BACKSLIDING
This is a condition that starts in the heart, usually brought on by small steps in the wrong direction, and is eventually seen in the person returning to his old ways. (See Jeremiah 3:6-22)
BAPTISM
Strong’s gives for “baptism” = “immersion, submersion.” Most commonly used in the New Testament for water baptism when a new believer is identifying with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. “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” (Romans 6:3–4). This could not be shown by pouring water over one’s head or sprinkling, but only by immersion. There is also Holy Spirit baptism (see HOLY SPIRIT), and sometimes the term baptism is used in a figurative way, as when one is baptized (immersed) in suffering (Matthew 20:22–23).
In the Bible, the lost were not allowed to be baptized, but had to first put their faith in Christ as Savior. “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” (Acts 8:36–38; see also Matthew 3:7). Faith in Christ as one’s Savior was required before baptism was administered. There were no babies baptized in the Bible—only those who were old enough to trust Christ were baptized (Acts 16:33–34). All baptisms in the Bible occurred after a person believed in Christ for salvation. Until a child is old enough to know what sin is, his sins are not charged to him: “But sin is not imputed when there is no law” (Romans 5:13). “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died” (Romans 7:9). The only time the apostle Paul, who God used to write the verses above, could have been “without the law” was as a baby, too small to know what sin was. When someone is old enough to know what sin is, he has reached the age of accountability. Babies and small children, though not “saved” by the Lord, are what some refer to as “safe” in the Lord and will go to heaven if they die before they are accountable for their sins. When King David’s baby died, he said that after he died, he would go to heaven and see his child. “Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:21–23).
We are not to change the ordinances: “Keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you” (1 Corinthians 11:2). The authority to baptize was given to the local church, or to those who were sent out by the local church to start other churches (see CHURCH). Baptizing a child or an adult before he trusts in Christ can give him or her a false impression that they were saved when they were baptized, and as we see from Scripture, those who had not trusted in Christ were not baptized.
I was baptized as a small baby, and when I was five years old, my mother showed me my baptismal certificate. I was told that it meant I was “OK.” I was left with the impression that when I died, everything was going to be “OK.” I told my mom, “Be sure you don’t lose that paper.” When I was 23 years old, I transferred my faith out of my baptism, and out of my baptismal certificate, and out of everything else I had trusted for heaven, and called upon Christ to save me. For a year and a half after I was saved, I fought the idea of being baptized, arguing with others, “It is just the idea of doing it, not how or why or when.” But the thought came to me, “How many other commands of God in the Bible do I not fulfill using the same reason?” When I was 25, because of what the Bible said, of my own decision I was baptized. Each person with his own free will has to make the decision to be baptized. Baptism is not decided on because of the will of the priest or pastor or because “everyone else does it.”
Baptism does not save.
“For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel” (1 Corinthians 1:17). The “gospel” was the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and this is what saves a person (I Corinthians 15:1–4). The thief on the cross was not baptized, yet he was saved (Luke 23:39–43; see also John 9:35–38 and many other verses). Jesus Christ was sinless (1 John 3:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21), but He was baptized—why, if baptism forgives sin? It might be added that the thief on the cross was not only not baptized but did not partake of the Lord’s Table, did not keep the Ten Commandments (he was a thief: “Thou shalt not steal”), did not go to church, did not tithe, and to our knowledge did not do any good work that man normally believes will save a soul. But he did do the one thing that will save a soul: he trusted Jesus Christ to take him to heaven. One should strive to do all the good things I just mentioned, but they will not forgive sin, will not give eternal life, and will not take you to heaven when you die. We are to trust God’s Son, Jesus Christ—not ourselves or things.
The gospel that saves has only three parts. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 says, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” The verses that follow the above passage talk about those who saw the risen Christ but do not add something else to the gospel. The gospel that “saved” people had three parts, “first” the death of Christ for our sins, second, his burial, and third, His resurrection, there is no forth part, no baptism, nothing else. In regard to the gospel we are warned “keep in memory what I preached unto you”, we are not to change this gospel that saves, we are not to add to it, or “help God” with salvation but let God save us. Otherwise “ye have believed in vain.”
Mark 16:16 is not proof that baptism saves: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (When interpreting the Bible, it is good to keep in mind the purpose of the book one is reading, and though doctrine can be found in any book of the Bible, the purpose of Mark was the gospel of Christ, and the purpose of the book of Acts was the history of the first-century church. If one wants doctrine, he should go to the books of Romans and Galatians [see INTERPRETATION].) The verse quoted above was only half of the verse; the rest said, “But he that believeth not shall be damned.” There is no verse in the Bible that says he who is not baptized will be dammed. If a couple goes to the mayor’s office and are married, we can say, “They made their vows and put on their wedding rings and were married,” but putting on the rings is not required—it’s only a sign that they have been married. So with baptism: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved”--baptism being an outward sign that one has trusted Christ, Who died for him, was buried, and then rose from the grave. That is why in the Bible, baptism immediately followed conversion to Christ. In Acts 2:38 it says, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin.” Where it says “for” the remissions of sins, it does not mean to get or have forgiveness but because of the forgiveness of sins. One of the meanings of “for,” according to the dictionary, is “because”; the same Greek word that is translated “for” in Acts 2:38 is translated “concerning” in Acts 2:25.
A few have thought that we must use the name “Lord Jesus” when baptizing, because in the book of Acts it says, “baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 8:16, 19:5). But in other places it is “baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 2:38) or “baptized into Christ” (Galatians 3:27). The command of Christ in Matthew 28:19, which was “unto the end of the world,” was “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” “Father” and “Son” are names here, not just titles, as it says, “baptizing them in the name.”
The best analogy I have heard about why, and when a person is baptized, is the similarity between baptism and a wedding ring. A young man may meet a young lady, get to know her, and fall in love. But they are not married until they make their vows. The wedding ring is not worn before they are married, but only afterward. The ring does not make them married but only shows that they are married. If a couple never wears wedding rings, they are still legally married, but everyone I know is proud of their spouses and want others to know they are married. And baptism does not save but shows that we have trusted the One Who died for us and was buried and rose again the third day (Romans 6:3–4). We should no more be baptized before we are saved than we should wear a wedding ring before we are married.
This is a condition that starts in the heart, usually brought on by small steps in the wrong direction, and is eventually seen in the person returning to his old ways. (See Jeremiah 3:6-22)
BAPTISM
Strong’s gives for “baptism” = “immersion, submersion.” Most commonly used in the New Testament for water baptism when a new believer is identifying with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. “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” (Romans 6:3–4). This could not be shown by pouring water over one’s head or sprinkling, but only by immersion. There is also Holy Spirit baptism (see HOLY SPIRIT), and sometimes the term baptism is used in a figurative way, as when one is baptized (immersed) in suffering (Matthew 20:22–23).
In the Bible, the lost were not allowed to be baptized, but had to first put their faith in Christ as Savior. “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” (Acts 8:36–38; see also Matthew 3:7). Faith in Christ as one’s Savior was required before baptism was administered. There were no babies baptized in the Bible—only those who were old enough to trust Christ were baptized (Acts 16:33–34). All baptisms in the Bible occurred after a person believed in Christ for salvation. Until a child is old enough to know what sin is, his sins are not charged to him: “But sin is not imputed when there is no law” (Romans 5:13). “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died” (Romans 7:9). The only time the apostle Paul, who God used to write the verses above, could have been “without the law” was as a baby, too small to know what sin was. When someone is old enough to know what sin is, he has reached the age of accountability. Babies and small children, though not “saved” by the Lord, are what some refer to as “safe” in the Lord and will go to heaven if they die before they are accountable for their sins. When King David’s baby died, he said that after he died, he would go to heaven and see his child. “Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:21–23).
We are not to change the ordinances: “Keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you” (1 Corinthians 11:2). The authority to baptize was given to the local church, or to those who were sent out by the local church to start other churches (see CHURCH). Baptizing a child or an adult before he trusts in Christ can give him or her a false impression that they were saved when they were baptized, and as we see from Scripture, those who had not trusted in Christ were not baptized.
I was baptized as a small baby, and when I was five years old, my mother showed me my baptismal certificate. I was told that it meant I was “OK.” I was left with the impression that when I died, everything was going to be “OK.” I told my mom, “Be sure you don’t lose that paper.” When I was 23 years old, I transferred my faith out of my baptism, and out of my baptismal certificate, and out of everything else I had trusted for heaven, and called upon Christ to save me. For a year and a half after I was saved, I fought the idea of being baptized, arguing with others, “It is just the idea of doing it, not how or why or when.” But the thought came to me, “How many other commands of God in the Bible do I not fulfill using the same reason?” When I was 25, because of what the Bible said, of my own decision I was baptized. Each person with his own free will has to make the decision to be baptized. Baptism is not decided on because of the will of the priest or pastor or because “everyone else does it.”
Baptism does not save.
“For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel” (1 Corinthians 1:17). The “gospel” was the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and this is what saves a person (I Corinthians 15:1–4). The thief on the cross was not baptized, yet he was saved (Luke 23:39–43; see also John 9:35–38 and many other verses). Jesus Christ was sinless (1 John 3:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21), but He was baptized—why, if baptism forgives sin? It might be added that the thief on the cross was not only not baptized but did not partake of the Lord’s Table, did not keep the Ten Commandments (he was a thief: “Thou shalt not steal”), did not go to church, did not tithe, and to our knowledge did not do any good work that man normally believes will save a soul. But he did do the one thing that will save a soul: he trusted Jesus Christ to take him to heaven. One should strive to do all the good things I just mentioned, but they will not forgive sin, will not give eternal life, and will not take you to heaven when you die. We are to trust God’s Son, Jesus Christ—not ourselves or things.
The gospel that saves has only three parts. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 says, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” The verses that follow the above passage talk about those who saw the risen Christ but do not add something else to the gospel. The gospel that “saved” people had three parts, “first” the death of Christ for our sins, second, his burial, and third, His resurrection, there is no forth part, no baptism, nothing else. In regard to the gospel we are warned “keep in memory what I preached unto you”, we are not to change this gospel that saves, we are not to add to it, or “help God” with salvation but let God save us. Otherwise “ye have believed in vain.”
Mark 16:16 is not proof that baptism saves: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (When interpreting the Bible, it is good to keep in mind the purpose of the book one is reading, and though doctrine can be found in any book of the Bible, the purpose of Mark was the gospel of Christ, and the purpose of the book of Acts was the history of the first-century church. If one wants doctrine, he should go to the books of Romans and Galatians [see INTERPRETATION].) The verse quoted above was only half of the verse; the rest said, “But he that believeth not shall be damned.” There is no verse in the Bible that says he who is not baptized will be dammed. If a couple goes to the mayor’s office and are married, we can say, “They made their vows and put on their wedding rings and were married,” but putting on the rings is not required—it’s only a sign that they have been married. So with baptism: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved”--baptism being an outward sign that one has trusted Christ, Who died for him, was buried, and then rose from the grave. That is why in the Bible, baptism immediately followed conversion to Christ. In Acts 2:38 it says, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin.” Where it says “for” the remissions of sins, it does not mean to get or have forgiveness but because of the forgiveness of sins. One of the meanings of “for,” according to the dictionary, is “because”; the same Greek word that is translated “for” in Acts 2:38 is translated “concerning” in Acts 2:25.
A few have thought that we must use the name “Lord Jesus” when baptizing, because in the book of Acts it says, “baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 8:16, 19:5). But in other places it is “baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 2:38) or “baptized into Christ” (Galatians 3:27). The command of Christ in Matthew 28:19, which was “unto the end of the world,” was “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” “Father” and “Son” are names here, not just titles, as it says, “baptizing them in the name.”
The best analogy I have heard about why, and when a person is baptized, is the similarity between baptism and a wedding ring. A young man may meet a young lady, get to know her, and fall in love. But they are not married until they make their vows. The wedding ring is not worn before they are married, but only afterward. The ring does not make them married but only shows that they are married. If a couple never wears wedding rings, they are still legally married, but everyone I know is proud of their spouses and want others to know they are married. And baptism does not save but shows that we have trusted the One Who died for us and was buried and rose again the third day (Romans 6:3–4). We should no more be baptized before we are saved than we should wear a wedding ring before we are married.
