Symbolism/ Reality of Baptism Series PAGE

Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Matthew 28:19

Importance of Baptism

Dig Deeper: Symbolism/ Reality of Baptism Series: Importance of Baptism

The body of Christ

Dig Deeper: Symbolism/ Reality of Baptism Series: The body of Christ

More than a mere form

Dig Deeper: Symbolism/ Reality of Baptism Series: More than a mere form

One Flesh

Dig Deeper: Symbolism/ Reality of Baptism Series: One Flesh

Israel's Exodus (Sanctuary Outlined)

Moreover, brethren, 

I would not that ye should be ignorant, 

how that all our fathers were under the cloud, 

and all passed through the sea; 

And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 

1 Corinthians 10:1,2

*In the Outer Court Israel held the Passover (Altar of Sacrifice in Egypt)

Passed through Baptism (Brazen Laver)

*Went through the Wilderness  (Sanctification of them in the Wilderness -- Inner Court Experience-- From the Table of Shewbread fed them Manna -- From the Table of the Candlestick their Light shined out to foreigners as Rahab at Jericho would tell them that they were aware their God was the real God from observing them in the Wilderness --from the Altar of Incense Moses interceded for God to spare them as he was a symbol for Christ interceding in our Prayers to God) 

*When God Judged them (Most Holy Place) Righteous (from His Mercy Seat via the Law beneath His feet in the Ark of the Covenant) they entered the Promised Land.

Observance of the Forms commanded by God

"We believe that baptism is necessary, for the Lord has commanded it. 

*We would not dare tell any individual that he could be saved without it; 

*indeed, we should tell him that he could not, if, knowing the

commands and having the opportunity, he should refuse. 

But while it becomes us to be baptized, thus to fulfill all righteousness, we remember that: 

• With the heart man believes unto righteousness (Romans 10:10); 

• There can be no righteousness without belief; and 

• Only “he that believes and is baptized, shall be saved.” Mark 16:16. 

We do not decry the observance of forms, if those forms have been commanded. 

There is no element of superstition in humble obedience to a divine command, no matter how trivial the required act may seem." 

E.J. Waggoner

Superstition of Infant Baptism

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 2 Timothy 4:3-4

"Two instances will suffice to show that infant baptism is simply the result of gross superstition that is not exceeded among Roman Catholics. 

I.

In a recent note on “Children’s Day,” the editor of the Congregationalist said: 

"The rite of infant baptism can be made most impressive. Last year a

young man of more than twenty, witnessed this ordinance for the first time on Children’s Day. As he watched the pastor take one dear little one after another in his arms to bless them, he said, with deep emotion, “If my father and mother had done that when I was a baby, I might have been a different boy.”

If the intelligence indicated by that remark was a fair sample of the product of the brain of that “young man of more than twenty,” we should say that he was even then a proper subject for the administration of “infant baptism.” 

But we must remember that he simply echoed the sentiments of the church people around him, and that his remark is indorsed by the editor of the Congregationalist. 

It could not be to any volition on his part, but simply to the magic charm of the few drops of water sprinkled upon him, or to the words uttered by the pastor. 

II.

But we have another case in which the element of superstition is so prominent as to be laughable. 

In the Advance of September 22, A. L. Frisbie, D. D., has an account of a “Sunday with the Stonies,” a tribe of Indians on their reservation near the line of the Canadian Pacific.

He tells of the crowds that flocked to church, of the good order, of the reverence during prayer, and of the enthusiasm with which they sang “Old Hundred,” and continues: 

"A baby was presented for baptism after the benediction. Fortunately he was asleep, so that he could not express any disapprobation of the proceeding."

And then in all seriousness he goes on to say that mothers and nurses

might learn a lesson from the way in which this baby was “put up,” because he was placed in a casket shaped to the tiny form, the whole wrapped and bound, and his limbs, body, and head so snugly cased and held, that he “could not kick if he wanted to.” If he had been awake, he could not have objected to the proceeding except by yelling. “Fortunately he was asleep,” and so the beautiful ceremony was not marred. 

Will anybody tell us how much more solemnity or efficacy there was in that ceremony than in the incantations of the heathen Indian “Medicine Man”?

If it is said that this was done in the name of Christ, then we reply that it was simply taking the name of Christ as a charm, and differed not a particle from the act of the seven sons of Sceva. See Acts 19:13-14. 

We may add, also, that the mere calling of the name of the Lord Jesus over a person, will have no more effect if done by a Christian minister than if done by a Jewish exorcist.

 In the instance quoted from the Advance the climax of absurdity was reached. There was an intent without power to discern between its right hand and its left; added to this it was bound hand and foot, and then while it was asleep the minister surreptitiously sprinkled a few drops of water upon it, and, behold, it was a Christian baby!

This fairly surpasses the method by which the Jesuit missionaries in California converted the Indians a century ago. It is said that the Jesuits which would mount their horses, lasso an Indian, force him into the mission building, and “baptize” him, and henceforth he was a child of the church. 

If sprinkling an unconscious infant is productive of any good, we cannot see what argument can be brought against the forcible “baptism” of adults. No one can fail to see that the element of faith is entirely excluded." 

E..J. Waggoner

Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to

call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. 

And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? 

And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 

Acts 19:13-16

What Baptism by Sprinkling Loses......

"God has decided how the death, burial, and resurrection of the Savior are to be commemorated; He has given us the ordinance of baptism, which is intended to commemorate the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

We note that baptism by immersion is the only accurate way to

memorialize the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior. 

......churches have reduced the rite of baptism to the sprinkling of a few drops of water, a procedure that conveys no idea whatever of baptism into death, or of rising again to walk in newness of life." F.D. Nichols

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. Romans 6:3-6

Extrapolation from Baptism of Christ

"The light which fell from the open portals upon the head of our

Savior will fall upon us as we pray for help to resist temptation. 

The voice which spoke to Jesus says to every believing soul, This is My beloved child, in whom I am well pleased. . . .(Matthew 3:17)."
E.G.W.

Grebel's Contribution to the Reformation

And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

Matthew 3:6

 

"Conrad Grebel (1498-1526) was one such preacher. ‘The Father of the Anabaptists’ had actually been led to faith in Christ thanks to Zwingli’s ministry in 1522; nevertheless, the following year he

began to feel that his pastor was not carrying out a full-blown reform at his church at Zurich, especially due to Zwingli’s willingness to compromise with the State over the question of abolishing the Mass.

 

Two years later, Zwingli and Grebel met for a final showdown. They were to debate publically upon the controversial theme of infant baptism. After the debate, Zurich’s authorities officially endorsed Zwingli’s stance, so Grebel and his faithful followers decided to leave Zurich in order to preach their newfound faith, baptizing men and women who responded to their Gospel preaching. From that moment on, Anabaptism (which literally means ‘rebaptism’ or ‘baptism again’) was to become an independent movement, separate from the Swiss Reformation.

 

As can be imagined, the civil authorities were incensed at Grebel’s re-baptizing antics. Therefore all of the Anabaptist preachers were sentenced to death by drowning. Grebel’s close friend Felix Mantz was the first to die in January 1527.

Grebel himself had been arrested in October 1525 and handed a life-sentence, however, his friends helped him to escape some five months later. But all to no avail. The young Grebel was to be struck down by the plague that very summer. 

Notwithstanding his relative youth, Grebel was to prove instrumental in the development of a Protestant alternative to the mainline thought of Luther, Zwingli and Bullinger." FreshBreeze/WillGraham

Sikke Freriks

His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant;

Matthew 25:23

 

"Dutch artisan Sikke Freriks, beheaded in 1531 in Leeuwarden‘s market, was the first Anabaptist put to death in that Friesland city.

While a minor milestone in the crowded history of Reformation martyrdoms, Freriks had a noteworthy posthumous effect: word of his heresy — adherence to adult, rather than infant, baptism — came to the ears of a Catholic priest, who later wrote that a man’s dying for this illicit doctrine led him to investigate it further.

To his amazement, the priest found no scriptural support for the established church’s practice of baptizing infants before they developed the maturity and volition to embrace Christ from the will of their own hearts. Christians are “cheated” by the loss of that opportunity of freely giving oneself in baptism, he later wrote."

executedtoday

"The time is fulfilled"

"When Christ entered upon his mission, immediately after His
baptism, He came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled." Mark1:14,15. This must mark the fulfillment of some definite period, or it would not be asserted that "the time is fulfilled." The time here fulfilled can be none other than that given in Dan.9:25: "Unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks," 483 years.

We are therefore correct in saying that this is the period 

that reaches to his baptism.

 

Christ was six months younger than John the Baptist, and is generally considered to have entered upon his ministry six months later; both of them commencing their work, according to the law of the priesthood, when they were thirty years of age. 

Of Christ, Luke says expressly that at the time of his baptism He began to be about thirty years of age. Luke3:23. Now John entered upon His ministry, as Luke informs us (3:1), in the fifteenth year of

Tiberius Caesar. 

Tiberius was the successor of Augustus, who reigned to A.D. 14. The date of Augustus' death is indisputably fixed by means of the great lunar eclipse soon after, Sept.27, which served to quell the mutiny of the Pannonian legions, and to induce them to swear fidelity to Tiberius, as recorded by Tacitus, Anal.1:28, and Dio.lib.57, p.604. But the reign of Tiberius is to be reckoned, according to Prideaux, Dr. Hales, Lardner, and others, from his elevation to the throne to reign jointly with Augustus his step-father, in August, A.D. 12, two years before the death of the latter. The fifteenth
year of Tiberius would therefore be from August, A.D. 26, to August, A.D. 27. 

 

If John commenced in the spring in the latter portion of the fifteenth

year of Tiberius, it would bring the commencement of Christ's ministry in the autumn of A.D. 27, the very point where the 483 years of Dan.9 expire. 

The length of Christ's ministry. This may be quite accurately determined by enumerating the passovers which he attended. There were but four of these as recorded in John2:13; 5:1; 6:4; and 13:1. At the last of these he was crucified.. This would make the duration of his ministry three years and a half. Thus, if he commenced in the autumn of A.D. 27, he would preach six months before his first passover in the spring of 28. His second passover would be in the spring of 29, His third in the spring of 30, and His fourth in the spring of 31, when He was crucified.

 

This would correspond exactly to the prophecy; 

for He was to confirm the
covenant with many for one week, seven years, and in the midst, 

or middle, of the week, he was to be cut off, and cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease.

 

This he did when he expired upon the cross, three and one-half years from the commencement of his ministry; and during the remainder of the week He confirmed the covenant through his apostles. Heb.2:3. Dr. Hales, vol. i. p. 94, quotes Eusebius, A.D. 300, as saying: "It is recorded in history, that the whole time of our Savior's teaching and working miracles was three years and a half, which is the half of a week [of years]. This John the evangelist will represent to those who critically attend to his gospel."

Uriah Smith

Theological Heresy that Lies at the Root of Infant Baptism

Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Matthew 15:14

"This doctrine of original sin is pivotal in the “sin and live” theology.

It was propagated by Rome, and is the foundation of infant baptism." 

Christopher Fischer

IN the NEWS - Another Reason to Oppose Infant Baptism

....and to know madness and folly...

Ecclesiastes 1:17

"A six-week-old child has died after suffering a heart attack during a baptism ceremony in an Orthodox Church in Romania, according to reports.

The incident happened in the city of Suceava at the Church of St. Constantin and Elena, where according to Orthodox ordinances, the baby was completely submerged three times for the ceremony.

Emerging unresponsive, he was rushed to the hospital where he was resuscitated and put on a ventilator, then succumbed to his injuries.

According to the child’s father, during the autopsy doctors found 110 mm of liquid in the baby’s lungs.

The priest who performed the baptism, Alexandru Mazarache, .... Despite the outcry and a petition to cease the practice, he said that the method of baptism will not change, but that “more attention will probably be needed to keep the nose and mouth above the water.” 

The baptism was filmed and Police say the priest may be charged with manslaughter."

Protestia

"Vicariously" Impart Baptism Debate

"Jesus was not a sinner. 

He did not need to^, be baptized, except that

He might, be an ex­ample to those who would believe on His name, and that He thus might be able vicariously to impart baptism to those who were unable to be baptized after they had believed. 

*The thief on the cross fell into this class of those who are in need of a vicarious impartation of bap­tism.

 

 In any discussion of the question of baptism for the dead, John 3:5 will come up for consideration. This verse reads: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can­not enter into the kingdom of God."

 

The Mormons believe in the impartation of baptism vicariously, seeing that they apply 1 Corinthians 15:29 (Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? ) as they do. 

---But their argu­ment is faulty. 

After a man is dead, it is im­possible for him to hope for the truth. Isaiah 38:18 records this: "For the grave cannot praise Thee, death cannot celebrate Thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth." Thus, vicarious baptism, performed in an attempt to impart it to a man after he has died, would do no good. 

 

The dying thief was one who had no such opportunity to walk in the "works, which God hath before ordained," wherein a believer should walk. (See Eph. 2:10, Newberry's version.) Thus the thief had to accept Jesus' baptism without himself being baptized. The baptism was imputed to the thief, and the verse in John 3:5 was thus fulfilled for the thief." 

Paul O. Campbell/1939

Dig Deep into Baptism

"As
---man had transgressed the law of God,
---Christ was to fulfill every requirement of that law, and thus show perfect obedience.
"Lo, I come to do thy will, O God!" (Heb.10:9).

Christ honored the ordinance of baptism by submitting to this rite. In this act he identified Himself with His people as their

representative and head.
As their substitute, he takes upon Him their sins,
numbering Himself with the transgressors,
-taking the steps the sinner is required to take,
-and doing the work the sinner must do."
Spirit Of Prophecy vol.2, E.G.W.

IN the NEWS - Jesuit "aliens" Baptism NONSENSE

"A Jesuit, representing the Vatican, commenting on the ‘Earth 2.0’ discovery said: “It is probable there was life and perhaps a form of intelligent life.”

A colleague went a step further by saying he would be happy to baptize an alien.
“Any entity—no matter how many tentacles it has—has a soul,” he said.
The Bible is clear that it is the descendants of Adam who need salvation (For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:21–22). Therefore, this does not work because the aliens could not be descendants of Adam."
CMI

Points about the Sabbath SERIES: Sunday or Baptism?

The Sabbath Is Not Meant to Memorialize the Resurrection

"It is true that Jesus rose on a Sunday.

It is one of the pivotal moments in the history of the world.

But nowhere does the Bible hint that we should keep Sunday holy.

Many other wonderful events occurred on certain days of the week, but we have no command to keep them holy either.

There is, of course, a memorial of the resurrection commanded in the Bible, but it is not to determine a new day of worship. Paul wrote: “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
Baptism is the memorial of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. However, the Sabbath is a memorial of creation."
IAR