What About Baptism?
Bill Brown,
Lesson
Text: Acts
Lesson
Objective: To help us understand what the Bible definition of baptism is;
the prerequisites of baptism; the purpose of baptism; and authority involved in
baptism.
Introduction:
Down through history you will find that Baptists have been rejected,
persecuted, and even put to death concerning this subject. Many times it has
taken place at the hands of other "Christian" denominations.
Baptists, on the other hand, have always taught toleration of other opinions
and ideas, as well as theologies. While we may tolerate them we do not sanction
them as true. The Bible is our final rule of faith and practice. Whatever the
bible teaches on a subject is what we want to teach. There may be a hundred
opinions among men as to what constitutes proper baptism but there is only one
opinion that counts; God's opinion. Baptism has been a dividing line for many.
It should be, as we will see through our study of God's word. It is an important
study because we want to please God in all that we do. God has placed a pattern
before us to follow and to teach.
It
is interesting to note that Baptists are the only churches that, when teaching
on baptism, begin with John the Baptist. There is no difference between the
baptism administered by John and the baptism administered by our Lord and his
disciples. We will cover this subject in more detail when we come to the area
of baptism and authority. Every major denomination has a name that distinguishes
it from others and that name portrays an important emphasis of it's teachings.
Methodists were so named because of their strict adherence to methods, or
manners, of living. Presbyterians we so named because of their manner of rule
within their church structure. Baptists have been called by many names, but
because of their strict adherence and teaching on baptism and their claim to a
succession back to John the Baptist, they have been so named. Let's look first
at the proper subject for baptism.
The Proper Subject For Baptism
Who
can be or should be baptized? In Acts chapter two and verse forty-one and
forty-two we find it was those who "gladly received his word were
baptized;" What word was it they received? Who were these people who
received it? Our lesson text, along with many other passages of scripture,
gives us more insight into the proper or scriptural subjects for baptism and
the answers to those questions. Philip was a deacon of the early church in
This
is exactly what God commanded His church to do in the Great Commission. We can
find this commission in; 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
The Proper Design Of Baptism
The
proper design of baptism deals with the motive or that, which prompts, urges,
or causes one to be baptized. J.R. Graves wrote that: "Christian baptism
is a specific act to be administered by a specific body to persons professing
specific qualifications for the profession of specific truths." We have
just looked briefly at the "persons professing specific
qualifications." We now will consider the "profession of specific
truths." There are many denominations, which make baptism a sacrament.
They baptize in order to wash away sin; to unite one to Christ; to regenerate;
or to remit sins. Baptists believe no such thing. Baptists do not believe the
word of God teaches that baptism is a means of grace. We believe it has nothing
to do with the means of our salvation. It is, very simply put, a picture of the
gospel we have already believed. It is a picture of the death, burial and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. It signifies, or pictures that we have died with
Christ to our old life of sin and have been raised to walk in newness of life.
We do not believe the Bible teaches that the waters of baptism wash our sins
away. We believe that is done by the precious blood of the Lamb of God. Baptism
is our act of obedience to the command of God. In I Peter
Another
reason we should be baptized, and why people were baptized in the New
Testament, is to be added to a church. This is an additional design of baptism.
In the Bible you will find no one added to the church who was not saved or
unbaptized. Going back to Acts chapter two and verses forty-one and forty-two,
we can see the biblical order. They were saved, baptized, and then added to the
church. Afterwards we find teaching, fellowship, and then the Lord's supper.
This is God's order and should be followed.
The Proper Method Of Baptism
There
are many churches today who sprinkle or pour water upon the head for baptism.
Others simply dip their fingers into a glass of water or font and sprinkle it
or wipe it on the head. Baptists have always immersed or dipped the entire
individual into a pool, stream, river, or body of water. The actual word from
our English Bible, "baptize," is a transliterated word. That simply
means it is a Greek word that the translators Anglicized. The Greek word is
"baptizo." In every study of the Greek language all scholars admit
that "baptizo" means to dip, immerse, or sink into water. The reason
John the Baptist baptized at Aenon was because there was "much water
there." Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch went down into the water. Baptism
cannot be to sprinkle or pour. Look at Matthew 3:6 "And were baptized
of him in
Sprinkling
or pouring as a means of baptism came about because the design of baptism was
ruined some time in the third century. Some began to teach that baptism was
necessary to salvation. They began to teach it washed away sin. They began to
teach that since it was a ceremony (and not personal faith in the blood of
Christ) that washed away man's sins, then we should baptize infants to wash
away their sin. It further evolved because objections were raised concerning the
dipping, or immersing of babies into the water. Soon pouring became okay, then
sprinkling, until finally a little water on the finger, which was wiped upon a
child's head. Once error sets in there seems to be no limit to which it can
reach. Even today we have some heretical groups teaching that the living can be
baptized for the dead in order to help them gain entrance into God's presence.
We need to learn early on that God means what He says and says what He means.
Take God at His word, believe it and obey it.
The Proper Administrator Of Baptism
We
now come to the final area concerning the scriptural teaching about baptism.
God defines the proper subject, the proper design, the proper method, He also
defines the proper authority. When it came time for Christ to be baptized he
walked sixty miles to be baptized by the proper authority; John the Baptist. In
reading John 1:6 We find "There was a man sent from God, whose name was
John." The proper authority we will find within the New Testament,
after John the Baptist, will be the church the Lord Jesus Christ established
during His personal ministry on Earth. We will learn in a later lesson about
what makes a church. We will learn that a church is an assembly of called out,
baptized, believers. Christ called out and assembled baptized believers
immediately after His own baptism. He commissioned them to preach and to
baptize almost immediately. As He left for heaven after His resurrection He
gave the commission to preach the gospel, to teach, and to baptize to His
church. It is a true New Testament Baptist church that has the legal authority
to baptize. Since an entire church cannot physically baptize, the church
authorizes a representative to baptize on her behalf. The authority does not
rest in an individual, but in the local church.
We
seem to have no difficulty in understanding this when it comes to other
institutions and their authority. The government of the
Study Questions
1. When Baptists begin to teach about
baptism they usually begin with whom?
2. What is the first qualification of
some one who wishes to be baptized?
3. What did Philip ask the Ethiopian
Eunuch before he would baptize him?
4. Can you find one verse that teaches
or even implies an infant should be baptized?
5. Why should we be baptized?
6. Does baptism wash away our sins?
7. Can we be a member of a Baptist
church without being baptized?
8. What are some of the methods used by
churches today to baptize?
9. What is the only method we find in
the New Testament?
10.
What
Greek word means "to immerse or to dip?"
11.
What
made Aenon a good place to baptize? (See John 3:23)
12.
Do
you think it is okay to sprinkle for baptism?
13.
Who
baptized John the Baptist?
14.
Who
Baptized Jesus?
15.
Who
Baptized the Apostle Paul?
16.
Who
has the authority to baptize?
17.
Do
you think as long as you are sincere that God will accept any baptism?