2 Corinthians 2:10-11 “Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, (11) lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”
So why has the teaching on water baptism become so distorted in the church today? The reason is spiritual. There is ultimately only one person who is opposed to water baptism, which is Satan. In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul, reveals to us that Satan has certain devices that he uses to try to gain advantage over believers, and the main device that he uses is the device of disobedience. In the above example, the apostle Paul was teaching the church at Corinth to forgive, because he knew that if those believers chose not to forgive, they would be in disobedience to God, and Satan would use that to gain advantage over them. Similarly, we have seen earlier that our Lord Jesus has instructed His saints to be baptized in water. And so, failure on the part of the believer to be baptized in water is ultimately an act of disobedience, and as the above passage reveals to us, that act of disobedience allows Satan to gain an advantage over the believer.
Ephesians 6:11-13 “Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (12) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (13) Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (14) Stand, therefore."
So in what way does disobeying the commandment of God affect the believer? As revealed to us in the above-quoted passage of scripture, Satan does from time to time, bring evil days into the lives of believers, for he is still the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). When Satan does that, the scripture tells us to stand against the wiles of the devil. In other words, we are to resist him by not allowing him to shake our faith in God’s deliverance. But I want you to notice that the scripture says, “and having done all, to stand, stand”. The believer who refuses to be baptized in water, cannot claim that they have done “all” to stand. In other words, they are in disobedience to God, and Satan knows this. And so because he is a legalist he uses that to his advantage when he comes against the believer in the evil day, and it is possible that the evil day can therefore become prolonged to the point where the believer’s faith does begin to fail them.
James 4:7 “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
In the above-quoted passage of scripture, the apostle James says the same thing that Paul does, just using slightly different terminology, for he says that we are to resist the devil and he will flee from us. To resist the devil and to stand against the wiles of the devil is the same thing. James just gives us further insight into the results of our resisting the devil, in that he reveals to us that the devil will then flee from us. But I want you to notice the first part of that verse of scripture, which says “Submit to God”. In other words, the devil will only flee from the believer who meets both requirements. The one requirement is that we must resist the devil. But the first requirement is that we must submit to God. And so for the believer who refuses to be baptized in water, they have obviously not met the first requirement of submitting to God in that area. In other words, they have been disobedient and Satan knows that, and so he uses that to his advantage. And so consequently he will not flee from that believer in the evil day, but rather continue to harass them.
Matthew 3:13-15 “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. (14) And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?" (15) But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him.”
And so believers that have not yet been baptized in water should follow the example set by our Lord Jesus in the above-quoted passage of scripture, and be fully obedient to Him by being baptized in water. It will prevent their adversary the devil from taking advantage of them and will enable them to deal with the wiles of the devil. This is another one of the reasons why the early church baptized new converts in water as soon as they were saved.
Michael E.B. Maher
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