What Must One Know About Baptism for It to Be Valid?

[Editorrom <Studies in Romans (1996), edited by Dub McClish (595-623).]

Introduction

An atheist has made a lifelong study of the Bible in order to refute and attack it. Unexpectedly he learns that he has only three months to live. After reflecting upon his own mortality in a manner more serious than he ever has before, he decides to be baptized for the forgiveness of his sins. When asked if he has actually been converted to Christianity, he answers, "No, but the Bible teaches that this action is necessary, and at this point in my life I don eed God (if He exists) as my enemy."

Some teenage boys at a summer Bible camp are swimming in the lake. One of the boys is not a Christian. Suddenly two "friends" attack him. One crouches behind him, and the other pushes him backward. After the tangled bodies surface for air, the victim shouts, "What\?? What do you think you e doing?" They reply, "Well, you ever obeyed the gospel; we just decided you needed a little help in being baptized."

A young lady has arrived at the point of profoundly regretting the sins she has committed. She has begun reading the Bible, looking for answers. A friend tells her that she should obey God in all things. She repents of her sins and is told that Jesus has saved her. Several months later the religious group has a baptism "ceremony." She has been taught that Jesus was baptized and that He wants others to be, also. She is among those who participate in the "ceremony" that day.

Which of the three people in the above examples is saved? "Well, certainly not the atheist," some would be quick to reply. "He wasn even sincere. He thought that engaging in the action of immersion would somehow provide some sort of magical power to save him when he doesn even believe." "But the boy in the lake cannot be considered a Christian. He may believe, but he was not baptized by his own free will. In fact, such cannot even be called baptism." "That young woman, though--she may not have known everything about baptism, but she was sincere."

Such is both the battle cry and the curse of our age. Sincerity, according to the philosophy of this age, is all that is needed for salvation. Many would no doubt advocate that the following Scriptures are to be found somewhere in the Bible: "Sincerity, if it hath not truth, is credible, even if alone" (1 Misconceptions 2:17); "Not everyone who saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he that feeleth he is right in his heart" (2 Misconceptions 7:21); and the ever-popular "He that believeth shall be saved regardless of any actions to the contrary" (Falsemark 16:16).

God has always yoked sincerity and truth together (Joshua 24:14, 1 Samuel 12:24, John 4:23-24), but in this generation sincerity has overpowered Truth and relegated it to an insignificant status--even among many brethren who know better. As the above Scriptures explain, the service and worship we render unto God involve two elements: sincerity and truth. The same is true of our obedience to the gospel. "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you" (Rom. 6:17). "From the heart" is another way of expressing "sincerity"; obeying "that form of doctrine" refers to man\.

Yet despite the "balance" that the Scriptures emphasize throughout (sincerity and truth), mankind continually insists upon de-emphasizing Truth in the vain hope that sincerity will somehow prove to be sufficient. Sincerity alone did not change Cain\ into a blood sacrifice (Heb. 12:24); it did not make "strange fire" acceptable (Lev. 10:1-2); and clearly it did not prevent God from striking Uzzah dead (2 Sam. 6:6-7). Could it be that man\ upon sincerity is really nothing more than a pretext to avoid keeping commandments? Do we think that strengthening the sincerity side of the scale will somehow compensate for weakened obedience? The fact is that any time we find ourselves willing to sacrifice Truth, we have become insincere; the apostle whom Jesus loved wrote: "And this is love, that we walk after His commandments" (2 John 6). Genuine love and sincerity prompt obedience to the Truth, not rationalizations for ignoring it. God\, like their Lord, should be just as alarmed about a lack of concern for Truth as they are about a lack of sincerity. God expects an equal emphasis upon both in obeying the gospel, in our worship, and in our service.

An Historical Survey of Conflicting Views on Baptism

As has been shown already by the examples provided at the outset (and the ensuing analysis), many people (if not most) appear to place a higher premium upon sincerity than truth. This attitude affects how brethren have viewed the subject of baptism over the years. In the 1800\ many were still trying to work themselves out of the errors adopted by the apostate church of Christ which had developed into the Roman Catholic Church. Biblical history has shown that mankind (through Satan\) has always changed God\ of worship. Jeroboam led God\ into over two hundred years of sin in precisely that way (1 Kin. 12:25-33).

When the Lord\ was established, it could only be expected that there would soon be attacks upon God\ of salvation, acceptable worship, and the doctrine of Christ. The Judaizing teachers obliged the devil by insisting that circumcision was essential to salvation (as well as other tenets of the law). False doctrines on a variety of matters crept in, and in addition to evangelism, edification, and benevolence, Paul and the other New Testament writers found themselves also needing to defend the Truth (Jude 3-4).

During the "Dark Ages" the Bible was not readily accessible to the average person. With the advent of the printing press around 1450, it was not long before the Bible found its way into the hands of more and more people. But so many erroneous concepts had been taught (and accepted) over the centuries that students of the Word found it necessary to evaluate every doctrine they had ever been taught in an effort to discern truth from error.

The Early Nineteenth Century

In the early nineteenth century (and even prior to that date) many began to see the relevance of baptism to salvation, but they did not yet understand it fully. Alexander Campbell, for example, took several years to see the significance of baptism. The following three points summarize Campbell\ out of error into Truth.

1. He realized that baptism must be by immersion (not sprinkling) for those who have the ability to believe.

2. He next understood that baptism was necessary for the remission of sins but made a distinction between actual salvation (at the point of belief) and formal salvation (at the time of immersion).

3. Finally, he came to the knowledge that one\ are washed away by the blood of Jesus when one is immersed (that the actual and formal occur at one and the same time).

The Lunenburg Letter

The above list, however, will prompt some to ask, "What about the Lunenburg letter?" In 1837 a woman from Lunenburg, Virginia wrote the following question concerning salvation.

Will you be so good as to let me know how anyone becomes a Christian? What act of yours gave you the name of Christian? At what time had Paul the name of Christ called on him? At what time did Cornelius have Christ named on him? Is it not through this name we obtain eternal life? Does the name of Christ or Christian belong to any but those who believe the gospel, repent, and are buried by baptism into the death of Christ?

Some may have expected Campbell to reaffirm what he had taught nine years earlier in 1828 about sins being forgiven at the point of baptism (which is what the Scriptures teach). His actual reply (recorded below) reflected, however, a steady retreat from that position.

But who is a Christian? I answer, Every one who believes in his heart that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of God; repents of his sins, and obeys Him in all things according to his measure of knowledge of His will....

I cannot, therefore, make any one duty the standard of Christian state or character, not even immersion into the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and in my heart regard all that have been sprinkled in infancy without their own knowledge and consent, as aliens from Christ and the well-grounded hope of heaven....

There is no occasion, then, for making immersion, on a profession of faith, absolutely essential to a Christian--though it may be greatly essential to his sanctification and comfort. My right hand and my right eye are greatly essential to my usefulness and happiness, but not to my life; and as I could not be a perfect man without them, so I cannot be a perfect Christian without a right understanding and a cordial reception of immersion in its true and scriptural meaning and design. But he that thence infers that none are Christians but the immersed, as greatly errs as he who affirms that none are alive but those of clear and full vision.

It is obvious from this response that Campbell had backtracked from the truth he had earlier realized. Let\ note briefly some of the errors in these three statements.

1. Although belief and repentance are still deemed prerequisites to salvation, baptism is not. If a person obeys God "according to the measure of knowledge of his will," he might be baptized six months or six years from the time he first believed and repented--or not at all! The Bible teaches that one cannot be saved without obeying the gospel (2 The. 1:8). The gospel, in its narrowest sense, is set forth as the death of Christ on the cross for our sins, His death, and His resurrection (1 Cor. 15:1-4). We obey that form of doctrine (Rom. 6:17-18) by being buried with Christ in baptism (Rom. 6:3-5). Campbell had climbed to the top of the Truth Hill on baptism; then he slid back down.

2. Immersion, he says, is not essential to a Christian. He could not regard those who were only sprinkled as aliens. Then why bother to debate the subject (as Campbell had done)? Baptism cannot be the moment when one receives the forgiveness of sins, yet at the same time be non-essential. If forgiveness of sins is essential (and it is), and it occurs at baptism (which it does), then forgiveness and baptism are inseparably enmeshed. Campbell\ to the woman from Lunenburg contradicts his earlier conclusions.

3. One greatly errs, says Campbell, if he thinks that only the immersed are Christians. So, what is the alternative? Is it not that those who have never been immersed are Christians? (This article will be continued next week.)