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The basic
commandment for baptizing is given in Mathew
Mat 28:18-20
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have
commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the
age."
Mark 16:15-16.
puts it as:
And He said to
them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature.
He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not
believe will be condemned."
The purpose of
this sacrament is understood in widely different ways by churches.
This confusion
was there mostly from the beginning of the church. Some people
believe it is a washing away of sins. Because of that many early
Christians delayed their baptism until their death bed. One example
is the Emperor Constantine who took his baptism just before his
death. There were many early saints who never took baptism because
they delayed the sacrament so that they can get the ticket directly
to heaven. The point here is that though it is symbolic of the
washing of sins, baptism in itself has no efficacy in it except the
dependence on the blood of Jesus.
There are
others who believe that the sequence order should be “Believe first
and then be baptized” taking up Mark.
There are a
number of clear and compelling reasons why we can be sure
that Mark 16:16 isn't teaching that water baptism is a condition of
eternal salvation: The basis of condemnation is unbelief only.
Jesus didn't say, "He who is not
baptized will be condemned." Neither did He say, "He who does
not believe and is not baptized will be condemned."
Jesus said, "He who does not
believe will be condemned."
By this our Lord made it clear that faith alone was necessary to a
void eternal condemnation. He said the same thing in John 3:18:
"He who believes in Him is not condemned; he who does not believe is
condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the
only begotten Son of God;" (see also John 5:24; 6:47).
Paul puts it this way: Rom 10:9-10
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.”
In fact Baptism
was never a part of the gospel of Paul. Baptism is the expected
initial outward response to the gospel, but it is not a part of the
gospel itself
1 Corinthians
1:17 “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the
gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be
made of no effect.” To emphasize baptism as a means of salvation is
to make the cross of Chirst of no effect. In other words those who
are legally baptized and insists that they are saved because
they are baptized are not saved.
He did not baptize, but preached.
Baptism is a sacrament of initiation and in itself is not a
condition for salvation.
“There are a
number of proof texts which are often cited to prove that the Bible
makes baptism mandatory for salvation. Some of the most common such
proof texts are
Acts 2:38,
Acts 22:16,
Mark 16:16,
John 3:5,
Romans 6:4, and
1 Peter 3:21. A careful examination of each of these texts in
context will show that none of them prove that baptism is
necessarily prerequisite for salvation, though they do prove that
baptism was an assumed initiatory response to the gospel of
salvation.” Christian Research Institute Statement
Gospel of John
is the standard scripture of every evangelist. John emphasized that
faith is the only condition of eternal salvation. In fact,
Christian water baptism is not even mentioned in John's Gospel. “The
born of water” statement to Nicodemos does not refer to baptism but
to carnal birth from the watery womb in the jewish terminology.
What is born of water is the flesh and that does not give rebirth.
John 3:3 Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of
God.
John 3:5 Except a man be born of
water
and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of
God.
John 3:6 That which is born of
the flesh is flesh;
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Luke 18: 18: "And a certain ruler asked Him [Jesus], saying, Good
Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Now, that's a
good question. In fact, it's basically the same question the people
asked in Acts 2:37. The answer is given in 22, Jesus answered and
said, "Sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and
thou shalt have treasure in heaven . . . ." that is not the
end. The real answer is ". . . and come, follow Me." In
other words, Jesus was saying, Salvation is in following me."
Notice Jesus never mentioned baptism as a condition of salvation
here. Did the condition change?
Huldrych Zwingli in the sixteenth century denied its necessity.
Thus Quakers and the Salvation Army, do not see baptism as
necessary.
Then there are others who insist that the order of performance
should be “Believe first and then get baptized.” The “and’ is a
conjuction in greek and does not imply sequence.
The real meaning of the sacrament of baptism is to “make them
disciple.”
“Go therefore
and make disciples of all nations,”
how?
·
baptizing them …in
the name of…
·
teaching them all
that I have commanded”
Joh 4:1 -2 Now when the Lord knew
that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing
more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize,
but only his disciples),
Here making
disciples is equated with baptizing directly.
Thus the true
meaning of baptism is the rite of transition from seeker to student
status. In baptizing the parents, the church community and whole the
community of believers pledge to disciple them so that they may be
taught “to observe all that I have commanded you.” It is not just
believing once, but believing and continue to grow that saves. In
baptism church initiate the catechumens into the entire faith and
practices which leads to salvation.
This is the
teaching of the Eastern Churches. As a result the parents do bring
their babies for this dedication into discipleship where the family
and the church declare their purpose. This is the basis of Child
baptism. The age does not come in the picture. We teach them from
birth to the saving faith. Early church baptized even adults on the
first occasion even when they were not fully aware of the teachings
of Jesus. Thus it was not the believers who were baptized in Acts
Act 2:41-42 Then they that gladly
received his word were baptized: and the same day there were
added unto them about three thousand souls. And they
continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and
in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Here they heard the message, and on the same day they were baptized
and they were then disciplined by the apostles within the church.
Owners of the
cattle branded their cattle. God brands his people. It was given
on the skin to the Israel in real circumcison, it is given to church
without hands. In both cases they were considered to be under the
covenant.
Act 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all
that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall
call.
It is true
that we don’t have any biblical instance of child being baptized.
But then we don’t have any biblical instance of adults who are born
to Christian parents as being baptized either.
The
earliest explicit reference to child or infant baptism is in the
Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus, about 215 A.D "Baptize first
the children, and if they can speak for themselves let them do so.
Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them." (Hippolytus,
Apostolic Tradition 21:15,
c. 215 A.D.)
Tertullian
around A.D. 220.recomends the delay of baptism because he believed
that as they grow up they will sin and thus will loose their
salvation..
"According to
circumstance and disposition and even age of the individual person,
it may be better to delay Baptism; and especially so in the case of
little children. Why, indeed, is it necessary -- if it be not a case
of necessity -- that the sponsors to be thrust into danger, when
they themselves may fail to fulfill their promises by reason of
death, or when they may be disappointed by the growth of an evil
disposition? Indeed the Lord says, 'Do not forbid them to come to
me'
"Let them come,
then, while they grow up, while they learn, while they are taught to
whom to come; let them become Christians when they will have been
able to know Christ! Why does the innocent age hasten to the
remission of sins? ...For no less cause should the unmarried also be
deferred, in whom there is an aptness to temptation -- in virgins on
account of their ripeness as also in the widowed on account of their
freedom -- until they are married or are better strengthened for
continence. Anyone who understands the seriousness of Baptism will
fear its reception more than its deferral. Sound faith is secure of
its salvation!" . Apparently the North African church believed that
if one sinned after baptism that salvation was lost!! So why risk
the eternal salvation of infants by baptizing them?
There appears
to have been the rise of the opinion that baptism washed away the
stain of original sin. By A.D. 400 Augustine appeals to the
universal practice of infant baptism as proof that the church saw
infants born with the stain of original sin.
Family or
household baptism is the kind of baptism Scripture describes when
speaking of those who ought to be baptized. In Acts 16 the
households both of Lydia and of the Philippian Jailer were baptized
by Paul (vss. 15, 33). He also speaks in I Corinthians 1:16 of
having baptized the household of Stephanus. So too, we read in Acts
10:48 of the baptism of the household of Cornelius by Peter and
those who were with him. This, then, is the New Testament pattern
for baptism. In mission fields we baptize not only families but
also tribes as a whole on the confession of the tribal chief. This
is the scriptural pattern. What we are saying is that we will
disciple them. This is the scriptural form based on the covenantal
relationship between God and Man..
There has been
controversy over the form of baptism. Whether it should be by total
immersion or partial immersion or sprinkling. The greek word
Baptismo does not mean total immersion as some people seems to say.
The word came from the smith shop of Greece where iron implements
were shaped. The axes are baptized to shape. The process is not
always total dipping in water or oil, but can even be partial
immersion, sprinkling or even breathing on.
The
usual form of baptism among the earliest Christians was for the
candidate (or "baptizand") to be immersed totally or partially,While
John the Baptist’s use of a deep river for his baptism suggests
immersion,
pictorial and archaeological evidence of Christian baptism from the
3rd century onwards indicates that the normal form was to have the
candidate stand in water while water was poured over the upper body.
None of the early baptismal
fonts before the second century AD can be used for total immersion.
Some of them are only knee deep. Even the normal practice of the
John the Baptist which is followed by the disciples (Mandaens) was
not total immersion. The Catechumen who wants to be a disciple
walked into the water (preferably living water - water that flows)
and water was poured over them as a covering of cloth. Washing,
immersing and sprinkling were all acceptable forms of purification
rites in the Old Testament.
Historically total immersion
came into practice only by the 14th century. Self
immersion was also a form as practiced by the Mandeans.
Martin Luther and John Calvin, the two primary founders of the
Protestant Reformation, both believed in infant baptism:
Of
the baptism of children we hold that children ought to be baptized.
For they belong to the promised redemption made through Christ, and
the Church should administer it to them. (Martin Luther,
The Smalcald Articles, Article
V: Of Baptism, 1537)
"If, by baptism, Christ intends to attest the ablution by which he
cleanses his Church, it would seem not equitable to deny this
attestation to infants, who are justly deemed part of the Church,
seeing they are called heirs of the heavenly kingdom." (John
Calvin,
“What the Anabaptists circulate among the uninformed multitude, that
after the resurrection of Christ a long series of years passed, in
which infant baptism was unknown, is shamefully contrary to the
truth, for there is no ancient writer who does not refer to its
origin, as a matter of certainity, to the age of the apostles”
Institutes of the Christian Religion, IV, vii, 16
I have taken
the subject at some length because of the controversy on the mode
and subject of the baptism.
But the real
reason for the change is that our concept of salvation has changed
considerably. The concept of baptism has changed from discipling
to “believer’s baptism” – which is baptism after the teaching and
not before. This change is to be expected as modern society is
essentially an individualistic society as opposed to tribal, clan
and family based societies of the past era. Today we consider
salvation as an individual matter. Man has become so engrossed in
himself that his aim is “:I want to go to heaven” and the concept
of the call of Jesus as a nation of priesthood is totally lost.
 
Representation of baptism in the early churches. - Baptism - Saint
Calixte Catacoumbs
- Baptism is
an initiation into God’s household. “Those receiving the
Sacrament are thereby marked as Christian disciples, and initiated
into the fellowship of Christ’s holy Church.”
- Through
baptism we are given a special identity—”Christian.”
- And we are
welcomed into a special community—the church.
Water is the medium which is poured
into the baptismal font and Chrism is added into it. The Oil stands
for the Holy Spirit and water for the Word.
In the Eastern Churches
baptism is considered as the initiation into discipleship.
The people involved in the
discipling are:
God Parents
Parents
Community of Faith (Church)
Role of
family in Discipling.
Teaching
starts right from the childhood in the lap of the parents.
Children
learn even at an early age. They are taught in the way 24 /7
Deu 6:7 -9 and you
shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them
when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when
you lie down, and when you rise. And you shall bind them as a sign
upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your
gates.
Pro 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will
not depart from it.
Role of the
Church in discipling
Participation
of the children in the corporate worship and teaching them basic
doctrines of faith are standard part of the Church in the discipling
process.
This
discipling process continues till they are old enough to confess
Christ of their own decision and even beyond. Thus discipling is a
continuous and ongoing process without end.
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