There is no such thing as a "Sacrament", as practiced by some who claim their sacraments are a necessary part of Salvation. However Christ does command us to obey TWO ORDINANCES. An ordinance is a command to observe a certain act. The two Bible ordinances are Baptism and The Lord's Supper.
There are many misunderstandings about Baptism, although the Bible teachings concerning it are very simple and plain. Let us first look at the meaning of Baptism and then consider some improper views about it.
1. THE PURPOSE OF BAPTISM-WHY ARE WE BAPTIZED?
First of all let us emphasize that Baptism in no way has anything to do with salvation. If a believer were never baptized he would still go to heaven. But there is a purpose and a reason why EVERY believer should gladly be baptized.
Christ Commanded it.
This alone is reason enough. If we knew nothing else about it we should be baptized because Jesus told us to be. "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit". Matt. 28:19. For a Christian not to be baptized is to deliberately disobey the command of God. The Bible says it is "the answer of a good conscience toward God". It is extremely important to realize that NO CHRISTIAN CAN POSSIBLY BE IN THE WILL OF GOD WITHOUT OBEYING HIS COMMAND TO BE BAPTIZED. This is why we emphasize Baptism so much. It is the first step of obedience in a believer's life, and as long as it is deliberately ignored a Christian is in trouble with the Heavenly Father, just as a child would be with his parents here on earth if he were to deliberately disobey them.
Jesus Himself was baptized, (Matthew 3:13-17), and had his disciples baptize all who were saved (John 4:1-2). In the book of Acts we find that those who were saved were baptized and gladly so. Acts 2:41, 8:36-38, 19:4-5, 10:48, 16:14-15, 16:33, and of course Paul was baptized upon him being saved, Acts 9:18.
This is a command that the Christians of the Bible did not even think about disobeying.
It Tells a Beautiful Story.
Did you ever wish that you could tell beautiful stories or paint magnificent pictures the way some people can do? Did you know that when a person is Scripturally baptized they can tell the most eloquent story and paint the most marvelous picture that is possible to human lips and hands? Here is the picture of baptism as revealed in Romans 6:4-6.
"Know ye not, that so many of us were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in the 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: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."
Here then is the symbolic meaning of Baptism. First, it is a picture of death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. When we go beneath the waters, it is a picture of His death for our sins and His burial. When we come out of the water it is a picture of His resurrection from the dead. Secondly, it is a picture of our own salvation. Going under the waters portrays the forgiveness of our sins and the death of the old, hellbound soul. Coming up out of the waters portrays the rebirth of our new, heaven bound soul.
Very simple and beautiful, isn't it? It is our testimony to the world that we believe Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead, and that by believing in Him we have been saved. It has nothing to do with our being saved, but it is a picture of what happened when we were saved.
2. WHO, WHEN AND HOW?
Who should be Baptized?
Only one who has been born again may be baptized. All the Scriptures we have already mentioned in this chapter reveal this. For example, Philip would not baptize the eunuch until the eunuch was saved. Acts 8:36-37. In Acts 10:44-48 Peter told the other believers that the Gentiles there could be baptized because they were saved. "Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Spirit as well as we?"
Jesus said that we should make believers of people and then baptize them. Matt. 28:19. In Acts 2:41, only those that "gladly received His word were baptized".
Think for a moment: could a lost person possibly portray a picture of his salvation, that he believed in Jesus? Of course not! The purpose of Baptism, remember, is to tell that we have been saved. No matter how many times one is dunked under water, it means absolutely nothing until he is saved.
Now then, what about baptizing babies, as the Catholics, Episcopalians and most Protestants do? Why, it is a sinful corruption and misuse of the command of God. That is purely a man-made tradition. Even those who baptize babies admit that there is absolutely no basis for it in the Scriptures. Catholics baptize babies because they teach that little babies will go to hell unless they are baptized in the Catholic Church. How terrible and ungodly such a teaching is! Others do it because they also believe that somehow baptism is a part of salvation, or through plain ignorance. It has become traditional and most people who have their babies baptized never stop to think why.
"Oh, but it is such a sweet and moving thing when a lovely little child, dressed in white and beautiful and innocent…….." NO! A thousand times NO! It is not sweet! It is not beautiful! It is a terrible and awful sin to use a helpless child to so pervert and mislead others. It is a black and unthinkable ghastly sin to so warp and twist the beautiful ordinance of baptism by using it to suggest that babies go to hell and salvation is through another means other than the pure grace of God, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!
Remember this: baptism is only for one who has been born again. Never is it to be administered for any other purpose. If it is, it means nothing and those who are part of it sin against God.
WHEN SHOULD A CHRISTIAN BE BAPTIZED?
Just as soon as possible. In all the Scriptures we have named it is evident that upon believing, Christians were immediately baptized. When God gives a command, you see, He does not expect us to prolong obeying it until we are ready. Jesus placed it even before the teaching of new converts. Matt. 28:19-20. So by the example set in the Bible and by the express command of God we are to baptize converts as soon as possible.
Some say today that we should set up some kind of a committee to test and make sure converts are going to be faithful before they are baptized. This may sound quite reasonable and good at first, but is absolutely unscriptural. In the first place, the Word of God definitely teaches to baptize them at once! In the second place, God, and not a committee knows whether or not a person is saved. Such committees, in effect, put themselves in the position of a judging body. In the third place, baptism is not administered because a person is faithful in his Christian duties. It is administered BECAUSE HE HAS BEEN SAVED! That and that alone is the sole requirement that must be met in order to be baptized, and we must take the word of the candidate for that.
It is the duty of a church and of the members of a church to do all in their power to lead a person who is saved into the baptismal pool. God commanded us by saying "GO YE.. baptizing them…"
HOW SHOULD A CHRISTIAN BE BAPTIZED?
There is only one way to baptize properly, and that is by total immersion in water. Sprinkling, pouring, etc. are wrong and a person who is sprinkled or poured has not been baptized at all. The word "baptize" means to IMMERSE. Immerse means to completely submerge. It has no other meaning. It is impossible to read any other meaning into it. Christ's command was to Immerse all believers. To sprinkle or pour on them is to simply disobey the simple command.
Here again those who practice sprinkling and pouring are forced to admit that baptism in the Bible had only one possible meaning-to immerse. Sprinkling was practiced the first time in the middle of the third century when a man on his sick bed was sprinkled instead of immersed because it was "more convenient". It was not until the 12th century that it became prevalent in the Catholic Church. The Council of Ravenna was the first Catholic council to legalize it. (Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 3 p. 351). It was and is done simply because it "is attended with less inconvenience than baptism by immersion." (Faith of our Fathers, Cardinal Gibbons, p.75).
Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans and all others have admittedly just copied the Catholic example.
Oh yes, sprinkling is more convenient….but it is not baptism. It is a deliberate disobedience of the command of our Lord.
Jesus was immersed in the river Jordan. The eunuch was immersed in a pool in the desert. So, by command and practice the Bible tells us that only by immersion is true Baptism.
Here is something for you to think about. Could sprinkling or pouring properly portray a death and burial and resurrection? Ridiculous, isn't it?
You see, we are by no means at liberty to apply the Word of God to our convenience. What God commands us to do we must do, EXACTLY AS HE SAYS TO DO IT.
3. WHY DO BAPTISTS ASK THOSE OF OTHER DENOMINATIONS TO BE BAPTIZED WHEN JOINING OUR CHURCHES, EVEN IF THEY HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED IN THEIR PREVIOUS CHURCH?
Let us start this discussion by remembering the "go ye" of Matthew 28:19. We must remember that while every Christian must accept the command and personally obey it, our churches are likewise responsible for carrying out the command of baptism and seeing that it is properly administered. This is a very serious responsibility.
Of course, we know that someone who has been sprinkled must be baptized. But there are many other things to consider. Some churches baptize for the wrong purpose. The Church of Christ, Catholics and others make it a part of salvation. Obviously, there is a wrong purpose involved. Many, many churches do not believe in the eternal security of the believer. So, they baptize people to show that they are "safe as long as they hold out". But proper baptism is to portray the picture that we have been given "ETERNAL LIFE".
You see, again it is not enough just to dunk someone under water. For Baptism to be proper it must be administered not only upon a born again believer, and by immersion, but also for the Bible reason.
No doubt we ask people to be baptized again who have been quite properly baptized. But since there are so many different ways and purposes practiced in baptism, it is often impossible for a Baptist church to determine whether or not one has been properly baptized. We know what other like-minded Baptists practice, so we are safe in assuming that one has been baptized in another Baptist church has been properly baptized. (Although some Baptist groups have even varied from the Scripture). There is one reasonable choice for us to make, and that is to ask all non-Baptists to be baptized when they join with us. Then there can be no doubt about whether we, as a local church, have fulfilled our duty as commanded in Matthew 28:19 "Go Ye…baptizing them….". It has been the experience of all churches and preachers that those who are really sincere in their desire to serve God will appreciate a church that is concerned about obeying God, and they will quite joyfully be baptized, even though they may feel certain that their baptism has been proper. With the vast majority of such Christians, however, it is a welcome opportunity to understand the true meaning of baptism and to make certain that they have properly followed our Lord's command.
Let us close this section by re-emphasizing two things:
First of all, asking such candidates to be baptized is by no means to tell them that they were never baptized properly. It is simply saying, we have the responsibility of making sure our membership is composed of properly baptized believers.
Secondly, the local church has a definite responsibility in this matter; not just the individual, as some mistakenly believe.
SOME VERY WRONG AND DAMAGING VIEWS ABOUT BAPTISM.
A.Sprinkling, pouring, or other methods than immersion.
We have already sufficiently discussed this in 2-C. We
Mention it again here so that we will remember it as a serious error.
B. Infant Baptism.
This has been adequately discussed in section 2-A. We mention this again for the same purpose as above. It needs to be remembered as a very serious and awful
error.
Originally, this error probably began because of the wrong idea of baptism being necessary for salvation. Infants, of course, are covered by the grace of God until they reach the age of accountability before God.
C. Many believe Baptism necessary for salvation, or to Complete the Salvation process.
No more awful or abominable sin can be committed upon others than to add or to take from the simple plan of salvation in the telling of others how to be saved. Teaching that water baptism is necessary for salvation adds something to God's simple plan. No person can possibly be saved if he believes baptism to be a necessary part of salvation. God's word requires simple faith in Jesus and that alone. A person must believe what God says, and if he believes in salvation by water baptism, he is not trusting the word of God.
Therefore, those who teach this doctrine are leading thousands to an eternal hell. Let us never look upon this awful error as being something that is not too important. The souls of human beings are at stake in this.
First of all, let us examine some of the Scriptures that are usually put forth to demonstrate the necessity of baptism for salvation. After we have demonstrated how these verses are misused, we will show how the word of God plainly says that Baptism has nothing to do with salvation.
1. Their Evidence, which is not Really Evidence.
(a) Mark 16:16. Notice that for a person to be damned he simply must refuse to believe. There are only two classes of people in the world, the saved and the damned. The unbeliever is damned, not the unbaptized.
Acts 2:38. This is a favorite proof-text. "Then he said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…."
Many people are quite at a loss when they read this verse because they are thinking in terms of whether or not baptism is essential for salvation. However, this is a gun that backfires, because it actually shows that baptism follows salvation and is not part of it!
Let us say, "a man got a ticket for speeding". Now then, why did the man get a ticket? Was it because of his speeding or in order that he could speed? Why, because of his speeding. Do you see? It is all in how you understand the little f-o-r. What the verse actually says is to repent, and be baptized because of the remission of sins! It does not mean to repent and be baptized in order that sins might be remitted.
The little Greek word "eis" is translated "for" in this verse. In Luke 11:32 it is translated "at". The men at Nineveh "repented at the preaching of Jonas….". They repented because Jonah had already preached, not so that he could preach.
All such "proof-texts" are of the general nature of these two examples and, if anything, actually prove that baptism is not a part of salvation.
Perhaps there are some passages that may seem a little hard to understand for some. Here is a very excellent rule to remember: NEVER USE A PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURE, THE MEANING OF WHICH IS UNCERTAIN, TO OFFSET OR CONTRADICT A PASSAGE THAT HAS A CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD MEANING! The Bible has not contradictions, and for you or me or anyone to think that baptism is a part of salvation, we must use scriptures, which we do not rightly understand and make them contradict scriptures, which anyone can easily understand!
2. Now, here are some Scriptures that clearly show that Baptism is not necessary to salvation.
(a). Those in the New Testament were never baptized until after they were saved.
(1). Acts 8:26-38. Philip made sure the eunuch was already saved before he baptized him.
(2). Acts 10:44-48. Notice these verses very carefully because here, once and forever, it is unmistakably clear that salvation comes before baptism. Is there anyone in the world that would deny that the receiving of the Holy Spirit is simultaneous with salvation, or that would dare say a lost person could receive the Spirit? Yet, here are some people who "have received the Holy Spirit as well as we", and are baptized later!
(b). Why was Jesus Baptized? He needed neither repentence nor salvation?
(c). The Thief on the Cross was saved, but NEVER BAPTIZED. Luke 23:39-43. "Oh but baptism did not become necessary until the resurrection", someone might cry. Well, if that is so, then why did Jesus have every one of His converts before His crucifixion baptized? John 4:1-2.
Another thing, this view would mean that God's plan of salvation had changed, since baptism was unknown in Old Testament days. But the Bible declares that God is unchanging. James 1:17. "who does not change like shifting shadows"! Read the great roll of faith in Hebrews 11, Verse 39 sums up by saying, "and these all, having obtained a good report Through Faith…" Faith was, is, and always will be God's one condition of salvation.
(d). Jesus never baptized Anyone. John 4:1-2.
Surely, if baptism were necessary, Jesus would have administered it Himself.
(e). The Bible literally says that Baptism has nothing to do with Salvation!
In 1Peter 3:20-21, we are told that saving of the physical lives of Noah and his family was a picture of Jesus saving us, and that baptism is a similar picture, or figure. "God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you-not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ".
God knew that the Devil would raise the unholy doctrine of salvation by baptism, so He made sure that anyone could plainly see that baptism was only a figure, and that it pictured our salvation but had nothing to do with it! I am so glad that God looked into the future and saw things that would happen and, before they happened, wrote us about them so we would know the truth.
(f). There are hundreds of Scriptures that tell how to be saved and never mention Baptism.
Do you believe that John 3:16 tells a person how to be saved? How about John 1:12, 5:24, 6:40, 11:25-26, 20:31, Acts 16:31, Rom. 10:9-10, Rev. 3:20, etc.? Search these Scriptures and see if you can find any mention of Baptism. Yet, everyone of them is able to stand alone to tell men all that is necessary to be saved.
(g). "Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith". Heb. 12:2.
If baptism were necessary for salvation that would mean we could be saved only if another man agreed to baptize us. Think very carefully and seriously about this for a moment. Do you think that a priest or a preacher is able to forgive you of your sins? Of course not! Having to depend on another to baptize us before we can be saved is just as terrible a heresy and very similar to believing that someone else besides God forgives sins.
The Bible plainly says that God alone bestows salvation. Acts 4:12 and 1 Tim. 2:5 tell us that Jesus is the only mediator between us and God. Heb. 12:2 tells us that Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our Faith. The doctrine of salvation by baptism says that someone besides God takes part in the bestowing of salvation. Do you see why this is such an awful heresy?
Think about these questions for a moment. What about the loved one that believed in Jesus and was never able to rise from his sick bed to be baptized? Is salvation only for those who are healthy?
What about the soldier far up on the smoking front lines of the battlefield who receives Jesus as his Saviour? There is no other Christian near him. He is killed before he can be baptized.
Does God refuse to save soldiers?
What about the one who is saved Thursday night in her home? Rejoicing in her salvation, perhaps she even leads all her family, or a friend to the Lord. Before the Sunday service a heart attack takes her life. Does God only save on Sundays, or when we decide to have baptismal services?
What about the one who is saved on Sunday but the baptismal pool is being repaired? Bt the time it is finished, he has gone on to eternity. Does God depend upon our baptismal pools to work right before He will save?
On and on we could go to list hundreds of examples such as these. What is more, these very examples that we have mentioned have occurred thousands and thousands of times. These very things occur every single week all around us.
How many know of loved ones who have died on the battlefields? How often have you prayed for their souls? How many have loved ones that were saved on their sick beds and died without being baptized. Are you not glad with all your heart that God said "Him that comes to me I will never drive away". John 6:37.
Aren't you glad that He did not add, "unless they are not able to be baptized?" Is it not something to rejoice about that He said, "behold now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation," and did not add to that, "if there is someone around who can baptize you and if there is water where you can be baptized?"
Acts 16:30-31. "SIRS, WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?" They Answered, "BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND YOU WLL BE SAVED".
