What Have We Done To Baptism?

 "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, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, event to the end of the age" -- Matthew 28:19-20

Christ's command to his disciples was to make disciples and baptize them. This is a central tenant of Christianity and has been regarded of the utmost importance throughout the history of the Church. To remove baptism from the Christian faith is akin to ripping out the very heart of the gospel, and making our Saviour's words empty and meaningless. There are no Christian groups alive today (or in history, as far as I'm aware) that have not used this ancient practice for new converts. True, there is disagreement on when and how it is to be done, but I don't think there's every been disagreement on if it should be done. Jesus' words and the testimony of the early Church are very clear.

While it hasn't happened yet, I do feel like the direction we are headed in the West is very different from those who have gone before us, and I feel like we are being tied down to a paradigm that will ultimately destroy us, if we are not careful. Who is "us" - well, like all my posts, "us" refers to evangelical Protestants...

A while back I was a witness to a baptism of a person that described in their testimony that they had been a Christian for over 10 years and felt like it was time to get baptized. Everyone (as far as I know) supported this decision to get baptized and so they were baptized and all was good. As I reflected more about it, it made me uncomfortable - how could a Christian go over 10 years without being baptized? Wasn't that a bit odd?

Of course it was odd, but in good Protestant fashion, these sorts of things are cropping up now. Christians before baptism - Is that even allowed?

From an evangelical Protestant perspective - yes. Yes it is. Because Baptism is only an outward declaration of what has happened internally. So, a Christian gets baptized once he/she gets saved. The baptism is to serve as a witness to the world that "Yes, this person has made a decision to follow Christ".

But... What do the Scriptures say about baptism?

He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned (Mk 16:16)

 Jesus answered "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (Jn 3:5)

The Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Ac 2:38)

 "And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Ac 22:16)

And here's some teaching from the epistles:

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? (Ro 6:3)

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. (1Co 12:13)

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Ga 3:27)

...buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. (Col 2:12)

There is also an antitype which now saves us--baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1 Pe 3:21)

 That is a very good representation of the teachings of baptism in the Scriptures. The thing to note here is that they all talk about baptism in the context of salvation and the washing away of sins! Nowhere do we read that baptism is only a declaration of the salvation that has already taken place. Baptism is necessary for salvation. Paul equates those who have been baptized with those who have put on Christ. There are no two ways about it - Baptism is part of the process - not a declaration of something that has already passed.

So, where did we get this idea that baptism is only a symbol? Look no further than the Protestant Reformation - because until that time, the Church taught Baptismal Regeneration - that is, the act of Baptism literally washes away your sin. But, in the effort to remove all things physical from the process of salvation, Protestants turned the sacrament into an ordinance, and with that, baptism become something one should do, but not something one has to do.

I hope this freaks you out. Because the Evangelical Protestant position is in direct contradiction to the teachings of Jesus and the apostles (and the rest of Christendom in history - but we rarely pay any attention to anyone but ourselves), we must therefore step back and say "Whoa! What caused us to start thinking something untrue? What system of beliefs have we employed that has brought us to such a contrary conclusion."

I believe it is our long-held belief that salvation has nothing to do with works whatsoever. In an effort to remove the wicked abuses of the Catholic Church at the time of the Reformation, we removed everything physical from the sphere of sanctity. With nothing physically required anymore, we can never again fall into the trap of being saved by our own strength. So, baptism has become only a symbol, not the actual washing away of sins, and if you so desire, you can put it off, and perhaps in the near future, we will begin thinking that it's no longer even necessary to be baptized. If you feel that you're a Christian, then you are a Christian, and nobody can tell you any different. Otherwise, people would get offended.

Baptism doesn't get to be only a symbol because we want it to be. We're not the ones in charge.

As we journey through this life, one of the most important things we can do is to realize where we have come from and where we are going. This requires a certain amount of wisdom and careful thought to ensure where we are headed is where we think we are headed. Just because you think you are travelling in the right direction, does not make it so. We must be sober-minded regarding our lives and take each step with intent. We must compare our beliefs with what has been taught not just in the last 20 years, but the last 2000 years, and if we are found wanting - we need to be the ones to change.