Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Firstly let me say that as the Lord’s disciples, the main reason that we are baptized in water is because this is an instruction given to us by the Lord Jesus. For as quoted in the above passage of scripture, the Lord Jesus instructed us to go into the entire world and make disciples “baptising them” in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And so this brings us to the discussion about water baptism. As I said earlier, to be baptized in water is an event that takes place only after one has been baptized into Christ and is thus born-again. Unlike the first baptism however, i.e. being baptised into Christ; not every believer in the church today experiences water baptism. So why is that? There are two main reasons why believers today are not baptised in water. The first reason is ignorance, because they have not been taught about water baptism at all, or they have been taught incorrectly, i.e. that it is not that important and so can be ignored. The second reason is because of man-made doctrines that have come into the church and have thus replaced God’s word. Here I am specifically referring to the practice of “baptising” little children by sprinkling water on them. This is a man-made practice that is completely contrary to what scripture teaches.
Mark 7:8-9 “For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men-- the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do." (9) He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”
The replacement of God’s word with man-made doctrines is not something new, for Jesus had the same problem with the Pharisees and religious leaders in His day, for they too had replaced God’s word with their own man-made traditions. In the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord speaks plainly of the fact that many of the religious practices of His day had replaced God’s word with man-made traditions. And so in a similar manner today, if you speak to certain churches about water baptism as it is taught in God’s word, they emphatically reject the commandment of God so that they can keep their tradition of sprinkling little children. And yet as we will see from scripture, the early church diligently obeyed the Lord’s instruction to be baptised in water. In the light of that we need to ask the question, why it is that so many in the church today reject God’s teaching on water baptism. Some may say that my choice of words is a bit harsh when I say that believers reject God’s teaching on water baptism. I refer you back to the words of the Head of the church, for it is Jesus who said that those who replaced God’s word with man’s tradition “reject the commandment of God, that they may keep their tradition”. Later in this teaching we will address the question as to why so many in the church reject God’s teaching on water baptism.
Romans 10:8-10 “But what does it say?” The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): (9) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (10) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Just as there are some in the church who teach against water baptism, there are also those who teach the exact opposite, in that they teach that unless you are baptised in water you cannot be saved. Of the two false teachings this one is the most dangerous, because it adds on a further requirement for salvation. The scripture is very clear however that our salvation is in no way influenced by our being baptised in water, and the only thing that is required in order to be saved is to believe that God has raised Jesus from the dead and to confess Him as Lord. The Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul confirms that truth to us very plainly in the above quoted passage of scripture, and any teaching that would try to add another requirement to this, such as water baptism, is completely false and must be rejected.
Acts 15:1-24 “And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." … (24) Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law"--to whom we gave no such commandment.”
Scripture reveals to us that even in the early church that some false teachers had also tried to introduce another requirement for salvation. As we can see from the above quoted passage of scripture, those false teachers had gone around to the various churches trying to persuade the gentile believers that unless they were circumcised and kept the Law of Moses, that they couldn’t be saved. And so in effect, they were telling the gentile believers that they had to convert to Judaism in order to be saved. The early church quickly dealt with this false doctrine by exposing it for the lie that it was. And so in the same manner, the church today needs to expose the lie that unless one is baptized in water one cannot be saved, for scripture plainly teaches us that believers that are not baptized in water also go to be with the Lord Jesus when they die. None of the Old Testament saints were baptized in water and all are in heaven today, and you will recall that the criminal was saved while hanging on the cross alongside our Lord (Luke 23:43).
Michael E.B. Maher
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