The Truth in Print Vol. 28, Issue 12, Jan.
2023
A Publication of the Valley church of Christ,
2375 W. 8th Street, Yuma, AZ 85364
(928-782-5058)
Website
Address ~ http://yumavalleychurchofchrist.com
Wrong Thinking of Scholars on Baptism #1
Many
use Bible study tools that include the JFB Commentary -- Robert Jamieson, A.R.
Fauset, David Brown (the JFB commentary published in 1871 had co-authors). Robert
Jamieson (1802-1880) was identified with St. Paul’s Church Scotland. A. R.
Fausset (1821-1910) was an Irish Anglican clergyman, evangelical school of the
Church of England. And David Brown (1803-1897), the Free Church of Scotland. One
should be extremely careful in the use of commentaries, as such reflect the
personal beliefs of the writers.
Before
considering their joint effort, here are things to consider in the context of
Acts 2:
Act
2:37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter
and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we
do?"
Act
2:38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
When Peter commands repentance and
baptism “for” the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), the word “for” doesn’t mean
“because one has” the remission of sins because they just asked what to do to
have the remission of sins! (Acts 2:37). In this context the “and”
(conjunction) in Acts 2:38 joins two commands -- both “repent” and “be
baptized” are imperatives, i.e., commands, and answer the question in Acts
2:37.
Consider,
now, this joint effort and JFB’s comments on baptism. I’ll include the verse
above their comment.
NKJV
Act 2:38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Here
is JFB (Acts 2:38):
Repent — The word denotes change of
mind, and here includes the reception of the Gospel as the proper issue of that
revolution of mind which they were then undergoing.”
baptized ... for the remission of sins
— as the visible seal of that remission.”
The
first thing you notice is this is just another way of stating denominational
doctrine, that baptism in Acts 2:38 is “an outward sign of an inward grace.”
they that gladly received his word
were baptized — “It is difficult to say how three thousand could be baptized in
one day, according to the old practice of a complete submersion; and the more
as in Jerusalem there was no water at hand except Kidron and a few pools. The
difficulty can only be removed by supposing that they already employed
sprinkling, or baptized in houses in large vessels. Formal submersion in
rivers, or larger quantities of water, probably took place only where the
locality conveniently allowed it” [Olshausen].
Now,
comes the push to change the “mode” of baptism! I could just as easily argue,
this assumption ignores how the large population of Jerusalem indicates a water
supply in abundance – estimated at 600,000 by Tacitus; Josephus estimated as high
as 1,100,000
Moreover,
the word for baptism, G907 baptizō, n., is defined by Thayer’s Lexicon: “…in
the N.T. an immersion in water.” The conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch shows
what baptism is. It necessitated both Philip and the eunuch going down into the
water, and then after the baptism, their coming up out of the water. Read it in
Acts 8:37-39.
NKJV
Rom 6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just
as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life.
Here
is JFB (Romans 6:4) with another statement on baptism:
JFB Rom 6:4
should walk in newness of life — But what is that “newness?” Surely if
our old life, now dead and buried with Christ, was wholly sinful, the new,
to which we rise with the risen Savior, must be altogether a holy life; so that
every time we go back to “those things whereof we are now ashamed” (Rom 6:21), we belie our resurrection with Christ to
newness of life, and “forget that we have been purged from our old sins” (2Pe 1:9). (Whether the mode of baptism by immersion be
alluded to in this verse, as a kind of symbolical burial and resurrection, does
not seem to us of much consequence. Many interpreters think it is, and it may
be so. But as it is not clear that baptism in apostolic times was exclusively
by immersion [see on Act
2:41], so sprinkling
and washing are indifferently used in the New Testament to express the
cleansing efficacy of the blood of Jesus. …
They are still with the assumption that baptism, as commanded by the God
(Cf. Acts 2:33; Mk 16:15-16), was practiced by sprinkling as well as immersion
in the first century. No! That’s not so, for baptism in the New
Testament for the remission of sins is an immersion in water. Even John’s
baptism was such: Joh
3:23 “Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near
Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized.”
Next, notice their attached explanation, “…so sprinkling and washing are
indifferently used in the New Testament to express the cleansing efficacy of
the blood of Jesus.” Doesn’t that appear out of place? There is no doubt
Christians are justified by the blood of Christ (Cf. Rom. 5:9). But why interject
“sprinkling” and “washing” in this way, after assuming again that sprinkling
was practiced for baptism? Anyone can see why!
There are many verses
referring to the cleansing of Christ’s blood. Their use of “washed” and
“sprinkled” doesn’t change the mode of baptism. This is deceit!
Let’s look at some verses on the blood
Jesus.
Rev 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the
faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of
the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own
blood,
·
“washed”
[G3068 louō] Thayer: 1) to
bathe, wash; Thayer’s
definition: “Christ…by sacrifice cleansed us from the guilt of our sins, Rev.
1:5.”
That didn’t change the mode of baptism!
We have redemption through His blood:
Eph1:7 “In Him we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”
THE HEBREW WRITER HAD MUCH TO SAY ABOUT
BLOOD, AND ABOUT THE BLOOD OF CHRIST:
Heb 9:11 But Christ came as High Priest of
the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made
with hands, that is, not of this creation.
Heb 9:12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own
blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal
redemption.
Heb 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a
heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the
flesh,
· “sprinkling” G4472 rhantizō, vb. Thayer
Definition: 2) to cleanse by sprinkling, hence to purify, cleanse.
Heb 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
· “cleanse” G2511 katharizō
Thayer Definition: 1)
to make clean, cleanse .
None of that changes the mode of baptism!
AT THE DEDICATION OF THE BOOK OF THE LAW
WHEN WRITTEN:
Heb 9:19 For when Moses had spoken every
precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and
goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself
and all the people,
Heb 9:20 saying, "THIS IS THE BLOOD OF
THE COVENANT WHICH GOD HAS COMMANDED YOU."
Heb 9:21 Then likewise he sprinkled with
blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.
Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the
law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Heb 9:23 Therefore it was necessary
that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but
the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
WHAT IS THE MAIN POINT?
Heb 9:24 For Christ has not entered the holy
places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself,
now to appear in the presence of God for us;
Heb 9:25 not that He should offer Himself
often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of
another—
Heb 9:26 He then would have had to suffer
often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages,
He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to
die once, but after this the judgment,
Heb 9:28 so Christ was offered once to bear
the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second
time, apart from sin, for salvation.
MORE:
Heb 12:18 For you have not come to the
mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and
darkness and tempest, …
Heb 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion
and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable
company of angels,
Heb 12:23 to the general assembly and church
of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the
spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new
covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of
Abel.
·
“sprinkling”
G4473 rhantismos, n.m. Thayer Definition: 1a1) i.e. appointed for sprinkling
(serving to purify) ß Cf. Mat
26:28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many
for the remission of sins.
And this does not change the mode of
baptism!
ANOTHER VERSE:
1Pe 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus Christ:
· “sprinkling”
[G4473 rhantismos, n.m.] Thayer Definition: that they may be purified (or
cleansed from the guilt of their sin) by the blood of Christ, I Pet. 1:2.
COMPARE:
1Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship
with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is
in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned,
we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
Nothing there would have changed the mode of
their baptisms into Christ!
Now,
JFB (Rom 6:4) Continued:
…
And just as
the woman with the issue of blood got virtue out of Christ by simply touching
Him, so the essence of baptism seems to lie in the simple contact of the
element with the body,
symbolizing living contact with Christ crucified; the mode and extent of
suffusion being indifferent and variable with climate and circumstances).
JFB
doesn’t give the scriptures mentioning this woman, so I will give them to you.
NKJV
Mar
5:24 So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged
Him.
Mar
5:25 Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years,
Mar
5:26 and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that
she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.
Mar
5:27 When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched
His garment.
Mar
5:28 For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made
well."
Mar
5:29 Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her
body that she was healed of the affliction.
Mar
5:30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him,
turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?"
Mar
5:31 But His disciples said to Him, "You see the multitude thronging You,
and You say, 'Who touched Me?' "
Mar
5:32 And He looked around to see her who had done this thing.
Mar
5:33 But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her,
came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.
Mar
5:34 And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in
peace, and be healed of your affliction."
Notice
this phrase, “the mode and extent of suffusion being indifferent and variable
with climate and circumstances.” The word “suffusion” means “to spread through
or over.” But in scriptural baptism the water goes with a burial or immersion. Their variable isn’t there!
What
the woman got was not “symbolizing” but healing! They know what they’re doing. There
is deceit here! Using this context and this woman is intentional, deceives, and
does not change the mode of scriptural baptism.
They
just don’t want to admit that it is in baptism (a burial in water) that
Christ’s blood cleanses one from all sin, and then one rises to walk in newness
of life (Rom. 6:4). And baptism is for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). Who
directed Saul to heed the command to be baptized? Act 22:10 So I said, 'What
shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Arise and go into Damascus, and
there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.' What
did Ananias command? Act 22:16 And now why are you waiting? Arise and be
baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.'
Valley
Church of Christ
2375 W. 8th
Street, Yuma, AZ 85364
(928)
782-5058 ~ http://yumavalleychurchofchrist.com
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Services – Classes ~10:00; Assembly 10:50 am; Evening: 6:00 pm.
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evening – 7:00 pm
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