That monumental moment of washing away your sins and cleansing yourself of your former unrighteousness. Baptism is a beautiful process that is solely Christian. I was baptized when I was 8 and can remember arising from my immersion to an excited, clapping congregation of supportive church members. It was a moment I will never forget. But for some, baptism occurred when they were an infant. Instead of immersion in water, it was the sprinkling of water. Some believe baptism remove sins. Others believe baptism is simply an outward replication of the inward cleansing you receive from faith in Christ. Millions of Christians believe in both of these views on Baptism. But what does the scriptures say? Let's take an in depth look using scripture to guide our beliefs about this issue.
First let's identify the verses supporting an infant baptism/baptism cleanses sin point of view. "Acts 19:1-6 explains how Paul entered Ephesus and found believers who claimed to not have the holy spirit. How did Paul respond? Well let's take a look starting in verse 2 "He said unto them, have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. (verse 3) And he said unto them, unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, unto John's baptism. (verse 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. (verse 5) When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (verse 6) And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied." This verse initially leads us to believe that the holy spirit came once they were baptized in Christ, after all they were already believers and simply lacking baptism in Christ right? I will address this later. Until then, lets look further into scripture. Earlier on in the book of Acts Peter had something to say about baptism. Acts 2:38 says "Then Peter said unto them, repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and yea shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Peter clearly stated that repentance and baptism come before receiving the Holy Spirit once again reaffirming the belief that baptism is required to receive the Holy Spirit or Salvation itself. So is this belief correct? After all when Christ was baptized by John the Baptist the spirit descended upon him like a dove. (Luke 3:22)
Before we dive into scripture supporting the contrary, let's respond to a few of these verses. To begin with, the verse in Acts concerning Paul, when looked at from a distance, appears to be supporting baptism as necessary for reception of the Holy Ghost. But, when looked at under a microscope we find it really does not. Take a look at how Paul presents the idea of baptism. He asks to what then were ye baptized? These folks were believers and baptized, but Paul here is indicating that not just any baptism is sufficient. Paul states you must be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, not just simply a baptism of repentance. Only then did they receive the Holy Ghost. So what made the difference between the two baptisms they received? It was their faith! They first were baptized with a simple idea of repenting from their former lives, the baptism of John the Baptist. But their second baptism was a result of their faith in Christ. So both baptisms used the same thing, water, but they were motivated by two different faiths. This shows me that the Holy Spirit does not enter a person simply because of baptism, but because of the person's faith motivating them to get baptized. The next scripture I will respond to is the verse from Acts. Peter states that one must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (the exact same baptism Paul described) for the remission of sins, and yea shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Once again, we must be baptized in the name of Christ which demonstrates we must have faith in Christ first. Furthermore, Peter describes the Holy Ghost as a gift, which means it is given to us, not earned by any action. Ephesians 2:8-9 says "for by grace are ye saved through faith, it is not of yourselves, but is a gift of God lest any man should boast" a gift as described in this verse is not obtained through anything we can do otherwise we would boast about it. So the Holy Ghost is also a gift! Thus using scripture to interpret Scripture we know that no action earns the Holy Ghost and getting baptized is an action. God gives it to us because of our faith in him. Baptism is going public with that faith. The last example I will respond to is Christ's baptism. First and foremost I see this as a symbol of him beginning his 3 year ministry because Jesus was teaching the religious leaders in the temple when he was a young boy before this moment (Luke 2:41-52) so did Jesus not have the spirit during his first 30 years of life? The fact is, this example can be interpreted either way, but after I present the scripture supporting baptism as not necessary for receiving the Holy Spirit, we will understand that using scripture to interpret scripture that the Holy Spirit comes by faith not by baptism.
To begin with, I will split this next section into two portions. The first being scripture that explains salvation excluding mention of baptism. The second portion I will give scripture explaining how baptism is simply an act of obedience going public with your faith. Let's begin.
John 3:16, Acts 2:21 Acts 16:31, Romans 6:23 Romans 10:13. All these verses and many more explain the path to salvation, and NONE of them include baptism. Let's analyze 2 of them. Acts 16:31 "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved". Here God says a person simply has to believe or put your faith in Christ to be saved. Romans 10:13 "Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved". Once again, no baptism, salvation comes through calling out to Christ, one cannot call to something they do not believe exists. So did God forget to add the an important step to salvation? Did he forget to mention baptism??? Did Christ lie? In Luke 23:42-43 the thief on the cross next to Jesus puts his faith in him saying "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" Christ replied "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise". Christ promised salvation to a man who never was baptised. Some would consider this impossible, but Christ proved that the thief's salvation is indeed consistent with what the Scriptures teach. If baptism is required, then the scriptures are fallible and no longer can be considered the Word of God because Paul, John, and Luke failed to mention it, and Christ lied to the thief on the cross. But we can use these scriptures as our foundational belief in how we attain salvation. If we do this, the scripture remains consistent with the scripture mentioned in previous paragraphs. I will explain how this is possible in the next paragraph.
This second portion I will be explaining the way we are to interpret scripture to maintain consistency between salvation and baptism. Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace are you saved through faith, it is not through works, but is a gift from God unless any man should boast". This is salvation. It's a gift, not earned, not through works, baptism is a work. Continuing on, modern day baptism can be compared to old testament circumcision. Early church Jews would often argue that in order to be a true believer, to receive salvation, the men must be circumcised as prescribed in old Testament law. Paul refutes this in Romans, and we can use his response as our response to the idea that baptism makes someone a true believer or is necessary for salvation. In Romans 2:29 Paul is responding to those demanding circumcision, he says "No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person's praise is not from other people, but from God". Paul just stated that true circumcision is not by the written code, it is not the physical circumcision that matter, it is the spiritual circumcision. No, you are not cutting your soul's foreskin, you are committing your life to God and setting yourself apart from non believers. See, in the old testament a way for God to separate his chosen people from Pagans was to physically differentiate them through circumcision, but this physical separation FOLLOWED the spiritual separation by dedicating yourself to God. An outward expression of someone's faith. Sound familiar? Yes, baptism is the exact same. Check out Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist is explaining the difference between baptism by water and the baptism offered through Christ. John says, "I indeed baptize you with the water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." John explained that as he is inferior to Christ, his baptism is also inferior to Christ's. John baptized by water (which holds no spiritual significance just like circumcision) while Christ baptized by fire and with the Holy Spirit. Catch that? Christ baptized with the Holy Spirit John does not. WATER BAPTISM IS NOT BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. Scripture clearly shows us that there is a definitive separation between the spiritual and the physical. The physical should reflect the spiritual, not the spiritual reflecting the physical. The Old testament Israelites were commanded to be circumcised, they followed this command with obedience because of their already existing faith in God. We are commanded to be baptized following salvation. We should follow with obedience because of our already existing faith.
So this baptism debate can be summarized into two different views on salvation. The first being, certain actions (baptism) produces the faith in us to receive salvation. Or, the second being, we place our faith in Christ and certain actions (baptism) are a reflection of our new found faith. Scripture clearly teaches the latter rather than the former. Remember Ephesians 2:8-9 shows us no works can gain us salvation, only faith can give us the gift of salvation (which includes the Holy Spirit). Remember Paul in Romans 2:29, We must be circumcised of the heart not the flesh. Don't forget John the Baptist in Matthew 3:11 stating that baptism by water is inferior compared to Christ's baptism by fire. Folks, baptism is a great thing, but, it must not become the stumbling block preventing us and others from beginning a relationship with Christ.
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