Problem 5 - That every member of the Body of Christ needs to be water baptized

PROBLEM NO. 5--THAT EVERY MEMBER OF THE BODY OF CHRIST NEEDS TO BE WATER BAPTIZED

The Church, the Body of Christ, is supposed to observe two ordinances - water baptism and the Lord's Supper. This is seen as an improvement on the seven ordinances of the Roman Catholic Church.

The necessity of believers being baptized in water is taken from three areas of truth:
1. The great commission of Matt. 28:19-20, and Mark 16:15-18 contains water baptism
2. The Church is supposed to have begun on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. Those who were saved according to Peter's sermon were baptized (Acts 2:41). Thus, the example has been set for believers.
3. It is considered a spiritual blessing to follow our Lord in baptism. He was baptized by John the Baptist (Matt. 3:16).

THE TRUTH

Water baptism has no place and has no value for believers during this Dispensation of grace. There are two strong, clear statements in Paul's letters that teach this truth. ONLY Paul could write from this perspective.

1. Eph. 4:5 states, "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." This verse is a part of the seven unities of the Holy Spirit. There is a Divine balance in the arrangement of these seven truths:

A. Body
B. Spirit
C. Hope
D. LORD
c. Faith
b. Baptism
a. God

The two Aa's, two Bb's, and the two Cc's balance each other. The central member is D which refers to the RISEN LORD, Christ Jesus. He occupies the center of God's purpose in this Age of grace.

The Bb.members teach that the Holy Spirit is related to Baptism. This baptism is the work of the Holy Spirit and not the work of man. Only Paul teaches of the Spirit baptism that places us into the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13; Ran. 6:3; Col. 2:12).

So then, the 'one baptism' of Eph. 4:5 is Holy Spirit baptism, and this baptism is the ONLY ONE THAT COUNTS in this Age of grace. It takes place at the time of salvation. And since there is only ONE, there cannot be two baptisms for today.

2. Paul stated in 1 Cor. 1:17 that he was not commissioned by the risen Lord to baptize. This verse in the Greek is very dogmatic in a negative way: "For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel; not with wisdom of words, in order that the cross of Christ should not be made empty." This is a landmark verse. Paul is the only one who could write it because the 12 Apostles were commissioned to baptize (Matt. 28:19-20). The Greek word for 'send' is APOSTELLO, the verb form of the noun APOSTOLOS, apostle. Just as Jesus was sent by His Father into the world (John 17:18), so the risen Jesus sent Paul out to preach the Gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24) which did not include water baptism. This is the first indication that water baptism is NOW separated from the gospel message.

The reason why the cross of Christ is mentioned with 'baptism' here is because BOTH have to do with the forgiveness of sins. When water baptism is preached for the forgiveness of sins during this Dispensation of grace, it cancels out the need for the cross of Christ. This is one reason why water baptism is such a dangerous doctrine for believers - it maligns the death of Christ. And don't be fooled into thinking that preachers can get away with this kind of Bible teaching. Just read Galatians 1:8-9.

To get around this, Acts 2 brethren teach that baptism is a 'type or 'symbol' of the believer's identification with Christ (Rom. 6:3-4). They also teach that Paul's main ministry was to preach the gospel and his secondary ministry was that of baptizing, and if he couldn't do the baptizing, an assistant did this work for him. These ideas are nothing but human inventions brought about because of being inconsistent in understanding the truth related to Israel and to the Body of Christ.

The so-called great commission of Matthew and Mark does contain water baptism, and the Lord did command His disciples to baptize those who desired to be saved. But this baptism was for the forgiveness of sins, as Peter well knew on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38). This is not Christianity but Evangelical Judaism.

That the Church, the Body of Christ, began on the Day of Pentecost presents one of the major problems of Acts 2 Dispensationalism. As a matter of fact, many Reformed teachers also believe this. The Day of Pentecost is strictly a part of Judaism, and the church that is mentioned in that chapter (in verse 47) was completely made up of Jewish believers who looked to the Lord as their Messiah and Saviour. More will be said about this in Problem No. 9.

Following Christ in baptism is not a spiritual concept. It is a carnal, fleshly idea. We are not to follow our Lord in His earthly ministry (2 Cor. 5:16). It is impossible to follow Him in baptism because His baptism was unique. It was never intended to be copied. The 12 Apostles never copied it, so why should we? The only reason for a water baptism rite for the people of Israelwas for the forgiveness of sins, and the cross makes this rite obsolete. Besides, the risen Christ NEVER told members of the Body of Christ to be baptized with or in water. (See my booklet on 'Baptism' for a fuller discussion).

by Robert C. Brock