Someone writes, "I seem to hear you saying that baptism is not essential, or, if it is, that it is not essential in the same way that faith is essential." * * * Saving "faith" is not something we do in a series of events. It is what motivates and enables everything that we do in response to God's kindness. Saving faith means trusting Jesus' atonement as sufficient to bridge the gap our sins have caused between us and God, and entrusting ourselves to God to be his people out of gratitude for what he did for us in Jesus Christ long before we were even born. Baptism is one way -- indeed, the … [Read more...]
FAITH & BAPTISM — IMPORTANT BUT DIFFERENT (1)
Someone writes, "I seem to hear you saying that baptism is not essential, or, if it is, that it is not essential in the same way that faith is essential." * * * The Bible does not contain the word "essential," since it is written in the language of story rather than of theology or debate. The word "essential" is ambiguous, anyway, and capable of several meanings. Literally, it means that something is "of the essence" of something else. Surely all Christians can agree that baptism relates to the essence of the gospel, for it points to and expresses trust in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ which … [Read more...]
SPIRITUAL CIRCUMCISION
A gracEmail subscriber asks when we are "circumcised" spiritually as mentioned in Colossians 2:11-12. He wonders if it occurs simultaneously with baptism in water. * * * Paul says that the true "removal of the body of the flesh" occurred when "in [Jesus] you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by the circumcision of Christ" (Col. 2:11). Jesus our representative was circumcised physically (the covenant sign of a Jewish male) and God viewed that literal circumcision in spiritual terms for those whom Jesus represents. Because Jesus faithfully obeyed … [Read more...]
JEWISH BACKGROUNDS OF BAPTISM
A gracEmail subscriber inquires, "Is there biblical or historical mention of proselyte baptism among the Jews? What did a Gentile do to become a proselyte?" Another subscriber asks for information about pre-Christian Jewish washing ceremonies, and how those who first heard John the Baptist and Jesus would have understood the significance of baptism in that light. * * * The Rabbis formulated a procedure for receiving Gentile proselytes, including sacrifice, immersion and circumcision (of males). We cannot know for sure when these rules began, since the Babylonian Talmud which reports them was … [Read more...]
BAPTISM AND DISCIPLESHIP
A gracEmail subscriber in the Northeast writes that she believes that we are saved by the grace of God and the actions of Jesus -- not by anything we do here on earth. She also understands Scripture to teach that baptism is for believers and that it is by immersion. "How I can embrace any others as Christian siblings," she asks, "and still teach credibly what I see as biblical baptism?" * * * Jesus commissioned his people to make disciples of all nations, to baptize those disciples and to instruct them in his ways (Matt. 28:19). A disciple is an apprentice, a personal … [Read more...]
DEFINING CONVERSION (TWO GRACEMAILS)
In reading the Book of Acts, I am impressed that Dr. Luke most frequently reports what we call conversions by saying that people "believed" or "believed on the Lord." Sad to say, I do not know any folks today who regularly talk that way. Most evangelicals say that people "got saved" or "accepted Christ." Others report that people "obeyed the gospel," "were baptized," or "became members of the church." Luke does not use any of those terms by themselves in the book of Acts to report conversions during the first gospel generation. What must one know in order to "believe on" the Lord Jesus? … [Read more...]
OUR DEATH WITH CHRIST
A gracEmail subscriber in the Northwest writes: "In Romans 6, Paul seems to tie baptism to our death with Christ, then speaks conditionally about our resurrection with him. Please comment." * * * The gospel tells us that Jesus died on the Cross, then arose from the dead to live again (1 Cor. 15:1-4). To live again after death is to live outside the limit of Sin's jurisdiction, for Sin has no power beyond the grave (Rom. 6:6-7). Because Jesus died and lived again -- and because he did so as our representative -- his people also died and arose with him (2 Cor. 5:14-15). Thus freed from Sin's … [Read more...]
ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM (1)
A sister in California asks what Paul means in Ephesians 4:5, when he says that there is "one Lord, one faith, one baptism." This gracEmail concerns the "one Lord." * * * The "one Lord" common to all Christians is Jesus Christ, God's Son, our substitute and Savior. Jesus' saving work included both his life of perfect human obedience in our place ("dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne," as the hymn rightly puts it), and also his atoning death for our sins. We are saved by Jesus' life (Rom. 5:10). Jesus lived out God's will fully in his human … [Read more...]