Baptism

One of the better results of our Restoration Movement was restoring baptism to its original importance. Before the sixteenth century, baptism was almost universally regarded by Christians as a condition to be met for salvation. Unfortunately, a Swiss theologian named Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531) rejected this idea, and his false teaching persists today among most Protestants. You can read about the origins of this departure from Scripture in a book by Jack Cottrell, entitled Baptism: Zwingli or the Bible?, published by the Christian Restoration Association in 2022.

This distortion of baptism largely fueled the so-called “faith-only” movement, which sees baptism as merely a sign or a testimony that you are already saved.

A growing number in our churches are confused on this issue. However, the Bible is neither vague nor ambiguous about the meaning and purpose of baptism. The following questions could bring this truth into sharper focus.

1. Who is responsible for seeing that new believers are baptized? (Matthew 28:19)

2. Was Saul saved when he believed in Jesus on the road to Damascus? (Acts 22:16)

3. At what point in time can a new believer rest assured that his conscience is clear before God?
(I Peter 3:21)

4. What is the “one baptism” which all Christians have in common? (Ephesians 4:5)

5. What was the purpose of John’s baptism? (Mark 1:4, Luke 3:3)

6. What is the only command in the Bible given in the name of the Trinity? (Matthew 28:19)

7. If Jesus needed to be baptized “to fulfill all righteousness,” can we fulfill all righteousness without it? (Matthew 3:13-15)

8. When did the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus? (Matthew 3:16)

9. Does the Bible say anywhere that baptism is merely a sign, symbol, or testimony that you do after you are saved?

10. Acts 5:32 says that God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey him. What commands do we have to obey to be saved? (John 6:28-29; Acts 2:38; Romans 10:9-10)

11. What must we do to be “obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:7) and to “obey the Gospel”? (2 Thessalonians 1:8; I Peter 4:17)

12. All the conversion accounts in the Bible end with the new believers being baptized. Why were they baptized so soon? (Acts 2:36-41; 8:12-13; 8:35-39; 10:44-48; 16:14-15; 16:25-34;
18:7-8; 19:1-5; 22:6-10, 14-16)

13. If you only had one chapter in the Bible to give someone on how to get right with God, which chapter would it be? (Can you improve on Acts Chapter Two?)

14. What does God promise to do when a repentant believer is baptized? (Acts 2:38)

15. The first Old Covenant command was the fifth commandment (Ephesians 6:2). What was the first New Covenant command with a promise? (Acts 2:38-39)

16. Is baptism a factor in being born again? (John 3:5; Titus 3:5)

17. Doesn’t having conditions for salvation nullify salvation by grace? (No, gifts and inheritances often have conditions such as “you must graduate from high school” or “you must
reach the age of 25" before receiving this, but that doesn’t nullify the fact that it is a gift.)

18. In Matthew 16:15-19, Peter was the first apostle to make the good confession of faith; and Jesus promised that Peter would be given the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.” When was this promise fulfilled? (Acts 2:38)

Why is it important that we recognize the relationship between baptism and redemption? After all, if we believe in the baptism of believers by immersion, isn’t that good enough?

Why quibble about when we are saved?

For one thing, if we do not believe baptism is for the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we will have no sense of urgency about baptizing people. Faith-only churches often delay baptizing new believers by requiring them to take a discipleship class or mentoring program before they can be baptized. This violates Christ’s Great Commission, where he tells us to baptize new disciples and then “teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19). Also, many faith-only churches only have baptisms once or twice a year. This guarantees that some people will “fall through the cracks” and may never be baptized. Let us not forget that all nine conversion accounts in the book of Acts end with the new believers being baptized immediately. The apostolic church certainly had a sense of urgency about baptism.

Undoubtedly, the most dangerous practice springing from downplaying baptism is the sinner’s prayer. There is nothing wrong with that prayer: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” But
nowhere in the New Testament was anyone ever told that by simply praying that prayer, they would be saved. Yet, we hear this all the time today. How many people have never been
baptized because they believed that when they prayed that prayer, their ticket to heaven was punched? We can hope that God will show mercy to sincere believers who prayed that prayer innocently. But we should not assume that the Lord will give a pass to their evangelists who should know better.

The Bible is clear that none of us can be saved by works of law, because all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). However, God does require that we be
“obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:7) and that we “obey the Gospel” (2 Thessalonians 1:8; I Peter 4:17). The Bible teaches four steps to obey the Gospel: Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
(Acts 16:31), Repent and turn to God (Acts 3:19), Confess faith in Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9-10 and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit 
(Acts 2:38). The first three steps we will practice throughout our lives, but baptism is a one-time event; however, that does not make baptism any less essential. These are the conditions for salvation in the Gospel we proclaim. Let us pray that God will give us the courage to declare the whole Gospel boldly and without fear as we ought (Ephesians 6:19-20).