Rev. David Holwick
First Baptist Church
West Lafayette, Ohio
July 31, 1983
The Meaning of Baptism
1 Peter 3:19-22 (NIV)
If would list one thing that sets Baptists apart from other Christians, what would it be? Probably the thing we're named after -- the way we baptize. Everybody else baptizes you when you're an infant. Catholics do it this way. So do Methodists, Nazarenes, Presbyterians, Lutherans and Episcopalians. I was baptized as a baby (by a Presbyterian army chaplain), like the majority of you probably were.
The reason Baptists are different can be traced back to the Reformation, about four hundred years ago. Almost everyone in Europe was Roman Catholic then and the church was in bad shape. The chief problem was that people had a mechanical view of salvation. They thought you had to do things to get saved, works like going to church and giving money to God. The last point was really abused -- some Christians were even teaching that you could buy your way into heaven.
Reformers like Martin Luther wanted to change this. He discovered that the key to change was to go back to the Bible. If the Bible taught something, the church should practice it. The first thing Luther found out was that biblical salvation is a gift from God, something we can never earn by ourselves. Luther reformed other teachings but essentially his churches were like Catholic ones.
Luther was not the only reformer. On the radical fringe of the Reformation was a group known as the Anabaptists. Anabaptists said if you're going to return to Biblical practices you might as well go all the way. One thing the Anabaptist noticed is that children are never mentioned as being baptized in the New Testament. Instead, it always says the people believed, then were baptized. In order to be Biblical, the Anabaptists required baptism after people accepted Christ even if they had been baptized as children. That's why they were called Anabaptist, which means "to baptize again." Today their descendents are known as Mennonites and Amish.
Some Christians in the Church of England reached the same conclusion as the Anabaptists. The reformation of their church produced the Puritans, but a small group thought even the Puritans were not pure enough in practicing the Bible. They came to be called Baptists, and also insisted on being baptized as believers.
The reaction against Baptists was harsh. Those who refused to baptize their children were forced to leave their homes or had their children taken away. In 1611, the same year the King James Bible was published, Edward Wightman was caught preaching that you should be baptized after you become saved. He was burned at the stake. It was a horrible crime to be a Baptist.
Things have changed. When we have our baptism in the Walhonding River this afternoon we probably won't be arrested. Nevertheless, our way of doing it still makes us distinct, so we should look to see what the Bible says about baptism.
Our passage in 1 Peter 3 is the closest thing to a definition about baptism that the Bible has. Peter begins by making a comparison with Noah and the Flood. Peter says that while Noah built the ark, God was waiting patiently for the people of earth to repent. (2 Peter 2:5 explicitly says Noah was preaching a message of ighteousness to the world.) In the end only a few people -- Noah's immediate family -- responded and were saved.
It's interesting that Peter says the eight were saved through water. The King James says "by water" which suggests the water was their method of salvation; the Greek construction of the sentence supports this. But when you read the account in Genesis it sounds like the water is the method of judgment, not salvation. Water wipes all the sinners out and the ark is what really saves Noah's family. I think you should look at it both ways at once. The water of the flood destroyed the sinners but Noah and his family were saved by the water when it lifted their ark above the destruction.
In verse 21, Peter applies Noah's experience to baptism:
"...this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also..."
Because of this verse many people think getting baptized makes you saved because the water has magical power or something. To prove that this is not the case, Peter immediately adds two explanations, one negative and the other positive. First, he says the essence of baptism is not the way it physically cleans your body. The ceremony itself has no power to save you or make you acceptable to God. The key to baptism is found in Peter's positive statement: baptism is the pledge of a good conscience toward God. In Peter's day every business contract had a question and answer clause which made the contract binding. The question was: "Do you accept the terms of this contract, and bind yourself to observe them?" And the answer, before witnesses was -- "Yes." Without that question and answer the contract was not valid. When I baptize people this afternoon, I will ask each of them two questions: "Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?" and "Do you wish to be joined with Christ in baptism?" These are the formal questions.
Peter says our answer should our pledge to have a good conscience toward God. When we think of conscience we think of Freud and psychologists and all that but Peter is talking about morality, not psychology. When we come to be baptized, we are telling God we want to serve him and honor him in all we do. The answer of a good conscience can't be reduced to a simple "Yes" -- it requires a commitment of your whole lifestyle to do God's will.
The idea of commitment in baptism is what separates Baptists from most others. A baby can't commit itself to anything. They barely know what's going on. With baptism as it's portrayed in the New Testament, you have to know what you're doing. You have to respond to God -- that is, have faith in him -- before you get baptized.
Turn with me to the book of Acts. The book of Acts lists several occasions where people are baptized, and in each case it refers to the person's faith. In 2:38, Peter says to the crowd in Jerusalem:
"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins."
Verse 2:41:
"Those who accepted his message were baptized..."
Turn to verse 8:12:
"But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women."
Finally, turn to chapter 16, starting in verse 23. The apostle Paul and Silas were in prison because their preaching got them in hot water. They weren't just in prison, they had been beaten by the authorities. Paul and Silas respond by signing hymns into the middle of the night. Then an earthquake hits and their chains fall off. In fact, the whole prison falls apart. The warden assumes everyone has escaped and prepares to fall on his sword which is what all dedicated public workers are supposed to do in such circumstances. But Paul shouts out to him not to do it, because everyone is still there. The man is so unnerved by this turn of events, he concludes Paul's message must be true.
Look at verse 16:30:
"He then brought them out and asked, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' They replied, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved -- you and your household.'"
Go down to verse 33:
"At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized."
Many people think this is where infant baptism comes in. Once the man believed, he and his whole family were baptized and this logically included babies. Most scholars agree that there is more to it than that. In verse 31, the need to believe in Jesus for salvation is stressed. In verse 32, it says the missionaries explained God's word to everyone in the house. In verse 33 they're all baptized. And in verse 34 he rejoices because they all believe in God.
If a baby can understand God's word and believe in it, then it can be baptized. Otherwise, it makes no more sense to baptize babies than it does to baptize an unbelieving wife or husband. Household baptism in the New Testament happens when households are converted. This afternoon we will have the honor of baptizing the Eick household because they have all come to believe in God.
We've seen that baptism by itself doesn't save -- faith is required, or you're only getting wet. Now let's assume you have faith in God but you are not baptized. Would you be saved? Denominations like the Church of Christ say no, you must be baptized in order to be saved. The key verse they use is Mark 16:16 which says:
"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."
Superficially this sounds like baptism is required for salvation. But look closely at the second part -- lack of belief condemns us, not lack of baptism. Once again, faith is central to salvation. One thing Mark 16:16 does show is that baptism is important -- he assumes Christians will seek to be baptized. Christ himself commands us to be baptized.
Baptism is one of the best symbols to show what it means to follow Jesus. In Romans 6:3-4 it says:
"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."
Baptism is a form of burial which is why we completely immerse participants. This part of it is a form of judgment, just like water condemned the earth in Noah's time. What is condemned in baptism is our old sinful nature. God wants us to kill it so we can commit ourselves totally to Jesus. Just as baptism is supposed to be a symbol of our death to our old way of life, so it also symbolizes our resurrection to a new life which is at peace with God.
When we came up out of the water we should think about putting our old life behind us and pledging ourselves to follow God. He will protect us from being defeated by the troubles in life just like he protected Noah in the Ark.
If you have not yet been baptized, as a believer, why not come forward and make a commitment to Christ today.
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Typed on February 28, 2007, by Sharon Lesko of Ledgewood Baptist Church, New Jersey
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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