THE DOCTRINES OF SALVATION, THE CHURCH, AND LAST THINGS Week Seven: Christian Baptism Introduction and Review Last week, we began a discussion of the doctrine of the church by discussing the nature of the church. In Scripture, the church is described both as a universal body and as a local gathering of believers. The universal church includes all the redeemed of all the ages. It exists now in seed form, though one day it will gather at the end of the age. The local church is a covenanted body of believers that regularly gather together to worship and serve the Lord. The local church is a visible expression of the universal church. This week, we turn our attention to the doctrine of Christian baptism. What s the Big Idea? Virtually every Christian tradition agrees that baptism is a ceremony commanded by Christ that is of central importance to Christians and local churches. Baptism is a central emphasis among Baptist Christians, for at least two reasons. First, we are convinced that many Christian groups practice an unbiblical form of baptism. Second, we believe erroneous views of baptism produce negative effects in local churches and sometimes in entire cultures. Mark Dever describes the ordinance of baptism as follows: The Christian church is commanded to practice baptism by immersing in water a person who both professes and evidences conversion. This baptism is performed in obedience to Christ as a confession of sin, a profession of faith in Christ, and a display of hope in the resurrection of the body. It is performed only once. 1 Though it s a fiercely debated practice, baptism isn t a matter of indifference. As Tom Schreiner and Shawn Wright note, Baptism is important precisely because it is tied to the gospel, to the saving work that Christ accomplished in his death and resurrection. We do not think baptizing infants is merely a minor mistake. Believer s baptism accords with the gospel because it teaches that the objective work of God in salvation necessarily leads to the subjective response of faith. [T]he sign of the new covenant is only applied to those who give evidence by belief of membership in that covenant. 2 What Do the Scriptures Say? 1. There are four elements to a biblical baptism. The proper subject of baptism is a believer in Jesus Christ. Baptism marks the believer s public identification with Christ and his people, the church. 8 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:18 20). The Doctrine of the Church Page 1
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" 38 And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls (Acts 2:37 41). 30 Then he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God (Acts 16:30 34; cf. 18:8, 19:5; 1 Cor. 1:13 16). 2. The proper mode of NT baptism is immersion. There are two reasons for making this argument. First, linguistically, the Greek word baptizo literally means to plunge, dip, or immerse something under water. 3 Second, the biblical descriptions of baptism describe or imply immersion. 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 15 But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:13 17; cf. Mark 1:9 11). 34 And the eunuch said to Philip, "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?" 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing (Acts 8:34 39). 3. The proper meaning of NT baptism is a symbolic depiction of the gospel and its transforming power in the life of the new believer. In a very real sense, baptism is an outward sign of an inward change, a silent sermon that displays the gospel. 1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 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. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but The Doctrine of the Church Page 2
the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 6:1 11). 4. The proper context of NT baptism is the church. This is more implied than it is explicitly taught. With the possible exception of the apostles, there are no NT believers who weren t either members of local churches or evangelists laboring to plant local churches. For this reason, it seems like NT baptism was an ordinance administered within the context of a local church or, in missionary contexts, unto the establishment of a local church. What about Household Baptisms? Pedobaptists (Christians who affirm infant baptism) often point to the so-called household baptisms in the NT to argue that both believers and their infant children should be baptized. In three of the four instances of household baptisms, it s clear that the whole household believed (Acts 10:46 48; 16:30 34; 1 Cor. 1:16). There is, however, one passage that is less clear: 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay. And she prevailed upon us (Acts 16:14 16). While this passage could imply infant baptism, that is unlikely for several reasons. First, it would contradict the rest of the NT, which argues for believer s baptism. Second, Lydia likely didn t have young children, since she was a businesswoman who had travelled about 300 miles from her hometown (Acts 16 is set in Philippi). Third, she is apparently the head of her household, which would imply she was unmarried or a widow. It s thus likely that her household that was baptized were adult servants who also heard the gospel and were converted. 4 What Has the Church Said? Almost all Christians practice believer s baptism, but as noted in the previous section, many traditions also argue for infant baptism. The first explicit reference to infant baptism is Tertullian s On Baptism, which dates to around 198 AD. It is a negative reference: Tertullian criticizes the practice of baptizing terminally ill infants and very small children. Nevertheless, by about 500 infant baptism had become the norm and remained so for a millennium until the Anabaptists challenged the practice in the 1500s, followed by the Baptists in the 1600s. Different traditions justify infant baptism for different reasons. In Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, infant baptism begins the process of regeneration. The Orthodox actually practice the triune immersion of infants. For Catholics, infant baptism washes away the effects of original sin. Historically, Catholics have argued that unbaptized infants spend eternity in limbo, where they are separated from God s covenantal presence. Lutherans and some Anglicans also argue for infant baptismal regeneration, though those traditions tend to reject the idea that unbaptized infants are in danger of some form of damnation. The Doctrine of the Church Page 3
Methodists argue that infant baptism marks out children as part of the church and commits parents and the church to raise the children in a way that pleases God. The Disciples of Christ tradition makes a distinction between infant baptism and christening; they sprinkle infants, calling the ceremony christening, but they reserve the term baptism for immersion, which is administered after one s confirmation. Presbyterians practice infant baptism on the basis of their view of God s eternal covenant of grace. According to Presbyterians, there is one covenant of grace, given to Abraham, that is worked out historically in a series of successive historical covenants (e.g. Mosaic, Davidic). Baptism is the initiatory sign of the new covenant in the same way that circumcision was the initiatory sign of the old covenant. Baptism should therefore be applied to all covenant children who are born into Christian families. Most groups that practice exclusive believer s baptism do so for the same reason, even those traditions that don t self-identify as Baptists. These baptistic traditions agree that baptism is a testimony to personal faith and public identification with Christ and his church. One exception is the Churches of Christ, who practice a form of believer s baptismal regeneration wherein faith and baptism are necessary for salvation. A minority of baptistic churches embrace open membership, meaning they do not make believer s baptism prerequisite to church membership. Instead, they allow individual families to determine their own preferences. What Should We Believe? The first widely adopted Baptist confession, the First London Confession (1644), argues for the view of baptism we ve outlined in this lesson: Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, given by Christ, to be dispensed upon persons professing faith, or that are made disciples; who upon profession of faith, ought to be baptized, and after to partake of the Lord s Supper. That the way and manner of dispensing this ordinance, is dipping or plunging the body under water; it being a sign, must answer the things signified, which is, that interest the saints have in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ: And that as certainly as the body is buried under water, and risen again, so certainly shall the bodies of the saints be raised by the power of Christ, in the day of the resurrection, to reign with Christ. 5 The Baptist Faith and Message (2000) provides a helpful contemporary summary of the biblical understanding of baptism: Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord s Supper. 6 The Doctrine of the Church Page 4
How Should We Then Live? Defending Biblical Baptism. We should humbly, but firmly maintain our commitment to the biblical understanding of baptism. Believer s baptism helps to safeguard a regenerate church membership and underscores the importance of personal faith in Christ. While we should strive for unity with other believers, it mustn t come at the expense of a proper view of baptism, which is the first act of Christian obedience and the personal, public entry into the visible body of Christ. Baptism and Christian Obedience. If you are a believer and you haven t been baptized in the manner prescribed by the NT, you need to obey Christ by seeking biblical baptism. If you are a believer who for some reason has delayed baptism for an extended period of time, you need to obey Christ by seeking biblical baptism. If you are a believer who was immersed before you came to saving faith, you need to obey Christ by seeking biblical baptism. Baptism and Children. Parents need to be careful to avoid two baptismal extremes: rushing children into baptism and artificially delaying baptism for extended periods. This will take great wisdom, and it will look different from family to family and even child to child. But we need to remember three key NT truths: (1) authentic conversion includes both repentance and faith and is evidenced by a changed life; (2) baptism is part of the Great Commission; (3) there is no warrant in the NT for indefinitely prolonging the period between conversion and baptism. Recommended Resources Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Zondervan, 1994), pp. 966 87. William H. Brackney, Believer s Baptism: Doing Baptism Baptist Style, The Baptist Style for a New Century (Baptist History and Heritage Society, 2001), available online at http://www.baptisthistory.org/pamphlets/baptism.htm. Steve Wellum, Baptism and the Relationship between the Covenants, available online at http://kingdomresources.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/wellum_baptindd.pdf. Greg Welty, A Critical Evaluation of Paedobaptism, Founders Ministries, available online at http://www.founders.org/library/welty.html. Ted L. Christman, Forbid Them Not: Rethinking the Baptism and Church Membership of Children and Young People (Heritage Baptist Church Owensboro, KY), available online at http://www.hbcowensboro.org/forbid-them-not-free-pdf-download/. Thomas R. Schreiner and Shawn D. Wright, eds., Believer s Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ, NAC Studies in Bible and Theology (B&H Academic, 2007). The Doctrine of the Church Page 5
Notes: 1 Mark Dever, The Church, in A Theology for the Church, ed. Daniel L. Akin (B&H Academic, 2007), p. 785. 2 Thomas R. Schreiner and Shawn D. Wright, eds., Believer s Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ, NAC Studies in Bible and Theology (B&H Academic, 2007), pp. 1 2. 3 Frederick William Danker, ed., A Greek Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Greek Literature, 3 rd ed. (University of Chicago Press, 2000), pp. 164 65. 4 See the arguments of Greg Welty, A Critical Evaluation of Paedobaptism, Founders Ministries, available online at http://www.founders.org/library/welty.html. 5 The First London Confession, articles XXXVIII and XXXIX, available online at http://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/1646lbc.htm. 6 The Baptist Faith and Message (2000), Article VII: Baptism and the Lord s Supper, available online at http://www.sbc.net/bfm/bfm2000.asp. The Doctrine of the Church Page 6