We believe that Jesus Christ taught baptism as a must, and something that is to be done through faith in His name- Jesus Christ.

Transcription

1 6. Baptism as Taught by Jesus We believe that Jesus Christ taught baptism as a must, and something that is to be done through faith in His name- Jesus Christ. On the other hand, there are some people who refer to Matthew 28:19 and Acts 2:38 and say they would rather believe Jesus than the Apostles! What they are implying in such a statement is that the Apostles did not accurately practice what Jesus taught them, but actually practiced something different! If that is so, how can the Apostles be trusted for anything? In such a light all their teachings and actions could be submitted to the scrutiny of our opinions. (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 Matthew 28:18-20 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Acts 2:38 The problem with this type of reasoning is that, first of all, Matthew s words in 28:19 were one out of four total places where the particular message called the Great Commission is recorded. In all the other three, only one name is referred to- Jesus! See Mark 16:15-17; Luke 24:45-47 and Acts 1:8. (15) And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (16) He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (17) And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name -Mark 16: (45) Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, (46) And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: (47) And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. -Luke 24: But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. -Acts 1:8

2 We believe that the Apostles accurately practiced the commandments of Jesus Christ and that the Lord worked with them confirming their words. In fact, the Bible specifically says that the Lord opened their understanding in Luke 24:45. We believe that baptism is to be administered in the name of Jesus Christ. The dissenting opinion to this is that the formula in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost should be recited at baptism. Such an opinion often attempts to explain away all the scriptures that mention baptism in Jesus name as meaning in his authority rather than the words to be spoken. (The scriptures that speak of baptism in Jesus name, either directly or indirectly, are Mark 16:15-17; Luke 24:47, Acts 2:38; 8:5-16; 10:48; 19:4-5; Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:27-28; Colossians 2:12, 3:17; 1 Peter 3:20-21 with Acts 4:12 and 22:16). (15) And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (16) He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (17) And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name -Mark 16:15. (46) And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: (47) And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. -Luke 24: Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. -Acts 2:38. And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. -Acts 10:48 Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake they believed Philip concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women When the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. -Acts 8:5-22

3 And it came to pass, that Paul came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. -Acts 19:1-6. Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death -Romans 6:3-4. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. - Galatians 3: In (Jesus Christ) also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. -Colossians 2: And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. -Colossians 3:17. God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: -1 Peter 3: With: And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. -Acts 22:16. And with: (10) Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. (11) This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. (12) Neither is there salvation in any

4 other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. -Acts 4: Again, there is a great problem with explaining away all the scriptures that mention baptism into Jesus name as meaning in or by his authority. For example Colossians 2:12 and Romans 6:3-4 explain to us that we are baptized with Christ into his death. Does baptism into the Father and Holy Ghost apply in our being buried with them? We believe not- neither the Father nor the Holy Ghost were laid in the tomb-merely Jesus dead body. Furthermore, neither the Father nor the Holy Ghost came to the river Jordan and were baptized by John as a type for our baptism- only Jesus was dipped in the Jordan that day. That isn t to say that the Father and Holy Ghost weren t present, but we hope the point has been made. Furthermore, the scriptures say specifically to believe on His name and to call upon His name in baptism. For demonstration of this latest point, we re going to look at the story of the Apostle Paul s conversion, and show what Jesus Himself commanded. When you read this passage, remember that Jesus always works with his people to delivery his message. We have the story of Paul s conversion in many passages. They must all be viewed together to really get the full picture that the scriptures project. Basically, Paul (then named Saul) was on his way to Jerusalem to obtain official permission from the high priest to persecute Christians. The Lord Jesus Christ met him on the road to Damascus with a shining light that drove Paul to his feet. We take up the story in the scriptures here, with the voice from heaven which says, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? (Acts 9:4). Keep in mind that at this point Saul is still a Jew that is, a strict monotheist and when he is using the term Lord, he is using the current Jewish spoken label for their God Yahweh. Jewish tradition at that time, as it still is today, forbade them from uttering the proper name of their God. In this context, Saul replies to the voice, and said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus... And (Saul) trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou MUST do (Acts 9:5-6). Mark Jesus words well. If you had been struck down by Almighty God and he told you it would be told you what you must do- would you take

5 that as an imperative or merely a quaint suggestion that you would be free to liberally reinterpret according to your personal whims? We believe that the Lord spoke a conditional commandment to Brother Saul that day. Some people believe otherwise. After this conversation Paul opened his eyes and discovered he had been blinded by the light. He had to be led to Damascus by the men that were with him. After three days in that city, the Lord, through visions to both men, sends to Saul one hesitant Ananias to speak with him. Remember Jesus prophetic words to Saul. He had referred to the message that Ananias was to deliver- the message that Jesus had said Saul must do. At this point we take up the story later in the book of Acts, where Paul is recounting his conversion to some Jews in Jerusalem who now want to persecute him for becoming a Christian. Here are Paul s words from the Bible- And one Ananias said unto me now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. (Acts 22:10-13). That cannot be plainer to see. Jesus Himself had told Paul it would be told him what he must do. What Paul was actually told to do was to "arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." We remember that Paul had been told by Jesus Christ Himself what that name of the Lord is. That conversation went like this, "Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus." So what do you think Paul did? We don t have to guess, Paul tells us what he did- Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death -Romans 6:3-4. Can we believe the Apostle Paul's baptism was of Jesus Christ, or was it merely of the Apostles? Yes, we believe that the baptism that Paul heard from Jesus Christ is the proper way to be baptized, and that is the same way all the other Apostles baptized- into the name of Jesus Christ! But not everyone believes the way we do! How can we say that? Because there are some who don't see the need to get baptized the way Paul was baptized- which is calling on the name of Jesus Christ for the remission, that is, the washing away of our sins!

6 Please continue with 7. Baptism as Witnessed in The Bible (Who, What, Where, When, Why And How)