-
John’s Baptism, also called baptism of repentance.[viii]
-
Baptism of the Holy Spirit.[ix]
-
Christian Baptism.[x]
-
The affliction in which the Lord voluntarily submitted for our
sake.[xi]
-
The sufferings of Jesus’ followers in fellowship with the
sufferings of the Master.[xii]
(Please
see Ps. 51:7-10; Is. 44:3; Jer. 4:14; Ez. 36:25; Jn. 4:10; and 7:38,39 to
understand how the expressions water,
washing, cleansing and purifying are used in the Old and New
Testaments.)
Here are the most common verses that supposed to teach that water
baptism saves: John 3:5, 6; Mark 16:16, 17; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Pe. 3:21;
Gal. 3:26,27; and Rom. 6:3,4. Here, we shall deal with each of them.
How
John 3:5 May Be Used to Teach That Baptism Saves. If
one would quote John 3:5 in this manner:
Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of
God unless he is born of water and
the Spirit,” and one then emphasizes that the phrase “born of
water” means water baptism and also points out scripture after scripture
that “supposed” to teach that baptism saves, now we have John 3:5,6
introduced in a shadowy meaning. Is being born again experienced literally
through the water and the Holy Spirit? Is this new birth received through
water baptism? Did Jesus taught that one must be baptized in water to
enter the kingdom of God?
Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the
kingdom of God unless he is born of
water and the Spirit.
Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to
spirit.” John 3:5,6
The
term water in verse 5 can be
interpreted in at least four ways: (1) John’s
baptism (v.1:31); (2) the
baptism of Jesus and His disciples (vv. 1:22; 4:1-2); (3) as
the Holy Spirit, see John 7:37b-39: “If
anyone is thirsty, let him come to me [Jesus] and drink. Whoever believes in me [Jesus], as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from
him.” By this he [Jesus] meant the [Holy] Spirit, whom those who
believed him were later to receive...”; and (4) as
symbolic of purification. Among these four, the last interpretation by
far is the most convincing because there is no other supporting reference
in the Scripture where the phrase “born of water” meant “water
baptism.” On the other hand, there are instances where the term water is
used because of its purifying (or cleansing qualities), for example, Titus
3:5b says, “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by
the Holy Spirit,” and in Ephesians 5:25,26, “Christ loved the church
and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing
with water through the WORD,”[xiii]
and in 1 Peter 1:23, “For you have been born again, not of perishable
seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring WORD OF GOD.”
Therefore we could accurately say that the phrase “born of water”
symbolically means “a thorough spiritual purification by the Holy Spirit
through the Word of God.” If this interpretation is correct, Christians
are born again through the Word of God! Oliver Green gave us an example in
the New Testament,
If
you will study the tenth and the eleventh chapter of Acts you will find
that the house
[literally, household or family] of Cornelius was born of water and
the Spirit--but the water was the WORD. God told Cornelius to send to
Joppa for Simon Peter, who would tell him WORDS whereby he and all his
house could be saved (Acts 11:14). When Peter arrived at the house of
Cornelius he spoke “words”--the Word of God, “the Word which God
sent to all the children of Israel preaching peace by Jesus Christ (He is
Lord of All)”
Acts 10:36.
“While
Peter yet spake these WORDS, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard
the WORD” (Acts 10:44).[xiv]
Although
the phrase “born of water” may have meant water baptism, we can
not be so sure. What is clear is that, if we take the whole context of the
conversation of Jesus and Nicodemus, Jesus teaches “Salvation by faith.
. . alone!” See verses 15 through 18:
that
everyone who BELIEVES in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the
world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever BELIEVES in Him
shall not perish but have eternal life. Whoever BELIEVES in Him is not
condemned, but whoever DOES NOT BELIEVE stands condemned already because
he has NOT BELIEVED in the name of God’s one and only Son.
However,
we must be careful in describing and in using the verb believe; the demons also believe in God (in fact they even shudder)
but they will certainly have no eternal life (Jas. 2:19). Simon the
sorcerer believed and was baptized (Ac. 8:13) but he has a heart that was
not right and unrepentant before God (Ac. 8:21-22). How do we know one
truly believes? True Believers
are those who are repentant of their old unrighteous lives and now confess
Jesus as Lord and now act in obedience to their Master.
If such is the case, we can be sure that: ONLY the Holy Spirit,
initiates the born again experience; and it is the Holy Spirit who
quickens any man who was dead in transgressions and He does it through the
Word of God, not through water--the literal water. Only “the
[Holy] Spirit gives birth to [man’s] spirit (v. 5b).”
How
Mark 16:16 May Be Used to Teach That Baptism Saves. Quoting
Mark 16:16 in the manner: “Whoever
believes and is baptized will be saved...” we can have a teaching
that believing without baptism will not be able to save, thus baptism is a
must for the salvation of every soul.
16a
Whoever
believes and is baptized will be saved
16b but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe.
Mark 16:16,17
To
fully comprehend the preceding verses, we need to rightfully dissect the
Word, apply the most
basic rule on logic through this statement: “If
I am SAVED, I am NOT condemned, If I am NOT saved, I am CONDEMNED”
(for example, black or white, if it is not black it must be white ) and
answer these questions:
-
If I believe and I am
baptized will I be condemned? No (logically based from v. 16a, “if I
am saved I am not condemned”).
Will
I be saved? Yes (emphatically!).
Will
I receive the “signs” Yes (logically).
-
If I believe and I am NOT
baptized will I be condemned? No (because “I believe” and
according to v. 16b, only those who do not believe will be condemned). Will
I be saved? Yes (logically it follows that “If
I am not condemned I am saved”). Will
I receive the signs? Yes
(certainly, since from v.17, “and these signs will accompany those who
believe”).
After
dissecting the Word of God we can rightfully conclude that since, it does
not say that “he who was not baptized will be condemned,”
it is absolutely clear that what saves a person is living faith in Jesus
Christ which may be followed by baptism. ... We never find the expression
in the N.T. that he who was not baptized will perish. It is constantly
that he who did not believe will not only be condemned, but is already
condemned (John 3:18).[xv]
When the Philippian Jailer asked Paul and Silas, “What must I do
to be saved?” (Ac. 16:29). They replied, “BELIEVE in the Lord Jesus,
and you will be SAVED--you and your household” (v.31). And only after
receiving the Word of God the jailer and his family were baptized in
water. Belief in the Lordship of Jesus precedes baptism. Belief in who
Jesus is and what Jesus did and still do will merit salvation. Thus, Mark
16:16,17, when understood, reinforces the Bible’s teaching in
“Salvation by faith. . . alone!” Therefore, Mk. 16:16 cannot be used
to teach that baptism is necessary for salvation, though it is necessary
for obedience.
How
Acts 2:38 May Be Used to Teach That Baptism Saves. The
preposition for in this text has
eis in the original Greek Bible
manuscripts as an equivalent. The Greek preposition eis, like the English preposition
for has several meanings.
Two of which are the causative (“in order to attain”) and as a
resultant (“because of ”)[xvi].
If one would take the causative meaning of
for,
we need to interpret Acts 2:38 as, Repent and be baptized, everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ in
order to attain the forgiveness of sins. Now we have a teaching
that through baptism sinners are forgiven.
Peter
replied, “Repent and be baptized,
everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ FOR the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38
Another
usage of the preposition for is
resultant, “because of.” For example, if one would say, “I enlist for the love of my
country,” it does not mean, “I enlist in
order to love my country.” Instead it should mean, “I enlist because
of my love to my country.” If this is the usage Peter used
regarding the preposition eis, Acts 2:38 would therefore mean, “Repent and be baptized... because
of the
forgiveness of your sins.” That is, one should be baptized because
one already has forgiveness of one’s sins. Because of the
preposition for, we cannot use
this text to teach we receive forgiveness through water baptism.[xvii]
We need to carefully examine the phrase “Repent and be
baptized... for the forgiveness of your sins,”--in niv.
(This phrase, is translated as “Repent, and let each of
you be baptized... for the forgiveness of your sins” in nasb).
It could mean: Repent in
order to attain forgiveness of sins and then be baptized. If this
interpretation is true, then Acts 2:38 does not teach that water baptism
grants forgiveness but repentance
does. And if
this translation will be accepted, then repentance (like believing,
as mentioned earlier) always precedes water baptism. Therefore we receive
forgiveness through repentance not through water baptism, and water
baptism then only follows forgiveness. We have no difficulties regarding
this interpretation because we have the following supporting verses:
-
“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation”--2 Cor.
7:10.
-
“Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name
to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”--Lk. 24:47.
-
“Therefore this is what the Lord
says, ‘If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve
me...”--Jer. 15:19.
-
“If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive
him.”--Lk. 17:3,4.
The
preceding texts testify that forgiveness is granted after repentance. No
wonder we have John “preaching a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins.” (Mk. 1:4). Repentance was John’s message while
forgiveness of sins through repentance was symbolized by water baptism.
How
Acts 22:16 May Be Used to Teach That Baptism Saves.
If we emphasize the phrase: “Get up, be baptized and wash your sins
away...” from the whole verse we would be having a teaching that water
baptism washes sins away. Is this what the Scripture really teaching? How
could water wash sins if water, which is physical, could only touch
man’s flesh and not his spirit, that is intangible? If water can wash
away sins, why did apostle Paul said in 1 Cor. 1:17, “Christ did not
send me to baptize...” while in Mat. 28:19, Lord Jesus said, “go and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...”? These are some of the
questions surrounding the interpretation that “water baptism literally
washes sins away.”
And
now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away,
calling on his name. Acts 22:16
We
can be sure, however,
that Acts 22:16 has two commands: “[1] Get up, be baptized and
[2] wash your sins away, calling on His name.”
“Get up, be baptized...”
Water Baptism was never a suggestion
that is to be taken lightly by new Christians--it has been and always be a
command (remember that Christ
commanded that people be baptized Mt. 28:19; but even before His
glorification the Lord approved of His disciples baptizing (Jn. 3:22;
4:1-22). I remember one testimony of a sister on how it took her two
years, after believing, before she was water baptized. It took her two
years of reading the Word of God. For two years the Holy Spirit convicted
her to obey. It took her two, long years of struggle. In the New
Testament, conversion, or born-again experience, and baptism are almost
always simultaneous, there were never a condition set by the disciples
before allowing new Christians to undergo water baptism except repentance
(turning away from sins and turning to God) and believing in the life,
death, and resurrection of Lord Jesus. I can’t think of any reason why a
new believer should refuse to undergo baptism if he considers Jesus as
Savior and Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ himself who had nothing to repent
was baptized (Mt. 3:16, see also 1 Pe. 2:21). And the early church gave an
important place to baptism (Ac. 2:38, 41; 8:12-13, 36,38). If one truly
believes Jesus as Lord, and confesses it, he should obey what his Master
says. Baptism is a command and therefore must
be obeyed.
“Wash your sins away,
calling on His name.”
Water cannot wash away sins because water
cannot touch the heart and soul of a man that breathes murderous threats
against the Lord’s disciples (Ac. 9:1) and it cannot change the life of
a church destroyer and persecutor (Ac. 8:3). But, how can calling on the
name of the Lord washes sins away?
1 Corinthians 6:11b has the answer: “But you were washed, you
were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and by the Spirit of God.” and Romans 10:13 says, “for ‘Everyone who
calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ ” Besides, there were
never an account that in the Scriptures that says water baptism literally
washes away sins. It is the blood of Jesus that wash away sins according
to the Scriptures--“the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from All
sins” (1 Jn. 1:7, nasb)--not
water baptism.
Repent,
then and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of
refreshing may come from the Lord.
Acts 3:19a
How
1 Peter 3:21 May Be Used to Teach That Baptism Saves. Is
it proper to quote 1 Peter 3:21 as “baptism that now saves you” and
teach that baptism saves?
and
this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also--not the removal of
dirt from the body but the pledge of good conscience toward God. It saves
you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1
Peter 3:21
Let
us study the context of 1 Peter 3. Verse 3:18a says, “For
Christ died for sins ONCE FOR ALL.” Likewise in Heb. 7:27, “Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices
day after day, for
his own sins, and
then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins ONCE
FOR ALL when he offered himself.” And in Rom. 6:10, “the
death he died, he died to sins ONCE FOR ALL; but the life he lives, he
lives to God.”
If water baptism is able to save--if we can come in contact with
the blood of Jesus at baptism,[xviii]
then, whenever a new believer is baptized the Lord have to share His
blood. That cannot be! He died to sins ONCE FOR ALL. He sacrificed ONCE
FOR ALL. What does Peter mean in 1 Pe. 3:21? He gave us the answer on the
same verse.
“water
symbolizes baptism that now saves. ...It
saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
It
WAS that resurrection 2,000 years ago that SAVED (and SAVES) us. The water
baptism that we underwent identified us with the Person and the Works of
the Redeemer. It is what baptism represents, not water baptism itself. It
is what water baptism represents--life, death, burial and resurrection of
the Lord Jesus.
The Life of Jesus.
Our
identification with Lord Jesus conforms us with who He IS and how He
LIVED. No one can call himself a Christian and still live according to his
old lifestyle. A new believer, once born-again chose to walk through
God’s narrow gate of righteous lifestyle. Our identification with
God’s only Son gave us the full privilege of being co-heirs with Him. We
were adopted as sons of God, because of who Jesus is and what He did.
You
are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,
for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves
with Christ. Galatians 3:26,27.
Galatians
3:26,27
points out that it is through faith in Christ Jesus that we are
called sons of God. So how can anyone claim that water baptism saves us
through faith? Water baptism is an act of faith while faith is faith.
The Death of Jesus.
Romans 6:23 speaks of the wages of sin which is death. The Christ who had
no sins was put to death on the cross and took our place, because of His
role as redeemer, he took our place. Acts 2:38, as we previously
discussed, speaks of repentance that is a prerequisite of baptism.
Coincidentally, it IS repentance that put us to death from sin, as
sanctification is a life long process. On the otherhand, it WAS faith that
made us alive in Christ Jesus. Repentance speaks of a 180-degree turn from
life of sin to life of righteousness. It is a 180-degree turn from
darkness into light.
The Burial of Christ.
Or
don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into his death?
4
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in
order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of
the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans
6:3,4.
Our
submersion in water identifies us with the burial of Christ. “Burial
is the final event which proves to a certainty the fact of death.”[xix]
For centuries, skeptics tried in vain to prove that Jesus never rose
from the dead. One of the theories concocted was that Christ never died at
all--He just fainted. (This was coined as the “Swoon Theory.”)
However, the burial rite alone which Christ underwent may be sufficient to
disprove the Swoon theory.
The Resurrection of Christ.
In
1 Peter 3:21 it is the resurrection of Christ Jesus that the apostle Peter
points out able to save us and not baptism. In this verse baptism is used
as a “symbol” or “antitype.”
“water
symbolizes baptism that now saves. ...It
saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
How
Colossians 2:12 May Be Used to Teach That Baptism Saves.
Indeed, How can we use Colossians 2:12 to teach that baptism saves? How
can we claim that “Colossians 2:12 teaches we are saved by faith, in the
working of God at baptism”?[xx]
having
been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in
the power of God, who raised him from the dead. Colossians
2:12.
When
the verse simply pointed out that “we are raised with Him through your
faith in the power of God”?
CONCLUSIONS.
Baptism
is the processes of immersion,
submersion and emergence. Baptism is also defined as an act of association
or identification with someone, some group, some message, or some event.
The word baptism in the Bible were used in reference to the following: (1)
John’s Baptism, which is also called baptism of repentance; (2) Baptism
of the Holy Spirit; (3) Christian Baptism; (4) the affliction in which the
Lord voluntarily submitted for our sake; and, (5) the sufferings of
Jesus’ followers in fellowship with the sufferings of the Master.
We cannot use John 3:5 to teach that we are born again by water
baptism because the Bible does not say so. As it has been pointed out
earlier, the Bible teaches that we are born again by the Holy Spirit of
God through the Word. (John 3:5 cf.
Ti. 3:5; Eph. 5:25,26, and 1 Pe. 1:23) Water baptism was never mentioned
as one that gives birth to spirit.
We cannot use Mark 16:16 to teach that water baptism saves because
this is not taught by the Bible. What the Bible teaches is that, it is
“whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” with the emphasis on
belief as it continued to say that
“whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
We cannot use Acts 2:38 to teach that through baptism we are
forgiven by God. It is because of the preposition for.
What the Bible teaches is that we should be baptized because we are
already forgiven--through repentance. Besides, the Bible never mentioned
that we are forgiven through baptism. God forgives those who repent (Jer.
15:19; Lk. 17; 3,4; 24:47; 2 Cor. 7:10) and turn away from their sins.
We cannot use Acts 22:16 to teach that water baptism can wash our
sins away because water cannot touch the heart and soul of a sinful man.
It is by calling on the name of the Lord and His blood that can wash our
sins away (1 Cor. 6:11; and 1 Jn. 1:7). Only the Spirit of Christ can
touch the heart and soul of a sinful man.
We cannot use 1 Peter 3:21 to teach that baptism saves because
Peter referred to baptism as a symbol of what actually saves us--the
resurrection of Christ Jesus.
Finally, Galatians 3:26,27 says that we are all sons of God through
faith not through baptism.
Colossians 2:12 says that we are raised with Him through
faith and not through baptism.
We must understand that faith is faith, while water baptism is just
an act of faith as worship, prayer, reading the Bible,
and evangelism are acts of faith. By these we demonstrate our
faith. What we do cannot save us. It is by grace that we have been saved
through faith, and not by works, or by act of faith, so that
no one can boast:
“For
it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works so that no one can boast.
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works
which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians
2:8,9
Discipleship
and salvation are two distinct stages. As disciples, we are commanded to
be baptized, and so we must be baptized. Baptism is not an empty ritual,
it identify us to our Savior. It identify us with His Life. It identify us
with His death and burial and it identify us with His resurrection.
Obedience is 100% not 99% or 98%. We
must submit and obey to the Lordship of Jesus Christ 100% or not at
all. However, what we do is not enough to be able to merit eternal life
(salvation). What we do demonstrates that we already have eternal life. We
cannot work for our eternal life, we simply receive it as a gift. What we
do next demonstrates that we believe that we already have eternal life.
Likewise,
we get baptized because we already have eternal life.
“And
if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no
longer be grace.” Romans
11:8
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