HOLDING THE HIGH MORAL GROUND ON

BAPTISM

A Study By
Gary Ray Branscome


"I acknowledge my sin unto Thee, and my iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Psalm 32:5)
 
 
     It is a great comfort to know that our salvation does not rest on what we do, but on what Christ did for us. Without that knowledge we would either live in constant fear, never knowing if our works were good enough, or would lull ourselves into a false security by denying our own sin. Therefore, we must never allow the truth of forgiveness in Christ to be watered down, or compromised. Our doctrine should be exactly what the Bible says, and nothing that we teach about baptism should contradict what the Bible says about faith in Christ (Isaiah 8:20, Galatians 3:22).
 

THE IMPORTANCE OF RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD


    The key to understanding what the Bible says about baptism is found in the third chapter of Galatians. In short, we have access to every promise of God’s grace (including those connected with baptism) through faith in Christ alone (Galatians 3:22). Those who fail to understand this, often assume that the ceremony conveys forgiveness automatically (ex opere operato). Nevertheless, the Bible makes it clear that we have access to God’s grace through faith (Romans 5:2, Galatians 3:22, 2Corinthians 1:20).

    The ceremony of baptism simply presents God's promise of forgiveness to the one being baptized, in the same way that a good sermon presents God's promise of forgiveness to those who hear. Therefore, just as “the Word that is preached will not benefit a person unless he believes it, neither will being baptized and taking Communion benefit any one without faith” (Law and Gospel, by C.F.W. Walther, pg 351)

    God has connected forgiveness with baptism in order to make it clear that we can only enter His kingdom through forgiveness, and Christ is the source of that forgiveness (1John 1:7, Acts 4:12). Therefore, the purpose of baptism, is to point people to Christ, and that purpose is undermined when people are given the impression that forgiveness comes to us through the rite (ex opere operato). Furthermore, without an emphasis on Christ’s sacrifice, churches can degenerate into moral clubs, and morality (works righteousness) never saved anyone (Romans 3:10-20). In fact, whenever the unsaved come to view Christians as people who think that they are better than others, they tend to close their minds to what we have to say.

    Those who view baptism as an “act of obedience” find it impossible to understand the relationship of faith in Christ to baptism. They cannot see how baptism can “also now save us” if salvation is “not of works” (2Timothy 2:15, 1Peter 3:21, Ephesians 2:9). However, it is really very simple once we understand the difference between receiving a promise, and receiving the thing that is promised. God uses baptism to give us His promise of forgiveness in Christ, but only those who believe that Christ died for their sins have that forgiveness. In short, the promise is only meant for those who trust in Christ. [Luke 3:3, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, 1Peter 3:21, 2Corinthians 1:20, Romans 5:2, Galatians 3:22.]

[In order to better understand the distinction between receiving a promise and receiving the thing that is promised, suppose that someone promised you one million dollars if you would just stop by to pick it up. Can you see that there is a difference between being promised the money, and actually picking it up?]

HOLDING THE HIGH MORAL GROUND


    We should never place ourselves in a position where we feel compelled to explain away what the Bible says in order to defend our theology. Those who explain away what the Bible says have lost the high moral ground and placed themselves in opposition to God's Word, which is strong evidence that they have a spirit of error (1John 4:6).

    Those who assume that baptism is a work that brings salvation, wind up explaining away the passages that tell us that salvation is not of works (Ephesians 2:9, Romans 11:6). Those who assume that baptism is a work that cannot save (because works cannot save) wind up explaining away the passages that connect forgiveness with baptism (Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16). In contrast, those who see baptism as a means by which God gives His promise of forgiveness in Christ to those who repent, have no need to explain away what the Bible says. God uses baptism to give us His promise, we receive what is promised through faith in Christ (Galatians 3:22).

THE VISIBLE WORD OF GOD

 
    On the day of Pentecost, Peter used the ceremony of baptism to proclaim the good news of forgiveness in Christ. In order to understand what he said, you need to realize that to be baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” is to be baptized believing that there is forgiveness in His name (Acts 2:38). Therefore, when Peter called upon his listeners to “Repent, and be baptized… in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” he was calling on them to come to baptism believing that there is forgiveness in Christ. And if you come to baptism believing that there is forgiveness in Christ, the ceremony gives you God's promise of forgiveness and your faith in Christ accepts that promise (Galatians 3:22). In short, baptism saves the same way that John 3:16 saves. It saves when the promise it conveys is accepted through faith in Christ (1Peter 3:21, Galatians 3:22, 2Corinthians 1:20).

    To understand the role that God intended for baptism to play, consider the story of the Pharisee and the publican (Luke 18:10-14). In that story we are told that the Pharisee thanked God that he was not like other men, while the Publican cried out, “God be merciful to me a sinner”. We are also told that the Publican went down to his house justified, because his sins were forgiven. However, the publican had no way of knowing that his sins were forgiven. It is common for people in that situation to have doubts. Therefore, God instituted baptism as a way of telling those who repent that their sins have been forgiven. God wants new converts to be comforted by the message of forgiveness that baptism conveys. However, if similar worries crop up after someone has been baptized, he should not be rebaptized because forgiveness is not in baptism but in Christ (Ephesians 4:5). Having received God's promise of forgiveness once, he does not need to receive the promise again. What he needs is a stronger faith, and we build such faith by pointing him to Christ and His finished work, not baptism. In other words, his problem is not lack of faith in baptism, but lack of faith in Christ! If we urge such people to take comfort in their baptism, we are making baptism the object of their faith, when they need to be pointed to Christ.

THE WASHING OF REPENTANCE

 
    David gave us a beautiful example of repentance when he said, “I acknowledge my sin unto Thee, and my iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:5). God instituted, “the baptism of repentance” as a way of assuring those who repent that they have forgiveness in Christ (Mark 1:4, Luke 3:3, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16). The fact that some churches pervert baptism does not stem from some problem with baptism, but with the human heart, and the deceitfulness of sin that would see salvation reduced to a system of works (Jeremiah 17:9).

    If someone who has a repentant heart comes to baptism without really understanding the significance of Christ’s death on the cross, their lack of understanding does not make their baptism any less valid. The ceremony gives us God’s promise of forgiveness in Christ, our faith in Christ receives what is promised. Therefore, while it would be better if everyone who came had a perfect understanding, our faith does not make baptism valid, it just receives what baptism offers, namely forgiveness in Christ. Therefore, in a certain sense, you could say that faith completes baptism, for it is only through personal faith in Christ that we receive the inner washing of forgiveness (1John 1:7).

    Because those who do not understand the relationship of faith in Christ to salvation, can easily be led to believe that salvation depends upon both faith and works, we need to work with them helping them to understand (Galatians 3:3 and 1:6-9). However, they should never be made to feel that their salvation depends upon their ability to understand. Faith in Christ is the important thing! There were many things that both the Publican and the thief on the cross did not understand, yet they both acknowledged their sins and placed their trust in God’s mercy (Psalm 32:10, Psalm 13:5).
 

CONCLUSION


    The promise of forgiveness that God has connected with baptism, is in full accord with the truth of salvation through faith in Christ alone, for baptism was instituted to point us to Christ as the source of forgiveness, and that forgiveness belongs to all who trust in Him (Galatians 3:22). Therefore, if you presently explain away what the Bible says, because some statements of Scripture do not square with your theology, you need to change your theology in order to bring it into accord with the Word of God (Romans 12:2, 2Corinthians 10:5, Isaiah 8:20).