I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is
more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and with fire. (Matthew 3:11)
INTRODUCTION
The third foundational principle listed in
Hebrews chapter 6 is the doctrine of baptisms. In Hebrews 6:2 the word
"baptism" is plural. It is "the doctrine of baptisms"
[plural], not "the doctrine of baptism" [singular]. This means the
complete doctrine of the Christian faith includes more than one baptism. The
New Testament mentions four different baptisms. These are:
-Christ's
baptism of suffering -The
baptism of John -Christian
baptism -Baptism
in the Holy Spirit
This lesson discusses the first three
baptisms. The following lesson will concern the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The
definition of the word "baptize" used in the Bible means to entirely
immerse or submerge in something.
CHRIST'S
BAPTISM OF SUFFERING
There is one baptism in the New Testament
which we will call the baptism of suffering. This baptism is spoken of by
Jesus,But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it
is completed! (Luke 12:50) and is
also mentioned in Mark 10:38 where
the sons of Zebedee asked for the honor of sitting with Christ
on His right and left sides in Heaven. Jesus answered: "Ye know not
what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of and be baptized with thebaptism that I am baptized with?" Jesus was
speaking of the suffering awaiting Him through His death for the
sins of all mankind. He was to be immersed in suffering, buried in
the tomb, and resurrected in a new body.
THE
BAPTISM OF JOHN
The baptism of John the Baptist was baptism
in water connected with the message of repentance. John the Baptist was born
miraculously to Zacharias and Elizabeth (Luke
1). God had a special plan for his life. He was to serve as the
"forerunner" of Jesus Christ.And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord
to prepare the way for him, to give his people the
knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins. (Luke
1:76-77) The word
"forerunner" means one who goes before and prepares the way. John was
to preach the message of repentance and baptism to Israel to prepare them for the
coming of their Messiah, Jesus Christ:I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is
more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and with fire. (Matthew
3:11)
The ministry of John the Baptist was the
beginning of a new spiritual age.The Law and the
Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of
the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. (Luke
16:16) Before the time of John the people lived
under the law. Prophets and priests served as spiritual
leaders and interpreters of the law. Only the priests had access to the
presence of God in the temple, serving as mediators
between the people and God and offered sacrifices for sin as God had
commanded. This all changed with the coming of Jesus Christ.
Through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus made access to God possible
for all men. Jesus now serves as the mediator
between sinful man and a righteous God.
John made two demands on the people:
Repentance and public confession of sins. Those who were willing to meet these
God-given requirements were baptized in the Jordan River
as a public testimony that they had repented of their sins. When some of the
religious leaders came to John to be baptized, he refused to do it. He demanded
that they show evidence of real change in their lives before he would baptize
them.But
when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was
baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the
coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with
repentance. (Matthew 3:7-8)
Repentance and remission of sins was
required by John before he would baptize. The phrase "baptism unto
repentance and remission of sins" does not mean that these two experiences
followed the act of being baptized in water. Baptism was a visible confirmation
that those being baptized had already experienced repentance and forgiveness.
CHRISTIAN
BAPTISM
The passage which best introduces what we
will call "Christian baptism" describes the baptism of Jesus:Then Jesus came from
Galilee to the Jordan
to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him,
saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" Jesus
replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all
righteousness." Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of
the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and
he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on
him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my
Son, whom I
love; with him I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:13-17) Jesus
was not baptized by John as evidence that He had repented of sin because He had no
sins for which to repent. Jesus was baptized to "complete all
righteousness.” He was setting a righteous example
of behavior which He wanted all believers to follow.
BAPTISM
OF BABIES
Jesus was not baptized as a baby. When He
was an infant His parents brought Him to Jerusalem
to present Him to the Lord, but He was not baptized (Luke 2:22). Jesus was not baptized until He knew what He was doing
and the reason why He was doing it. Babies should not be baptized.
Children can be presented to the Lord for dedication and blessing by the laying
on of hands. But they should not be baptized until they understand the meaning
of the act and have met the Biblical requirements. There is no set age at which
this understanding comes. It depends on the mental and spiritual development of
each child.
SPRINKLING
OR IMMERSION?
Some
churches baptize by sprinkling with water. Others totally immerse in water.
When Jesus was baptized He went down into and then came up out of the water.
Considering this and the Biblical meaning of the word "baptize", we
must conclude He was fully immersed in the waters of Jordan. In allowing Himself to be
baptized, Jesus showed outward obedience to the will of God. Through this act
of obedience He fulfilled the plan of God. When believers are baptized, this
outward act symbolizes the inward righteousness which they have received by
faith.
REQUIREMENTS
FOR BAPTISM
There were
spiritual conditions to be met by those who sought baptism from John. There are
also requirements to be met by those seeking Christian baptism.
INSTRUCTION:
The first requirement for baptism was given
by Jesus.Therefore go and make disciples of all
nations,
baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20) Christ's
command to teach new believers is given twice. They are to be taught before and after
baptism. Sinners must first hear and receive the Gospel to become true
believers. Those
who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to
their number
that day.(Acts 2:41) On hearing
this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.(Acts
19:5) One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of
Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The
Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. When she and
the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you
consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my
house." And she persuaded us.(Acts 16:14-15)
Before baptism, believers should receive
enough teaching to understand its meaning. After baptism, they should continue
to receive instruction in order to become mature Christians. Paul calls this
"going on to perfection" (Hebrews
6).
REPENTANCE:
The second condition for baptism is
repentance from sin. Peter stressed this during his sermon on the day of
Pentecost. When
the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the
other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized,
every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:37-38) Note that
conviction of sins is not enough. Action must be taken. The two commands Peter
gave were repent and be baptized. Repentance comes before baptism.
BELIEF:
The third condition for baptism is believing
[faith]: He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good
news to all creation.Whoever believes and
is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark
16:15-16) This
requirement of believing is illustrated by the story of Philip and the
Ethiopian man who he met on the road
from Jerusalem to Gaza (Acts
8). Philip heard the Ethiopian read from
the book of Isaiah. He joined him in his chariot to explain the Gospel. As they continued on their journey the road
led past water. Upon the Ethiopian's request and his confession of faith, Philip baptized him.As they traveled along
the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is
water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" And he gave orders to stop the
chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip
baptized him. (Acts 8:36-38) Philip
said to the eunuch: "If you believe with all of your heart, you may be
baptized." The eunuch replied: "I believe that Jesus Christ is the
Son God." A person who desires Christian baptism first must confess to
faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
A
GOOD CONSCIENCE TOWARD GOD:
A fourth condition for Christian baptism is
a good conscience toward God. Peter compares Christian baptism in water to the
experience of Noah and his family who were saved from judgment as they entered
into the ark.This
water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also--not the removal of dirt
from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ.(I Peter 3:21)Peter
dismisses any idea that the purpose of baptism is any kind of cleansing of the physical
body. He says the condition of Christian baptism is the inner relationship of
the believer's heart toward God. He calls it
"a good conscience toward God."
THE
TIME OF BAPTISM
To be eligible for water baptism a person
must receive proper instruction, repent, believe, and have a good conscience
toward God. The length of time it takes to meet these requirements will differ
depending on the individual.
Some churches require those who desire
baptism to take long periods of instruction lasting weeks or months. But the
Bible says that on the day of Pentecost three thousand people who, a few hours
before; were unbelievers rejecting Jesus as either the Messiah of Israel or the
Son of God were baptized. From the end of Peter's sermon to their baptism, the
time required to give necessary instruction could not have exceeded a few hours,Those who accepted his
message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number
that day. (Acts 2:41) and Philip baptized the Ethiopian the same day
he preached the Gospel to him.
To summarize the practice of the early
church in relation to baptism:
1. Before
baptism they taught the basic facts of the Gospel centering on the life, death,
and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
2. They
related these facts to the act of baptism.
3. They
verified understanding, repentance, and confession of faith in the new believer,
and then baptism in water followed immediately.
4. After
baptism the new believers received further instruction for spiritual development.
SIGNIFICANCE
OF CHRISTIAN BAPTISM
The following Scripture reveals the
spiritual significance of Christian baptism:What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may
increase? By no means! We died to sin;
how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his
death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from
the dead through the glory of the Father,
we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:1-4) When you
repent and accept Jesus Christ as Savior, death to sin and the old life occurs.
There is creation of a new life of righteousness lived for God.In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in
Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you
obey its evil desires. (Romans 6:11-12) For sin shall not be your master,
because you are not under law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14)
Christian baptism in water is a symbol of
the death and resurrection of Jesus. It symbolizes death to sin as
you are immersed in that "grave" of water and resurrection into
a new life lived for God in righteousness as you come up out of the water.
The believer who is raised up out of the
water to live this new life does not do this in his own power. The new life is
lived by the power of God, the same power that raised Jesus from the grave. (We
will learn more about living the new life in lesson eleven). The effect of water
baptism depends on the repentance and faith of the one being baptized. Without this,
baptism is of no value.
True Christian baptism means we are baptized
into Jesus Himself, not into a particular church or denomination.For all of you who were
baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with
Christ. (Galatians 3:27)
BAPTISMS:
A CONTRAST
Both John's baptism and Christian baptism
occur by immersion in water, but there is a difference between the two. When
Paul visited the city of Ephesus
he found a group of people who were disciples of John the Baptist. They had
heard John's message of repentance and been baptized, but had heard nothing of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ.While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and
arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked
them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They
answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."
So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John's
baptism," they replied. Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the
people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." On hearing this, they were
baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. (Acts
19:1-5)
After Paul explained the Gospel, these
people accepted it and were baptized again. This time they were baptized in the
name of the Lord Jesus. This example shows that the baptism of John and
Christian baptism are different. John's baptism was no longer accepted after
the death and resurrection of Jesus. Those who had received John's baptism were
baptized again in Christian baptism.
John's message prepared the hearts of the
people of Israel
for the revelation of their Messiah, Jesus Christ. By baptism they outwardly
confessed repentance of their sins and their belief in the coming Messiah. After
the death and resurrection of Jesus, people were then baptized in the name of
the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. By doing so they outwardly
demonstrated their acceptance of the Gospel message and the fact that it had
changed their lives.
Jesus commanded this baptism,Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew
28:19) making the difference between Christian baptism and the baptism
of John that Christian baptism is to be done in the full authority of God the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. John's baptism could not be done with
this same authority. It was only a baptism of repentance and confession of
belief in the coming Messiah. Christian baptism is a baptism confessing
acceptance of the completed redemptive plan of God.
WORDS
SPOKEN AT BAPTISM
We have discussed the requirements to be met
before baptism and confirmed that it is to be total immersion in water. One
question remains: What are the words that should be spoken at the time of
baptism? Jesus said to baptize in the name of "the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.” Many ministers choose to use these exact words when
baptizing and this is acceptable according to Scripture. But it is also
acceptable to use just the name of the Lord Jesus. The Bible records that the
disciples did this:Because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. (Acts
8:16) On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. (Acts
19:5) Jesus did not command His disciples to
baptize in the names [plural] of the Father, the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, but in the "name" [singular] of the persons
of the Trinity of God.The
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is the name for
"Lord Jesus Christ". In Him
the whole fullness of deity [the Godhead] continues to dwell in bodily form,
giving complete expression of the divine nature. (Colossians 2:9,The Amplified
Bible)
The Bible
teaches we are baptized into Christ.Or don't you know that all of us who were
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his
death? (Romans 6:3) Some denominations have had
much controversy over the words to be spoken at the time of
baptism. They claim one wording is right and the other is wrong. But according
to the Bible, baptism "in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ" or in the "Name of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit" are both acceptable to be spoken at the time of
Christian baptism. There is no conflict between
either wording. Both refer to the Trinity of the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit.To be consistent with the
Bible and at the same time bring unity in this area, the following wording
is suggested:
"Upon
the basis of the confession of your faith, in the name of God the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit, I baptize you into the Lord Jesus Christ."
This
lesson introduced the subject of the doctrine of baptisms. To expand your
knowledge of the subject, study the following Scriptures concerning baptism:
Matthew
3:6,7,11-16; 11:11-12; 14:2; 16:4; 20:22-23; 21:25