Igneous Quill

In the 1800s in the United States it was common among many churches to find a "prayer altar" where "sinners" could "pray their way through to salvation."  By the mid-1900s it had become even simpler, involving only a brief "sinners prayer," some version of which began to be included inside the covers of Bibles.  Earnest as these practices are, they do not reflect what we find in the teachings of the New Testament.

One time I was chatting with a friend whose church was contemplating going to "open membership."  This would mean that although the congregation would continue baptizing new members by immersion, it would permit people to transfer their membership in from non-immersing congregations without themselves being properly immersed.  In other words, life-long Methodists or Catholics who had been sprinkled as infants would be able to join the congregation without being baptized by immersion.  My friend supported this proposed change in membership requirements, citing to me Romans 10:8-10.

"But what does it say? 'The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart' (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved."

To my friend and many others, this passage seems crystal clear.  All that's required is faith and confession that Jesus is Lord.  It is never a good idea, however, to lift a single passage out of context and hang all of one's beliefs on it, especially about something so important as salvation.  Although the apostle Paul did write these words, two facts must be remembered:

1) The above passage was written to people who were already Christians.  This was a letter from the apostle Paul to a church in Rome.  It is not a letter written with non-Christians in mind as the primary recipients.

2) This passage was preceded by Romans 6:3-6.

"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin."

Paul had already established baptism as the point at which new life begins, well before ever getting around to his comments on confessing the Lordship of Jesus.

After I left the Roman Catholic Church I continued for around two years considering myself an "evangelical" and studying the Bible alone and in groups.  I really did study the Bible, which made it all the more shocking to me when my eyes were opened to what it says about baptism.  I remember flipping from passage to passage that I had used before to support my belief in "faith alone," only to discover that I'd missed where baptism and even repentance (the latter I'd always pretty much understood) were mentioned.  Galatians 3:25-26 was one of those passages I sought out for reassurance:

"But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith."

Had I stopped there I would have continued with my old belief.  I kept reading, though:

"As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Galatians 3:27)

It goes on and on.

In the British science fiction show "Doctor Who" there's a device called a "perception filter."  Essentially, it keeps people from noticing things that someone doesn't want to be seen.  For instance, a perception filter on a door in a home could keep a family from noticing a room in the house for years.  The only way to see it is, generally, to know you are looking for it.  Then you can force yourself to see that which you feel as though you don't want to see.  Sometimes I think it looks as though a perception filter has been put on baptism in the Bible, keeping people from seeing the full and very simple truth about this practice.

If you would like to learn more about baptism, why don't you seek out a Christian Church or Church of Christ that holds to what the Bible says about it?  You may already be a member, even for years, of another Christian denomination.  If you've never been baptized by immersion, you are truly missing something important for disciples of Jesus.

Church Locators:
 International Churches of Christ
 Christian Churches (USA only)
 Churches of Christ

After coming around only with great difficulty to accept the place of immersion baptism in becoming a disciple of Christ, imagine my surprise at finding I was still holding to a minority view regarding this act.

In the Roman Catholic Church I had been taught that baptism, by any mode, conveyed salvation. Although in adults faith was required in the form of assent to certain core doctrines, in children this really didn’t matter. This was one of the doctrines I specifically rejected in leaving that communion. My convictions were thoroughly evangelical.

What do evangelicals believe? In general they hold that salvation occurs when someone trusts in Christ as Savior. Some call for a “sinner’s prayer” to be recited in one form or another, others say that even being able to believe is a gift of God’s grace that precedes faith. By far the majority agree that whatever else, baptism has nothing to do directly with salvation. As the Baptists have put it, paraphrasing Zwingli, “baptism is an outward sign of inward grace.” In other words, baptism shows that we are already saved, not that our salvation is beginning at that moment.

While in Bible college a friend of mine read a book by Billy Graham on the Holy Spirit. In it, Rev. Graham explained that the baptism with the Holy Spirit took place at the moment of saving faith. As a person accepts Christ, in Graham’s view, he or she is baptized with the Holy Spirit. Later this person may or may not be baptized in water, but this plays no role in salvation.

The Assembly of God denomination has traditionally taken a different view of baptism. While they agree that salvation is by “faith alone,” they then require baptism in water for church membership. Baptism in the Spirit is something that happens after salvation, separate from that event, which is evidenced by speaking in tongues.

Through my personal study while attending Central Christian College of the Bible I came to understand that baptism in water is necessary to become a disciple. This is the moment in the believer’s life when sins are remitted and the gift of the Holy Spirit is given.

"Peter said to them, 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." – Acts 2:38

At Harding University, an a cappella Church of Christ school, I fully expected to be at variance with the disciples there in regards to a few matters, not least of which instruments in worship. For the most part I kept quiet, though, studying out any explanations that didn’t fit what I already believed. So, as I already mentioned, it more than surprising to learn that I didn’t agree with what was being taught about baptism in water and the Spirit.

The professor, who will remain nameless, lectured one day about how the baptism in the Spirit happened on the day of Pentecost and never again. He held this perspective against the – as he put it – majority view that held there were spirit baptisms first on the day of Pentecost, then at the home of Cornelius. Rather than two separate events, he argued that the second was a continuation of the first.

My head was spinning. It got worse. As I began to research the topic I found that the common belief within Christian Churches/Churches of Christ (instrumental) were little different. One way or the other, baptism in (or with) the Spirit was something strictly for the earliest days of the church, on two separate occasions.
 
Fortunately, I slowly began to learn that there were a few scholars and preachers in both the above-mentions branches of the Stone-Campbell Movement who held to a view similar to my own. One of these is Jack Cottrell. Whatever else we might disagree about, there is harmony where baptism is concerned. There is only one baptism, consisting of water and Spirit. There are not two baptisms, one of which is defunct.

"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all." – Ephesians 4:4-6

Off an on over the following weeks I studied the topic further, trying to examine all viewpoints. In the end I concluded that I had been right all along. It’s just as well that the topic came up, or else I may never have examined the Scriptures more deeply on the topic and gotten blind-sided later.

What follows are a few key passages that touch on the topic. Explaining what happens at baptism was not the main point of any of these verses, but they do tell us what the accepted, apostolic teaching was on the topic.

"Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." – 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

To me, this couldn’t be clearer. When one trusts in Jesus and confesses him as Lord, resolving with the help of God to turn away from sin, forgiveness is bestowed and a new life is given. This happens through the working of the Holy Spirit. On the outside a ceremonial washing takes place, while inwardly the Spirit of God is making all things new. Since “baptism” is nowhere specifically mentioned, it can be argued that the “washing” is indeed baptism and the rest a simple description of what the Spirit does, without calling it “baptism with the Spirit.”

"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit." – 1 Corinthians 12:12-13

In the above verses a description is given of becoming part of the “one body,”which is the church. Once again, baptism is connected to salvation (becoming part of the church) and the entire event is the work of the Spirit. It was “in the one Spirit” that “all were baptized into one body.” One interracial, international family, created and bound together by the Spirit.

In summary, Christian baptism is the moment at which the finished work of Christ is applied fully to the believer. Sins are forgiven and the Holy Spirit takes up residence in the heart and life of the new disciple of Jesus. There is now only one baptism, one in water and Spirit, a symbolic outward washing and a simultaneous new creation behind the scenes.

There will be objections to what I’ve said. Some will point to Pentecost and Cornelius (I may deal with these separately). Others will says I’ve just got it wrong. Evangelical friends will surely be gritting their teeth and wondering how I could have missed grace so completely (I haven’t, I just see it happening in a different sequence from what you believe to be true). Nothing I’ve written here is meant to imply that anyone’s baptism is lacking. So far as I can see in the New Testament, the requirements for baptism to be effective are faith in the Lord Jesus, a turning from sin and the correct mode (immersion). That’s it. It’s highly unlikely you fully understood every aspect of what was happening when you were baptized, if you were baptized. You may have thought you were already saved or else not understood that you’d be receiving the Holy Spirit (let alone that this was the baptism with the Spirit given by Jesus). However apostate this may make me in the eyes of some, I’m satisfied that this understanding as a whole is thoroughly orthodox.

"But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." – Titus 3:4-7

In the event that anyone reading this has not yet been baptized by immersion for the remission of sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, I encourage you to seek out a church that can help you find out more and start a new life in Christ.

Church Locators:
 International Churches of Christ
 Christian Churches (USA only)
 Churches of Christ