and accepted the heresy that believes that the words used in baptism has
something to do with their salvation. Arguments concerning the nature of Christ
and Jesus only positions set aside for now, the worst of these false teachers
will lead you to believe that you are not saved unless you are baptized in the
name of Jesus. We cannot and should not accept a heresy that leads to division
and that is exactly what this is. It is according to the letter and not the
spirit. If you look at those that have taught this error, they are those that
have separated themselves from us and have become denominational
pseudo-pentecostal cults. The truth of salvation is far from that heresy in that
it is not the formula used in the baptism at all but whether you have been
raised in newness of life. If a person has come up from the baptismal waters a
hate-monger who believes that others have not been saved unless they have been
baptized the way that they have been, or if they come up as a false prophet who
teaches these things, then they have not been raised in newness of life and are
still in their sins.
True Christians are known for their love arising out of a new life in Jesus, not
in the way that they have been baptized. Those that are in the spirit of love
can see through a hate-monger or false prophet easily and unfortunately, satan
has used the apostolic mandated truth of the baptism in the name of Jesus to
divide the church once again. The enemy has taken many of our people into
captivity by teaching this heresy and putting them into churches that believe
that everyone else besides them are wrong. We are called to unite under the
truth, not unite under false doctrine or division or churches that use a
misunderstood truth to separate themselves from the rest of the Body.
December 2, 1999
Luther: "Not a single sacramental act which magically wiped out original sin, as
the scholastics maintained, but a process which continued throughout life. The
waters of baptism are parallel to the waters of the Exodus through which the
Israelites passed when they made their decisive conversion to Yahweh."
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