We were involved in an interesting situation this past weekend. You see, my wife and I were both raised in the Catholic tradition. Our families are still active in that faith and I would consider us both pretty knowledgeable about the faith. We send our kids to Catholic school, but the Church we goto is a “Bible Preaching” more conservative Evangelical church (http://www.ssefc.org/). We were asked to be the Godparents of my sister’s new child. They are very active in a conservative Catholic church (http://www.hfcmn.org/).
Any astute observer would take note that there are some pretty significant differences in the doctrine of Baptism between Catholics and most evangelicals. Yes I know Many Lutherans and other mainline protestant churches also practice infant baptism but most conservative evangelicals practice “believer’s baptism”.
So, the quest at hand today is, what is baptism all about? Why do we do it at all? What is it’s meaning? Why the differences between different faiths etc.
What I am going to focus on today is, “What does the Bible say about baptism”
Did you know, that are several different types of baptism discussed in the Bible?
1. Water Baptism for repentance that John the Baptist was doing to prepare people for the coming of the Messiah, of Christ.
Matthew 3:5-8 5 People went out to him (John) from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 7But 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? 8Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
Matthew 3:11 11 “I (John) 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."
This is calling people to true repentance, changing their lives to be obedient to God.
2. Christian Baptism: This implies, belief, repentance, baptism, and become a follower of Jesus Christ, a Disciple.
Matthew 28:19 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Mark 16:16 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Note the thought here, belief and baptism brings salvation, not just baptism for salvation.
3. Baptism by the Holy Spirit: This seems to be the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does the work to create a new spiritual life.
Isaiah 44:3 3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.
Joel 2:28-29 28 "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days."
Zechariah 12:10 10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son."
This is so awesome! I love prophecy. Way in advance of the actual occurace of the event; Zechariah was discussing both the coming of the Messiah and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 3:16 16 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.
This passage is not only showing the water baptism of Christ, but also the coming of the Holy Spirit on him. Is this the point that he becomes fully aware of his mission on earth? I obviously do not know but it is indeed a possibility.
Like the Holy Spirit comes upon Jesus, he also comes to dwell in us. Do I know the exact moment this happens? No but I would have to say it is directly connected to belief and baptism.
So, what do we know so far about baptism?
Christians are to believe and be baptized. In baptism there appears to be both a repentance component and a component of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Can you be a believer without being baptized with water? The thief on the cross that asked Jesus to remember him when he enters his Kingdom was commended buy Jesus for his faith and I believe that Jesus gave him a spot in heaven that day when he said. “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” That thief was not baptized with water after his profession of faith, yet he was going to heaven. He did not have an opportunity to get baptized, but that is not to say we should be unconcerned about baptism.
Hopefully this helps us to think clearly about some of the concepts of baptism. This is one of those topics that I would really like to see a lot of discussion on. Come on now get involved.
I was also raised a Catholic for 20 years, my extended family is still Catholic, and I think I have a pretty good handle on the teachings. While I value the true things I was taught as a child in the Catholic Church (Triunity of the Godhead, Holiness of God, etc.), I can say without hesitation that most of what I was taught was not in keeping with Scripture. Just as a broken clock is still right twice a day, so Catholic doctrine manages to hit a few top-line doctrines in accordance with Scripture.
In the Great Commission, we are told to baptise disciples. There fore, baptism follows conversion. This refutes the idea that there is any salvific relevance to infant baptism (or pre-conversion baptism). Call it dedication, but don’t call it Christian baptism. You can’t find a place in the New Testament, correctly inyerpreted, where conversion follows baptism. Baptism is always the natural response to conversion. It is also helpful to look at the meanimg of the word, which is a transliteration of the Greek “baptizo”, which means to dip or to immerse (originally used of dipping a fabric in a dye). The idea of Christian Baptism is to publically proclaim the conversion God has brought about in your life by identifying yourself with Jesus Christ (like the fabric takes on the color of the dye, so we are proclaiming the “change in color” brought about by our conversion to Christ).
Now to another issue that came up a few weeks ago in the study of James. While it is true that “faith without works is dead”, it is also true that human works without faith are dead (Isaiah 64:6). James’ point is that works follow faith, and that our saving faith is demonstrated by the works God produces through us (Ephesians 2:8-10). It appears to me that Catholic doctrine is much akin to the teachings of the Scribes and Phasisees, which Jesus denounced in the strongest terms. Can one attend a Catholic church and be a true Christian? Yes, I have known some. Can one hold to Catholic doctrine and be a true Christian? After 23 years as a Christian, I remain to be convinced. Salvation is by grace ALONE through faith ALONE, in Christ ALONE. God will demonstrate that you are one of His by the works He does through you.