Resolved: “Baptism is commanded by God for the remission of sins. Baptism plays a critical part in salvation and is something all who would become Christians must do.”
Terms defined:
Baptism: The Greek word βαπτίζω (
baptizō) appears frequently in the NT text with primarily the two following definitions. Firstly, it is used to refer to the ceremonial washings of purification rooted in Israelite tradition, e.g. when the Pharisees washed cups and bowls before meals to cleanse them ritualistically. Secondly, βαπτίζω refers to the “use of water in a rite for the purpose of renewing or establishing a relationship with God” (BDAG). As the method of baptism (sprinkling, pouring, dunking) is not under consideration, I will confine the discussion to the above resolution.
Commanded: When Jesus was leaving final instructions for this disciples, he told them to “Go therefore…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (
Matthew 28:18-20). The word “command” is the Greek word ἐντέλλω (
entellō), and means to “give or leave instructions” or to be “commissioned by a ruling authority” (BDAG, TDNT). “Faith is always man’s reaction to God’s primary action.” For us to be following something that God has commanded, the Lord must first have commissioned, ordained, instructed or indicated in a direct way His desire for something to take place. The question that will be addressed here is, “Did God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) indicate in some way their desire for people to be baptized, and did they give a specific purpose for this baptism?”
Remission: The act of freeing from an obligation, guilt, or punishment: forgiveness, pardon, cancellation. The apostle Paul defines redemption as “the forgiveness of sins” in
Colossians 1:14. This forgiveness is only found in Jesus.
For: A preposition that, when used with an accusative, denotes an extension toward, movement into or in the direction of some place, goal, or state. In
Acts 17:10, Paul and Silas traveled to Berea and went “into” or εἰς (eis) the synagogue. For the purpose of this discussion, I affirm that baptism is part of the process that moves one from a lost state into a saved one; it is part of the process by which one receives purification, forgiveness or remission of sins by the grace of God. It is not a standalone action and mere baptism does nothing.
Mere baptism: As in
Mere Christianity where C. S. Lewis talked about Christianity without any trappings or other additional traditions, mere baptism refers to the simple act of dunking someone under water. Merely going under water, no matter the kind of water or the person doing the dunking, does not save anyone and is not part of a salvific process. Other things, like belief and repentance, must be present or there is no power in the action of baptism. Paul makes a distinction between a mere act (circumcision) and the spiritual changes accompanying true baptism, which unites faith and obedience (
Colossians 2:11-12).
The Necessity of Obedience
When God tells us to do something, it’s not optional. We have to be obedient to all of the things that God commands, but we should never misunderstand that obedience as earning salvation in some way (cf
Luke 17:10). Should thieves stop stealing? Yes, because they are told to work with their hands instead (
Ephesians 4:28). Is this optional? No, it must be done. Can it be done to hoard wealth instead of sharing with others? No, it must be done so that the former thief has something to share with others. Obedience is not merely performing an action but also having the right reason for the action (cf
Hosea 6:6).
What if the thief decided that he wasn’t going to work but continue stealing and he didn’t care what God said? Remember, Ephesians is written to Christians, so we’re talking about a Christian thief. Can such a person exist? Is this faithfulness to God? Is this repentance and a willingness to submit all things to God? No, and the person who rejects the word of God finds themselves in rebellion against the Lord.
1 Samuel 15:22-23: “And Samuel said, ‘Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”
King Saul thought he had better ideas than God. The Lord commanded all of the Amalekites to be destroyed. Every person and everything they owned was to be set apart for destruction. However, after defeating the enemy, Saul kept the choice spoils, in defiance of God, and thought he could honor God with his disobedience. Samuel rebukes Saul, telling him that willful rebellion deserves death (divination carried a death penalty). Paul will say the same thing in the New Testament in
Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death.”
Saul presumed that God would be willing to change his commandment, or that God would accept his half-way obedience so long as lip service was paid to God. Samuel corrects this and says the only service that God accepts is complete submission to God’s will, total obedience. If we truly love God, then we will be willing to obey his commands (
John 14:15).
If baptism is commanded and we refuse to accept it or say baptism is unnecessary, we find ourselves in the same position as Saul: guilty of rebellion and presumption. Some presume they can undo the commandment of God to keep their tradition; this is unacceptable. If God has commanded baptism, and we will see he has, then baptism is something that must be obeyed for the reasons God has given.
Luke 17:10: “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”
John 3:36: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
Note that in this passage, John the Baptizer equates belief with obedience. Despite being translated in some versions as belief, ἀπειθέω (apeithéō, bold above in John 3:36) means “disobedient” (WSDNT) or “to disobey” (BDAG). If we are not willing to obey the Lord, then we don’t really believe him or in him. Jesus would pose a similar question and tell a story about faith and obedience in
Luke 6:46-49:
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
Building our house on the rock includes not only believing that Jesus is the Christ but also the willingness to do what he says. If we will not obey, then we don’t really believe. The apostle Paul would preach the gospel in order to bring about “the obedience of faith” (
Romans 1:5). This does not indicate a perfect life is necessary to serve Jesus, but a changed life is. We must be willing to change our hearts and minds, conforming them to the will of God and transforming ourselves through the word of God (
Romans 12:1-2).
Baptism is Commanded by God
We’ve seen that we have to obey the commands that God gives; obedience isn’t optional in a faithful life. So, if God commands baptism, likewise it is something that must be done; it is not optional but something that all who would be Christians must do.
Mark 16:16: “
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
Matthew 28:19-20: “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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
To deny that baptism is commanded by God is to deny the plain words of the Bible. For someone to say that baptism is not commanded, they must argue with the words of Jesus Christ. If Jesus has commanded something, then it is also the Father’s will (
John 7:16). Additionally, the Holy Spirit was sent by the Father, and taught all the same things that Jesus taught (
John 16:13-15). The command to be baptized is then given by the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The Apostles Taught Baptism as a Command of God
If Jesus commanded his disciples to baptize people, then we would expect to see baptism as part of their teaching in the New Testament. If the apostles preached baptism, then we can have even greater confidence in our understanding that baptism is commanded by God.
On the day of Pentecost, roughly ten days after the ascension of Jesus, the apostles were gathered together when the Holy Spirit fell upon them. Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, preached the first recorded sermon of the gospel in its fullness. He proved that Jesus was the Christ and that the nation of Israel had rejected their Messiah and was deserving of punishment from God. The Jews, upon hearing his words, asked in Acts 2:37: “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter’s response mirrors the teaching of Jesus in Mark 16:16:
Acts 2:38: “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.”
Peter told the people in the audience that they should repent of their unbelief. The focus of his sermon was on the role of Jesus as the Messiah; Israel had rejected Jesus as coming for that purpose and crucified him. Peter calls upon them to change their minds and accept Jesus as the Messiah, to put their trust in him, and to follow him. In addition to this repentance, Peter tells them to be baptized.
There are other places in the New Testament where the apostles will talk about baptism:
Acts 10:47: “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”
Acts 22:16: “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.”
Romans 6:3-4: “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, 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.”
These verses clearly prove beyond doubt that baptism was taught by the disciples of Jesus in the first century, and therefore is a command given by God. Baptism, as a command from God, is something that all Christians must do. It is not optional. None of the things that God commands are left to mankind’s choice; we only have the choice as to whether or not we will obey.
Biblical Reasons for Baptism
Since the reason God commands something is important, now having shown that baptism is a commandment of God for all people who would become Christians, we will turn our attention to the purpose or reason behind the command. We must be obedient not only to the command that God gives, but also the reason behind those commands.
John 14:15, as already mentioned, clearly indicates that love is the motivation for being obedient to God’s commandments. Whether we consider it big or small, every act of obedience is important because it stems from our love for God, our willingness to put his will over and before our own. If this is not the primary motivation for our obedience, no matter the command, then we’re not properly motivated.
It is our desire to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength that drives us forward in our search for Biblical truth (
Deu 6:4; Mk 12:30). We should strive to hide the word of God in our hearts, yearning for the light of God’s wisdom, so that we might not sin against him (
Psalm 119:11). As our love and desire to please God drives us forward, what other things do the Scriptures teach about the role of baptism?
Baptism is Part of the Salvific Process
Baptism is part of the process of salvation, but does not achieve salvation by itself. There are some who believe and teach that the mere act of baptism is salvific; the Bible does not teach this. Most groups that baptize babies believe that the act of baptism itself, apart from faith or willingness to submit to Christ, bring about the forgiveness of sins. This error is what many people are really trying to refute when they argue that baptism is for the forgiveness of sins. I iterate: the Bible does not teach nor am I advocating that forgiveness is associated with the mere act of baptism.
Peter does clearly state, on two occasions, that baptism is part of the salvific process:
1 Peter 3:21: “
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 good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
Acts 2:38: “
Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’
If we reduce
1 Peter 3:21 to its simplest form, we have the following sentence: “Baptism now saves you through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” This is a very straightforward statement about the connection baptism has with the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Paul will make the same connection in
Romans 6:3-11:
“
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, 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. 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 in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Baptism unites the believer with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul would say in
Galatians 2:20 states that he was crucified with Christ. How are we united with his crucifixion, i.e. his death? Paul and Peter agree that baptism is what unites us with the death of Jesus. More than that, baptism unites us with the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. In all of the Scriptures, this is the only process described as uniting believers with the death and resurrection of Jesus. Paul clearly states these things in
Romans 6:3-4.
Baptism is for the Remission of Sins
That baptism is for the remission of sins is most specifically stated in two places:
Acts 2:38 and
Acts 22:16.
Acts 2:38: “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.”
Acts 22:16: “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’”
In one place, Paul is told to wash away his sins with baptism, in another Peter informs a crowd of Jews to be “baptized…for the forgiveness of sins.” These are very straightforward passages of the Scriptures which clearly, explicitly, and deliberately link baptism with the forgiveness God offers to all people; baptism is clearly part of the salvific process.
Though the English text is clear enough, the Greek text is even clearer. The Greek preposition εἰς, as stated earlier, means “for the purpose of” or “in order to” and is used with the “implication of expected result” (Louw Nida 89.57). Interestingly enough, while some have argued based on the English word “for” as meaning “because of”, the Greek word εἰς is never translated as “because of” in the entire New Testament. This is significant because it appears 1,762 times, and not in one of those places is εἰς ever translated as “because of”. Not ever. Not once. Major, scholarly lexicons do not even offer this as a definition. To suggest otherwise in the face of such strong evidence is to be grasping at straws to support a tradition rather than the plain teaching of the New Testament.
Again, it should be noted, that baptism in and of itself is not capable of achieving salvation. It is not a work of the law. If it was the mere act of baptism that saved people, then preaching the gospel would not be necessary; we would be better served by lifting weights and traveling the world forcing people under water.
Baptism was Preached as Part of the Gospel
In addition to the very explicit passages already mentioned, there is even further evidence that baptism is part of the salvific process. In the New Testament, the gospel of Jesus is sometimes presented in very generic terms. By examining these places, we can deduce that baptism is necessary even if there were no explicit passages, which, again, clearly indicate that baptism is something that must take place.
We can do this because the Scriptures are logical; they have to be in order to properly and adequately convey information. The more logical a document, the most efficiently and accurately it conveys information. Jesus not only instructed his disciples to preach and teach baptism (cf
Mark 16:16, Matthew 28:18-20), but we can see them actually teaching such things.
In
Acts 8:26ff, Philip is introduced to a man from Ethiopia by the Holy Spirit. During their meeting, Philip would preach “the good news about Jesus” to him (
Acts 8:35). We aren’t told what the content of his teaching was, but we can see the man’s reaction. When he saw water, his response was, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” (
Acts 8:36) Why would he ask this question if baptism was not being discussed. While baptism is not the sum total of the gospel message, it is certainly part of it.
Another example occurs in
Acts 16:25-34. A jailor in Philippi asked Paul what needed to be done in order to be saved. Paul told the man to believe in the Lord Jesus and he would be saved. But what does that mean? What needs to be believed? The jailor didn’t know anything about Jesus, and to believe in someone as Lord (ruler) besides Caesar was treasonous. When Paul “spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house” they were all “baptized at once” (
Acts 16:32-33). Why would they be baptized at once, unless baptism was part of the message about Jesus? Getting dunked in water is not a natural response to hearing good news, unless baptism is
PART of the good news.
There are very explicit places in the New Testament where baptism is commanded. However, even if they didn’t exist, we could still deduce from these passages, and others like them, that baptism is something commanded by God, taught and believed by the disciples in the first century, and something that all who would become Christians must do.
Summary
So, the summary of what the New Testament clearly teaches about baptism is that it connects the believer with the burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the “regeneration” of the sinner, or the “new birth” in which one is “born again”; Paul clearly states that baptism brings us into a newness of life, and what is that other than a rebirth? Additionally, Peter says quite clearly that baptism is part of the salvific process.
It Does Not Earn Salvation
There is nothing that can be done to earn our salvation. Period. This truth does not, however, mean that there is nothing God requires of those who desire salvation. Repentance is something that God requires; we must change our mind about who Jesus is and begin to follow him. We must repent of our unbelief to the point that we’re willing to obey and follow Jesus. Without this repentance, one cannot be saved. Does repentance earn salvation? No, it doesn’t.
Assume that someone is giving you a birthday present. You have done nothing to earn the birthday present, but there are still some conditions before you can have the present. First, you have to show up to your party. If you don’t go, then you won’t get the present. Secondly, you have to accept the gift. Your friend might bring you a gift, but if you refuse it, then you certainly won’t receive it. Thirdly, you have to open the gift. If you leave it unopened on the table, then you never get to experience or use the gift. Do any of these conditions earn the present? Of course not, but they certainly must be met before you can enjoy the gift you’re being given.
None of the conditions that God has placed on salvation earn the free gift; just like the example above, they are merely steps to receive the gift that God so graciously gives. Belief is required to be saved, but believing certainly doesn’t earn God’s favor. Repentance is required, but that doesn’t earn God’s favor. Baptism is required, but does not earn God’s favor either; one will not be able to boast about being baptized because it is no way earns or sets one apart as special (cf.
Luke 17:10).
Based upon the above evidence, is it necessary and right to conclude that “baptism is commanded by God for the remission of sins. Baptism plays a critical part in salvation and is something all who would become Christians must do.”
I am looking foward to the questions
@Cuddles222 may have about these things.