A gracEmail subscriber requests some larger perspective on the differences among Christians regarding infant baptism. In the following answer, we will distinguish between Christians holding two points of view and practicing accordingly. PEDO- Baptists baptize babies; CREDO-Baptists baptize only professing believers. * * * In the Book of Acts, Luke tells how the Holy Spirit empowered the gospel proclamation to produce the original generation of Christians throughout the Mediterranean world. Sometimes Luke says that converts believed (Acts 16:33-34), were baptized (Acts 16:15) and … [Read more...]
churches’ actions show real beliefs (2 parts)
Part 1 The good news is that in 2013, autonomous congregations affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) did what their name suggests and baptized more than 300,000 new converts by total immersion. The bad news is that the SBC baptismal tally during 2013 is down more than 100,000 from the number reported in 2009. The decline represents a 26% drop in yearly baptisms, and the lowest number of baptisms reported by Southern Baptists for any year since 1948. Moved, no doubt, by sheer embarrassment as well as by genuine concern, the Baptists did what good American Protestants do … [Read more...]
CHURCHES OF CHRIST AND BAPTISM
A New Zealander writes, "I was wondering what statements of faith are held to by Churches of Christ. Down here they strike me as pretty odd. They believe in baptismal regeneration and consequently not in the baptism in the Spirit (which is what I call regeneration)." * * * As a nondenominational fellowship of autonomous congregations (among whom I live and serve), Churches of Christ and Independent Christian Churches have no written creed or statement of faith, which results in wide diversity on a number of subjects. In the past, their preaching often focused more on water baptism and the … [Read more...]
LET ME MAKE IT VERY CLEAR
Someone writes: "You seem to take the approach that people were initiated in different ways into the church, suggesting that Acts 2 is a pattern for the conversion of Jews and Acts 10 is a pattern for the conversion of Gentiles." * * * I am sorry if I left that impression. I am not suggesting a separate "pattern" for Jews and Gentiles -- or even one pattern (in the traditional sense of a formula, or of stating "man's part" in some do-it-yourself salvation scheme) for all of them. I am saying that Acts 2 is an account of the first gospel sermon to Jews who personally helped crucify Jesus, and … [Read more...]
SUMMING IT UP
A gracEmail reader writes, "Yes, Jesus paid it all, and salvation cannot be earned. But there still remains the question of how one 'appropriates' salvation. We talk in circles about this. I'm still seeking a biblical theology that makes sense, is faithful to the text, gives God all the glory for our salvation, yet calls us to holy living and unquestioning obedience." * * * Perhaps we will never answer all the questions, or provide a scheme or formula that explains everything. Remember, we are discussing an interpersonal relationship, not a theory or a program. But we can speak truthfully … [Read more...]
LET ME MAKE IT VERY CLEAR
Someone writes: "You seem to take the approach that people were initiated in different ways into the church, suggesting that Acts 2 is a pattern for the conversion of Jews and Acts 10 is a pattern for the conversion of Gentiles." * * * I am sorry if I left that impression. I am not suggesting a separate "pattern" for Jews and Gentiles -- or even one pattern (in the traditional sense of a formula, or of stating "man's part" in some do-it-yourself salvation scheme) for all of them. I am saying that Acts 2 is an account of the first gospel sermon to Jews who personally helped crucify Jesus, and … [Read more...]
‘BORN OF WATER AND SPIRIT’ (2)
A gracEmail subscriber writes, "Jesus says that 'no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit' (John 3:5). I have heard for many years that this means that unless you are baptized, you cannot be saved. Is this a reference to baptism in water?" * * * Every human is born "of water" or "of flesh" into this world, and has a nature that "is flesh." Only those "born from above" are born "of Spirit" and have a regenerated nature that "is spirit." Every one of us needs spiritual regeneration by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Receiving Christ by faith is a sure … [Read more...]
BAPTISM, OBEDIENCE AND WORK (1)
A sister on the U.S. Gulf Coast agrees that we are not saved by our works but insists that we are saved by being baptized in water. Baptism is not a "work," she says, since it is "obedience," and obedience is necessary for salvation. * * * Other than the Society of Friends (Quakers) and the Salvation Army who spiritualize baptism, and certain dispensationalists who limit it to a previous "age," I do not know any Christian group which denies that Jesus commands baptism in water, or that baptism is obedience, or that we ought to obey Christ by being baptized. But the approach described in the … [Read more...]
‘WHAT IF I DIED WITHOUT BAPTISM?’
A visitor to the web page containing these articles writes, "I repented and placed my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in April of 1961, but I was not baptized in water until ten years later. If I had died during that interval, would I have gone to heaven or hell?" * * * Only God, who alone sees all inner hearts and outer circumstances, knows for sure who is saved or lost. Should someone ask me the same question you asked, while going through such a ten-year period, I would want to inquire why that person had not obeyed the Lord's command to be baptized. If she or he were seeking to obey Jesus … [Read more...]
BELIEVE IN BAPTISM?
A gracEmail subscriber asks point-blank, "Do you believe in baptism?" * * * Let me answer directly, carefully and specifically. No, I do not "believe in" baptism. If I did, my faith would rest on flimsy grounds indeed, for baptism has no inherent power to do anything except perhaps relieve my body of an outermost coating of dust. I "believe in" the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Rom. 10:11). I "believe in" the Father who sent him into the world, who raised him from the dead, who exalted him to his own right hand in glory, who … [Read more...]