By Art Farstad*
* This article is adapted from a 1990 journal article he wrote entitled, “We Believe In: Water Baptism.”
Quite early in Christian history the idea grew up that baptism was necessary for salvation. Also, the notion appeared that baptism washed away original sin and (for older candidates) any sins committed before baptism.
While Grace Evangelical Society’s constituency may disagree as to the exact meaning of water baptism, this is a mild disagreement compared to the issue of whether or not water baptism is necessary for salvation!
Members of GES, along with evangelicals generally, will strongly affirm that although commanded by Christ, and hence important, water baptism confers no saving grace.
None of us would ever suggest that any person who received Christ by faith will be eternally lost.
We do believe, however, that they will regret not having been baptized when they stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ.
If baptism doesn’t save; if it is a major cause of division in Christendom as to mode, meaning, and proper subjects of the rite; and if it isn’t necessary to the Christian life, of what importance is it?
THE MEANING OF BAPTISM
The precise significance of baptism is still much debated. Many still teach baptismal regeneration, that is, that the person being baptized—usually an infant in circles holding that view—is actually “born again and grafted into the Body of Christ.” Others, while not holding to baptismal regeneration as such, believe it is part of salvation, and that without it, one will be damned.i
As to mode, those who pour or sprinkle generally see baptism as a picture of the Holy Spirit’s coming on the believer at salvation. Those practicing immersion usually see the rite as a picture of the believer’s death, burial, and resurrection with Christ.
The general meaning of baptism is widely, and we believe correctly, held to be identification with Christ and His people.
In 1 Cor 10:2 we read that the children of Israel were “baptized into Moses…in the sea.” What does this mean? Were they immersed in the Red Sea? Certainly not. Did it pour on them as they passed through? No. Were they at least sprinkled by the sea? Not even that. By going through the sea on dry land they were identified with their deliverer, Moses, who, under God, saved them from Pharaoh and the armies of Egypt.
That baptism means identification with Christ and the Christian faith is not as clearly seen in those Western countries with a large percentage of the population being baptized in infancy. But it is in the so-called non-Christian world that the general meaning of baptism shines through most clearly. Robert K. DeVries, in his dissertation on NT baptism, writes:
Among educated Hindus, Moslems and Jews, total defection or apostasy from their respective faiths to Christianity comes only when the Christian convert submits to baptism. It is a mark of absolute identification with the Christian faith. Would to God this were true throughout the world.ii
THE IMPORTANCE OF BAPTISM
Water baptism is important for obedience and as a testimony.
FOR OBEDIENCE
“To obey is better than sacrifice,” said the prophet Samuel (1 Sam 15:22). Our Lord’s command before His crucifixion was to remember Him in the breaking of bread. His command right before His ascension was to baptize disciples in all nations “in the [triune] name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” This alone should be enough to convince the ordinary Christian to be baptized. Once you have left this planet it will be too late to observe either ordinance. The time is now.
AS A WITNESS
As we have noted, in Muslim countries and many other lands outside professing Christendom, such as Israel, a person is not considered to really be a Christian until he or she is baptized with water. One can study the faith, attend services and other social functions, yet not be considered a Christian.
While attending an inter-denominational Christmas service at St. George’s (Anglican) Church in Jerusalem some years ago, I was told by my host that the pleasant, middle-aged couple sitting in front of us was Jewish. They obviously were enjoying the lovely music, the Biblical readings, and the spirit of joy. There are many such people, attracted to various aspects of Christianity (often the cultural byproducts— art, music, and architecture) yet unwilling to take a difficult stand in a non-, un-, or often anti-Christian environment.
Only if that couple received water baptism would they be likely to draw hostile attention from the Israeli community. The same holds true in many cultures. The world, at least, recognizes the badge of a Christian as water baptism. Unfortunately for sincere and practicing believers in many communions, untold millions of nominal Christians have received the badge—whether by immersion, sprinkling, or pouring, whether in infancy, childhood, or adulthood—without ever having personally received the Savior by faith (John 1:12). Others have believed but are still not great advertisements for the faith. Many would say that these people are not really saved. They are judging by performance. Fortunately, God sees the heart, and He knows those who belong to Him through faith in His Son.
CONCLUSION
Despite the controversy and differing viewpoints regarding various aspects of baptism, we of the Grace Evangelical Society firmly believe in water baptism as significant and important.
Why? Because Christ has commanded it, because it is the badge of a Christian in the eyes of the world, and because it is a privilege to obey our Lord’s command. Since one of the basic meanings of baptism is identification, we as believers want to be identified as part of His universal Body, not only by the unbelieving world, but also by Christians in every tribe and nation.
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Art Farstad earned a Master of Theology in Old Testament and a Doctor of Theology in New Testament from Dallas Theological Seminary, where he also taught Greek for five years. He was the editor of the New King James Version, the New Scofield Study Bible, and the Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society. He passed in 1998.
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i See Lanny Thomas Tanton, “The Gospel and Water Baptism: A Study of Acts 2:38,” JOTGES (Spring 1990): 27-52.
ii Robert K. DeVries, “The New Testament Doctrine of Ritual Baptism” (unpublished doctoral dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1969), 181.
