Various Baptisms of the Bible

"Summary"

By: Larry Yarber

 "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Ephesians 4:4-6).

As stated above, just as there is only one Father, one Lord (Son), etc., there is only one baptism which is applicable to all mankind today. Yet in the past few weeks we have noted seven different baptisms mentioned in the New Testament alone. So, which one of these baptisms is for us today?

The first baptism we looked at was a symbolic baptism. It was the baptism of the children of Israel by Moses when they crossed the Red Sea (1st Corinthians 10:1-2). Since this baptism was peculiar to Moses and the children of Israel, it is apparent that it is not the one baptism for you and me today.

The next baptism we noted was another symbolic baptism. Scholars often refer to it as the baptism of suffering (Luke 12:50 and Mark 10:38-39). However, as we learned then, some may obey the gospel and die a premature death never having experienced the baptism of suffering. Thus, it is not the one baptism commanded for all who live in the Christian Age.

Then we studied about the baptism of fire (Matthew 3:11-12). We found this baptism to be a reference to the eternal punishment some would reap in the judgment day. But everyone is not going to be condemned to a devil's hell (Matthew 25:41). Therefore, it is not the one baptism for all mankind today.

After that we read of the baptism for the dead (1st Corinthians 15:29). If this text is written in rebuke of a false doctrine where some were being baptized in behalf of others who had already passed away, it certainly couldn't be the one baptism of the Bible! But, if it is a reference to the Corinthian’s baptism into the death of Christ, it most certainly would be the one baptism which is for the entire Christian era. I personally believe the later statement to be the case.

We were then exposed to the baptism of John (Mark 1:4). Since we have a specific example where this baptism was outdated after the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord, there can be no doubt that this is not the one baptism which is applicable to all mankind today (Acts 19:1-5).

            The baptism of the Holy Ghost was next on our agenda. But this baptism was given as a promise, not a command (Acts 1:4-5 and Luke 24:49). This promise found it's fulfillment in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost when the disciples of our Lord were immersed by the Spirit and began to speak in other tongues (Acts 2:1-5 and v.14-21). The only exception to this occasion is when the Holy Spirit descended upon the household of Cornelius in the same miraculous manner as it did upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost (Acts 10:44-48 and 11:15-17). But even then, those upon whom the Spirit fell were told, "Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. ..." (Acts 10:47-48). Thus, Holy Spirit baptism was a promise and not a command. Today, it is a fulfilled promise and therefore not applicable to anyone living in the Christian Dispensation of time.

In our last article we studied the baptism of the great commission (Mark 16:15-16 and Matthew 28:18-20). In it we learned that those who submit to it will be saved but those who do not will be damned (Mark 16:15-16). It is the circumcision of Christ and, like the circumcision of the Mosaical Law, anyone who doesn't partake of this circumcision is not in a covenant relationship with God and is cut off from His people (Colossians 2:11-14 and Genesis 17:11-14). It is for the salvation of the soul (1st Peter 3:21), the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), and to wash away our sins (Acts 22:16). It is beyond any shadow of a doubt, the one baptism which is applicable for all mankind today (Ephesians 4:4-6)!

Have you been baptized with the one baptism which is taught in the Bible?

Things Too Wonderful For Me

By: Bill McFarland 

            “Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” (Job 42:3b). Such was Job’s confession regarding what he had said as he passed through the furnace of affliction. It was the mistake of which he declared he was repenting (42:6). He had finally realized that he had been arrogantly counseling the Almighty about the exercise of his sovereignty in matters which are beyond the grasp of any man. Not all of his questions had been answered, but Job had learned to let God be God.

            What a powerful and important life lesson! In a world of advancing technology and exploding information, some things remain too wonderful for us, surpassing our understanding. For example, anyone who contemplates the God who is present everywhere and who knows our thoughts before we think them, our ways before we travel them, and our words before we say them still has to sing, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it” (Psalm 139:6).

            That does not mean, however, that we are excused from considering such weighty truths or from taking their implications to heart. The singer observed that despite our inability to take in the extent of God’s knowledge of us and involvement in our lives, our souls still know very well that his works are wonderful, and that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and that praise is due him (Psalm 139:14).

            Neither, then, does the fact that there are “things too wonderful for me” mean that there is nothing we can know of God’s thoughts or of his ways for us. Another of the songs of David observes, “You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told” (Psalm 40:5). He may be incomparable and his works may be innumerable, but we know of them and must speak of them.

            But what the “things too wonderful for me” principle does mean is that there is a time for us to know the humbling, liberating impact of simply hoping in the Lord. One of the songs puts it this way: “O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me” (Psalm 131:1-2).

            From this time forth and forevermore, may I let God be God.