Baptism - II

Bob Bonner
July 14, 1996

This afternoon, we are having the first of two planned baptisms for the summer. In preparation for this event, we have been taking an in depth look at the subject of baptism.

Last week, we looked at some of the basics--the who, what, when, where and whys of baptism. This week, we want to look at five different passages of Scripture that have caused a great deal of unnecessary misunderstanding and confusion for Christians concerning this subject of baptism. But before we jump into those questions, let me review three key points we covered last week.

I. Review

    A. Why get baptized? = Jesus commands all Christians to be baptized.

First, is the "Why" of baptism. Last time we noted that there are some sincere God-fearing Christians who do not believe that we need to be baptized. They believe that it was merely something that the apostles were suppose to do during their lifetimes. And when the apostles died, so did the command for baptism.

But when we examined closely the words of the original language of Matt. 28:19-20, we saw that Jesus indeed does command all believers, not just the apostles, to be baptized. Hence, our primary motivation for baptism is not to please our parents or friends or to fulfill a requirement for membership into a church. Our basic reason for baptism is that Jesus commands all Christians to be baptized.

In addition, we looked at several reasons why Jesus commanded us to be baptized, all of which were for our own benefit. When fully understood, baptism is not just a religious ordinance with little benefit to us personally, but it becomes a very special demonstration of the core of truth that surrounds the gospel.

    B. What is the proper mode of baptism? = immersion?

We also looked at the question of "What is the proper mode of baptism?". We saw that although the practice of baptism by immersion was the common practice of the day, there were other modes of baptism practiced during the first century. It would be hard to prove that these other modes of baptism may have been used by John the Baptist or the apostles, but we cannot honestly rule them out. So, to be fair, we can only answer that "immersion" was the preferred mode of baptism of the day.

We also took this one step further in looking to the example set by the early church fathers of the first century, who under unique circumstances practiced other modes of water baptism besides immersion. In looking at their example, we concluded that:

***To the early church fathers, the message of baptism was more important than the mode of baptism.

So, whether a person is baptized through immersion or sprinkling or someone wiping water on one's forehead, it is not an issue that needs to separate believers. What's most important is that the candidates for baptism are believers and that they have some idea of what they are doing.

    C. One must be a believer and must make a free choice to be baptized. This alone eliminates infant baptism from being a biblical practice.

The third point that we concluded from our study came as a result of looking at the logical steps taken for a person to be baptized. When finished looking at the steps modeled for us by the Ethiopian eunuch, we concluded that one must be a believer and must make a free choice to be baptized. This alone eliminates infant baptism from being a biblical practice. Because an infant cannot choose and because a child cannot understand the 'why' of baptism, child baptism fulfills no purpose.

II. Present day misunderstandings derived from biblical passages

    A. Acts 2:38 "Baptism lead to the forgiveness of sin."

Now, let's look at five passages of Scripture that have been gravely misunderstood and as a result have led to some serious theological error and teachings. The first one is found in Acts 2:38. As a result of this verse, some have understood it to teach that the simple act of water baptism leads to forgiveness of sins. In other words, even if you verbally ask Jesus to forgive your sins, your sins are not forgiven unless you are baptized.

Let's read the verse and then dissect it as to what it really says. It reads, "And Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins...'"

First of all, it is important to note that Peter is speaking to Jews here. Some of these Jews could have already been baptized by John the Baptist and were waiting for the Messiah to come. They were primed and ready to believe in Jesus. Then there were probably other Jews, who had not followed John the Baptist, but were still ready to believe in Jesus.

The term "repent" means to "turn away from something to something else". It either refers to turning away from something mentally by changing your mind about something or actually turning away by changing your actions. In the NT, it means turning away from sin, self, and wrong attitudes about Jesus and turning to Jesus.

In the case of the average Jew, Peter is calling them to repent or turn away from their sinful practices and to change their preconceived ideas about Jesus. In order to do this, they are to now trust Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins, by putting their complete trust in Him as their Lord and Savior.

In the case of those Jews who were baptized previously by John the Baptist, Peter is challenging them to turn away from John the Baptist's message and turn to Jesus of whom John the Baptist spoke, and be baptized now, "in the name of Jesus". For these Jews, Peter's message is an updated fulfillment of what John was preaching.

There are two very important three-letter-words in this verse that must be correctly understood as they relate to repentance, baptism and forgiveness of sins. The first word is "and". "And", implies a process: First you do this; and then you do that. It is repent, and then be baptized. In other words, baptism is a response to repentance-an expression of faith.

The second, and for our purposes, probably the most important word to correctly understanding this verse, is the word "for". According to A. T. Robertson, a well-known Greek scholar, the Greek preposition or word translated "for" is the word "eis", which has two meanings. The first meaning of this word "eis" is "for the purpose of" or "in order that". If this were the intended meaning of this word in this verse, then this verse would indeed teach that the ritual of water of baptism forgave sin. But if that were true, this lone verse would then contradict every other verse in Scripture that denies that any action on our part can forgive sin.

Here is a clue to understanding the Bible: Whenever you find one verse which appears to fly in the face of what the rest of Scripture says, you had better examine that verse closely. Because when you do, as I have, I have discovered that under closer examination, that first apparent meaning is wrong.

That, therefore, forces us to check out what Robertson says is the alternate meaning of this preposition. The alternate meaning of the word translated "for" can mean "because of" or "on the basis of". For instance Luke 11:32 reads, "The men of Nineveh shall stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here." The term "at" used in the phrase "at the preaching of Jonah" is the same word we translated "for" in Acts 2:38. The people of Jonah's day, you see, did not repent for his preaching, but because of Jonah's preaching.

Likewise, in Acts 2:38, Peter doesn't mean "be baptized so that you can receive forgiveness of sins." He is actually saying, "Be baptized because you have been forgiven of your sins." In other words, it is the next obvious step of one who has already believed and been forgiven, and thus, already saved.

Baptism, then, in this case, as in every other case, illustrates what has already happened when one repents-spiritual cleansing and the change of identity that comes with the forgiveness of sins. So, to reiterate what we saw last week, baptism's purpose is not to forgive sin, but in obedience to Christ, baptism is a public declaration of what has already happened to you, since you put your trust in Christ.

    B. I Peter 3:21 "Baptism will save you."

A second verse that has troubled some students of the Bible, as it concerns this issue of baptism is I Peter 3:21. From this verse, some people build a theology that teaches that water baptism actually will save you. Not that it will forgive sin, but that it will save you and get you into heaven.

In order to grasp the intent of this verse, one must understand the context in which it is found. Peter is writing to Christians who are being persecuted for their faith. Many are afraid that they might even be put to death because of their commitment to Christ. Therefore, many do not want to make a public declaration through baptism, that they have chosen to follow Christ. And in some cases, there were Christians, who out of fear for their lives, were ready to refuse Christ's command of baptism and compromise their faith in order to save their skins.

Look at I Peter 3:13-17. It reads, "And who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience [in other words, don't compromise your faith so as to be accepted] so that in the thing in which you are slandered, [i.e., for being mocked for being a Christian] those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong."

Peter is challenging his readers to take courage and to make a complete break from their old lives and to take a stand for Christ even if it means suffering to the point of death.

Then, in verses 18-20, Peter gives them the example to follow...Jesus, who obviously suffered to the point of death. He writes, "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water."

In other words, Christ suffered to the point of death to provide a way for us to be saved through paying for the penalty of our sins and making it possible to have a relationship with the Father. And now, like the days before the flood, Noah and his family suffered persecution, yet were required to trust God by continuing to build the ark, and then get on board. Today, like in Noah's day, we are required to trust in God's promise of deliverance, not through an ark, but through a Savior, which he just wrote about in v.18-20.

With that in mind, Peter compares in v. 21 putting our trust in Christ with Noah's putting trust in the ark. He writes, "and corresponding to that,..."--- and the word "that" refers to the ark, not the water, as some would have us believe. "And corresponding to that, [the ark] baptism now saves you [what kind of baptism-water baptism or spiritual baptism in Christ? Peter tells us what kind it isn't in the next few words. He says, "...not the removal of dirt from the flesh," What kind of baptism would remove dirt from the flesh? Water baptism. In other words, Peter wants to make perfectly clear that he is not talking about water baptism here, which may remove at most some dirt from your skin; which obviously doesn't save you.

So this baptism must refer to the only other kind of baptism that the Bible speaks of, spiritual baptism. Remember when we defined "baptize", we said that it means to dip, plunge, or immerse? It also means "to place into". Instead of saying that I dip my finger into the water, I can say, "I place my finger into the water". Peter is saying that what saves you is similar to that which saved Noah and his family. They were placed, not into the water, but into the ark and saved from the flood. Today, we are, by trusting in God's promise to deliver us through Christ, "placed into Christ" and He, like the ark, saves you. That is spiritual baptism. Spiritual baptism takes place the moment you trust Christ.

Hence, in the overall context, Peter is saying to his readers who are thinking about avoiding the pressures of living for Christ by returning to their old lives, that they need to trust in Christ, even though it may mean suffering for your faith. Don't fall back to your old life, in order to be accepted by others and to remain physically safe. You do that, you fall back to following after the world to be accepted by the world, and you will only end up having a guilty conscience, because you know that it isn't right. Stand up for what you believe, even if it means momentary suffering. Remember your spiritual baptism. You have a new identity in Christ.

That's why Peter adds that being put into Christ is "an appeal to God for a good conscience - through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." Our faith rests in the Christ who proved that He could deliver us, even if we die, because He resurrected Himself. When we remain in Christ, our conscience is good.

So the baptism mentioned here in I Peter which is said to save us, has nothing to do with water baptism. It is spiritual baptism, the basic putting of one's trust in the promise of Jesus Christ, and as a result, being spiritually baptized or placed into Christ.

    C. Acts 22:16 "Baptism washes one of his sins."

A third passage that some say teaches that "baptism actually washes one of his sin" is Acts 22:16. This, again, is one of those verses where it is helpful to correctly understand the grammar and words of the original language. I hesitate to tell you that because I don't want to discourage you from studying the English text, but sometimes it does help to understand the original language, and this just happens to be one of those clear cases. Please, keep reading your Bibles. If you have a question concerning a verse or a word, there are commentaries and other people around you who can probably answer your questions.

Luke writes in v.16, "And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name." As we read this in our English text, it appears that there is a cause-effect relationship between being baptized and that which washes away one's sin. But that is not what the Greek says. The Greek is very clear here as to its meaning. In this verse there are two separate commands that tell us what to do. And each command has one participle or verbal noun that is closest to the command itself and that participle explains how to fulfill that command.

The two commands are "be baptized" and "wash away your sins". The two participles that tell us how to obey these commands are "arise" and "calling on His name". Here, then, is the meaning. Peter is asking these individual Jews, some who have already trusted in Christ and some who are thinking about it, "Why are you delaying getting saved and, according to v.15, delaying being a witness for Jesus?" He then orders them to get baptized, and the way that will happen is if they arise, get up and do it! Quit sitting back!

And if they have not yet trusted Jesus as their Savior but want to and want to know that their sins have been removed, then Peter commands them to wash away their sin, not by being baptized, but by "calling upon Jesus' name".

So, this verse does not teach that baptism washes away your sin. It is calling on Jesus' name that washes away one's sin.

    D. Mark 16:6 "Belief plus baptism is necessary for salvation."

The next verse we want to look at, Mark 16:6, has been used incorrectly to teach that just believing in Jesus is not enough to be saved. Instead, it is wrongly taught that one must believe in Jesus and be baptized to be saved. In other words, it is not enough to just believe in Jesus, you have to perform a work, such as baptism, to be saved.

Let's look at this verse and see why it does not say this. Mark 16:6 reads, "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned." From this verse alone, it says that only those who have disbelieved shall be condemned or not be saved. It doesn't say that you will not be saved if you don't get baptized, only if you refuse to believe. Salvation is and has always been based on putting one's trust or belief in Jesus, not Jesus plus baptism.

For further proof of this, look at Romans 10:9. This passage clearly teaches us that faith alone in Jesus Christ is the requirement for salvation. It reads, "...that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved;". There is no mention of baptism anywhere in that verse or the surrounding verses. As we have seen before, water baptism is a public confession of that faith.

Furthermore, it is interesting that in I Cor. 15:1-4, Paul summarizes the gospel and what is required to be saved. In those verses, there is no mention of baptism. Earlier, Paul wrote, "Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel", thus clearly differentiating the gospel from baptism.

One last thought. When Jesus hung on the cross, He promised the one thief that he would be saved. That thief died right along side Jesus that day, without ever being baptized as a believer in Jesus. How could Jesus promise him salvation if salvation required that one be saved? He wouldn't and didn't.

Baptism is important and every believer is commanded to be baptized, but, baptism does not in any way save us. You can go to heaven without being baptized. My only question to a believer who refuses to be baptized is, Why? If you have committed your life to Jesus, why would you not obey Jesus' command to be baptized? Refusing to be baptized is living in rebellion against your Lord. Your fellowship with God is broken when you refuse to obey any of his commands.

    E. I Corinthians 15:12-34 "We can help save a deceased person through baptism for the dead."

The last passage that we want to look at deals with the questionable practice of baptizing a living person in the place of a deceased person for the purpose of saving the dead person. The passage that people quote to support this practice comes from 1 Corinthians 15.

Before we can understand the verse in question, it is important to understand the context in which it is found. 1 Corinthians 15, without question, is the greatest chapter in the Bible concerning the resurrection of the physical body of a believer. In the church at Corinth, there were some Corinthians who believed that there would be no resurrection from the dead. The purpose behind Paul's writing of these verses was to chastise and to correct their erroneous thinking.

Follow along as I read these verses beginning with verse 12, "Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover [meaning, continuing the proposition that if Christ wasn't raised from the dead then,] we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we witnessed against God [or we lied against God by saying] that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ perished. [meaning, if Christ did not rise from the dead, then those Christians who put their trust in Christ and died, have perished forever with no hope of an afterlife.] If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. [Why? Because if Jesus did not rise from the dead and there is no resurrection from the dead to an afterlife, then we wasted our lives believing and trusting and putting our hope in a lie, that Jesus rose from the dead.]

But now, Paul goes on to correct these foolish Corinthians. He says, "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. [Meaning that he was the first to rise from the dead and that those believers who died trusting in Christ will follow later.] For since by a man came death, [meaning, through Adam and his sin came the curse of death] by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. [Obvious reference to Jesus] For as in Adam all die, [both spiritually and physically] so also in Christ all shall be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power." In other words, there is a planned order in this resurrection. First, Jesus was raised. Then, when Jesus comes again, first those who died in Christ will be raised, then those who are still alive in Christ will be raised in the Rapture, [I Thess. 4:13-18] and then when the end of the church age comes and the millennial kingdom comes, then all of those Jews who believed in their coming Messiah, but died before Jesus came, and obviously were never baptized, they will be resurrected. Once again, we are shown that baptism is not a requirement for resurrection.

Paul continues, "For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says 'All things are put in subjection,' it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all." For now, basically, those verses say that Jesus will one day, totally conquer and wipe out death as we know it.

Now he moves to this strange verse about baptism of the dead, v.29, "Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?"

Historically, at this time there was this practice of baptizing living Christians in the place of dead Christians because some believers had died due to persecution, others due to illness before they had a chance to be baptized. The concern was that if your loved one hadn't been baptized, would they be resurrected with all the other believers when Jesus comes? They didn't know enough then, and weren't sure, so they began a practice of baptizing the dead, in hopes that this would help those believers who hadn't had time to be baptized enter into heaven.

We know now that a believer still goes to heaven even if they were never baptized, but those folks didn't. We also know that water baptism can't save a live person. If baptism doesn't save a live person, how could it save a dead man?

Remember what we saw last time: salvation required that each individual chose to trust Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior. The truth that one person's faith cannot save another is taught throughout Scripture. And if one person's faith cannot save another, then it logically follows that one person's baptism can't save another.

Paul does not use the illustration concerning baptism for the dead to validate the practice of baptizing the dead or to invalidate it. He was only using that ritual to point out the fallacy of some Corinthians' thinking concerning there being no resurrection. In other words, "Why would you Corinthians be doing that baptism thing of the dead, if you didn't believe in the resurrection?" Their beliefs made no logical sense. That's the point of v.29.

We have answered the difficult verses on baptism and I trust that this has helped you better understand this subject. To those of us who have been baptized, I charge you to remember every time you witness another's baptism that, like them, you have been given a new identity in Christ. You have been set apart to live as His children, His holy ones. When you witness another's baptism, take the time for self-evaluation. Are you living as one who has been set apart with a new identity?