AT THE RIVER’S EDGE: MEETING JESUS IN BAPTISM (A REVIEW)
Within the past
two weeks many churches have received a booklet and a letter from the
Therefore, we seek
pardon for being a tad skeptical of anything coming out of ACU regarding the
role that baptism plays in salvation.
The booklet is designed to give people insight into baptism (which it
does, in part). ACU’s
goal is that it will be used as a basis for Bible study in adult classes and
youth groups. Such a decision would not
be wise because, despite a few excel-lent thoughts, the material is seriously
flawed.
The authors are
Jeff W. Childers and Frederick D. Aquino. The former of these co-authored The Crux of the Matter (along with Jack
Reese). In this book, faithful members
of the church and Gospel preachers are accused of being judgmental and
legalistic. Brethren are told that the
authors, in their “study of the Scriptures began to call into question some of
the conclusions we had reached in earlier decades" (18). Really? Why?
The Bible still teaches by direct statement, approved example, and
implication. What has changed? If someone comes along and shows a better way
of doing things, we would all profit. If
someone demonstrates that we have been guilty of poor interpretation
techniques, fine—show us the better principle.
But we are not about to trade fundamentally sound principles just
because certain “professors” are bored with them. They further write:
Third, as we began to move out of our
isolation and have real dialogue and relationship with people from other
religious groups, many of us were astonished to see demonstrations of the fruit
of the Spirit in their lives. Some of them seemed to evidence more
Christian virtues than many of us. How could this be, if they had not
come to the right under-standing of the truth as we saw it (18)?
Commenting on this paragraph in February of 2001, this
reviewer wrote:
Read
this paragraph again, for this is truly "the crux of the matter." The
faulty assumption is that denominational people have the fruit of the spirit
and thus must be saved; the truth is that they have the appearance of
the fruit because they have followed the teachings of the Word of God with
respect to those things. The Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures, and when
people follow them, they are better for it. Many denominational folk have given
up being immoral because the Scriptures teach against it…. In fact, that many live
a purer life does not prove they are Christians, either.
This
is nothing more than the philosophy of Max Lucado, as espoused in an article he
wrote eight years ago: "A Dream Worth Keeping Alive: Liking the Fruit But
Not the Orchard." Lucado also saw people who possessed the characteristics
of Galatians 5:22-23, and he too wrongly concluded, "Why, they must be
Christians." Who knows what will hap-pen if he meets a patient Buddhist?
In keeping with the spirit of this age, the means of determining who is a
Christian has passed from objective criteria to subjective—from "Has he
obeyed the gospel" to "Does he seem nice?"
That review went on to emphasize the
importance of approaching the Bible objectively—to use the Scriptures to determine
who is a Christian, rather than feelings.
Strengths
The
River’s Edge does have a few strengths.
It affirms that baptism is “a total immersion into him” (referring to
Jesus, although the authors never capitalize the personal pronoun) (4). They state correctly: “Baptism is not just a
command to be obeyed, an essential requirement to be checked off the list”
(5). They periodically elaborate on that
point:
We
bring them to the riverbank, but we also wait for them on the other side, ready
to walk along-side them, telling them stories of the kingdom, challenging them
to grow, and providing the re-sources they need to mature and to serve their
Lord (14).
They emphasize the importance of
commitment, even going so far as to warn that “following Jesus isn’t for
everyone” (18). They also urge that
changed lives should be indicative of all Christians: “Transformation into the
image of Christ is the chief aim of the Christian life…” (23). These are all points that the Scriptures teach, and they should
be emphasized.
The Importance of the Subject
Since baptism is something that has been
emphasized by the churches of Christ, perhaps we ought to explain the reasons
for the attention that we give to it.
The reason is NOT that it is more important than faith or
repentance. In responding to God’s
grace, we must first decide whether we believe that the Bible is the inspired
Word of God and whether we believe in the God Who inspired that Word. Once the evidence leads us to the correct
conclusion (John
Are we willing to repent? Everything else hinges on this point. We may know and be convinced of the
truthfulness of the Word and the Deity of Christ, but do we really want to give
up the sinful things in life that we practice?
Many people want to grasp tightly all their worldly lusts and still be a
redeemed Christian, but it simply does not work that way. A change in our actions, attitudes, and even
our thinking is absolutely essential. Do
we trust in God enough to give up sinful things and be satisfied with the
spiritual blessings that come in their stead?
It is precisely at this point that the most difficult decision is made.
If we determine to belong to God, then
confessing that Jesus is the Son of God and being baptized are really no
problem at all. If we are hungering and
thirsting after righteousness (Matt. 5:6), and we know that baptism is
required, we will be like those on Pentecost: “Then those that gladly received
his word were baptized” (Acts
Primarily, the reason is that there
has been a concerted denial of its involvement in salvation. Many are preaching the unbiblical doctrine of
“faith only,” which does not allow for repentance, confession, or baptism. Most “sinner’s prayers” do not mention these,
either. Thus, we have taken it upon
ourselves to call attention to the role of baptism in salvation.
Weaknesses and Errors
Therefore, this booklet is greatly
disappointing: while it discusses many worthwhile aspects of baptism, it does
not take the opportunity to highlight its most crucial element—the forgiveness of
sins. The word blood does not occur in this booklet, which is remarkable. In fact, stating the truth about the blood of
Christ washing away our sins in baptism is not thought worthy of mention, and,
to the contrary, the authors think it should be ignored. They write: “Discussing baptism’s
essentiality reveals little, but looking into its essence can open our eyes to
see the power of Jesus to cleanse and renew broken lives…” (5).
Wait a minute! How can the
authors divorce baptism’s essentiality from its essence? Its essence is the very thing that makes it
essential. If baptism is involved in
man’s obtaining forgiveness of sins (its essence), then how can its essentiality
be minimized? Yet the authors of this
booklet do minimize baptism. Consider
the following two sentences.
Baptism is a marvelous point of entry for disciples and
should not be commandeered by agendas that reduce it to a simple rule or that
focus solely on de-bates about its essentiality. Such agendas distract us from
the essence of baptism, weakening our understanding of
the discipleship it pictures (10).
If the authors are trying to move ACU out
from under the dark clouds of suspicion regarding what they teach concerning
salvation, this booklet will not accomplish that goal. The above statement insults those who have
prepared diligently and debated successfully over the years on this very
topic. No one who has ever engaged in
the arena of honorable public discussion (by the way, have these men ever
presented their views publicly and had them challenged?) ever had any other
“agenda” but to teach people the truth concerning what the Bible says. If
anyone has an agenda, it would be the authors of this booklet, and their
purpose is to direct people’s attention away
from what the Bible teaches about the essentiality of baptism!
They also affirm that “it’s unlikely that
total agreement on every baptismal issue can ever be achieved” (10). What kind of gobbledegook
is this? Those who are willing to hear
what God has revealed on the matter stand in agreement. A sincere student of the Word will want to
know what the word transliterated baptism
means; does the New Testament authorize sprinkling and pouring or only
immersion? A true disciple is not going
to say that Biblical information is not important.
A true
disciple will not be satisfied to be baptized and not know the reasons behind
it. Yet the authors scrupulously avoid
the fact that baptism is for the for-giveness
of sins. In fact, Acts 2:38 is cited
only one time in the entire booklet, and it is misapplied: “When a person is
baptized ‘in the name of Jesus’ to receive ‘the gift of the Spirit’ (Acts
2:38), he or she is putting on Jesus, like putting on a different suit of
clothes or a new skin (Galatians 3:27)” (8).
First of all, the verse does not say that we are baptized to receive the
gift of the Spirit. Peter spoke thus:
Repent, and let every one of you be
baptized for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit (Acts
Receiving the
gift of the Holy Spirit is the byproduct of being baptized for the forgiveness of
sins. Never did Peter or any other New
Testament preacher tell sinners to be baptized in order to receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit.
Second, why did
the authors of this booklet omit the reason that Peter did give for baptism—for the remission of sins? This is no accident or oversight; what we
find in their words is a deliberate attempt to remove the purpose the inspired
Holy Spirit put into the text and replace it with an idea that (although in the
text) is not the purpose for baptism.
The writers
progress even further in their clumsy ef-forts to
obscure Acts 2:38. They provide three
reasons for baptism. The first one
refers to John 3:5-8 and the new birth, which is certainly an important
passage. But then they say, “Our baptism
connects us to the birth of Jesus. It is as if the Spirit of God were hovering
over the waters, ready to bring forth a new creation at God’s command (Genesis
1:2)” (9). What exactly is the
connection between Jesus’ birth and our new birth, according to them? This text makes no sense.
“Second, in the
water, we’re also joining Jesus in the
The third point
about joining Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection is Scriptural, and
they cite Romans 6:3-4. But they cannot
bring themselves to say that baptism is essential to salvation or that it is
the means by which our sins are washed away.
Although they argue that we must die to ourselves, there is no hint that
we must die to SIN. Romans 6:6 (which
they do not mention, although it is in the context) gives both of these:
“Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin
might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin, For he who
has died has been freed from sin” (Rom. 6:6-7).
That the authors harbor a low view of the
true purpose of baptism is seen by their opening comments. They describe baptism as “a long-awaited
event or the spontaneous response to an inspiring sermon” (3). In what church has baptism been a
long-planned event? Someone might make
the decision to be baptized and plan for the following day, but we never
encourage any-one to put off obedience—particularly for a long time. In the New Testament, all obedience was
immediate. What the authors describe
sounds more like a ritual than baptism the way it is taught in the New
Testament.
This notion was
not accidental; they later encourage planning “the structure of Sunday worship
around baptismal events” (13). This
sounds like what the denomi-nations do when they plan
for a baptismal service every six months or so.
They do not keep their baptisteries clean and ready for use. They only fill them up once or twice a year
for their special public services. If
one is going to pick out special clothing for the occasion (13), he certainly
does not regard baptism as essential—the way it is presented in the New
Testament. The authors (apparently) do
not view baptism as the passing from a lost state into a saved one. Why would someone who has been taught about
salvation properly want to wait to have his sins removed? Imagine Ananias
saying to Paul, “And now why are you waiting?
Arise and go buy some special baptismal clothes and in two weeks we will
have a ceremony” (Acts
In their haste to
dispense with baptism for the remission of sins, the authors (in effect)
challenge the Lord Jesus Christ.
For example, when we ask, “Is baptism
the work of God or a human work?” we are forcing a false distinction that does
not fit the full incarnational glory of God being
unveiled in Christ (10).
Pardon the
unsophisticated expression, O erudite and educated writers, but Hogwash! People need to know the answer to that
question. If baptism is of men, then it
is a work of human merit and cannot be considered part of salvation. If, on the other hand, it is the “working of
God” (Col. 2:12, a Scripture not mentioned in this section), then it must be
regarded as essential.
Furthermore, did
it never occur to these “scholars” that this is the very question Jesus
asked? “The baptism of John—where was it
from? From heaven or from men?” (Matt. 21:25). Would they deign to take the Lord to task for
pitting humanity against God (11)?
More could be
said by way of criticism—especially regarding the Holy Spirit (#5, 29), but
these comments are sufficient to convey the point that these authors, with the
endorsement of Jack Reese, dean of the graduate school of theology, have
attempted to sanitize salvation by re-moving from it the concepts of sin and
the blood of Christ shed on the cross. They
have tried to remake baptism into a positive, personal, “extreme makeover”
experience. We are much safer with the
New Testament, which pre-sents baptism as that which
removes the sins of the penitent soul, without which he would remain lost.
For addition information on this specific topic click here: http://www.spiritualperspectives.org/articles/documents/apostasy
*Send comments or questions concerning this article to Gary Summers. Please
refer to this article as: "Whatever the article name from above is
(99/99/04)."
Return
To Article Index