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The Purpose of Baptism
John
baptized a huge
number of believers. “Then We can
conclude that all
the baptisms Jesus’ disciples performed were identical in meaning with
those
John performed. And the message, “the Gospel of the Kingdom,” was the
same. The
requirement for being
baptized by either John or Jesus was a willingness to repent. The word
“repent”
means a change of thinking and course. It is to change one’s mind and
direction.
Public baptism was the means of changing one’s course, illustrating to
all that
the person being baptized had accepted the message, and was willing to
commit
their life to it. Baptism was the point where the change of life
occurred. And,
it was the means of procuring freedom from past sin, both its guilt and
power. “John
came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance
for (eis
– “unto”) the remission of sins.” (Mark 1:4). The result of baptism
was the remission of sins. The Greek word for
“remission” means to set free. It is
the same word used twice by Jesus reading Isaiah in the synagogue; “‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because
He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent Me to
heal the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty
to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed’”
(Luke 4:18). Essentially, baptism was the means to set the sinner free
from
sin. (The “Year of Jubilee”
in Lev. 25 uses the same Greek word in the
LXX.) Jesus’ own Baptism & the Promised “Baptism in
the Holy Spirit” Before Christ’s Passion: “And he went
into all the region around the After Christ’s Passion: “Then Peter
said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name
of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift
of the
Holy Spirit” (Acts The audience remained the same — Jews. The only differences were that water baptism was to be performed “in the name of Jesus Christ,” and the Spirit was promised for all those who repented and were baptized. The former baptism prepared the Jewish people in anticipation of their eternal redemption that would be accomplished through the sacrifice of “the Lamb of God.” The latter baptism secured for the individual the baptism in the Spirit, performed by Jesus. This point is demonstrated clearly by Paul's encounter with certain Jewish “disciples” in Acts 19. His first question to them was, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” When they said that they were not aware of the Holy Spirit, Paul immediately suspected their baptism. “Into what then were you baptized?” To which they replied, “Into John's baptism.” It is not that they were ignorant of the existence of the Spirit. That would be impossible for any Jew familiar with the first chapter of the Torah, not to mention John's own preaching about the one coming after him, who would baptize them in the Holy Spirit. Rather, they were not aware of the Spirit's coming again to Israel in fulfillment of the promises in several Old Testament prophecies (cf. Ezek. 36:25-27, Ezek. 37:14, Ezek. 39:29, Joel. 2:28-29). The most likely reason they were ignorant of the Spirit's coming upon the 120 in the upper room, and the subsequent filling of the 3000 Jews who repented and were baptized on Pentecost, was because they did not live in Israel and were not present in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. They had apparently been baptized by John prior to his identifying Jesus as the one coming after Him who would “baptize you in the Holy Spirit.” Paul then rebaptized them in the name of Jesus Christ, and they received the Spirit immediately. The Necessity of Baptism in the Spirit The
concept accepted by
nearly all Jews of the time was that their descent from Abraham made
them
automatic recipients of all the promises. Here, Jesus burst that bubble
for
Nicodemus. Jesus informed him that a “new birth” was necessary if he
expected
to secure his inheritance in the promised coming Kingdom. His natural
birth of
the seed of Abraham was not sufficient. Nicodemus did not realize as
yet that
the New Covenant, prophesied by Jeremiah, was not automatically entered
into by
mere physical descent. Jesus told Nicodemus plainly that “unless
one is born again, he cannot see the Some
have supposed that
Jesus meant physical birth when He spoke of being “born of water.”
However,
there is nothing in Scripture or Jewish tradition to suggest that “born
of water” refers to
physical
birth. Even Edersheim, the Jewish Christian scholar, equates “born
of water” here to baptism 1.
But, more importantly, to say that one must be
born physically
in order
to inherit the Kingdom is a preposterous statement. No one exists who
has not
been born physically, except the angels! To include physical birth as a
prerequisite for partaking of Christ’s Kingdom makes no sense! Neither
are the
angels excluded from the The Greek grammar casts serious doubt on that interpretation also. In the clause, “born of water and spirit,” both nouns are connected by “and” to a single verb. The verb is in the subjunctive mood, which indicates possibility but not certainty. It essentially says, “if a man might be born...” It is hard to imagine Jesus' referring to someone's physical birth with such uncertainty, because everyone who exists was born. The
statement in verse 5, “unless one is born of water and the
Spirit, he cannot enter the Everyone
who expects an
inheritance in the Kingdom must have a second birth consisting of being
born
“of water” and “of the Spirit.” The preposition here is “ek,” meaning
emerging
from something. Combined with the concept of “birth” it is apparent
that
baptism is in part a rebirth. Being immersed in the water we die to sin
and
leave behind the old life. Coming up out of the water we are born again. Likewise, Jesus immerses us
in the Spirit, and we come forth from this experience with a changed
heart, a
“new creature.” The “second birth” is accomplished through both “water”
and
“Spirit.” Hence, Jesus told Nicodemus that one must be born anew with
“water and Spirit” in order to inherit the Kingdom. For those who doubt that being born again of water and Spirit is what Jesus meant, consider Paul’s words to Titus. “Not from works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by means of the bath of second-birth and renovation of the Holy Spirit; whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:5-7 PFRS Literal Translation). What could “the bath of second-birth” mean (in addition to the “renovation of the Holy Spirit”), if not water baptism? This passage clearly links the water of John 3:5 with the second birth of verse 3. It is through 2 things, the “bath of second-birth” and the “renovation of the Holy Spirit,” that we are saved according to His mercy. These two things are contrasted with “works of righteousness that we have done,” and are the prerequisite to our becoming “heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Baptism cannot be considered one of the “works of righteousness” which Paul elsewhere disqualifies from salvation because it is here contrasted with such “works.” Baptism is not a “work,” according to Paul, it is obedience to the Gospel. The Great Commission Matthew
– “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All
authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and
make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things
that I have
commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the
age.’ Amen.”
(Matt. 28:18-20). Matthew’s
account includes
baptism of Gentiles as a necessary requirement of making them
“disciples.” One
cannot be a “disciple” then without being both baptized and taught.
Since
Matthew’s account does not mention getting people “saved” is its
terminology,
it must be assumed that either Jesus did not think it important for
people to
be “saved” before they follow Jesus, or else salvation is assumed in
the term
“make disciples.” Some might suggest that the language permits that
people be
“saved” and “baptized” in order to be a “disciple,” but that being
“saved” does
not necessarily require one to be a “disciple” of Jesus. In other
words, not
all “saved” people are disciples. The problem is, the only “goal” of
the Great
Commission according to Matthew is to make “disciples.” The New
Testament known nothing of people who are saved but not disciples of Jesus. But, what does
Mark
say? Mark – “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is
baptized will
be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned’.” (Mark.
16:15-16) According
to Mark, Jesus
made baptism and faith requirements for salvation in His command to the
Apostles. The objection is usually raised that the second sentence, “he who does not believe will be condemned,”
excludes baptism and therefore indicates that baptism is not necessary.
It is
merely gratuitous in the first statement. But, how does one explain
Jesus’
including baptism as the requirements for salvation? If it was not a
part of
the Gospel He commanded them to preach to “every creature,” why was it
included
as a requirements for salvation? It is far easier to explain why
baptism would
not be mentioned in the second (negative) statement (which states what
condemns) than to explain why baptism
would be included in the first (positive) statement (which states what
saves). Jesus did not include
baptism in the negative statement because it was unthinkable that
anyone would
be baptized if they did not believe the Gospel. Baptism was the
tangible way
for people hearing the Gospel to respond to it in faith and obedience.
It was the means to “obey
the Gospel.” Christian
baptism automatically
brought on the disdain of the religious leaders, and frequently
persecution. Those who believed the Apostles' preaching and responded
to the call to be baptized would be saved. Those who did
not believe the message certainly would not believe that getting dunked
in
water would do anything for them either! Jesus thoroughly covered both
possible
responses to the Gospel with His statements. Baptism served as joining
with Christ through public confession. As Jesus said, “Therefore
whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My
Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will
also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” (Matt 10:32-33). We
should
ponder what Jesus meant by “believe.” What exactly should people
believe? The
obvious answer is, “the Gospel.” But, what exactly constitutes the
whole Gospel
Jesus commanded to be preached to every creature? He did not define
what the
“Gospel” was here. He only told them to go preach it. This necessarily
assumes
that they were already familiar with the content of the message. They
already
knew what the “Gospel” was, because they had been preaching and
baptizing
already since the days of John the Baptist. Did it include His
statement to Nicodemus, that one must be “born of
water and Spirit” to inherit the Kingdom? Did it include the “baptism of
repentance unto the remission of sins?” Most evangelicals would
deny
both. Why
then did Peter, preaching the very first sermon in obedience to
this
very command, replied to those who asked what to do to be saved, “Repent,
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the
remission
of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit?”
(Acts 2:38). On what basis
can we excise Peter’s command from the Gospel, and truncate the plain
Gospel presented on the very birthday of Christ's Church? Up to
this point, both
John the Baptist and Jesus’ disciples had baptized many “unto the
remission of sins.” No doubt, this was practiced when Jesus sent
them
out the
first time to preach to the cities of Luke – “Then He said to them, ‘These are the words
which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must
be
fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and
the
Psalms concerning Me.’ And He opened their understanding, that they
might
comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written,
and thus
it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the
third
day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in
His name
to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these
things.
Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city
of
Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high’.” (Luke
24:44-49). After personally baptizing hundreds of people “for the remission of sins,” what would the disciples make of the statement that “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations?” Remember, the “Gospel of the Kingdom” that was preached by both Jesus and John was “the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Mark 1:4). Exactly how does that differ from the “repentance and remission of sins” Jesus now commanded them to preach to the rest of the nations? On this Resurrection Sunday, Jesus explained the reason He had to die, giving the disciples more complete knowledge of the Gospel. But, He did not revoke the previous Gospel and issue them a new one. For
proof that our understanding of the Great Commission is correct, we
need only turn to the launching of the Great Commission. On the
day of Pentecost, Peter
preached a powerful sermon to a large crowd of Jews gathered for the
Jewish Feast. He powerfully proved from the Old Testament Scriptures
that Jesus, the one they had “by
wicked
hands crucified,” was the promised Christ. They were “cut to the heart”
by
Peter’s sermon, and cried out, “Men
and brethren, what should we do?”
Their
question betrays a desperate plea for God's mercy, that they might be
relieved from the guilt and penalty of this mother of all sins. Peter’s
reply was
in perfect harmony with all three accounts of the Great Commission. “Then
Peter said to them, ‘Repent,
and let every one of you be baptized
in the name
of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins; and you shall receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to
all who
are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call’” (Acts There
have been various
attempts to get around this passage by Evangelicals. The most common is
to
claim that the preposition “eis” (translated “for”) can refer back to
something already
accomplished in the past. That is, they would be baptized referring to
their
former “remission of sins.” The problem is, the preposition "for" (eis)
connects both repentance and baptism
with the result — the “remission of sins.” Therefore, either BOTH
lead to the “remission of sins” or else both refer to a former
“remission of
sins.” If it is the former, then they were forgiven before they
repented! If it
is the later, then their sins were remitted only when they repented and
were
baptized. Also, keep in mind that the former preaching was “the baptism
of
repentance for the remission of sins” (Luke 3:3). Repentance
and
baptism cannot be
separated in such a statement. The only logical and consistent
conclusion is
that repentance and baptism resulted in the remission of sins,
particularly the
sin of crucifying Christ. The
preposition “eis”
has a transitive meaning. It implies progress to a point (motion). The
implied
progress is always forward, never backward. When used with a transitive
verb
(like “repent” and “be baptized”), its inherent meaning of progress to
a point
is always retained. Therefore, to “repent” and “be baptized” eis the “remission
of your sins” indicates that both repentance and baptism result
in “the
remission of your sins.” Any other interpretation is simply not
supported by
the biblical usage of this preposition. For an in depth examination of
Acts 2:38, click here. For those still not convinced that Peter preached baptism as the means of obtaining salvation, consider the following passage. 1 Pet 3:18-21 This
passage is seldom
understood, but is rich in meaning. In verse 18, Peter explains that
our
salvation was purchased by Christ, being “put
to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” This is also
the
symbolism of baptism according to Paul in Rom. 6, which we will cover
later. Peter
then indicates that Jesus, by the Spirit, went and preached to those
“in
prison” from the days before the flood. He then makes an interesting
statement,
indicating that the eight people saved in the ark were “saved through
water.”
The preposition translated “through” is the Greek word “dia.” It means
“by
means of,” and is usually translated “by” or “through.” The idea in
this clause
is that the water is what saved Noah and his family. The same water
that
brought destruction to the wicked is what lifted the ark to safety.
Peter then
stated that the reality of that symbol for us is “baptism,” which also
saves
us. This
verse explains the
heart of the one submitting to baptism. The reason we submit to baptism
is not
to clean the dirt from our bodies. It is “an
appeal to God for a good conscience” (NASB). The Greek word
translated
“appeal” according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon means, “1) an
inquiry, a question, 2) a demand, 3) earnestly seeking, a
craving, an intense desire.” That is why we enter the water of
baptism. It
is not to testify to a conscience already purified. The act of baptism
itself
is an appeal to God for a clean
conscience, through the “remission of
sins.” Translations
that have “answer” or “pledge” are simply wrong. That is not the
meaning of the
Greek word. Below is our literal translation of this verse from the
Greek. In the
flood, “… eight souls were saved by means of water.
This [water] also, (the reality of this illustration – baptism), now
saves you. It is not the removal of the
dirt from the
body, but imploring God for a good conscience through the resurrection
of Jesus
Christ.” (PFRS Literal Translation) This
perfectly describes
why 3000 Jews, who “by wicked hands”
crucified Jesus, lined up to be
baptized! What is abundantly clear from the context is
that
these Jews who
asked Peter, “what shall we do,” already “believed”
the Gospel Peter
preached. They believed that Jesus, whom they had crucified “by
wicked
hands” was indeed the Christ, that He
had risen from the dead and
ascended into heaven, as Peter preached. Otherwise they would not have
cried out, “men and brethren, what shall we do?" Their
plea to Peter and the other Apostles was answered by Peter. “Repent
and be baptized … unto the
remission of
your sins.” As each of the 3,000 Jews entered the water, they
were “imploring
God for a good conscience” through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ
which Peter
had just preached to them (cf. Acts Baptism According to Paul Acts 9:17-18 The purpose for
Ananias’ visit in verse 17 was for Paul to receive his sight, and to be filled
with the Spirit. Now, let’s look at Paul’s own account. Ac There is no mention here of receiving the Holy Spirit. Yet, there is no question that Paul was baptized for the remission of sins. Remember, this is Paul’s own testimony. He got up and was baptized on the word of Ananias, who told him to be baptized in order to wash away his sins. We can
infer from the
sequence of events the following things: The natural inference is that Paul received the Holy Spirit and remission of sins when baptized by Ananias. Romans 6 1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin
that grace may abound? The
previous chapter ended
with this point: the law was given to show the exceeding sinfulness of
man. And
where sin abounded, God’s grace abounded more. In essence, the law
indirectly
shows the magnitude of God’s grace by showing the magnitude of man’s
sin that
God is willing to forgive. Paul anticipates the question that arises
naturally
from this concept: “Should we
continue in sin so that grace can abound
even
more?” The answer is an emphatic, no! The reason is that they
have
“died to sin”
(aorist tense). 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism
into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory
of the
Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Here
the concept of burial
is introduced. Not only were they united with Him in His death, but
also in
burial. The implication is that the old sinful nature has died in the
act of
baptism and should remain buried, since they now walk as resurrected
men. The
preposition “through” (Gr. “dia”) indicates the means by which
something is
accomplished. That is, their baptism was the means by which they were
buried
with Christ into His death. It is more than an act of symbolism
pointing back
to something already accomplished. Paul equated the act of baptism with
union
with Christ and His atoning death. Baptism, therefore, is not symbolic
of a
past union with Christ, but is the outward act representing what is
actually
occurring that moment – the uniting of the believer with Christ and His
atonement. 5 For if we have been united together in the
likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of
His
resurrection, This is
a conditional
statement. The outcome (apodosis), that the Roman believers will be
raised from
the dead in glorified bodies in the likeness of His resurrection, is
dependent
on the condition (protasis), that they had all been united together in
the
likeness of His death (baptism). The condition directly implies that
baptism is
necessary for their future hope of resurrection. In effect, Paul was
making
their all having been united together in Christ’s death, through
baptism, the
condition and assurance of their collective resurrection (at the second
coming). 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with
Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no
longer be
slaves of sin. Paul
here explains what
actually occurs at baptism. The ritual of baptism carries this purpose:
that
the “body of sin” might be killed, ie, it dies and is buried in the
water,
never to rise again. “Body” is a metaphor (as also the “old man”),
referring to
the old sinful nature which was their former master. The old nature
dies in
baptism, so that they no longer are its slaves as they come up out of
the
water. This corresponds perfectly with the concept of “remission of
sins”
attached to baptism in Acts 2:38. The word “remission” means “release,”
being
set at liberty. That is, being freed from sin’s prison, being loosed
from the
power and hold of sin. Paul seems to have exactly the same concept here. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we
shall also live with Him, As in
verse 5, we have
another conditional statement here. There is no question in this
context that “died
with
Christ” is what occurred at baptism, based on vs. 3-4. Paul says that
“we
believe” those who were baptized will live with Him. As in Mark 16:16,
those
with the seal of baptism are promised salvation. No such promise, in
either
passage, is implied for those who have not sealed their faith and
repentance through
baptism. 1 Corinthians 6
Here
Paul used the same
terminology as Romans 6 — being “baptized
into Christ.” Verse 27
states
plainly that those who were “baptized
into Christ” have “put on
Christ.” The
verb “put on” means “to clothe.” Being clothed with Christ is dependent
on
being “baptized into Christ.”
Therefore, this verse alone indicates
that
baptism results in two things: being “in
Christ” and being “clothed
with
Christ.” Is there another way to get "in Christ?" The Scripture
does not indicate such. Ephesians 5 While
this passage is
primarily about husbands loving their wives, it uses Christ and the
Church as
its model. There is a clear reference here to the Jewish custom of the
ceremonial bath taken by the bride-to-be upon accepting the proposal of
her
future husband. The bath represented her putting away her past, and
complete
devotion to her future husband for the duration of the betrothal
period. Paul
draws a parallel to this custom, saying that Christ has cleansed the
Church
through the “bath of water.” The Greek word we have translated “the
proclamation” is
“rhema,”
which always refers to something spoken, such as a saying, a
declaration, a profession, or a proclamation. It never refers to the
written Word of Scripture. It probably refers
to either the
confession of faith at baptism (cf. 1 Tim. Colossians 2 The “circumcision of
Christ,” also “the
circumcision made without hands,” is the removal of “the
body of the sins of the flesh.” The verb “removal” means to
undress and
lay
aside. This is the opposite of Galatians 3:27, “putting on” Christ.
This
“circumcision” made without hands is the “circumcision of the heart”
(Rom. Hebrews
10 Conclusion The requirements for baptism are: an
understanding of the Gospel, belief of the Gospel, the willingness to
forever forsake the old life, a willingness to commit one's life to Christ and remain a pure virgin for Christ until
the consummation of the wedding at His coming, a heart that
earnestly pleads for God to clear one's conscience of the guilt
of sin, and a public confession of faith in Christ. The benefits of baptism are: the death
of the old nature, the setting free from the guilt and bondage of sin,
the application of the atonement of Christ to the believer, becoming a “new creation” through a “new birth,” putting on Christ's righteousness
by imputation, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and adoption into the
family of
God. The ones responding to the Gospel need
only meet the requirements and submit to water baptism, verbally
pledging themselves to Christ. Jesus takes care of the benefits by
baptizing that person in the Holy Spirit, performing all of the things
listed in the above paragraph. Notes: |