I
believe that baptism is essential for salvation. Without being baptized, how can one have
their sins washed away? The water in
baptism symbolizes the blood of Christ washing away our sins. Without our sins being washed away we are
spiritually dead because sin separates us from God. In baptism we are united to Christ and are
raised with him to walk in newness of life and receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit.
I agree that baptism is essential for
salvation, but what I need you to explain to me is which baptism are you
talking about? In the bible there are at
least 12 different baptisms. I believe
that you are speaking about water baptism.
I am familiar with the Church of Christ.
Some of my brothers in Christ have come from a Church of Christ background;
I know much about it. I am originally
from Chicago, IL where Jeremiah Wright is a Church of Christ preacher. I had attended his assembly when I was
growing up. I know exactly what the
doctrine of the Church of Christ is—particularly the issue of water baptism for
salvation.
I will challenge you, as I have challenged
others in the past including brothers who have come out of the Church of
Christ, in the issue of whether or not water baptism is essential for
salvation.
What I want to show you first and foremost is
that every time the word ‘baptism’ is used in the bible, it is not referring to
water.
Matthew 3:11
I [John
the Baptist] indeed baptize
you [the nation of Israel] with water
unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I
am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with
fire:
In that one verse there are three different
baptisms. There is the baptism with
water; the baptism with the Holy Ghost; and the baptism with fire.
John baptizes Israel with water. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who will
baptize Israel with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
When someone says ‘baptism,’ I know they mean
water. But understand that in the bible
baptism is more than just water.
1 Corinthians 15:29
Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the
dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?
Here is another example. The Lord Jesus speaks
about this issue of baptism for the dead in the Gospels.
Mark 10:38
But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the
cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized
with?
He is speaking of his death. We see that every time the bible uses the
word ‘baptism’ it does not automatically mean water. Why is that important? Because there are verses that are wrongly
interpreted as water baptism.
We must rightly divide truth from truth. That is why you are confused about baptism.
2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
We will look at what our apostle Paul has to
say about baptism today in the dispensation of grace. Paul is Christ’s chosen vessel:
Acts 9:15
But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel
unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the
children of Israel:
Paul is
the apostle to the gentiles:
Romans 11:13
For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the
Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
Paul is
the apostle of grace; we live in the age of grace.
Ephesians 3:1-5
For this
cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me
to you-ward: How
that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore
in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand
my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in
other ages [but now we live in the age of grace that
began with Paul (1 Tim.
1:15-16)] was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his
holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
So the
information given to the Apostle Paul in his 13 books, Romans through Philemon,
was previously not known. Paul is the
apostle, the sent one, of Jesus Christ to the gentiles, to the body of Christ.
We have
seen that there are three different baptisms in just one verse (Matt. 3:11), but Paul the apostle of
grace says that now there is only one baptism.
Ephesians 4:4-5
There is one body [the body of Christ], and
one Spirit [the Spirit of God], even as ye are called in one hope of your calling [the heavenly
places]; One Lord [the Lord Jesus Christ], one faith [the information given to Paul – one doctrine], one baptism,
What is that one baptism? The Church of Christ
believes that one baptism is
water. But we know from scripture that
there are as many as 12 types of baptism.
We know from Ephesians 4:5 that there is only one type of baptism for
the church the body of Christ, so what is it?
Is it water?
If baptism is a part of salvation for the
grace believer, why would Paul say this:
1 Corinthians 1:17
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not
with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
Paul says that Christ sent him “not to baptize.” Paul is the only apostle who can say
that. Peter, James, John and the rest of
the 12 apostles to Israel were sent
out to baptize.
Matthew 28:19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mark 16:15-16
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel
to every creature. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Even as
late as Acts 2, Peter tells Israel to repent and be baptized in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.
Acts 2:38
Then Peter said unto them, 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.
So water baptism was a part of Israel’s
program and it was a part of the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom. But as you know, the gospel of that earthly kingdom of Christ on the earth has nothing to do with Paul’s gospel. We can see that when we rightly divide the
word of truth.
Acts 20:24
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto
myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I
have received of the Lord Jesus [he received it in Acts 9], to testify the gospel of the
grace of God.
Paul’s gospel in this dispensation of grace is
called the gospel of the grace of God.
That is not the same as the Gospel of the kingdom. You have to rightly divide the word. Paul’s gospel has nothing to do with water
baptism. That is why Paul is the only
apostle who can say that Christ sent him not to baptize. Peter couldn’t say that. When Peter went out to preach the gospel of
the kingdom, water baptism was a part of it (Acts 2:38).
Even as late as Acts 10 when Peter spoke to
Cornelius he says:
Acts 10:47
Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized,
which have received the Holy Ghost [past tense] as well as we?
Peter’s gospel of the kingdom included water; but that is not what God is doing today
with gentiles.
Romans 11:13
For I [Paul] speak to you Gentiles,
inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
So you
need to rightly divide the word of truth.
We saw in 1 Cor. 1:17 that Christ sent Paul “not to baptize,” but to
preach the gospel. No other apostle
could say that Christ sent him to preach the gospel, but not baptize.
If
water baptism, as you think it is, is the one baptism, what about 1
Corinthians 12? When Paul says that
Christ sent him not to baptize, he is talking about water baptism.
1 Corinthians 12:13
For by one Spirit are we [believers today in the dispensation of
grace] all baptized into
one body, whether
we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to
drink into one Spirit.
Notice
that this is not something man does; it is something God does. This baptism is by the Spirit of God. It is not even the baptism John spoke about
in Matthew
3:11. John said that the Messiah
would baptize Israel. The baptism in 1
Cor. 12:13 is not done by the Messiah, rather the Spirit of God performs a spiritual baptism. Water is not the issue today.
If you
believe that the one baptism of Ephesians 4:5 is water, what do you do with
this verse which says for by one Spirit are we all baptized
into one body? That is not something man does; but rather something
the Spirit of God accomplishes.
So I agree
with you; I believe that baptism is essential for salvation. But where I disagree with you and the Church
of Christ is that the one baptism is not water; it is the Spirit.
You
asked how someone can have their sins washed away without water baptism. You wrote, “The
water in baptism symbolizes the blood of Christ washing away our sins.” Well, that is not true. It did do that for the nation of Israel
before the cross when the water baptism that God required for Israel symbolized
the blood of Christ washing away their sins; but water does not wash away our
sins today. Let me show you what does wash away our sins. It is not water that only symbolized the
blood; it is the actual blood that was shed at Calvary.
When you rightly divide the word, and more
importantly when you get into Paul’s epistles where believers in the
dispensation of grace need to be, you will see these things. What Israel possessed symbolically with water, we in the body of Christ have in truth as
a present possession.
You wrote that water symbolizes the blood of
Christ, but let’s look at what Paul says in Titus.
Titus 3:5-7
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his
mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of
the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ
our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal life.
Notice that it is according to the washing of
regeneration. What is that?
Colossians 1:14
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the
forgiveness of sins:
So in
time past before the cross, before the Lord Jesus Christ shed his blood, Israel
had water baptism. They had to be washed;
but now according to the Apostle Paul, you and I don’t need a symbol of the blood of Christ washing
away our sins; we actually have the shed blood.
Ephesians 1:7
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Notice
that his grace is his blood shed on our behalf.
We don’t need a water baptism ceremony because now we have the blood of
Christ.
Romans 3:25
[Christ] Whom God hath set forth to be a
propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
What we
see is that now we have what water baptism once symbolized (the blood of Christ)
because he shed his blood on the cross.
That is Paul’s message. Go back
with me to 1 Corinthians 1and it will begin to make sense to you that Christ
did not send Paul to baptize.
1 Corinthians 1:17-18
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel
[What
Gospel? The cross]: not with wisdom of words,
lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
Now we
don’t have to preach water baptism; we preach the cross of Christ.
…For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;
Those
who perish, those who are lost, think that the cross by itself is foolishness;
they think they need to add something to it.
…but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
We are
saved by the cross of Christ and nothing else.
That one baptism of Ephesians 4:5 is not water; but it is a
spiritual baptism that water once only symbolized – our death, burial and
resurrection with Christ (our identification with Christ). But
now the Spirit of God identifies us with the death, burial and resurrection of
Christ without water.
I
believe that baptism is essential for salvation – Spirit baptism; but if water
baptism is essential for salvation, then how did Cornelius and his house get
saved before they were water baptized?
There is a dear brother in the Lord who came from the Church of Christ
who was convinced by this verse.
Acts 10:44-47
While Peter yet spake these words [about Jesus Christ and his death, burial and
resurrection], the Holy
Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
So the Spirit of God fell on
all those gentiles.
And they of the circumcision [the Jews with Peter] which believed were astonished, as many as came with
Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy
Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered
Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have
received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
(Now
mind you, these gentiles received the Holy Ghost before they were baptized; but Peter said this to the Jews in Acts 2:38. They
were supposed to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost after they were water baptized; so why did these gentiles in Acts
10 receive the Holy Ghost before they
were water baptized? According to your
doctrine, it only happens afterwards.)
What I
want you to see is that this is the first time in the water baptism program of
the earthly ministry of Christ that anyone received the Spirit of God before they were baptized. This event in Acts 10 is after Paul’s
salvation in Acts 9 when God changed the program. For the first time in human history someone
received the Holy Ghost (gentiles, no less) before being water baptized. I am showing you that water baptism was not a
requirement after Paul. These gentiles
received the Spirit of God before they were water baptized. Peter didn’t know that water baptism was no
longer required and that is why he still water baptized them; but notice that
he did it after they were saved and not before.
Today
in the dispensation of grace we don’t need water baptism – a ritual performed
by man. What men needed to do in Israel as a symbol of the blood of Christ before
his death on the cross, we now have
through the Spirit of God and the preaching of the blood of Christ on the cross—Paul’s
gospel of grace.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I
preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which
also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye
have believed in vain. For I delivered
unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for
our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose
again the third day according to the scriptures:
Acts 20:24
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto
myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I
have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Hopefully this
helps!
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Do you have a question for Pastor Ron?
This was really in-depth and very well put together concerning baptism. I am going to definitely post on facebook.
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