Any subject that relates to the salvation of
one’s soul is very important and needs careful attention.
THE AUTHORITY FOR BAPTISM
I. SCRIPTURES:
The New Testament is full of clear and
straightforward statements on the subject of baptism. Too many
read Scripture with preconceived ideas of what it “must really be saying” or
what it “surely cannot mean”.
16 All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the
servant of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work.
-2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)
-2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)
We want to strive to listen to the Scriptures as
if hearing it for the first time. How would the original hearers
have understood them? We must strive to understand the New Testament
through the lens and minds of New Testament times and not the 21st Century
with its theological bias. We must take the original meaning as the
authoritative one. Whatever is mentioned on baptism we must be consistent
with what is also said about sin, faith, repentance, and the church.
Baptism is but one step towards
salvation. Before baptism one must believe & repent. One
must have faith but not “faith only”.
19 You believe
that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and
shudder. -James 2:19
24 You see
that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith
alone. -James 2:24
This verse in James is the only place in all the
New Testament where the phrase "faith only" or "faith
alone" appears and it states "not by faith alone".
II. JESUS
The first occasion in the NT where believer’s
baptism is mentioned is after the resurrection when Jesus was about to ascend
to heaven. He gave the disciples instructions we often call the “GREAT
COMMISSION”. It is recorded in both Matthew and Mark.
18 Then Jesus
came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to
obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to
the very end of the age.”
-Matthew 28:18-20
As instructed by Jesus Himself baptism has an
important role in making disciples. Baptism is not to be considered
an ordinary act of obedience but is to be regarded as a conversion experience
that brings us into a union with God Himself.
15 He said to them,
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever
believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be
condemned.
-Mark 16:15-16
Faith is an essential condition for
salvation. God’s promise is visualized in Christian baptism, so that
baptism itself becomes a kind of visualization of faith. The text links
belief and baptism together as the same act of faith. It does not say: “He
who is baptized is saved and then should be baptized.” It does not
refer to baptism as something done after salvation but that it is part of
salvation. Since baptism and faith are listed together as co-conditions,
the salvation offered to baptism must be the same as that offered to faith
itself.
If baptism does not have a saving significance,
they why should it be mentioned in the Great Commission at all? Jesus’
words are not so much a command as a promise. We do not need more
commands or laws but a promise of help and hope…the promise of forgiveness.
When one is baptized one is receiving God’s
precious & gracious promise of salvation.
16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’ -Acts 22:16
16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’ -Acts 22:16
