BAPTISM:
A Simple Command
Acts 2:38, “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.”
One of the things I love the most about the gospel message is the simplicity of it all.
2 Cor. 1:12, “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world and more abundantly to youward.”
There is a reason the Bible refers to the children of God as sheep. It is because we are not like giraffes; we don’t find our food in the treetops. We get our nourishment a lot closer to the ground. And any preacher who hangs his message in the treetops is not going to feed many sheep.
A little old sister once came through the line shaking hands, and she told me, “Brother Hunt, I enjoyed that; that was deep preaching.” I did not say anything, but she kind of hurt my feelings. I sure was not trying to do any deep preaching.
I believe we have had enough deep preaching. We need more simple preaching, more plain preaching. We need preaching the people can understand.
I never have had anybody tell me, “Brethren Hunt, I would have enjoyed that a lot more if it had not been so simple.”
When somebody tells me, “I like to listen to that man; he is a deep preacher, I understand that to mean, I like to listen to him talk, but I don’t have the foggiest idea of what he was talking about.
There is nothing that thrills me more than to have a little fellow, perhaps ten or twelve years old, to come through the line and tell me, “Preacher, I enjoyed your preaching; I could understand it.”
There is a slogan I try to go by: preach so the little ones can understand it—and hope the old folks can keep up.
I don’t want to sound mean, but I have an idea that a lot of this deep preaching is more calculated to impress people than it is to feed them. Three times in John, chapter twenty-one, the Lord told Peter to feed my sheep, or feed my lambs. He never once told him to impress my people.
We preachers are not college professors—not many of us are anyway—and we do not benefit the cause if we try to sound as if we were teaching advanced courses in theology.
Gospel obedience
It is important that we preach on Bible doctrine if we expect our people to be sound in the faith. But it is equally important that we spend a large amount of our time preaching about gospel obedience.
And when it comes to gospel obedience, the lesson is simple enough. The very first lesson with regard to gospel obedience is repent and baptized.
Repent and be Baptized
Acts 2:38, “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.”
There is no more important lesson, with regard to gospel obedience, than those twin commands— repent and be baptized. We need to point out, first of all that, there are exactly three points of view with regard to water baptism, and we need to sort out the difference before we go any farther.
First, there are those who believe baptism in water is everything. They believe those who are never baptized in water are going to burn forever. Some of them go so far as to say that if you are never baptized by one of their own preachers you are going to burn. That notion (in both forms) is patently false; the Bible teaches no such thing. We will make a few comments on that doctrine, but since it is an entirely made up doctrine, we will not spend a lot of time talking about it.
Then, there are those who believe baptism in water is nothing — or next to nothing. They believe— or at least they imply— that baptism is a nice gesture you can make toward God and religion— if you feel so inclined. But since water baptism is not essential to gain heaven, or to escape hell, it does not make a lot of difference, either way. That doctrine is equally false.
I don’t believe for a minute that those brethren intend to show contempt for our Lord and our obedience to him, when they teach (or imply) that baptism is nothing more than a nice gesture.
But their willingness to minimize our duty to obey God’s clear command is a serious matter, and it should not pass unnoticed. It is a serious matter to teach that it is of little consequence whether we obey God’s commandment.
Matt. 5:19, “But whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, the same shall called the least in the kingdom of God.”
Notice that those who show such disdain for God’s command-ment are still in the kingdom—they are still children of God. But the Lord says they shall be called the least in the kingdom. It is a serious matter to encourage God’s children to disobey.
Those who believe baptism is everything
We will spend most of our time on that aspect of the subject, but, first, we need to spend just a little time talking about those who teach that baptism is everything—those who teach that any person who is never baptized in water is going to burn. That is a false doctrine— entirely alien to the Scriptures — and we will not spend much time with it, but we do need to spend a few moments clearing the ground before we proceed. It is hard to build anything until you clear away the under-brush.
Once the heaven-born soul comes to the knowledge of the truth it is his duty to repent and be baptized. Bear in mind that the command to be baptized is directed to the born again person; it is not directed toward those who are still dead in trespasses and sins. The wicked—those the Lord refers to as goats (Matt. 25:32,33)—and who will one day burn forever, are never commanded to be baptized.
Very few of the Pharisees and Sadducees gave evidence they had any love for God, or that the Spirit of God was in their hearts, and when some of them came to John looking to be baptized, he refused to do it. The wicked, those who never have been, and never will be, born again, are not commanded to be baptized, and no minister is under any command to baptize them.
Matt. 3:7, “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come.’
Rather than baptize them, he called them a generation of vipers (a family of snakes), and wanted to know who sent for them—who commanded them to be baptized? He command-ed them to:
“Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance,”
vs. 8.
Repentance and baptism go together. The command to be baptized is to those who have repented of their sins. These Pharisees and Sadducees showed no signs of repentance, no signs they had been born again, and John would have nothing to do with them.
If water baptism was for the purpose of making children of God, John would have said, “Okay, you bunch of snakes, come on down, and I will make sheep out of you.” He called them a bunch of snakes, and he would not baptize them.
We are under no obligation to baptize anybody and everybody who asks to be baptized. These arrogant and self-righteous Pharisees and Sadducees came expecting John to baptize them. No doubt, they thought John would feel honored to baptize people so important as they were. Why should he not jump at the opportunity to add such high and exalted individuals to his list of followers? But they showed no signs of repentance from their sins. There is no evidence that they thought of themselves as sinners.
Baptism and repentance go together; but repentance precedes baptism, and if somebody shows no signs of repentance, we have no business baptizing him.
John was, no doubt, surrounded by penitent sinners, weeping over their sinful condition, and these proud, arrogant Pharisees and Sadducees must have stood out like a sore thumb. They did not fit in with that host of weeping sinners —and John turned them away.
The dead alien sinner is not commanded to
believe the gospel and be baptized
The religious world imagines that those who suffer in eternal damnation will be there, because they failed to believe the gospel. Some insist they will be there because they failed to believe and be baptized in water.
The wicked will spend eternity in hell, because they are wicked, and that is where they deserve to be.
They will not be there, because they failed to believe the gospel, and they will not be there, because they failed to be baptized in water.
The gospel is not intended for those who have never been born again, and we should not expect that the wicked person will suffer eternally for failing to believe that Christ died for his sins. The Lord suffered and died for the sheep; he died for the elect. He did not die for the goats.
John 10:11,“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”
Perhaps an illustration is in order. Imagine a man dies and leaves his entire estate of one hundred million dollars to be divided equally between his five children. Each of them receives twenty million dollars—simply because they are his heirs—they are members of his family.
Imagine there are five other people living in that community. They have no relation to the man who died, and they are not his friends. For that matter, they hate him with a passion, and they would do away with him if they could. Perhaps, from time to time, they have tried to do just that.
I ask you, what obligation are they under to believe they are heirs of that man’s estate? What punishment is due them for not believing they are heirs? Answer: It makes no difference what they believe about that estate. The rich man who died was under no obligation to include them in his estate, and they are under no obligation to believe that he did. Those who will one day burn forever are no friends to God—they are rather his bitter enemies. They are not heirs to the grace of God, and they are under no obligation to believe they are.
The Law and the gospel are not the same
Much of the confusion in the religious world has to do with the simple fact that not many people realize that the law and the gospel are not the same thing. Every person born of Adam is obligated to respect the moral law of God and observe its precepts.
The moral law of God provides instructions for all mankind. That law forbids lying, killing, stealing and so on, and it is the duty of every person born of Adam to obey those instructions —or suffer the consequences. Those instructions touch every aspect of our lives. They involve everything we do, every-thing we say, and every thought we allow into our minds.
The gospel is a different matter altogether. The gospel is the good news that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,” 1 Cor. 15:2. The wicked are not required to believe that for the simple fact that it does not apply to them.
We said it before; Christ died for the sheep (John 10:11); he did not die for the goats; and he said to the wicked, “Ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you,” (vs. 26).
He did not shed his blood for so much as one of those who will suffer eternally. If one of those Christ died for should wind up in eternal damnation, it would mean that God is collecting the same debt twice— once at the hands of his Son on the cross, and again at the hands of the sinner, who is suffering eternally to pay that same sin debt. We would not have respect for any business man who would collect a debt that has already been paid. Who would dare accuse the God of heaven of any such thing.
On that final day he will set the sheep, those he suffered and died for on the right; he will set the goats on the left. There is an eternal burning hell, and the wicked will be there for all eternity. But they will not be there because they failed to believe the gospel, and they will not be there, because they were never baptized in water. They will be there, because they are wicked, and that is where they deserve to be.
In Matthew chapter twenty-five, the Lord described those who will be set on his left hand. He called them goats. Find, if you can, one expression that indicates they will be in hell because they failed to heed the gospel call. Find any indication they will suffer eternally, because they failed to be baptized in water.
The gospel message is that “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.” That does not apply to those who will one day suffer eternally. There is no reason they should believe what does not apply to them, and there is no reason they should be punished for not believing it.
What the Bible does teach about water baptism
Perhaps that is enough said about that doctrine which teaches that baptism is everything. We will spend the remainder of our time talking about what the Bible does teach about water baptism.
When it comes to gospel obedience, the lesson is simple enough. The very first lesson with regard to gospel obedience is repent and baptized.
Acts 2:38, “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.”
By the way, those two words go together—repent and be baptized. They are like fire and heat—they form a unit.
Fire results in heat, and true repentance results in baptism.It is by being baptized— baptized in water—that you indicate you have repented of your old ways. If you have not been baptized, you have not truly repented.
Let me say at this point that we are not in danger of putting too much importance on baptism in water.
Those people who believe baptism is everything do not over emphasize baptism—the rather apply it in the wrong way. They claim for baptism what it cannot do. They claim for it the ability to make children of God.
Baptism in water is not necessary in order to be a child of God— but it is necessary in order to be an obedient child of God. Our main purpose in putting this little study together is to point the great importance of baptism—in its proper place.
We should not throw out the baby with the wash water. The fact that baptism does not make children of God does not give anyone the right to minimize its importance. Repentance and baptism stand at the very forefront of the gospel message.
Matt. 3:1,6, “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand….and [they] were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.”
That was the message then, and it is the message now. On the day of Pentecost Peter said the same thing:
Acts 2:38, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ….”
In the very beginning of the gospel, before he preached anything else, John the Baptist preached repentance and baptism. On the day of Pentecost, before he preached anything else, Peter preached repentance and baptism. If baptism in water is nothing, or next to nothing, we cannot help but wonder why it occupies such a primary place in the gospel message.
The simplicity of the gospel
That brings us back to the simplicity of it all. One of the differences between the Law and the gospel is in the complexity of the Law and the simplicity of the gospel.
In my Bible there are more than one hundred pages of detailed instructions with regard to the feasts, and sacrifices, and ceremonies of the Law.
I was eleven years old the first time I waded through all those instructions, and they leave me about as confused and disoriented today as they did then. I have learned a lot in studying those requirements, but I do not claim to have them all sorted out.
Some sacrifices required a sheep (Exo. 12:3), and some required a goat (Lev. 16:8). Some required a male lamb (Lev. 1:10), and some required a female (Lev. 4:32). And some-times either one was alright (Lev. 3:1).
Sometimes the priest stood at the door of the tabernacle (Lev. 1:5), and sometimes he stood on the north side of the altar (Lev. 1:11). They had one sacrifice for the priest (Lev. 4:3), and another sacrifice for the ruler (Lev. 4:22), and another for the common people (Lev. 4:27). Those requirements and distinctions go on and on for a hundred pages or more.
The gospel is different; there are two simple ordinances. They are water baptism and the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper. Feetwashing is not an ordinance; it is not administered by an ordained minister. A person has to be ordained to administer the ordinances. A person does not have to be an ordained minister to perform feetwashing.
The Lord called it an example.
“Behold I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done unto you,” John 13:15.
Baptism and submission to God’s command
Baptism is an ordinance. It is a commandment; and it is the first step in the pathway of gospel obedience. And what a simple ordinance it is. It could not be any simpler. All you have to do is offer yourself—and submit. You submit yourself to the minister and he does all the work.
The principle of submission is at the very heart of the ordinance. You cannot separate baptism from the principle of submission. Keep in mind that the opposite of submission is rebellion. You cannot separate baptism from submission any more than you can separate baptism from repentance.
Submission lies at the very heart of baptism, in the same way that repentance lies at the heart of baptism. In the same way heat is the evidence of fire, baptism is the evidence of repentance.
The symbolic lesson of baptism could not be any simpler.
Baptism represents death, burial, and resurrection. It repre-sents the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord. And it testifies to our own death to the old Law Service, and death to our old way and ways. It testifies that we are risen to walk in newness of life.
Rom. 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him that is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God
6, but now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
Notice two things: we are risen to walk in communion with our Lord and in obedience him. We are become dead to our old way and ways. We are dead to the sin and immorality that once identified our conduct. And we are now risen to a new life in the Spirit. That change takes place in regeneration, but we bear witness to it in baptism.
Dead to the law, and dead to the world
and the world’s religion
In being baptized we signify that we are now dead to that old Law religion, that old religion of bondage, and we are risen to this new way of living and worshiping in the Spirit.
Many a child of God, who has been made alive in Christ— in his heart and mind— is still married to the old Law. He is in bondage because he still believes he can work his way to heaven. So long as—in his heart and mind—he is still married to the Law he will never enjoy the liberty that is found in fully trusting in the Lord.
There is many a child of God who has seen the beauty of the Lord’s church and he would like to have a home with the saints. But, at some point in time, he joined a denominational church, and they provided him with what for them passes for baptism. He still has an idolatrous attachment to that baptism, and he will never come home to the church. So long as he has that kind of attachment to the world, he is not ready to come home. It is only when he becomes dead to the world, to the world’s religion, and its artificial ordinances that he is ready to be married to the Lord.
There are others who have some affection for the church and they would like to enjoy those benefits that belong to its members, but they are still fully committed to their old religious connections. In Paul’s language, they are still married to their old law husband. It does not matter that the denominational churches allow that kind of double connec-tion. The Lord’s church— the bride of Christ— is not interested in any such arrangement.
They see no difference between the Lord’s church and denominational churches. Perhaps, nobody has ever shown them the difference. We ministers must share some of the fault for not fully informing our people. But, because they believe there is no real difference, they cannot understand why they cannot enjoy the benefits of the church at the same time they are still married to the world and its religion.
It is only when they become “dead to the law by the body of Christ” (Rom. 7:4), that they are ready to be “married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead” (same verse). That will be time enough to enjoy the Lord’s Table. So long as their law husband still lives in their hearts—so long as they are still married to the world, they are not ready to be married to the Lord, and to enjoy those benefits that belong to his bride, the church. So long as they are unwilling to obey the Lord in the matter of baptism, they are not yet ready to enjoy the benefits of membership in his church.
Baptism: a simple ordinance
We said it before; baptism is a simple ordinance. It would be impossible for anybody to provide a simpler and more graphic representation of death, burial and resurrection than the Lord has provided in water baptism. When a person is baptized, he closes his eyes, quits breathing, becomes completely submissive to the minister, is lowered beneath the water, is raised up again, opens his eyes, shakes his head, to shake off the water, and again begins to breathe and show signs of life.
If anybody can come up with a simpler or clearer figure of death, burial, and resurrection, I would like for him to show me how he does it.
We said a moment ago that the underlying principle in baptism is submission. The subject is totally submissive to the minister.
And we pointed out that the opposite of submission is rebellion. We should keep that fact always in mind. You cannot be baptized without submitting.
There is another side to that coin—if baptism signifies submission—the failure to be baptized signifies rebellion— and the heaven-born soul cannot refuse to be baptized without being in rebellion against God’s clear commandment.
The boundary line between
gospel obedience and rebellion
Since the underlying principle in baptism is submission, and the opposite of submission is rebellion, it is easy to see why the Lord identifies water baptism as being the boundary line between submission and rebellion. He identifies it as the boundary line between gospel obedience and disobedience. Again, the longer I live, and the more I study my Bible, the more amazed I am at ths simplicity of it all.
In the strongest and clearest language the Lord draws the boundary line between submission to him, and rebellion against him, between those who are in the kingdom and those who are outside.
Luke 7:29,30, “And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.”
Notice that Luke makes a clear distinction between those who justified God and those who rejected the counsel of God. And that distinction has to do with whether they were or were not baptized.
To justify means to declare to be just. The Lord tells us that those who were baptized by John justified God, that is, they declared God to be just. By that act, they declared that God has every just right to require them to be baptized.
Those who refused John’s baptism rejected the counsel of God. By their action, they declared that God is not just—they declared that he does not have the right to require them to be baptized. Not only did they reject the counsel of God—they “rejected the counsel of God against themselves.” They rejected the counsel of God to their own condemnation.
Keep it in mind that deliverance from hell, and salvation for heaven are not under consideration. Baptism in water has nothing to do with our home in heaven. Being baptized in water will not make you a child of God, and failure to be baptized will not cause anybody to miss heaven.
But, having said all that, we should never get the idea that water baptism is not really worth anything, or that it is not worth much. If water baptism is so insignificant a matter as some people seem to think it is, I cannot help but wonder, why the Lord thrust it so far forward in the gospel message.
Why do the Lord and the apostles make baptism such a central requirement in the gospel message? Why is that the first thing we read about that first gospel preacher?
Water baptism and time salvation
Water baptism has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with our eternal salvation, but water baptism occupies as important a place in what we call our time salvation, as election and predestination do in our eternal salvation. There is no way any man will ever see heaven unless God has chosen him, redeemed him, and predestinated him to be there.
And, by the same token, there is no way any man will ever walk in gospel obedience (time salvation) so long as he rejects the counsel of God against himself in rebelling against God’s commandment to repent and be baptized.
Time salvation is for the obedient child of God. It is for the person who walks with his Lord, and enjoys his company. It is not for the rebel who pushes aside the gospel message— who pushes the Lord away. It is not for the person who, year after year walks in stubborn rebellion against the clear commandment of God.
Our Primitive Baptists have it right as regards the distinction we make between time salvation and eternal salvation. That is the one thing, more than any other, that distinguishes between our people and the rest of the religious world. That person who rejects the reality of time salvation puts himself closer to the denominational world than he is to the Lord’s church.
Baptism in water does not make any person a child of God, but any preacher makes a fatal mistake when he minimizes the importance of water baptism. He makes a fatal mistake when he implies that, because water baptism will not gain you a home in heaven, it is not really important whether you are baptized.
You may keep the moral law without being baptized. You may tell the truth and keep your promises. You may refrain from doing those things that would get you in trouble with the authorities. You may attend worship services and give to support the church.
But there is a difference between simple morality and gospel obedience. The only way you will ever truly enjoy true fellowship and communion with the Lord in the gospel kingdom is by obeying God’s clear and simple command to repent and be baptized.
Failure to obey your Lord in being baptized means you will be forever on the outside looking in. You will spend your life pretending you can enjoy God’s blessings as much in rebellion as others can in obedience—but it is just not so.
If you have never taken that first step in gospel obedience, you should follow your Lord in baptism. Like the Queen of Sheba, you may discover that “the half was not told me.”
Not everybody is a proper subject for baptism
Not everybody is a proper subject for baptism. John refused to baptize those proud, arrogant, and self-righteous Pharisees and Sadducees who came to him to be baptized.
This is as good a place as any to mention that we are not under any obligation to baptize anybody and everybody who asks to be baptized. These arrogant and self-righteous Pharisees and Sadducees came expecting John to baptize them. No doubt, they thought John would feel honored to baptize people so important as they were. Why should he not jump at the opportunity to add such such high and exalted individuals to his list of followers? But they showed no signs of repentance from their sins. There is no evidence that they thought of themselves as sinners.
There are others at the opposite end of the scale who are not proper subjects for baptism.
Baptism and repentance go together; but repentance precedes baptism, and if somebody shows no signs of repentance, we have no business baptizing him.
John was, no doubt, surrounded by penitent sinners, weeping over their sinful condition, and these proud, arrogant Pharisees and Sadducees must have stood out like a sore thumb. They did not fit into that host of weeping sinners— and John turned them away.
The proud, the arrogant, and the self-righteous are not the only ones we are to reject. We are to receive and baptize those who have repented of their sins and turned from them. We have no right to receive those who are still in love with their sin—those whose lives, or whose living conditions, would scandalize the Lord and his church.
Rev. 22:14, “Blessed are they that do his command-ments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
15, “For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”
Those who are engaged in such conduct are outside the city, and we should leave them outside. We have no right to receive those whose lives give no indication the Spirit of God lives in their hearts. And any time you bring those false brethren—imposters—into the church, you are inviting trouble.
Gal. 2:4, “And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage.”
Water baptism: the false and the true
I cannot leave the subject without pointing out that not everything that passes for baptism is really baptism. The Bible teaches, and our Primitive Baptists have always believed there is such a thing as alien baptism, and we have never accepted alien baptism as being the real thing.
The one example of alien baptism in the Bible is in Acts, chapters eighteen and nineteen. It has to do with Apollos and those he baptized before Priscilla and Aquila took himself aside and “expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.”
Acts 18:24 And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.
25 This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.
26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.
Apollos was “instructed in the ways of the Lord;” he was “fervent in the spirit,” and “he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord,” But all he knew was the baptism of John.” The baptism of John and the baptism of the Lord and the apostles were one and the same, or else the Lord himself never had New Testament, or gospel, baptism. John baptized the Lord.
Apollos got his baptism from John. But the fact that Apollos was baptized by John did not give him the authority to copy John’s baptism, set up on his own, and start baptizing people. That is obviously what Apollos did.
Somebody may object that the text does not say that Apollos baptized those twelve men in chapter nineteen. That is right, it does not, but as old Elder S.A. Paine used to say, “There is enough circumstantial evidence to convict him in any court in the land.” If Apollos did not baptize those men, I wonder what is the purpose in the Holy Spirit’s providing this account immediately following the record of Priscila and Aquila setting him straight.
Acts 19:1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,
2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.
3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism.
4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Those men told Paul they had been baptized “unto John’s baptism,” but that was unsatisfactory. Paul explained that John did not baptize in his own name; he baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
I don’t doubt that most of those who trust in their alien baptism are sincere, and these men seem to have been sincere, because when Paul explained the difference, they did not hesitate. “They were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” (verse 5). That is the only passage in the Bible dealing with alien baptism, but if we accept the Bible for what it says, one is enough.
We are not called Baptists for nothing. The Lord’s command is;
“Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” Matt. 28:19.
The command is clear enough; first teach, then baptize.” That is the reason our people have always rejected infant baptism. Infants are not capable of being taught. They are not proper subjects of baptism. When we are told to teach before baptizing, it seems obvious that he intends for us to teach them the truth, teach them the lessons of the gospel.
He does not mean to teach them anything and everything. If a preacher preaches falsehood, if he preaches something other than the gospel, he has neither the authority nor the capacity to baptize. He can get somebody wet; but he cannot baptize him.
That is why we have always rejected Arminian baptism. An Arminian preacher is unable to provide anything other than Arminian baptism. That falls far short of being scriptural baptism, and that is where our problem arises.
Four things necessary to constitute valid baptism
There are exactly four things necessary in order for there to be scriptural baptism.
First, there must be a scriptural subject. The person to be baptized must be a penitent believer in Christ Jesus. When the Ethiopian eunuch asked Philip, “What doth hinder me to be baptized,” Acts 8:36. Philip told him, “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest,” verse 37. In other words, if he was not a believer, he would not have been a proper subject for baptism.
Infants are not capable of believing; they are not proper subjects for baptism. And those who have embraced heretical doctrines are not true believers; they are not proper subjects for baptism.
Second there must be a scriptural administrator. The person doing the baptizing must be an ordained minister of the gospel. The apostles were capable of providing valid baptism. The Lord first called them, then he ordained them, then he sent them out to teach and to baptize. That was the order then and it is the order now.
John 15:16, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit.”
Matt. 28:19, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.”
Third, there must be a scriptural authority, a minister operating under the authority of a New Testament church. A preacher cannot just set up on his own and start baptizing people. That was Apollos’ problem. He was not operating under the authority of any church. He appears to have just set up on his own.
Acts 13:2,3, “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.”
3, “And when they ad fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.”
And fourth, there must be a scriptural mode. People refer to the different modes of baptizing, as if sprinkling and pouring were modes of baptizing.
The word baptize literally means to dip—to immerse. To refer to sprinkling as a mode of baptizing is like referring to sprinkling as a mode of dipping or immersing. You would think a little child could see through that. Sprinkling is a mode of sprinkling; it is not a mode of dipping.
Mark 1:4, “John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentane for the remission of sins.
5, And there went out unto him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.
John baptized them in the river of Jordan—he plunged them in the river. That does not mean he sprinkled a few drops of water on their heads.
John 3:23, “John also was baptizing in Enon near to Salim, because there was much water there; and they came and were baptized.”
Any way you look at it, a few drops of water is not much. It takes much water to immerse a person. John went to Jordan where there was enough water to immerse penitent sinners, to bury them in the water.
Acts 8:35, “Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.”
36, “And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?”
The eunuch was traveling through a desert (verse 26); who can imagine that he did not carry enough drinking water to baptize him— if a few drops sprinkled on his head was all he needed? They came to a certain water— enough water to immerse him— and he said, “See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized?”
Baptism was established by our Lord; it belongs to him.
He placed it in his church as part of the furniture of the church. He has the right to define what baptism is, and how it is to be administered. We do not dare lay unholy hands on his property and change it in any way. We don’t dare minimize an ordinance on which our Lord placed so much importance.
God’s commandment is, “Repent and be baptized every one of you.” How little he requires of us, considering all he gave for us.
THE END