New Episode of
Spiritual Court: Scriptural Baptism on Trial
Introduction: Today we will hear the case/ arguments that much of
the denominational world has against scriptural baptism.
A. The Prosecution will try to prove that baptism is not
essential or necessary to a person's salvation.
1.
Baptism is only a symbolic act and has
no direct, or essential connection to receiving the
remission
of sins.
2. How a person is baptized: As a baby,
sprinkled, poured, etc. is a unimportant and foolish
to debate,
it is the thought that counts.
3. The prosecution plans to prove that
baptism for the remission of sins is a false teaching, a heresy and
a complete misunderstanding of baptism.
B. The Defense (Scriptural Baptism) will defend himself using
only the Word of God, teachings of Jesus and
the Apostles as his witnesses.
1.
He wants to acknowledge that God, in
His great mercy has made salvation available to the world
through the
death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
2.
He will attempt to prove that "he
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved"; that baptism is "for
the
remission of sins"; "that we are buried with him by baptism into
death" and "that as many of you
as
have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ".
3.
He will attempt to show that God has
made baptism His ordained way to request and receive the
salvation
which has been made possible through the death of Christ.
C. Today, let us enter the courtroom where baptism is on trial
and listen in as the prosecution attempts to make
its case against baptism for the remission of sins.
1.
Today’s Judge will be the Word of God
which liveth and abideth forever (1 Pet 1:23; John 12:48).
John 12:47-50 ""As for the person who hears my
words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge
the world, but to save it. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and
does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last
day. 49 For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me
commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 I know that his command leads to
eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to
say.""
1 Pet 1:22-23 "Now that you have purified yourselves
by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one
another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of
perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of
God."
Bailiff to Baptism: Do you promise to tell the truth and nothing
but the truth so help you God??
Baptism: I Do
Prosecution: We intend to prove today that Baptism is not necessary
for salvation, but that it is merely the outward sign of salvation which has
already occurred at the point of belief alone.
Baptism: In my own defense, I do not claim that my water has any
power to save a person, but I do assert that I am God’s ordained way for a
believing sinner to request and receive salvation. As God and His Word are my
witness. If I (Baptism) am the outward sign of an inward faith, then not being
scriptually baptized is the outward sign of no inward faith in God's Word.
Prosecution: Let us begin by
noting that perhaps the majority of the religious, who claim to follow Jesus,
accept sprinkling or pouring water on a baby as God approved
"baptism." Would you cast
doubt on this practice accepted by a multitude of people and suggest they have
not complied with God's command to be baptized?
Baptism: I guess I could say "I Do" again and here is
why. First of all, the majority of
scholars agree that my Greek name (baptizo) would be most accurately translated
by the word "immersion." Biblically
speaking the word means to dip, to plunge or to immerse. A few versions actually call me
"Immersion" instead of "Baptism." The Bible speaks of me also as a burial. Is sprinkling dirt on top of a body the same
thing as a burial? God, in the scriptures,
used a word which means immersion and this is easily proven. The question is not what did God say, the
question is will God accept men substituting something else in the place of
what He has ordained? The only reason
why the English Bible contains the word "baptism" is because the
original translators held to a religion which did not teach immersion. So
instead of translating the word "baptizo" accurately, they did what
is called "transliteration."
This means they brought a Greek word spelled with English letters into
their Bible. By doing this they
essentially hid the meaning of what God's Word says so their human practice of
sprinkling would not clearly contradict what God required.
I should also point out that God
requires that to be baptized, one must believe (Mark 16:15,16). He must
understand enough of God's Word (Rm 10:17) to make a personal decision to put
his faith in Jesus. There are no
commands in the Bible to immerse those who do not believe. Infants are not acceptable candidates for
faith or baptism.
God said literally: He that
believes in Jesus and is immersed shall be saved. Millions have never done the very first thing
God has required to demonstrate true faith.
It is a matter of simply believing what God has said or not believing
what God has said. Did God mean what He
said? The Bible teaches "believer
immersion", not unbeliever sprinkling.
Prosecution: We have
witnesses who say that you are merely a Jewish ceremonial washing which the
early Jewish Christians imposed on one another and then on the Gentiles. You
are only symbolic and have no essential role in a person’s salvation.
Baptism: I must confess that I am very symbolic, but my role in
God’s plan of salvation did not arise out of custom for I was sent directly
from God who inspired men to baptize those who were ready to receive the
kingdom of heaven:
1. John first preached me because God told
him to:
John 1:33:
"And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom
thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he
which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost."
2. Jesus, who only taught what God gave
Him, taught and baptized even more disciples than John.
John 4:1-2:
"When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that
Jesus made and baptized more disciples
than John, 2 (Though Jesus himself
baptized not, but his disciples,)"
Prosecution: Aha! So Jesus did not do the baptizing Himself! That
proves that it is not essential to salvation!
Baptism: All it proves is that Jesus devoted Himself to teaching
the people their need to be baptized for the remission of sins and assigned His
disciples to do the actual baptizing. Jesus may also have been trying to avoid
the tendency for people to place too much significance on who it was that
actually baptized them, like Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians chapter 1.
Prosecution: So you became very popular in the days of John the
Baptist, but didn’t John tell the people that your days were numbered when he
said that he baptized with water, but that the one who came after him would
baptize with the Holy Spirit. This meant that you were to step aside and be
replaced by Holy Spirit baptism!
Baptism: Yes, it is true that Jesus would immerse His disciples
with God’s Spirit, which John could not do. But, John did not say that water baptism
would come to an end or no longer have a place in God’s plan to save mankind.
In fact, Jesus Himself preached water baptism for the remission of sins after
His resurrection from the dead, He commanded that His disciples preach the
Gospel to all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit.
Mat 28:19-20:
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto
the end of the world. Amen."
In Mark, Jesus commanded that the
Gospel be preached to every person in the world, adding that those who believed
and were baptized would be saved. Jesus gave His disciples a clear command that
they were to continue practicing baptism all over the world. His instruction is
simple: Belief plus Baptism were made essential to receiving Salvation.
Mark 16:15-16:
"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the
gospel to every creature. 16 He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be
damned."
Prosecution: Objection! He did not say that those who believed and
were not baptized would be damned?
Baptism: But He did say that those who believe and submit to
baptism shall be saved. Could you add the word “not” and still have an accurate
statement from Jesus: “He that believeth and is NOT baptized shall be saved.?”
Prosecution: (Speechless).
Prosecution: Let us move on
to the day of Pentecost, where you again showed up to confuse the disciples
into thinking that you had something to do with the remission of sins, when in
fact the people were already forgiven before they were baptized!
Baptism: Things did not happen that day as you say. In reality, the
Apostles were simply preaching the message that Jesus had commanded them to
preach. They told them that Jesus was the Christ who God raised from the dead
and exalted as King. When the people heard and believed in Jesus, they asked
the Apostles what they should do now that they understood who Christ was. The
Apostles told them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of their sins, promising them that God’s Holy Spirit would be
with them. That day three thousand souls
gladly received the divine instructions and were baptized, God adding them to
the church as they were saved.
Acts 2:38-41:
"Then Peter said unto them, 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. 39 For
the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall
call. 40 And with many other words
did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward
generation. 41 Then they that gladly
received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand
souls."
Acts 2:47:
"Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord
added to the church daily such as should be saved."
Prosecution: We have expert
witnesses in the Greek language which say that “for” the remission of sins
should really read “because of” the remissions of sins, meaning that baptism
was only a symbol of the remission of sins that they had already received.
Baptism: Starting with John,
the Bible clearly says that the purpose of baptism is “for the remission of
sins.”
Mark 1:4:
"John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of
repentance for the remission of sins."
The
prophet Ananias told Paul that he should be baptized to wash away his sins in
Acts 22:16:
Acts 22:16:
"And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away
thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord."
No
major translation of the Bible, old or modern translates this passage with the
words “because of.” To show that you are twisting the scriptures consider what
would happen if you translated the same Greek word (eis) to say “because of” in
Matthew 26:28.
Mat 26:28: "For this is my blood of the new
testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."
Did
Jesus shed His blood “because of” the remission of sins or because their sins
had already been forgiven? Not hardly. Acts 2:38 simply reveals to believing
sinners God’s ordained way to receive remission of sins in Jesus Christ by
being baptized in His name.
Prosecution: Those who are deceived into thinking you
are essential to salvation have often been accused of preaching the plan and
not the man! God does not want us to preach baptism, He wants us to preach
Jesus. You have become more important to some than Jesus Himself.
Baptism:
The truth is that you cannot “preach Jesus” without telling people how
to receive the remission of sins through His blood. Consider how Philip “preached...Jesus”
to the Ethiopian Eunuch. After hearing an inspired version of the Gospel, the
Eunuch immediately desired to be baptized in water and the inspired teacher
baptized him, sending him on his way rejoicing.
Acts 8:35-39:
"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 water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37 And Philip said, If thou believest
with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38 And
he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the
water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the
Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his
way rejoicing."
Prosecution: Baptism is not necessary for salvation.
It is well documented that most denominations do not see the necessity of
baptizing people immediately and require that the person desiring to be
baptized go through some sort of training. This delay in baptizing them surely
does not place them in danger of being lost!
Baptism: I must differ with your opinion. If a
person is led to believe that they have received remission of sins without
submitting to Christ in baptism, they have put their faith in a false gospel
and even when they get around to being immersed, it would not be a scriptural
baptism. In every example of conversion recorded for us in the Bible, the
believing sinner is immediately baptized for the remission of their sins.
Consider the Phillipian Jailer who was baptized “the same hour of the night.”
Acts 16:33:
"And he took them the same
hour of the night, and washed their stripes;
and was baptized, he and all his, straightway."
Prosecution: Salvation is a free gift of God, if a
person is required to do something (like being baptized) it is no longer a
“free” gift and they are trying to earn their salvation through some work.
Baptism: Sorry to differ again, but baptism is
not a work we do to earn salvation, it is simply the point of time in our faith
when we humbly submit to God, asking Him to forgive us of our sins. How can you
believe that you have no part in your receiving salvation? Do you not have to
believe? Is not repentance also something you must do? Faith is not saving
faith until it has received the remission of sins in the waters of scriptural
baptism.
CLOSING ARGUMENTS:
Prosecution: Baptism is not essential to salvation!
What if a person learned of the Gospel in the desert and there was not enough
water to be immersed, would they be lost?
Baptism: If God has established that baptism is
for the remission of sins and His revealed way to receive salvation in Christ,
then I could not scripturally offer any alternative, God would have to judge
such a situation. I would recommend to all who have not received baptism for
the remission of sins, that they obey the Gospel now while they have the
opportunity.
Though
I do not like to be emphasized so much, I must stand up for the place that God
has given baptism in His ordained way of receiving salvation. I conclude my
case by noting some other important things which occur at the point of baptism.
1. It is at the moment of baptism that a person enters into the
death of Christ and is raised to a new life:
Rom 6:3-6:
"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ
were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore
we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life. 5 For if we have
been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with him,
that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not
serve sin."
2. It is at the moment of baptism that a person is put “into”
Jesus Christ.
Gal 3:26-27:
"For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ."
a. Note
that “all spiritual blessings” are to be found “in Christ.” (Eph 1:3).
3. Immersion in water is the point of time when we are buried
with Christ and forgiven of our sins.
Col 2:11-13:
"In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of
Christ: 12 Buried with him in
baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him
through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the
dead. 13 And you, being dead in your
sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him,
having forgiven you all trespasses;"
With
the scriptures as my witness, I have shown that God has made baptism the point
of faith where salvation is granted to the repentant believer. Satan (accuser)
is surely behind the teachings which reject baptism for the remission of sins.
The truth is that those who gladly receive the Word of God will be baptized
immediately just like those three thousand souls who were saved on the day of
Pentecost. Remember the Words of Jesus when He said:
Mat 7:21:
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
Baptism: Each individual must choose what they
believe about me. Does God mean what He
says, thus requiring all true believers to be baptized as He has required for
the remission of sin. Or, will they put
their trust in the teachings of men which have refused to comply with God's
Word. One choice demonstrates trust and
confidence in God and His Word. The
other demonstrates trust in the ideas of men more than the Word of God.
Mark 7:7-9: "Howbeit in vain do
they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye
hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other
such like things ye do. (9) And he said unto them, Full well ye reject
the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition."
