Baptism
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Deut. 4:2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
Deut. 12:32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
Prov. 30:6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
Jere. 30:2 Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:
Rev. 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
So let us pay close attention and not allow the traditions of men to come before the Word of God as revealed in the scriptures. Let us remember instead that those who are blessed are those that obey and KEEP God’s Word and do not make the traditions of men, whether in word or practice, change the intent of what our Lord has given..
Luke 11:28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
For the purposes of the rest of this article it will be noted that the mode of baptism is used in the definition of full water immersion unless other wise stated. The Greek word ‘baptizo’ means to immerse, plunge, dip, or bury in water. The very Greek word itself excludes it from meaning “sprinkling.” Also I will be using the phrase "scripturally baptized." By that I mean a baptism that has been performed AFTER salvation, not before salvation or through some dedication or re-dedication service.
It is not my intent to cover every point on baptism, but rather to cover a few things, two to be exact, that I see in today's church as tradition that has actually lowered or changed the intent of what and how baptism is being done. I believe that the church today is lacking in what I would call congregational responsibility. We have become a people who pay others to do what we the people are to be involved in. This in part has come about due to convenience, and in doing so we have greatly limited the working of the Lord, in what we call the great commission are told this in Matt. 28:
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
This passage is for all and not just for those who feel the call to preach. There has been many evangelists, teachers and pastors who have referred to these verses to encourage their congregations and the people of the Lord to spread the gospel. However that is not the end of the command even though most try and end it there. We are to baptize and teach as well. Here is where the church has fallen into tradition when it comes to baptism rather then what is written.
One has to ask what gives anyone the authority to teach or baptize? We see this authority given in Matt 28. It is the same authority that is given to spread the gospel, and no unbeliever has the authority to do even that. However today we have decided that only those who have been ordained or hold specific offices are to baptize and in doing so have limited the church the body of Christ from its fullness and blessings as well as changed the command of the Lord. Our authority comes from Christ Himself once we ourselves have received Him as Lord and Savior. No other authority or ordinance of men can supersede this, and yet we have turned from this to make certain positions in the church stand above what the Lord called us to, and by doing so I believe that we alienate the people at least in part. Though baptism does not save it is an outward witness of an inward change and our acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation and making the claim that we like Christ are dieing to self and raised new to walk with Christ in a new life.
Every believer is called and every believer has the authority to welcome another believer into the kingdom through what we call believers baptism. This was never intended as a ceremony that was to be done by a select few. By keeping it this way I believe that we stymie the church by making the regular members less significant then those who hold an office and in doing so lesson the zeal to share the word of God. There is no doubt that there is no greater joy for a pastor to officially welcome a new convert into the kingdom of God at baptism and the same would be true if every member would be allowed, and expected to exercise their full calling in baptizing new converts. If a person leads someone to the Lord there needs to be the opportunity to be the one who performs the baptism of that new believer. For who else is more qualified and who else should receive the joy and satisfaction for what they have worked and prayed for. While it should not be an absolute requirement it should be encouraged and not just in a passing mention, but actually offering and taking time to teach the members how to carry this out. I am convinced that if this were done more people would be encouraged to share the gospel with others since it allows them to be more involved with the fruits of that salvation.
Now someone may object and say that there is no authority given to the average believer, and that it is the pastor or some other ordained person who has been given that responsibility. However there is not a single passage anyplace where God even hints that the ordinance of baptism is to be done by certain people. While the early church was started by those who were called out by the Lord such as the apostles, and they did baptize, there is a clear reason for that. There was simply no ordinary church members to do baptisms. So trying to use the early church as our example is not a valid example in itself when the reason for them doing the baptizing is explored. While some may not feel lead to, or desire to perform the task, it is an open option that all should be offered and encouraged in. Also we do have the great commission to look upon and if we are going to teach that the commission is for all to go and spread the gospel then any proper exegetic study of the passage in Matt. 28 has to also include every believer in carrying out the ordinance of baptism. Any other conclusion changes the calling to go and tell as well alienates the congregation from the purpose of the church and stifles the gospel. If you ask any pastor who has lead one of his biological children to Christ about the great joy and pride that they experience when they finally are able to bring that child to the baptismal waters you will find that it is an experience that cannot be explained in words and it promotes greater enthusiasm to lead others to Christ with the joy of knowing that they may take part in another baptismal. The same experience should be offered to every parent, or saint who has lead someone to Christ or has a child who has accepted the Lord.
Sharing in the joy of the baptism by doing the baptism is a reward as well as encouragement to work harder to win others to the Master and one that is not forbidden by scripture for all to take part in if they are themselves saved and this needs to be practiced in the church today. Any time a believer leads another to Christ the opportunity should be afforded to baptize that person. I believe that while baptism has no saving merit in itself, it is an ordinance that should not be taken lightly. It carries with it great responsibilities to the one being baptized as well as the one doing it, as well as leaving great memories in the hearts with encouragement of all involved. If this ordinance was suppose to be carried out by a select few who have certain positions in the church certainly the Lord would have laid down specific conditions or qualifications, but there are none. There are qualifications for becoming a pastor and deacon, but none for carrying out the ordinance of baptism and when viewed in light of Matt 28 it is clear that any believer is not ONLY qualified, but EXPECTED to carry this ordinance out. Other wise if we make the calling to baptize one for certain people and exclude everyone who is just a believer we also have to excluded every believer who is not ordained from going and telling since it also is in the same text without any reason to believe that there is a separation of duties and callings. If we do that then it means that only a pastor or an ordained individual can share the gospel and I doubt that any of us wants that or believes that.
To further consider this I would ask anyone who rejects what has been stated to tell us if a person who is in some far country where there is no clear organized church with a pastor, should the new convert be denied baptism because of there is no pastor or ordained individual to carry it out. The answer is no! Also there needs to be the answered to this; will the Lord accept the baptism when not preformed by someone who is not ordained? There is absolutely no reason to believe based on scripture that He would not. When we make baptism an ordinance that can only be done by an ordained individual or someone who holds a particular office we actually make the office above the ordinance and the one doing the baptism above the One who calls for it.The ordinance of baptism is not in any way dependant upon the person who does it as long as that person is himself a believer, but rather it is dependent upon the authority that each believer has in Christ and the command to carry it out.
Next I want to deal with a tradition in many churches that I believe changes and lowers the ordinance of baptism. Baptism was given for one reason and one reason only and that is a testimony before men with the official declaration of entrance into the church triumphant. At no time was baptism EVER intended as a rite for acceptance of membership into a denomination or local church. Nothing so demolishes and lowers the high calling of baptism as when a church changes the ordinance of baptism into something other then its intent. Yet today many churches do just that. I have on several occasions been witness to churches that require a person coming from another denomination to be re-baptized even though they were scripturally baptized before. This makes a mockery of the ordinance of baptism and even more blasphemes our dear Lord who has already accepted the baptism which is now rejected. While I am not in any way an ecumenical I do believe that we have went way to far to preserve denominational lines when we require re-baptism. In this one area I believe that those who practice this stand condemned for the practice of requiring a person to be re-baptized since they reject what God has accepted. There is not a single bit if evidence in scripture where once a person who is saved and baptized is to EVER be re-baptized. It is nothing less then burying the Lord the second time and mocks and adds to the picture of His suffering and death. Christ died once for sin and we show that death along with our acceptance of it through being baptized once. Any further or additional baptism of a believer who has already been scripturally baptized mocks the one death of Christ and confuses and tarnishes the ordinance of baptism.
Also I have heard where someone seeks a second baptism. Sometimes a person who has been saved wants to rededicate their lives with the follow up of another baptism or they were baptized in a church baptistery and want baptized in a creek or some other reason. This too makes baptism a mocker. It is not an ordinance that we do to make continual statements by. It is an ordinance that we make one statement and only one and it is made only one time. The rest of the time we are in the state of proving that statement of baptism by how we live. We can do that by a testimony of a changed life. It is a one time event with meaning and any additional baptisms clouds the true meaning of baptism. It is true that some people do have to go through the waters more then once, but that should only be if they miss-understood the plan of salvation and were not really saved the first time and have made it clear that they are now coming for a believers baptism.
So to sum this up. First any person who is a believer has the authority to baptize a new convert and this should be practiced in the church. Also once any person has been scripturally baptized they are never again to be baptized less we confuse and mock the intent of baptism. So let us take the words of our Lord to heart and not add to, change or delete any of what He has given us and may we take great diligence to examine everything we do in light of scripture rather then tradition. While we are under grace and we all praise God for it we are also under obligation to carry out His desires as He has given them without making things so complicated or ritualistic that we become another generation of Pharisees forgetting that while our salvation was secured by grace though faith our place in His kingdom is determined by how we handle His word since we all must give an account for what we have done.
By Gerald Schumacher
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