Our subject is Christian baptism, as it is made known to us in the divinely inspired and therefore authoritative New Testament scriptures. From the many scripture passages which refer to this subject, we shall select three: one from the Gospels, one from the Acts of the Apostles, and one from the Epistles. We shall give our reasons for this selection later. First, let us refer to the words of our Lord Jesus, as found in Matthew twenty eight verses nineteen to twenty, which reads, Go ye therefore and teach or make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Our second scripture is found in Acts chapter eight verses thirty six to thirty nine which reads, And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water. And the eunuch said, See, here is water. What has 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. Our third scripture is found in Romans chapter six verses three to four. 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 from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Our Lord left but two ordinances to be observed by his disciples, baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism to be observed once, subsequent to profession of faith in Christ, and the Lord's Supper, which is to be observed each Lord's Day until the Lord Jesus comes back again. Christendom, through the years, and without any authority from the Word of God, has added five more ordinances, namely confirmation, penance, extreme unction, matrimony, and holy orders. By the word Christendom, we mean the sum total of all those religious systems which name the name of Christ, whether they be good, bad, or indifferent. Thus, there is a vast difference between Christianity and Christendom. Christianity is confined for its sole authority for faith and practice to the general teaching of the New Testament scriptures. It seeks and rightly demands a thus saith the Lord for all it seeks to teach and practice. Christendom, on the contrary, has added many of the commandments and traditions of men as being of equal authority to the Word of God. In many cases, these traditions have been allowed to obscure and even nullify the clear and definite teaching of Scripture, and this has resulted in tremendous confusion of thought regarding both the subject of baptism and the Lord's Supper. In the case of baptism, instead of the scriptural truth that baptism is the confession in symbol of a regenerated believer's identification with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection, it is now taught that the rite of baptism itself actually produces this regeneration in the one who is baptized. Thus, a baby, after it has been christened, is declared by the officiating minister to have become a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom. Could anything be further from what the word of God so plainly teaches? In the early days of Christianity, both baptism and the Lord's Supper were called sacraments, from the Latin word sacramentum. This word was used to describe the oath that a person took when he enlisted in the Roman army. At this ceremony, the recruit publicly and solemnly vowed that he renounced his civilian status, with all its privileges and liberty of action, and from henceforth confessed he now belonged to Caesar, whose every command he promised to obey, cost what it might, and lead where it would. Gradually, this word came to be used to describe the two ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper. For, by his obedience to them, a Christian confessed to the world that he now belonged, spirit, soul, and body, to the Lord Jesus Christ, whom he boldly owned as his personal savior and the supreme Lord of his life. This explains why, in many pagan countries, and particularly in Muslim lands, the persecution of a professing Christian does not really begin until he has been baptized. This act becomes, as it were, his sacramentum, which marks him out openly and publicly as one who now belongs to the Son of God. Needless to say, the baptism of an unbeliever is not contemplated in the New Testament. It is for believers only. It is also necessary, in discussing this subject, to carefully distinguish between principles and personalities, between the wrong teaching of an ecclesiastical system and the persons who are associated with that system. In other words, one may dislike the particular ism to which a person belongs, but it does not follow that he dislikes the person who belongs to that ism. Loyalty to what one believes to be the true teaching of scripture may necessitate his withdrawal from the denomination that teaches the wrong doctrine. But this does not mean that he rejects the persons who still remain in that sect, for many are unaware that they have been taught erroneous doctrines. Thus, it is the principle of the error taught that is condemned, and not the persons who have been taught it. This is what is meant by distinguishing principles from personality. We are now ready to commence our consideration of the subject of Christian baptism. It will help to clarify the theme if we examine it under several divisions. First, the different baptisms of the New Testament. There are several baptisms mentioned in the New Testament, and each has its own particular spiritual significance. It is essential, therefore, to distinguish between these various baptisms. Failure to do so will only result in confusion of thought. First, the baptism of John the Baptist. He was our Lord's forerunner, who was sent to prepare the way of the Lord. He did this by preaching repentance and baptizing all who responded to his preaching. The third chapter of Matthew describes the scene as many Jews gathered at the River Jordan and were baptized of him, confessing their sins. John's message to these repentant Jews was, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. All who submitted to this baptism acknowledged by this act that they repented of their sinfulness and owned that they were worthy of death, of which this baptism was to them a picture. Our Lord actually submitted to this baptism, not because he had any sins to repent of, for he was absolutely sinless, but to fulfill all righteousness. Over John's strenuous objections, the Lord entered the river and allowed John to submerge him beneath the waters. In this way, our Lord prefigured the purpose for which he had come into the world, namely to go beneath the waves and billows of the judgment of a holy God on account of our sins. Second, Christ's own baptism unto death. Let us mark his words as recorded in Luke chapter twelve verses forty nine to fifty. I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened or confined until it be accomplished? Thus Christ referred in this symbolic way to the awful sufferings through which he would have to pass when he assumed the full liability of all our sins, and by his death on our behalf, satisfy all the claims of a holy God and the demands of a righteous law, thus making it possible for a lost and guilty sinner through faith in him to be justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Only our Lord could experience this awful baptism, and well may we praise and adore him for his substitutionary sacrifice on our behalf. Third, the baptism with the Holy Spirit into the mystical body of Christ. This is described in First Corinthians chapter twelve verse thirteen: For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. This baptism with the Spirit took place on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father and the Son, came and baptized the assembled disciples and formed them into one organism, the mystical body of Christ, the Church. By the term the mystical body of Christ, it not meant the literal and physical body of our Lord in which he became incarnate, lived, taught, wrought, suffered, died, and rose again, but the figurative body of Christ. The New Testament makes use of many metaphors to describe the church, such as the flock of God, the house of God, the bride of Christ, the temple of God, and the body of Christ. All these terms refer to that called out company of believers in the Lord Jesus, from the formation of it at Pentecost until its completion at the second coming of Christ. Christ is described as the being the sole head of this body, and every believer is a member of it. Each believer is viewed as having shared in the initial baptism which took place at Pentecost. The baptism of the Spirit is therefore true of every Christian. It is never referred to as the individual experience of a person, but is always spoken of as the collective act by which the Spirit of God formed the church at the beginning. Fourth, the baptism of believers in water upon their profession of faith in Christ. In submitting to this ordinance, a believer confessed in this symbolic manner his faith in and his identification with the Son of God in his death, burial, and resurrection. In as much as this particular baptism is to be our subject, we shall not enlarge on it at this time. First, the baptism of fire, which will be the Christ rejecter's doom. Again, we refer to the words of John the Baptist, as stated in Matthew three verses eleven and twelve where we read, He, that is Christ, shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor and gather his wheat into his garment, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. It should be obvious that this is a baptism of judgment upon the ungodly, or the chaff. It therefore cannot apply to the Christian, who has been guaranteed by none other than the Lord Jesus that he shall not come into condemnation, but he's passed out of death into life. John five twenty four. This baptism of fire is further described in Revelation twenty, where we read of the judgment of the great white throne. We have spent some time distinguishing between these five baptisms, for it is important that we keep them distinct in our mind. Failure to do so will result in much confusion of thought regarding this matter. Our second main division we shall entitle the definition of Christian baptism, or what is meant by this ordinance. In brief, it is a divinely purposed figure, picture, symbol, or illustration of each believer's identification with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. It is important to notice it is only an illustration of this. The waters of baptism possess no saving virtue or magical quality that imparts eternal life or regenerates the one who is baptized. This regeneration took place in the history of the believer when he received Christ as his own personal savior. For we read, this is the record that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his son. He that hath the son hath life, and he that hath not the son hath not life. First John five eleven and twelve. Baptism does not bring about the believer's forgiveness or secure his acceptance with God, for he already has this through faith in the Son of God. Just as the bread and the cup at the Lord's Supper only pictorially represents the body and blood of Christ, so the Christian, by his obedience in baptism, only symbolically demonstrates to those who witness it that he has already identified himself with the one who died for him and was buried and rose again. Let us get this fact firmly in our minds, for it will deliver us from the error of believing that baptism is essential to the eternal salvation of the soul. Romans six verses three and five puts the matter thus. Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised again from the dead, 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. Note the words like and likeness, for these are words that speak of similitude or illustration. As the believer stands in the water ready to be baptized, he says, as it were, I hereby confess my identification with the Lord Jesus Christ, who bore my sins, took my place, and died in my stead, and rose again for my justification. By my baptism, I now publicly acknowledge Christ as my substitute, savior, and sovereign, and in this symbolic way, witness to the fact of my identification with the one that loved me and gave himself for me. The word baptism is the anglicized form of the Greek word baptisma. The verb form is baptizo. Both are derived from the root word bapto, which means to dip. The word was used by the Greeks to describe the dyeing of a garment by dipping it into the dye, or used to describe the drawing of water by dipping a cup into the container. Thus, the idea conveyed by the word is immersion. We shall deal more fully with this later when we come to the mode of baptism. Our third main division, we shall call our authority for Christian baptism. The Christian has but one authority or source of information on this subject. This, needless to say, is the general teaching of the Word of God. Note that expression, the general. By this we mean that each statement of scripture regarding any subject studied must be interpreted in the light of all the other scripture references that deal with this particular subject. Most heresies or false teaching can find apparent support from a text which has been isolated from its context. But when this text is examined in the light of all the other scriptures that refer to this subject, its falsity is at once detected. The old adage is true. Text without context is pretext. The religious traditions, decrees, and creeds of men, however hoary with antiquity, learnedly composed by able and well-educated theologians, and sincerely presented by gifted and eloquent men, should have no voice of authority whatever for the Christian. The sole and final court of appeal is the divinely inspired and therefore infallible word of the living God. The Bible puts it thus, to the law and the testimony. If they speak not according to this word, there is no light in them. Isaiah eight and verse twenty. An ordinance, to be scripturally valid, must meet the threefold requirements. First, it must be commanded by the Lord Jesus in the Gospels. Second, it must be practiced by the early disciples in the Acts. Third, it must be expounded in the Epistles. Only baptism and the Lord's Supper meet this threefold test. That is why we read the three scriptures in the beginning, one from the Gospels, one from the Acts, and one from the Epistles. Let us briefly review these three requirements. First, did our Lord command this ordinance as recorded in the Gospels? The answer is an emphatic affirmative. One is only to turn to Matthew twenty eight verses nineteen to twenty and Mark sixteen verses fifteen to sixteen to read of the Lord's commission to his disciples to verify this fact. Second, do we have the apostolic example as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles? Again, the answer is in the affirmative. Ten times it is recorded that believers in Christ were baptized on their profession of faith in him. In each case, baptism did not precede, but always followed conversion. There is not a single case of infant baptism recorded in its pages. Third, is the spiritual significance of baptism expounded in the epistles? One is only to read these inspired letters to see how clearly the deep and underlying meaning of baptism is plainly revealed. Take Romans six, for instance. While water baptism is not the subject of this chapter, it is mentioned in order to illustrate the believer's identification with the Lord Jesus. Paul takes it for granted that those to whom he wrote had been baptized in a scriptural manner. For he wrote, know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? In Ephesians, Paul uses baptism to illustrate the unity into which each Christian has been brought. In Colossians, baptism is used to show the new sphere of completeness into which the believer has been brought to the death and resurrection of Christ. Thus, the ordinance of baptism meets the threefold test of its validity as a scriptural ordinance. Our fourth main division we shall entitle the subjects of Christian baptism. Scripture only contemplates one class of people who are eligible for Christian baptism, and they are those who, through personal faith in the Son of God, have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God and are now called the children of God. This, as can be readily appreciated, eliminates any idea of infant baptism, either by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion. The New Testament knows nothing whatever of such a practice. It is purely the invention of man and has wrought untold mischief. In fact, the New Testament neither teaches adult baptism or child baptism. The only baptism it teaches is the baptism of believers, whether old or young. Once this fact is thoroughly grasped, it will deliver a Christian from being carried away by the subtle arguments of those who seek to teach otherwise. Out of the many references to baptism in the Acts, we will select three. First, the Corinthians, as found in Acts chapter eighteen. Here we are told, many Corinthians hearing, believed, and were baptized. Could anything be painer than this? Second, the case of Cornelius and his household, described in Acts chapter ten. As Peter proclaimed the gospel, the Spirit of God fell on the hearers, and Peter declared, can any man forbid water, that they should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we. The third case is that of the Ethiopian eunuch, mentioned in Acts chapter eight. After Philip had led him to Christ, the eunuch, seeing a pool of water, inquired, see, here is water. What does hinder me to be baptized? Philip replied, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. On this, both Philip and the eunuch descended into the water, and Philip baptized him. Our fifth main division we shall call the mode of Christian baptism. From a reading of the New Testament scriptures, we could say that baptism is the immersion of a person in water, subsequent to his profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus it becomes his confession of his identification in symbolic form with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. We shall seek to prove this from the Word of God. First, by the meaning of the word. This, as we have seen, means to dip or immerse. The question may well be raised, since the translators of the authorized version knew that the word baptisma meant to immerse, why did they not render the word by its English equivalent, immerse? The answer has been suggested that while as scholars they could not translate them falsely, as biased theologians they could not translate them truly. It is both interesting and revealing to read the comments of some very able clergymen whose denominational affiliation prevents them from practicing the scriptural form of baptism, which of course is immersion. We will select a few of these comments. First, from Canon Liben, an Episcopalian. He wrote, the baptism of adults by immersion is present in the apostles' mind. The descent into the water and the rising promise were two striking features of the rite. Dr. Sandy, also in Anglican, wrote, baptism expresses symbolically a series of acts: immersion, death, submersion, burial, emergence, resurrection. Dr. Plummer, still another Anglican, wrote, the element was always water, and the mode of using it was commonly immersion. Bishop Moll declared, scripture indicates a usage of immersion in apostolic missions very plainly, and it connects baptism with our Lord's death, burial, and resurrection doctrinally. Second, baptism requires water. In fact, it requires much water for its observance. For we are told that John was baptizing in Enon, for there was much water there. In the case of the Ethiopian eunuch, we are told that both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and after the baptism, both came up out of the water. Peter said, who could forbid water that he should not be baptized? Third, the method employed is immersion, as the Greek word baptisma must be translated, and as we have seen, is admitted by those who do not practice the correct form of baptism. Fourth, by the illustration used to convey its meaning, it is spoken of as a burial. Romans six four leaves us in no doubt as to this, buried with him by baptism into death. Burial necessitates a complete putting out of sight. We do not bury corpses by sprinkling a few grains of sand on the body or by pouring a little earth on the corpse. It surely should be obvious that the sprinkling or pouring of water cannot be spoken of as a burial or a baptism in the New Testament sense of the term. Therefore, by the meaning of the Greek word, by the element required, by the mode employed in scripture, and by the illustration used, that of a burial, we can only conclude that immersion is the logical and scriptural form of baptism. Yet this subject has divided Christendom into various groups, each intent on advocating its own particular views on the subject, and in some cases cruelly persecuting those who dare to differ from them. We shall describe six of these different views. First, those who teach and practice infant baptism. This is the belief of millions of people, of both Roman Catholic and Protestant persuasion. It is definitely taught in a printed form of church procedure, and in words that admit of no other meaning. It is stated that when a baby is brought to a minister of religion and sprinkled with a few drops of water, accompanied by a specified and recited formula, the child is then declared to have become a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of God. The minister is also instructed to say, after the baby has been christened, seeing now, dearly beloved brethren, that this child is by baptism regenerate and grafted into the body of Christ's church, let us give thanks to Almighty God for these benefits. This teaching regarding infant baptism and baptismal regeneration, for which there is not a shred of support in the New Testament, apparently came into existence toward the close of the second century. A good book on church history is almost essential to be able to appreciate how infant baptism came to be introduced and, in spite of the opposition which was at first given to the theory, soon came to be tolerated and finally accepted and adopted in Christendom. Such a book is Andrew Miller's Church History, formerly published in three volumes, but now issued in one volume of over a thousand pages. It describes the history of the early church after the death of the apostles, its trials and triumphs, and of its gradual departure from the faith through the introduction of man-made theories, traditions, commandments, rituals, and a host of additions to the completed revelation of the New Testament scriptures. Dean Stanley, himself a practicer of infant baptism, wrote, in the apostolic age and the three centuries that followed, it is evident that, as a general rule, those who came to baptism came in full age and of their own deliberate choice. Paul's prophecy concerning the declension of the church, addressed to the elders of Ephesus, soon came to be fulfilled. Let us note carefully his words. I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years, I seek not to warn everyone night and day with tears. Acts twenty twenty nine to thirty one. Here is apostolic succession with avenges. After the death of the apostles, men arose of otherwise good character and quite sincere, who began to suggest that perhaps the waters of baptism contained a mystical and magical quality which in some mysterious way cleansed a person from his sins. As early as AD one forty, Hermes wrote, we descend into the water and receive forgiveness of sins. Another, about the same time, wrote, we go into the water full of sins and filth and come forth fruitful and have in our hearts the fear of God and the hope on Jesus in the spirit. The tragic union of the church and state under Constantine merely hastened the process of deterioration in the professing church, and soon infant baptism by immersion became the accepted rule. The aim was to have a Christian nation, and the best method to attain this end was to have all the babies baptized, and soon everybody would be considered a Christian simply because he had passed through this ceremony. By the sixth century, infant baptism had become universal. As a result of still more additions, the ceremony attending infant baptism became so intricate that only the learned could pattern the complicated ritual, and soon only the clergy were permitted to perform the ceremony. Many clever arguments are advanced by the proponents of infant sprinkling, and many are the texts by which they seek to bolster their contention. But when these texts are examined in the light of all the other scriptures that bear on the matter of baptism. To begin, and you may well pray, Lord, don't give me anything that's not thy will. Because if you get anything given to you because of your own willfulness, you'll be sorry for it. God gave them the desire of their heart, speaking of Israel, but he sent leanness unto their souls. So prayer is the exercise of a will that is free within a will that is sovereign. That's why the Lord Jesus taught his disciples to say, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Fifth, positiveness in prayer. Pray, pray, no vain repetitions, no vague generalizings, no secure just-