Understanding Four Views on Baptism

Zondervan, John H. Armstrong, Paul E. Engle

• Publisher: Zondervan
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9780310866985
• Topic: Theologie & Religion
• Subtopic: Christliche Rituale & Praktiken

Gain an understanding of baptism from four main traditional perspectives.

Of all the sacraments, the practice of baptism is often the most disputed. Christians hold different views of its exact significance, who should receive baptism and how old they need to be, the practice of rebaptism, and baptism as a requirement for church membership.

In Understanding Four Views on Baptism, four historic views on baptism are considered in depth:

• Baptist view: baptism of the professing regenerate by immersion (presented by Thomas J. Nettles)
• Reformed view: infant baptism of children of the covenant (presented by Richard Pratt Jr.)
• Lutheran view: infant baptism by sprinkling as a regenerative act (presented by Robert Kolb)
• Church of Christ view: believers' baptism on the occasion of regeneration by immersion (presented by John Castelein)

Each view is presented by its proponent, then critiqued and defended in dialogue with the book's other contributors. Here is an ideal setting in which you can consider the strengths and weaknesses of each stance and arrive at your own informed conclusion.

The Counterpoints series presents a comparison and critique of scholarly views on topics important to Christians that are both fair-minded and respectful of the biblical text. Each volume is a one-stop reference that allows readers to evaluate the different positions on a specific issue and form their own, educated opinion.

Chapter One

BAPTIST VIEW

Baptism as a Symbol
of Christ’s Saving Work

BAPTIST VIEW

Baptism as a Symbol
of Christ’s Saving Work

Thomas J. Nettles

IT’S A MATTER OF DEFINITION

Recently I received an unusual note from a theology student. “I was completing an assignment in systematic theology,” he wrote, “and came to the conviction that I had not been saved. In the process of reading through the material, I cried out to God for forgiveness, and he saved me.” This person is a church member preparing for ministry. When he comes to me for advice, what shall I tell him? That he is not yet saved because he is not yet baptized? Does he need to go before the church, professing his faith in Christ through believer baptism? My answer to him has everything to do with the theology of baptism.

Here is a definition that I think reflects the biblical standard for this ordinance: Baptism is the immersion in water of a believer in Jesus Christ performed once as the initiation of such a believer into a community of believers, the church. This baptism signifies the believer’s confidence that Christ’s work was complete for his forgiveness and justification and indicates his desire for unity with the church, Christ’s community of the new covenant, purchased at the price of his blood. No saving efficacy inheres in either the form or the matter itself. The person baptized has no scriptural warrant to believe that in baptism Christ’s saving activity is initiated, augmented, or completed. In its symbolism, however, it sets forth the saving gospel of Christ both in its objective and subjective aspects. It pictures the historical event in the life of Christ that brought to fruition the purpose of his incarnation, namely, to give his life as a ransom for many. It pictures the believer’s conscientious testimony that Christ’s acceptable sacrifice alone allows a sinner to approach God in the confidence of being accepted. It pictures the present experience of the believer in his awareness that when he was dead in trespasses and sins, God “made [him] alive with Christ” (Eph. 2:5) by the powerful operations of the Holy Spirit. The power that is necessary to produce this change is “like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given” (Eph. 1:19 – 21).

BAPTISM IS IMMERSION

That the word translated “baptize” (Greek baptizom) literally means “immerse” is a matter of little, if any, dispute. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance gives the meaning as “to make whelmed, i.e., fully wet” or “to cover wholly with a fluid.”¹ A standard Greek lexicon defines baptizom and its cognates as “dip, immerse, . . . plunge, sink, drench, overwhelm.”² In his study of the word, George Beasley-Murray gives the meaning of baptizom as “dip, immerse, submerge” and observes, “Despite assertions to the contrary, it seems that baptizom, both in Jewish and Christian contexts, normally meant ‘immerse,’ and that even when it became a technical term for baptism, the thought of immersion remains.”³

John Chrysostom, Martin Luther, and John Calvin all argue that the word means “immerse.” Luther states, “I would have those who are to be baptized completely immersed in the water, as the word says and as the mystery indicates. . . . This is doubtless the way in which it was instituted by Christ.”⁴ Calvin writes, “The word ‘baptize’ means to immerse, and it is clear that the rite of immersion was observed in the ancient church,” but “the details [of mode] are of no importance.”⁵ The irony of this concession is that it comes in a section in which Calvin vehemently criticized many of the unauthorized forms that intruded into the practice of baptism in the Roman Catholic Church. “Let us learn,” he admonishes, “that there is nothing holier or better or safer than to be content with the authority of Christ alone.”⁶ So we should all agree. And thus immersion should be the practice of all.

BIBLICAL SURVEY: JOHN’S BAPTISM

The first mention of baptism in the NT occurs in the description of the ministry of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:6. Those who repented of their sins and were willing to receive instruction concerning how to live as a manifestation of repentance were baptized (Matt. 3:6 – 8; Luke 3:9 – 14). This involved a “knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God” (Luke 1:77 – 78). John’s ministry represented a departure from the flesh/national principle (“we have Abraham for our father”) of recognizing the people of God (Matt. 3:9 – 10). He announced a new principle that would mark off God’s people, namely, the purifying work of the Spirit (Matt. 3:10 – 12). Trees that did not bear fruit would be cut down, and the chaff would be burned. Only those who bore fruit could be considered the true children of Abraham.

The apostles noted John’s ministry as the beginning of a new way of defining the people of God. The qualifications for selecting an apostle to replace Judas included one who had been with them “beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us” (Acts 1:22). When Peter preached at the house of Cornelius, he began, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right”; he went on to relate how God had enforced this idea through the ministry of Jesus, “beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached” (Acts 10:34 – 37). John’s baptism as an inauguration of the new covenant led naturally to more complete knowledge of the way of salvation.

THE BAPTISM OF JESUS

Jesus himself submitted to John’s baptism to identify himself as a proponent of his message and as a fulfillment of righteousness. His approval of John carried important value for the ministry of Jesus. Not only did he establish a connection with the prophetic material (cf. Mal. 3:1), he put himself in position to begin a gradual and persistent pedagogical task of refining the understanding of his messianic role, the nature of salvation, and the identification of the people of God. He used John’s identification of him as the Lamb of God as a means of demonstrating the hypocrisy and deceitfulness of the Pharisees (Luke 20:4 – 5).

Beyond that he tells us something important about baptism itself. His baptism indicated for himself, like others, an entire consent of mind and heart to the truth of John’s message that Jesus was “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29) and that repentance marks the covenant people of God (cf. Luke 13:3, 5; 15:7, 10). In addition, he announced that only by death, burial, and resurrection would the promised salvation be effected. Retroactively he gave fullness of meaning to his baptism when he said, “I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed” (Luke 12:50). The case is similar in Mark 10:38: “Can you . . . be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” Moreover, he united by public demonstration with others who also believed this message announced by John. He marked off baptism as that ordinance in which the recipient gives a visible testimony to a cordial persuasion that Jesus alone in his unique person and work qualifies as Savior.

Baptism did not confer any status on Jesus that he did not already possess or create any conviction that he did not already have. Unlike us, he did not receive baptism as testimony to personal salvation, but as confirmation of his personal commitment to effect it for others through his future baptism of suffering and resurrection to glory. Those who follow him in baptism do so in the same confidence of Jesus’ unique qualifications and work.

BAPTISM IN THE BOOK OF ACTS

The baptisms in the book of Acts confirm this pattern. Genuine repentance involved knowledgeable dependence on Jesus Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection as the only hope of forgiveness of sins.

Peter as a Baptizer

When Peter finished his sermon on the day of Pentecost, many in the crowd “were cut to the heart” and asked, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). Peter responded, “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” (2:38). Four elements define this event: the message preached, the response of repentance and faith, the receiving of baptism, and the mention of those who received baptism. The message consisted of a demonstration that Jesus was Messiah, whose death by crucifixion issued in his exaltation so that he now bestows redemption, forgiveness of sins, salvation, and the Holy Spirit. The required response, manifest genuinely by “all whom the Lord our God will call,” was repentance and baptism particularly in the name of Jesus Christ. Those who were baptized were the ones “who accepted his message” (2:41).

In this instance, it is clear that only those capable of personal response were baptized. No baptisms are recorded for any except those who received — heard, understood, and responded positively to — the message that Peter preached. As in the case of John the Baptist in his ministry, this first occurrence of a post-resurrection baptism was given only to those who personally recognized the justice of God in the message and embraced its truth (cf. Luke 7:29 – 30).

As in the case of John, the baptism signified all that is involved in repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The baptism “in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 2:38) identified their present acceptance of the truth preached about Jesus — a message that this group in particular had rejected so vigorously that they had nailed him to a cross (2:23, 36). A genuine repentance and a true belief must now be seen precisely in terms of a reversal of their verdict about that one name — Jesus — who was being proclaimed as the Christ (2:36). Only three years before, many had rejected the message and thus the baptism of John the Baptist; in so doing, they denied the Lamb of God whom John announced. Jesus, moreover, had confirmed his own message and purpose in line with that baptism. The message of John was now matured and fully consummated in the preaching of the apostles (cf. Luke 7:24 – 28; 20:1 – 8). Receiving baptism, the ordained symbol of confessing John’s kingdom message, clearly indicated repentance from sin and unbelief as well as heartfelt, death-defying belief in the message and meaning of Jesus as Messiah. Only such believers were baptized; those who would not be baptized had surely not believed.

Philip, Baptism, and the Kingdom of God

Philip’s work in Samaria assumed that believing the message about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ preceded baptism: “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” (Acts 8:12). Their being baptized constituted the means of their identification with others who believed this same message. The “good news of the kingdom of God” had been preached from the beginning of the ministry of John the Baptist, was continued by Jesus, and now we find Philip following suit.

The kingdom of God as preached by John, Jesus, and the apostles is the visible manifestation of the glory, wisdom, and sovereign power of God through the person and work of Christ for the salvation of sinners. Although the kingdom involves a display of God’s omnipotence, it goes beyond the reign of God through mere omnipotence. His kingdom will demonstrate not only his reign of justice by condemnation but of redemption by an inscrutably wise mercy (cf. 2 Thess. 1:5 – 12; 2:13 – 14). This could only be done by means of the mystery of the Messiah’s humiliation in the incarnation for the free salvation and sanctification of rebels.⁷

This kingdom consists of a fellowship of the reconciled, redeemed, forgiven, justified, and sanctified out of every people group on earth. They have submitted to Christ in his humiliation, for they have seen in this scheme, by God’s efficacious call, both the power of God and the wisdom of God. Their public confession that Jesus is Lord and their acknowledgment of faith in his work of justification are made in baptism. For this reason, when the Samaritans believed the preaching of the good news about the kingdom of God, their status as subjects of the kingdom was marked with baptism (Acts 8:12). The external display of the Spirit’s operations came later through apostolic prayer.

The eunuch from Ethiopia heard the gospel in the context of the prophecy in Isaiah 53 (cf. Acts 10:26 – 39). Taking verses 7 and 8 as his starting point, Philip “told him the good news about Jesus.” As a culmination of the continuing stream of prophecy about the Messiah, he must have included Jesus’ baptism at the hands of John and its implications for those who believed, as well as Jesus’ command to make disciples and baptize them. With great enthusiasm, the eunuch asked Philip to baptize him. After doing so, Philip was taken away by the Holy Spirit.

PAUL AND BAPTISM

Acts 9 records the conversion and baptism of Saul. After brief words from Ananias, the text states succinctly, “[Saul] got up and was baptized” (v. 18). Paul’s account in Acts 22 gives more detail of the event. The specific appointment of Paul as a special witness is mentioned: “The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard” (22:14 – 15). Then the command for baptism comes: “Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name” (v. 16).

Does this mean that in baptism Paul was to consider his sins as being washed away? The text does not support this viewpoint. His baptism identifies him with the Jesus whom he recently persecuted and whose mission was defined in terms of his submission to the baptism of John. The washing away of sins is connected with calling on Jesus’ name. The participle should be considered instrumental: “by calling on his name.” This phrase duplicates Peter’s use of the same verse in Joel in the sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2:21). Paul uses it in Romans 10:13: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” There he shows that such calling is the mouth’s expression of the heart’s conviction that salvation depends on the atoning work of Christ verified as acceptable by the resurrection. At his conversion, therefore, Paul expressed his persuasion that Jesus was Lord and Christ and that the resurrection represented the culmination of Christ’s atoning work. In his heart — in the seat of his moral judgment and affections — he knew that Christ’s death was necessary for salvation. The resurrection meant that the propitiation was accepted, and now, by the power of an incorruptible life, the Righteous One lives and intercedes for us before the Father (cf. Rom. 4:24 – 25). His baptism was a public witness to his cordial union with Christ in the entire redemptive transaction.

Because of this strong image present in baptism, Paul used it as a teaching tool in pressing the implications of salvation on the churches. When some inferred falsely that since increased sin meant superabounding grace (cf. Rom. 5:20 – 21) we should continue in sin, Paul reminded them of what they had confessed in their baptism: “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...