Baptism ~ God, You , and Brethren

By Bob W. Lovelace

To begin with I’m going to give you an account of a brother’s predicament he found himself in. It was my privilege to be able to help him in any way that I did. Dear reader his situation was not unlike that of others I’ve known through the years.

This brother was stationed in the military here. He’d had problems with alcohol. Everything was falling apart. He took off for California one week in a rush going nowhere really. He came to himself. He prayed and asked God to direct him to a faithful church of Christ when he got back to Yuma. He actually wrote down the list of churches here in Yuma upon his return and put them into a hat and drew one to start with. Then he called one of our families listed to call for the church and they gave him directions. He couldn’t find us the first try and let us know about that too! That’s OK, he’s trying to get right with God and it was urgent and he felt the sense of urgency. Nothing was going to stop him. He came and he worshipped and studied with us faithfully for several weeks.

Having asked if we could get together and talk he began coming over when he could, bringing his boys and visiting. He was a fine man. I remember that he had to work long hours, but he was very faithful and he spent his days off with his two small sons.

He talked to me one day about his recent life. Then he said, “Bob I could come forward and confess my sinfulness, and I would be willing to do that without hesitation, but I don’t think that’s what I need to do because I’ve never been a Christian” (His words not mine). He explained how when he was a boy they had a preacher who was skilled at getting boys together, doing things with them, and then persuading them to be baptized. And so, he said, “I was one of those boys.”

First of all I could appreciate his honesty. Moreover he’s asking “himself” the right question: What must I do to be saved?

He was saying when it came to his baptism there were some important essentials that were missing! And based upon that, and the fact that he’d never been faithful, he said he knew that he needed to be baptized again.

I can be pretty understanding of someone in his situation. First, because I know that those essentials must be met. Second, because I don’t know what he was thinking when he was baptized I believed him. Thirdly, because of the relationship baptism sustains with God who commanded it, with the person themselves who must obey from the heart, and with brethren who will accept one as belonging to the church when they are baptized. These are brethren with whom the individual is to work.

It Is God Who Commanded Baptism.

Here are some simple questions that belong with this consideration:

1. Who Gave Baptism? Answer: Jesus did (Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15-16.)

2. When was the baptism of the New Covenant given? Answer: same verses above.

3. When was it first to be preached? Lk. 24:47 answers that.

4. What Is Baptism? Answer: baptism is a command (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 10:48; Heb. 5:9).

5. What is the scriptural mode of baptism? Answer: by definition baptism is the word “Baptizo” and means to plunge, submerge, immerse. Baptism is not “sprinkling” (Rhantizo) and it is not “pouring” (Cheo) i.e., having some water poured on one’s head. How important is it to know that? Very! If one is sprinkled or poured then they have not obeyed God’s command.

6. What is the reason for being baptized? People today baptize for many different reasons, but let’s look at the Lord’s reason. Baptism is for one’s salvation (Mk. 16:15-16). Jesus said he that “believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” People sometimes want to get a gap in there between belief and baptism and make just belief only necessary. No, Jesus required both in order to have the remission of sins.

7. Is Repentance necessary before baptism? Answer: Acts 2:38. Peter said “Repent and be baptized ...for the remission of your sins.” If so there is more to my salvation than just belief. If I can’t be saved by faith without repentance then Jesus says I can’t be saved by faith without baptism too! God made this plain for all who desire to be saved!

One more thing concerning God who gave baptism: Acts 2:47 says, “Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” The Lord added to the church daily such as “should” be saved which means “those who were being saved,” but He does not add those who are baptized yet have not repented and turned to God in obedience from the heart (Cf. Rom. 6:16-17, 3-6).

Let’s Look At “You” Who Should Be Baptized.

Question: Who Should Be Baptized? Answer: those concerned with what they need to do to be saved knowing that they are lost. Our example is the jailer in Acts 16:30, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

What precedes baptism? There are five steps to obeying the Gospel:

1. One must first HEAR the word: Mk. 16:15-16; Rom. 1:16-17. The eunuch (Acts 8) had Christ preached to him first (8:35) and then asked his question: “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:35-36)

2. One must BELIEVE prior to baptism (Mk. 16:15-16; Acts 8:35-36).

3. One who has REPENTED (Acts 2:38).

4. One who has CONFESSED Christ with the mouth (Acts 8:37; Rom. 10:9-10).

5. One willing to OBEY IN BAPTISM “from the heart” (Rom. 6:17). The command to be baptized for the remission of one’s sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16); If it is not from the heart is it worth anything to the individual?

6. Finally, one baptized before but not into Christ’s Body: I Cor. 12:13; read Acts 19:1-7. To put it another way one whose prior baptism was not right.

Your Baptism And Your Brethren.

When should we consider another to be a Christian? Has God not told us? Indeed He has in Acts 16:14-15. We have that scripture to emphasize what we discern and act upon in accepting one as “faithful to the Lord.” Read it carefully and you will notice that Lydia knew that disciples would consider her to be a Christian based upon her obedience in baptism!

At what point to does church discipline apply? I Cor. 5:11 applies church discipline to anyone “named” a brother. One is named a brother at baptism!

I would never want my judgment to override one’s understanding that one or more of the necessary elements essential to “their” salvation was missing, though they had been baptized. See the above list again. It is the Lord who adds and He knows! I know they are to obey from the heart. And they know if they did or if they didn’t!

About Discipline And When It Applies.

The rules of discipline apply when one is “named” a brother. What if they stay for a while and then walk off? And as they leave they say something like, “Well, I didn’t do it for the right reason anyway so you can’t consider me to be a Christian.”

Maybe they didn’t! Maybe they did but are falling away! Either way I still have to respect God’s law that states discipline is to be applied when one is “named” a brother at baptism. In a court of law when one commits perjury and then later says “I’m not lying this time,” the judge is prone to say the evidence is not permissible this time!

Do you see now why “discipline” applies at the point when one is baptized? (Acts 16:14-15; I Cor. 5:11)

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