BAPTISM
In studying the whole New Testament concerning baptism, one will find that there are different types of baptisms mentioned therein. They are:
- Baptism of John (Mat. 21:25)
- Baptism of Jesus (John 3:22,26; 4:1-2)
- Baptism into Moses (1 Cor.10:1-2)
- Baptism of water (Acts 8:36)
- Baptism of fire (Mat. 3:11)
- Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8)
- Baptism of suffering (Mark 10:38-39; Luke 12:50)
However, when the apostle Paul wrote his letter to the church in Ephesus (around AD 62) there was but one baptism (Eph. 4:5). The question is this: which one of the seven baptisms in the previous list is the one baptism Paul had in mind when he wrote his letter to the Ephesians? The answer to the previous question is found in the New Testament.
Following His resurrection and before ascending back to Heaven, Jesus commissioned His apostles and, therefore, the church to preach His gospel to the whole creation until the end of the age (Mat. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15, 16; 2 Tim. 2:2). The foregoing is the case because the gospel of Christ is where God has located His power to save men from their sins (Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 15:1-4). Paul plainly tells us what is going to happen to those who do not undergo the one baptism of Ephesians 4:5 when our Lord returns to judge the world (John 12:48; also see Heb. 5:9 and Rom. 10:16). In Acts 2, on the day of the Lord’s church began, the inspired Luke tells us that the apostle Peter commanded believers in Christ to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:38). Those who gladly received the Word preached to them were baptized and the Lord added the saved to His church (Acts 2:41, 47).
When the evangelist Philip preached Jesus to the Ethiopian Eunuch, the scripture tells us:
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing (Acts 8:35-39).
Thus, in reminding the Lord’s church in Rome of their baptisms, he wrote:
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: 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. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin (Rom. 6:3-6; Also see Col. 2:12 and Rom. 6:17, 18).
As a believer who had repented of his sins, Saul of Tarsus, who became the great apostle Paul, was told by the Gospel preacher, Ananias, whom the Lord had chosen to teach Saul how to be saved, “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). Also, when the apostle Peter understood that uncircumcised Gentiles had a right to be saved from their sins, he asked all gathered concerning Cornelius and his household, “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days” (Acts 10:47, 48). Paul tells us it is baptism that puts one into Christ (Gal. 3:27) where God has located all spiritual blessings in heavenly places (Eph. 1:3)—forgiveness of sins and sonship being two of those blessings. Peter plainly said that baptism “doth also now save us” (1 Pet. 3:21). However, please note that Peter, nor any inspired writer of the New Testament, taught that baptism alone will save anyone any more than faith alone, or repentance alone, or confession of Christ alone will save one from sin.
Thus, when we consider the totality of the New Testament’s teaching concerning baptism, we understand that the one baptism of Ephesians 4:5 is the one to be preached till the end of the world. It is for those who have qualified themselves to be baptized by being persuaded through the gospel message that one must believe in Christ, repent of sins, and confess faith in Christ. Only those persons thus qualified are to be baptized (buried in water) by the authority of Christ into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to obtain the remission of sins. To teach that one is saved from sins before baptism is to teach what the New Testament does not teach. Again, as the apostle Peter plainly taught, “baptism doth also now save us” (1 Pet. 3:21), the denominations and denominational preachers notwithstanding.
In general, most denominational churches do not believe or teach that one who believes in Christ must be baptized in water by the authority of Christ to be saved from one’s sins. This is the case because most denominational churches erroneously teach that people are saved by Jesus before baptism and that they are baptized for some other reason. However, the Bible teaches that the person who has believed in Christ, repented of one’s sins, and confessed one’s faith in Christ must then be baptized by the authority of Christ to obtain the remission of sins. There is no other way but Christ’s way. More than the foregoing essential steps in the plan of salvation Christ does not demand of one seeking salvation from sins, but less than the foregoing and one remains lost in one’s sins headed for a devil’s hell.