The Historical Record on Baptism

October 21, 2012 by 1 Comment

The historical and Biblical record on the purpose of water baptism is remarkably clear and simple.

An excellent example of the clarity was a comment I read in a book by David Bercot titled Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up. Bercot noted that most Evangelicals do not believe that John 3:5 is a reference to baptism. John 3:5 says that unless a person is “born of water and the Spirit” he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Since Evangelicals generally believe that water baptism is a public testimony having nothing to do with salvation, they usually see the water in that verse as referring to our physical birth. justin baptism

Bercot’s comment on this is notable.

“If Jesus,” he says, “didn’t mean water baptism in this verse, then he is a terrible communicator because everyone without exception for the next 1600 years thought he did.” 1

As I have studied on this topic, I have been surprised to see that this was not even an issue that was debated by the early church. From the earliest centuries it was believed that John 3:5 was a verse on the regeneration that God gives the believer at baptism. I wrote an article a while back touching on the teachings of the early church fathers on baptism. You can see that article by going here.

Another interesting point I have learned is if someone came about teaching that baptism wasn’t essential to salvation, it was considered heresy

In 140-230 AD, Tertullian wrote, “Happy is our sacrament of water, in that, by washing away the sins of our early blindness, we are set free and admitted into eternal life! A treatise on this matter will not be superfluous; instructing not only such as are just becoming formed in the faith… The consequence is, that a viper of the Cainite heresy, lately conversant in this quarter, has carried away a great number with her most venomous doctrine, making it her first aim to destroy baptism. Which is quite in accordance with nature; for vipers and asps and serpents themselves generally do affect arid and waterless places.”

So the question must be raised, “If the early church leaders that were nearest to the time of the Apostles taught this doctrine, what does this mean for popular teaching today on baptism? Is it heresy, or not? Let me know your thoughts.

1. David W., Bercot. Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up. 3rd Ed. Amberson, PA: Scroll Pub Co, 1999. Print.

2. Tertullian. On Baptism, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3, pg. 669.

Filed Under: Baptismal Regeneration, Early Church Fathers/ Early Church Tagged With: , ,

John Calvin on Baptismal Regeneration

July 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment

What did John Calvin teach on the doctrine of baptism?

We can see a brief examination of his teaching on baptism in Book 4, chapter 15 in the Institutes. This section is taken from another website (link below):

For Calvin, baptism has a God-manward meaning and a man-Godward meaning. Of course, God’s action towards man has primacy: “Now baptism was given to us by God for these ends (which I have taught to be common to all sacraments): first to serve our faith before him; secondly, to serve our confession before men…Accordingly, they [e.g., the Zwinglians and Anabaptists] who regarded baptism as nothing but a token and mark by which we confess our religion before men, as soldiers bear the insignia of their commander as a mark of their profession, have not weighed what was the chief point of baptism”. Baptism, in reality, is God’s work: “For inasmuch as [baptism] is given for the arousing, nourishing, and confirming of our faith, it is to be received as from the hand of the Author himself. We ought to deem it certain and proved that it is he who speaks to us through the sign; that it is he who purifies and washes away sins, and wipes out the remembrance of them; that it is he who make us sharers in his death, who deprives Satan of his rule, who weakens the power of our lust; indeed, that it is he who comes into a unity with us so that, having put on Christ, we may be acknowledged God’s children. These things, I say, he performs for our soul within as truly and surely as we see our body outwardly cleansed, submerged, and surrounded with water …And he does not feed our eyes with a mere appearance only, but leads us to the present reality and effectively performs what he symbolizes”.

The God-towards-man action of baptism is then unpacked in three dimensions. “The first thing that the Lord sets out for us is that baptism should be a token and proof of our cleansing; or (the better to explain what I mean) it is like a sealed document to confirm to us that all our sins are so abolished, remitted, and effaced that they can never come to his sight, be recalled, or charged against us.” Calvin begins (in a very pastoral way) with baptism as an assuring pledge. All who believe may know they are washed in Christ’s blood just as surely as the waters of baptism have come upon them. As he goes on to explain, the water does not cause salvation by itself; rather “in this sacrament are received the knowledge and certainty of such gifts”.

However, this does make the significance of baptism merely cognitive, as the next two points demonstrate. Baptism’s assuring function does not exhaust its usefulness.  For Calvin, baptism means union with Christ: “Baptism also brings another benefit, for it shows us our mortification in Christ, and new life in him… [T]hrough baptism Christ makes us sharers in his death, that we may be engrafted in it”. Calvin then turns to a brief exposition of Romans 6. It is this baptismal union with the crucified and risen Christ that gives the Christian life its basic pattern of mortification and vivification. Calvin, following Paul exhorts the baptized to live out their union with Christ, dead to sin and alive to righteousness. According to Calvin, Christ himself was baptized in order to include us in his work:  “For he dedicated and sanctified baptism in his own body [Mt. 3:13] in order that he might have it in common with us as the firmest bond of the union and fellowship which he has deigned to form with us…Thus we see that the fulfillment of baptism is in Christ, whom also for this reason we call the proper object of baptism…For all the gifts proffered in baptism are found in Christ alone. Our baptisms unite us to The Baptized One, Christ himself in whom all blessings are found.”

The third benefit received in baptism is adoption: “Lastly, our faith receives from baptism the advantage of its sure testimony to us that we are not only engrafted into the death and life of Christ, but so united to Christ himself that we become sharers in all his blessings…Hence, Paul proves that we are children of God from the fact that we are put on Christ in baptism [Gal. 3:26-27].” Baptism is not only a kind of marriage, uniting us to Christ, but also an adoption ceremony, placing us in God’s family. As adopted sons, we are co-heirs of God together with Christ,u dedicated and sanctified baptism in his own body [Mt. 3:13] in order that he might have it in common with us as the firmest bond of the union and fellowship which he has deigned to form with us…Thus we see that the fulfillment of baptism is in Christ, whom also for this reason we call the proper object of baptism…For all the gifts proffered in baptism are found in Christ alone”. Our baptisms unite us to The Baptized One, Christ himself in whom all blessings are found. (Taken from “Calvin on Baptism, Penance, and Absolution”by Rich Lusk)

These sources show that those who claim “faith alone” today often misinterpret what Calvin had in mind in their teaching. He believed that we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-10), but he also taught that our faith is an action in which we put our trust in Christ’s teachings about baptism (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:16), Paul’s teachings about baptism (Romans 6, Colossians 2:9-12), and Peter’s (1 Peter 3:21, Acts 2:38). Most of this research has been new news to me, and is something I think a lot of Calvin’s followers should take to heart.

Filed Under: Baptismal Regeneration, John Calvin, Reformation Theology Tagged With: , , ,

Repentance, Baptism, and the Holy Spirit

April 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Watch this very interesting sermon by Francis Chan, where he goes against the grain with his teachings on baptism.

[vimeo 17131583 w=400 h=300]

Filed Under: Baptismal Regeneration Tagged With: , , , ,

The Early Church’s Teaching on Baptism

April 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment

With the popular teaching today that baptism is nothing more than an outward sign of the grace that has already happened within us, and the popular teaching of it not being essential for salvation, we should expect that the early church fathers would have taught the same thing, right? (I asked the same question about the reformers John Calvin and Martin Luther here). Let’s look at some quotes from the early church fathers while we ask this question, “Are the mainstream teachings that we hear about baptism correct, or those who sat at the feet of the Apostles, prophets, and those who learned from them?”

What should really be considered “Orthodox” teaching about baptism?

Barnabas wrote in 70 AD, “Blessed are they who, placing their trust in the cross, have gone down into the water; for, says He, they shall receive their reward in due time…we indeed descend into the water full of sins and defilement, but come up, bearing fruit in our heart, having the fear [of God] and trust in Jesus in our spirit.” (The Early Church Fathers: Ante-Nicene Fathers Volume 1, The Epistle of Barnabas 11:114-16)

Irenaeus wrote in 120-205 AD, “As we are lepers in sin, we are made clean from our old transgressions by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord. We are thus spiritually regenerated as newborn infants, even as the Lord has declared: ‘Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’” (Irenaeus, “Fragments From Lost Writings”, no. 34, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, pg. 574)

The proof text that early Christians used for baptism was John 3:5!

 In 110-165 AD, Justin Martyr wrote “they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water. For Christ also said, ‘Except ye be born again, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.‘ Now, that it is impossible for those who have once been born to enter into their mothers’ wombs, is manifest to all… And for this we have learned from the apostles this reason. Since at our birth we were born without our own knowledge or choice, by our parents coming together, and were brought up in bad habits and wicked training; in order that we may not remain the children of necessity and of ignorance, but may become the children of choice and knowledge, and may obtain in the water the remission of sins formerly committed” (Justin Martyr, “First Apology,” Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, pg. 183)

In 140-230 AD, Tertullian wrote, “Baptism itself is a corporal act by which we are plunged into the water, while its effect is spiritual, in that we are freed from our sins” (Baptism 7:2).

In 140-230 AD, Tertullian wrote, “Happy is our sacrament of water, in that, by washing away the sins of our early blindness, we are set free and admitted into eternal life! A treatise on this matter will not be superfluous; instructing not only such as are just becoming formed in the faith… The consequence is, that a viper of the Cainite heresy, lately conversant in this quarter, has carried away a great number with her most venomous doctrine, making it her first aim to destroy baptism. Which is quite in accordance with nature; for vipers and asps and serpents themselves generally do affect arid and waterless places. (On Baptism, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3, pg. 669.)

Interesting in the prior quote is that there was a false teaching coming about that was denying baptism!

Tertullian also wrote, “The prescript is laid down that ‘without baptism, salvation is attainable by none’ chiefly on the ground of that declaration of the Lord, who says, ‘Unless one be born of water, he hath not life.’” (On Baptism, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3, pg. 674-675)

In 150-200 AD, CLEMENT wrote, “when you are regenerated and born again of water and of God, the frailty of your former birth, which you have through men, is cut off, and so at length you shall be able to attain salvation; but otherwise it is impossible. For thus hath the true prophet testified to us with an oath: ‘Verily I say to you, That unless a man is born again of water, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’ Therefore make haste; for there is in these waters a certain power of mercy which was borne upon them at the beginning…Betake yourselves therefore to these waters, for they alone can quench the violence of the future fire; and he who delays to approach to them, it is evident that the idol of unbelief remains in him, and by it he is prevented from hastening to the waters which confer salvation.” (Clement, “Recognitions of Clement,” Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 8, pg. 155)

The Christian leaders nearest to the time of the Apostles taught these things about baptism! Why is it that this teaching has changed so much in the last 1900 years? (mainly AFTER the time of Calvin and Luther)

Filed Under: Baptismal Regeneration, Christian Living, Early Church Fathers/ Early Church Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Martin Luther on Baptismal Regeneration

April 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment

What did Martin Luther teach about baptismal regeneration? You may first assume that he was totally against it because of the teachings of the church that bears his name, along with all of the churches that have been influenced by his and John Calvin’s theology. But this is simply not the case. Martin Luther in his Large Catechism makes these very interesting thoughts about baptism:

 ”[I] affirm that Baptism is no human trifle, but that it was established by God Himself. Moreover, He earnestly and solemnly commanded that we must be baptized or we shall not be saved. No one is to think that it is an optional matter like putting on a red coat. It is of greatest importance that we hold Baptism in high esteem as something splendid and glorious. The reason why we are striving and battling so strenuously for this view of Baptism is that the world nowadays is full of sects that loudly proclaim that Baptism is merely an external form and that external forms are useless…. Although Baptism is indeed performed by human hands, yet it is truly God’s own action (1978, pp. 98-99).”

Martin Luther was pretty clear on what he taught about baptism. It must be done to be saved! What, then, would Martin Luther say to those today who teach that “faith alone” excludes baptism? Listen to Luther’s own words concerning the Biblical doctrine of “faith alone” …

 ”But our know-it-alls, the new spirit people, claim that faith alone saves and that human works and outward forms contribute nothing to this. We answer: It is of course true that nothing in us does it except faith, as we shall hear later. But these blind leaders of the blind refuse to see that faith must have something in which it believes, that is, something it clings to, something on which to plant its feet and into which to sink its roots. Thus faith clings to the water and believes Baptism to be something in which there is pure salvation and life, not through the water, as I have emphasized often enough, but because God’s name is joined to it … It follows from this that whoever rejects Baptism rejects God’s word, faith, and the Christ who directs us to Baptism and binds us to it (1978, pp. 101-102).” (Taken From Luther’s Large Catechism (XIII))

It is very interesting that those who hold Martin Luther in such high regard for his “faith-alone” theology don’t realize that they teach it different than Luther did. He is saying that our faith clings to the words of Christ that say that if someone believes and is baptized, they will be saved (Mark 16:16).

This source shows that those who claim “faith alone” today often misinterpret what Luther had in mind in his teaching. He believed that we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-10), but he also taught that our faith is an action in which we put our trust in Christ’s teachings about baptism (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:16), Paul’s teachings about baptism (Romans 6, Colossians 2:9-12), and Peter’s (1 Peter 3:21, Acts 2:38).

Filed Under: Baptismal Regeneration, Martin Luther, Reformation Theology Tagged With: , , , , , ,