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Ok, from what I
understand you believe in what some people call baptismal regeneration. From what I know numerous groups which call
themselves "Christian" teach that one must be baptized in water in
order to be truly born again or saved. From what I know probably the two largest and best known of these are the Roman Catholic Church and the LDS (Mormons, whom are not christians but just used here for an example. Read more...). Although Mormons baptize by immersion
(dunking) and Catholics do it by sprinkling or pouring over the head of the
person, both believe that this ritual act confers the grace of being saved.
Additionally,
there are other churches, mostly of the Campbellite persuasion (Church of
Christ), the Eastern Orthodox Church, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and some
Methodists, and fringe Pentecostal groups (United Pentecostal church of
"Jesus only" churches) which hold that water baptism is essential for
salvation a position known officially as the doctrine of "baptismal
regeneration." Obviously taken as a
whole, these people account for a sizable majority of those who claim to
profess Christ. However, just because
the majority of people believe something does not necessarily make it
right. This is especially the case in
matters of spiritual truth. Rather, the
question must be asked, "what does the Bible teach us about the necessity
of water baptism for salvation?" It
is that question which this article will try to make clear!
Where are the verses necessary for baptism?
Baptism by water is important, but nowhere is it said to be necessary for salvation. Some proponents of baptismal regeneration
claim that their doctrine is proven by Yeshua's baptism in the river
Luke 3:3,8 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the
baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; 4 As it is written in the book
of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and
every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made
straight, and the rough ways shall be
made smooth; 6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. 7 Then said he to the multitude that came
forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to
flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth
therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves,
we have Abraham to our father: for I
say unto you, That God is able of these stones to rise up children unto
Abraham. {Worthy of: or, meet for}
There was nothing
inferior about "Yochanan's" Mikvah or baptism, or it would NOT have
fulfilled all righteousness. The Mikvah
Rabban Sha'ul (the apostle Paul) and the followers of Yeshua spoke of was that
of another turning, another turning toward God, the recognition of turning ones
life over to the Messiah. Since Messiah had not yet fulfilled his task among
us, Yochanan could hardly minister a Mikvah that marked the turning to Him.
Acts
Acts 19: 3 and he said unto them, unto what then were ye baptized? And
they said, Unto John's baptism. 4 Then
said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the
people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is,
on Christ Jesus.
See that nowhere,
anywhere is John's baptism said to save anyone!
That makes it pretty hard to use Yeshua's immersion by john as a proof
text. Now, lets examine some of the
other key texts used to substantiate this doctrine and see if they can really
pass the test of biblical scrutiny:
Mark
This text is frequently cited, but it says
nothing about not being baptized and therefore being damned. Baptism is a natural first step after
salvation, but this scripture certainly does NOT say that it saves us! It has always been the outward sign of
obedience to God, not the instrument that caused obedience. Please
remember, it is always a mistake to make assumptions or to read things into a
Bible text that are not there!
John 3:5 "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a
man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
In the absence of ANY OTHER SCRIPTUAL
TESTAMONY, it is evident that the Lord is talking here about natural birth (in
which the water bursts before the baby comes out. Even Nicodemus understood this when he asked
how can a man enter into the womb of his mother a second time) nowhere in the Bible
is baptism by water compared to a birth, it is rather a similitude of the
believer dying to the old man and turning ones life in a new direction.
Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus
Christ were baptized into his death?
This is why even
Mormon baptismal fonts are usually below ground level. This symbolizes death and burial, not
birth. No scriptural support whatsoever
for the Baptismal Regeneration reading of this passage.
Here we come to
the "KILLER" passage (Acts
2 Timothy
Lets look at this passage (Acts
Acts
The key word here is "for"
in vs. 38. All the commentators
agree. Both MATTHEW HENRY'S COMMENTARY
and THE JAMIESON, FAUSSET AND BROWN COMMENTARY agree that the word EIS (Greek
word for "for") would be rendered in Greek: "in reference to …" J.F.B says
that "this is the visible seal of that remission [of sins]."
Thus, it does not
mean that the baptism is "for" the remission of sins in sense that it
causes it. The sins are already gone, washed
in the blood of the lamb. This same
word, EIS, is also translated "upon," "with reference to,"
"because of," and "into."
Peter here was simply saying that the new believer should be baptized
UPON having their sins remitted through faith in Christ.
We don’t
have to rely upon Greek lexicons to straighten this out (Praise God!) We have this same usage in plain
English. Example, a man is arrested
"for" stealing. That does not
mean he was arrested IN ORDER to steal, but rather that he was arrested as a
CONSQUENCE of his stealing. We are baptized as a CONSQUENCE of our having our sins remitted through grace by faith. That's pretty simple to follow. It is a preposition, which can be understood
in more than one way. In the light of
the many scriptures teaching salvation by grace without any works at all, this meaning of the word is undoubtedly
the best one.
The second
explanation involves rightly dividing the Word more keenly. Remember the old Bible interpretation adage
that "A text without a context is a pretext." We need to examine the wider context of Acts
2. Peter was preaching here in the very
infancy of the church, minutes after the Pentecost.
Romans 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my
gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the
mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
Eph 3:3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I
wrote afore in few words, {afore...: or, a little before} 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my
knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5 Which in other ages was not made known
unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets
by the Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body,
and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: 7 Whereof I was made a
minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the
effectual working of his power. 8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all
saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ; 9 And to make all men see what is the
fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid
in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from
generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27 To whom God would make
known what is the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
{in: or, among}
Yehsua came on Palm Sunday and presented
himself as King of the Jews, the Messiah and heir to the throne of his father,
David (Luke 1:32). The Jewish leadership
rejected Yeshua and induced the Romans to kill their Messiah-King, declaring,
"We have no king but Caesar."
(John 19:15) Notice to whom the
messages are addressed especially in Acts 2.
Peter says in vs. 14: "Ye
men of
Then, observe the
sequence. Almost immediately after
Stephen's martyrdom, Rabban Sha'ul (Paul) is introduced, knocked on his back
and ultimately becomes the apostle of the gospel of grace, which HE in turn,
had to explain to Peter and the Lord's own apostles.
The careful student will see after
Acts 10, nowhere is baptism mentioned as being necessary in any possible way
for salvation. Nor is it mentioned as
such in any of Rabban Sha'ul (Paul's) epistles.
That is because God revealed the gospel to Peter in his vision. We see clearly in Acts 10 that Cornelius was
saved and received the Holy Spirit without getting wet!
Acts 16:30-33 a beautiful example of Rabban
Sha'ul's (Paul's) doctrine of grace. The jailer asks virtually the same question
the Jews asked in Acts 2:37, but notice the VAST difference in Rabban
Sha'ul's (Paul's) response from Peter's:
Acts
Rabban Sha'ul doesn't say "Believe and be baptized"
he just says BELIEVE! That is the gospel
of Christ pure and simple. Sure, the
jailer gets baptized a few verses later, but any good Christian would when
one 'turned ones life' in a new direction, of dying to ones old life and taking
on a new life. This verse just proves the gospel of salvation
by grace through faith!
Again, Rabban Sha'ul is recounting his conversation (Acts 22:16),
which obviously took place during this transitional period mentioned
above. Obviously, he had not yet
received the revelation of the mystery of the Church. Thus, this cannot be used as a proof text in
any fashion. (Eph. 5:25-27) This isn't even talking about baptism!
The word isn't even mentioned!
(Eph. 5:26) "That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing
of water by the word," This is obviously talking about the cleansing power
of the Word of God.
This is borne out by the Lord Yeshua,
himself, who told his disciples: (John 7:38
"Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto
you.") It is referring to the
living water, which is the Word of God (John 7:38, John 4:10,14, Jer.
2:13). We mustn't assume the scripture
says something it doesn’t say especially when the doctrine is so clearly
taught to the contrary in many other places!
In Titus 3:5 this verse not only doesn’t mention baptism, but it
doesn’t even mention water! This
"washing" is not accomplished with any earthly water (John 7:38, John
4:10,14, Jer. 2:13), but rather by the blood of Jesus (Rev. 1:5, Rev.
7:14). (1 Peter 3:20-22) As far as the 8 people being saved by water,
the Greek word is "di", which can also be translated
"through." This is the same
Greek word as woman being saved in childbearing in 1 Tim. 2. This doesn’t mean the woman is saved BY
bearing children but rather that she is preserved from harm during the ordeal
of childbirth. Similarly, the sailors on
the ark were not saved BY water, but FROM water. Did water save Noah, or did the ark? Think about it!
Important to note: They were saved because Noah BELIEVED! It was Noah's faith in the promise of God
that made the ark possible, which preserved them from death, not the water
which actually threatened them with death!
In this same passage, Peter describes
baptism as the answer of a "good conscience." The problem is, Heb. 9:14 tells us that the
only way a conscience can be purged of dead works is BY THE BLOOD OF
YESHUA. Similarly, Yehsua
asserts in Mt. 19:17 that NO ONE is good but God. These two verses make clear that the
"good conscience" spoken of in 1 Peter is in fact, one, which has
already been cleansed and sanctified by the blood of Yehsua, and had His
righteousness imputed to it. Bottom
line: The person under discussion is
already saved, and responding to that salvation by obeying Christ in water
baptism, 'turning ones life' in a new direction, of dying to ones old
life and taking on a new life.
Remember, both the thief on the cross (Luke
23:42) and Cornelius in Acts 10 were clearly saved without being baptized. The most powerful anti-baptismal Regeneration
verses in the New Testament (Acts 10:44-48) are where people are plainly filled
with the Holy Spirit without being water baptized! Rabban Sha'ul bragged about how he had hardly
baptized hardly anyone in Corinth. A
strange thing to do if baptism by water was so essential to salvation, you
would have thought he would have been like Mormon missionaries trying to get as
many "baptisms" as possible if he believed that baptism imputed salvation.
1 Corinthians 1:14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus
and Gaius; 15 lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. And I baptized also the household of
Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
The final, most telling
proof that Baptismal Regeneration is a flawed doctrine is the fact that it
stands against the clear message of the gospel of grace. Water baptism is obviously a good work
(1Peter 3:21). Yet Rabban Sha'ul
continually teaches that we are saved without any works:
Eph. 2:8 for by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of
God: Not of works, lest any man should
boast.
Romans 11:6 and if by grace, then is
it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more
grace: otherwise work is no more work.
Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the
law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ,
that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the
law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Galatians 3:10 for as many as are of the works of the law are under the
curse: for it is written, Cursed is
every one that continueth not in all things, which are written in the book of
the law to do them.
2 Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according
to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began,
Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the
Holy Ghost;
Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ,
let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance
from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Obviously, Baptismal Regeneration and the
doctrine of salvation by grace through faith plus nothing else cannot work
together. It is my belief that the great
preponderance of rightly divided Biblical texts stand in support of grace and
against Baptismal Regeneration!
I hope this answers any
questions you may have about the subject of Baptismal Regeneration (The belief
that you must be baptized in order to be saved). I have clearly outlined and rightly divided
the word of God here. If you still
disbelieve then may God help your soul because you are not totally relying on
the grace of Yeshua Hameshiakh (Jesus Christ) the Lord but rather you are
putting your hope also in dead works!
The work Yeshua
Hameshiakh (Jesus Christ) did is sufficient for the forgiveness of our sins!
MATSATI
(IRC #Hebrew, Undernet)
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