Baptism

by K.H. Riley, Wembley, England | Category: The Disciple Life | Feb 1990

Baptism and baptize are New Testament words which occur over 100 times. Without exception their derivation is from a Greek word meaning "to dip" or "to immerse".

It is unfortunate that the English translators preferred to anglicize the word into "baptize" rather than use the more common words, for therein lies the source of the many differences in the interpretation of Scripture and of practice. This made baptism into a sacrament which they felt should not be debased by using everyday words to describe it.

Three of the baptisms mentioned in the New Testament Scriptures are:

The baptism in the Holy Spirit:

the baptism of John; and

the baptism of the disciple.

In none of these baptisms is the Greek word for "sprinkling" or "pouring" used. Rhantismos, sprinkling, is found in Hebrews 12:24 and 1 Peter 1:2 and proschusis and ekcheo, pouring, are found in Hebrews 11:28; Acts 2:17,18 and Revelation 16. These have no relation to baptism which is the subject before us.

Sometimes baptism is used as an illustration and the picture in 1 Corinthians 10:1,2 is helpful:

Our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

The cloud covered them and the waters rose up on either side of them, thus they were "immersed". This was a once-for-all baptism of the children of Israel. Never again were they to return to Egypt. It signified that they were now dead to Egypt with all its miseries of hardship and labour and dead to all its pleasures and its good things such as they remembered when the way was hard in the wilderness. They had died to Egypt and they now looked to one man, Moses, as their leader. Keeping this picture in mind we can learn some lessons that the New Testament teaches about the baptism of the believer in the Spirit, and the disciple in water.

When John came to Israel preaching the baptism of repentance it was no makeshift message. It was the counsel of God for those days (Luke 7:30) and the Pharisees rejected it by not being baptized of John. The Lord upheld it (Mat. 21:25) and was subject to it (Mat. 3:15). That baptism was not John's idea is clear from John 1:3:

He that sent me to baptize with water... said unto me, upon whomsoever thou shalt see the Spirit descending ... the same is He that baptizeth in the Holy Spirit.

God revealed to him that the One he had baptized was "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world"; it was God who had sent him to baptize. His baptism was unto repentance, that is to bring to repentance. John also realized that his baptism was leading to something else in that he spoke of the One who would baptize in the Holy Spirit, whereas he could only baptize in water. This leads us naturally on to the consideration of baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:13 tells us that in the one Spirit we were all baptized into the one Body. No longer is it John or any of the Lord's disciples that baptize, but the Lord Jesus Himself, as John clearly foresaw. No longer is water the medium, but the Holy Spirit. The baptism is something that is unseen. It is not a matter of open evidence either to ourselves or others. We may be totally unaware of what has taken place spiritually at the time, but it is a once-for-all transaction. It signifies that we have died to sin in the sense that its penalty will never be exacted from us.

If any man is in Christ he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold they are become new (2 Cor. 5:17).

Never again will we need to be baptized in the Spirit, for we can never lose the salvation that we have been given from the Lord. We might lose the joy of it. but we never can lose eternal life itself. This is no sprinkling of the Spirit or any pouring on of the Spirit but a complete immersion in the Spirit. It has nothing to do with our spiritual health after salvation, but everything to do with our security in Christ. It is an act once-for-all done that will never need to be repeated: the Holy Spirit indwells us; we have received the earnest of the Spirit, have been sealed with the Spirit, and when the Lord comes to the air we will respond to His call whether we are alive or dead or even spiritually asleep.

It is clear from the Lord's words in Matthew 28:19,20 that He looked for further movement from His followers after their salvation. His command was:

Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the consummation of the age (RVM).

Scholars of the original language point out that the imperative verb in the sentence is "make disciples", that is, make those who are willing to follow. The preaching of the "simple gospel of repentance", as some describe it, is not alone envisaged here although it is comprehended in the command. Not only are sinners to be turned to the Saviour, but they are to be instructed on how to be followers. As the first step they are to be baptized and then taught all that the Lord commanded His disciples. That the disciples obeyed this instruction is seen from Acts 2:41, 42 when those who received the word were baptized, added to the church of God in Jerusalem, and then taught the doctrine of the Lord by the apostles. This baptism was to express openly that there had been a real break with the past just as the baptism of the children of Israel and the baptism in the Holy Spirit had been. This picture is further seen in Romans 6:4 where the apostle reminds the saints in Rome that they had been buried with Him through baptism into death and had been raised to walk in newness of life. This commandment is extant and will remain so until the Lord comes for His own. Death followed by burial naturally prevents our returning to our former way of life.

The formula given by the Lord Jesus was into the Name (singular) of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; three Persons, but one Name as accords with such scriptures as 2 Corinthians 13:14. Obedience to the One implies obedience to all Three, and although in Acts 8:16 and 19:5 we read of persons being "baptized into the Name of the Lord Jesus", this does not imply that this was a different baptism from Matthew 28, or that the words commanded by the Lord Jesus were not spoken at their baptism. It expresses the authority by which the baptism was carried out.

It is also clear from the New Testament that it was only those who were believers on the Lord Jesus who were baptized, that is, those who were capable of making a conscious decision to accept Him as Saviour. Nowhere in Scripture do we find any support for the practice of infant baptism or the sprinkling of infants who are not old enough to have accepted Christ for themselves. This practice came into being some 200 years after the apostles, and was condemned by many of the early fathers as unscriptural and therefore unacceptable. Sadly, their counsel was not accepted and human reasoning superseded the Word of God. As time progressed infant sprinkling was accepted more generally in Christendom and developed into the social ritual that we now see so frequently associated with such celebrations. It has no place in Scripture and should have no place in the life of the disciple and in his family.

Some have practised household baptism on the grounds that households were baptized in Scripture and reference is made to Acts 16:15, 33 and to the baptism of the house of Stephanas in 1 Corinthians 1:16. In the cases of Lydia and Stephanas there is no indication that anyone was baptized who was not a believer, and in the case of the jailer it is clear from verse 34 that it was those who were capable of listening to the Word and rejoicing in it who were baptized. There is no support for the baptism of infants in Scripture; human reasoning has been allowed to take precedence over the Word of God.

K.H. Riley, Wembley, England | Feb 1990
The Disciple Life