|
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT
The ceremony of water baptism is performed by immersion for the forgiveness of sins upon true repentance and acceptance of Christ's sacrifice. After this ceremony, and as a result, one receives the baptism of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands. Baptism symbolizes the renunciation of the past sinful way of life, the burial of the old man in a watery grave, and the emergence of a new spirit-led man living with Christ's mind and following in His footsteps. DOCTRINAL OVERVIEWThe New Testament places great stress upon the ceremony and symbolism of water baptism. It is a deeply-meaningful initiatory rite referred to in Hebrews 6:1 as one of the foundational doctrines of Christian belief. John the Baptist is the one who introduced water baptism as a ceremony through which one outwardly demonstrates his inward attitude of repentance and his desire to submit to God.*
Christ placed His stamp of approval upon John's
baptism and set the example for us by Himself undergoing the ritual (Mt.
3:13-17). The Father likewise expressed His favor with Jesus' baptism by
saying through an angel immediately afterwards that Jesus was His
beloved Son in whom he was "well pleased" (v. 17). Jesus' disciples
continued to baptize in a similar manner to John until the death and
resurrection of their master, when the practice took on newer and deeper
significance. (John's baptism did not make available the Holy Spirit.
Later we have an example which shows the necessity of rebaptism in the
name of Jesus for some who had undergone only the baptism of John—Acts
19:1-6.) In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus commanded that the
apostles go into all nations preaching the gospel and baptizing the
disciples. They followed Christ's command and themselves both stressed
the importance of baptism and carefully explained its meaning in their
preaching and teachings. Acts 2:38 is a fundamental scripture in this
regard: "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." This clearly explains one must be
baptized in order to have his sins forgiven so that he may consequently
receive God's Holy Spirit through the laying-on-of-hands ceremony (Acts
8:12-17). The main prerequisites for water baptism are
repentance and belief (i.e., faith) in the person and message of
Jesus Christ. Repentance includes godly sorrow over one's past sins and
wrong way of life and a deep conviction to obey God. To believe in the
person of Jesus Christ means that one believes Christ was indeed the Son
of God, Savior and Messiah. Hence, in Acts 8:37 it is noted that Philip
baptized the Ethiopian eunuch upon his certifying the conviction, "I
believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." But this general belief about the person of Jesus
Christ must be more specific before baptism. "One must come to
acknowledge, accept and desire Christ as his personal Savior—he must
fully and deeply believe that Jesus' death on the cross
(stake) was to
pay for his (the sinner's) own, individual sins. Thus, the faith in
Christ required for baptism is far more personal than merely a general
belief in God or a theoretical understanding (however accurate) of New
Testament theology. One who has this faith in Christ and His sacrifice
will demonstrate his true conviction and belief by his actions. He will
begin to obey Christ, "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven" (Mt. 7:21). Peter said that God will give His
Holy Spirit only to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32). The apostle James
also makes abundantly plain that faith and works go hand in hand (Jas.
2:18 ff). In addition to belief or faith in the person
of Christ, one needs belief or faith in the message of Jesus
Christ which is the gospel. It would not make sense to believe that
Christ was the Savior yet disregard His message. Christ Himself
commanded that all repent and believe the gospel (Mk. 1:15).
Thus, one who wants to be baptized must not only be convinced of the
reality of Christ as Savior of the world and Savior of the person's own
life, but he must also believe the gospel. In every way this faith
is "toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21). Before baptism one must be deeply aware of the
significance the act of baptism has in his own life. He must understand
that baptism symbolizes a break with the old way of life and
demonstrates a full commitment and determination to begin a new way of
life obeying God. One who is baptized can never go back to the old way,
or else he stands in jeopardy of losing out on eternal life and
consequently being consumed in the lake of fire. One who will be
baptized should thus carefully consider that he has the depth of
conviction and the fortitude to put Christ first in his life, even
before family and friends (Lk. 14:25-33). Upon such true repentance and faith, a person is baptized by a representative of Jesus Christ. The baptism is by complete immersion under water in accordance with the many New Testament examples of baptism and with the very meaning of baptism itself.
In addition, the mode used by John the Baptist and
Christ's disciples showed there must have been a great physical
similarity in their general baptismal procedures. The scriptural
descriptions of certain baptisms reinforce that the method was total
immersion. Christ was baptized in the Jordan, and upon baptism, came
out of the water (Mt. 3:13-17); John baptized in Aenon because there
was "much water" there (John. 3:23); Philip and the Ethiopian
eunuch traveled in the chariot until they came to waters in general, and
they both went down into the water (Acts 8:36-39). Finally, proof is
found in the biblical meaning of baptism, analogous to the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. One must be totally immersed in water to
symbolize having been buried with Christ in a watery grave (Rom. 6). Peter drew the analogy between baptism and the flood
in (I Pet. 3:20). "And I cannot help pointing out what a perfect
illustration this is of the way you have been admitted to the Christian
'ark' by baptism, which means, of course, far more than the mere washing
of a dirty body: it means the ability to face God with a clear
conscience" (Phillips). Baptism, then, does far more than removing
figurative dirt from the body, meaning the removing of sin from our
spiritual record—It actively gives one the ability to face our
Creator with a clear conscience. The RSV translates this verse slightly different,
amplifying the intrinsically rich meaning: "Baptism, which corresponds
to this, now saves you not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an
appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ" (v. 21). Baptism in fact does both: it gives the repentant
sinner both "the ability to face God" and is "an appeal to
God." But this ability or appeal for a clear conscience can only
be through the resurrection of Jesus Christ; "For there is in every true
baptism the virtue of Christ rising from the dead" (verse 21, Philips). Water baptism is the most important (of the very few)
New Testament ceremonies or rituals commanded by Christ and followed by
the apostles and early New Testament Church. It is, in a sense, the
formal initiatory rite to Christianity and is replete with profound
spiritual significance and rich personal meaning for every true
Christian and prospective member of God's kingdom. The biblical
injunction of water baptism is an outward sign showing an inward
attitude of repentance and faith toward Jesus Christ, and is the only
way by which an individual can receive God's Holy Spirit which makes him
part of the body of Christ. "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into
one body [the Church], whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be
bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (I Cor.
12:13). Baptism pictures and symbolizes the death, burial and
resurrection of Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:2-6; Col. 2:12-13). Baptism is also
symbolic of the repentant believer's own death, burial and resurrection
from a watery grave, as already noted. In Romans 6 Paul explains that
just as Christ died for mankind's sins and was buried, baptism, being
plunged into a watery grave, as it were—is symbolic of the death and
burial of one's old sinful life. And as Christ was resurrected in
newness of life, when a person comes up out of the waters of baptism it
is symbolic of his rising up out of his past "grave" to live a new, life
free from the guilt of past sins and the death penalty those sins
incurred. "How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you
not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism
into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of
the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been
united with Him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with
Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified
with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no
longer be enslaved to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin. But if
we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him"
(Rom. 6:2-8). Paul explains again in slightly different terms the
same principle in Colossians 2:12-13. " . . and you were buried with Him
[Christ] in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through
faith and the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, who
were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God hath
made alive together with Him . . ." Paul adds in Colossians 3:1 that
since we have symbolically risen from the grave with Christ, we should
set our orientation of mind on spiritual things instead of carnal,
physical things. "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things
which are above .. ." Of all the symbolic and deep spiritual meaning
associated with baptism, there remain three fundamental reasons why a
person should be baptized: to follow Christ's example, to have one's
sins forgiven and to receive the Holy Spirit. In his sermon on the day
of Pentecost, Peter clearly stated that one is baptized to have his sins
forgiven. he clearly explained Christ was the Messiah and that in
killing Christ the people had killed their Savior. "Now when they heard
this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and
unto the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
(Acts 2:37). Peter's response was that they should "Repent and be
baptized . . . for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost" (verse 38). Thus one is baptized because he wants to
have his sins forgiven and covered by the shed blood of Christ. In addition to his own baptism "with water unto
repentance," John the Baptist made a brief reference to two further uses
of the concept of baptism; referring to Jesus Christ, he said, "He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Mt. 3:11). To be
baptized with the Holy Spirit shows that a Christian must be "immersed"
in it. The baptism of fire refers to the lake of fire which will totally
"immerse" and burn up unrepentant sinners at the end of this age. John
the Baptist compared those who will not obey God to "chaff" (v. 12)
which would be burned up by Jesus Christ instead of being gathered to
Himself as will the "wheat" (referring to Christians who obey God).
Summary:
Questions: 1) Baptism symbolizes... a) renunciation of the past sinful life b) the burial of the old man in a watery grave c) the emergence of a new spirit-led man living with Christ's mind and following in His footsteps d) all of the above
2) What person in the New Testament introduced the
water baptism as a ceremony?
13) In James 2:18, James speaks of showing his
faith by his _________ [what?] |
|||||||||||||||||
|
back to top back to Bible Course next Lesson back to Bible Class home |