Tapping the Brakes on Baptism

Eddie Parrish

Photo by kaleb tapp on Unsplash

The role of immersion in God’s redemptive plan has been the subject of debate for millennia, especially over the last two centuries in America. From the early days of the American Restoration Movement until now, faithful Christians have contended, and rightly so, that immersion in water is the point in time when a sinner comes out of the world and into the body of Christ (Gal. 3:27); when sinner becomes saint; when a child of the devil becomes a child of God; when sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus (Acts 22:16; Rev. 1:5). Baptism cannot be removed from God’s plan without also removing the blessings that are directly tied to it, including salvation (1 Pet. 3:21), remission of sins and gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38), and regeneration (Titus 3:5).

So much of the discussion and debate has focused on baptism’s necessity that baptism has sometimes become the first subject (and in some cases, the ONLY subject) that Christians bring up in evangelistic discussions. I have known well-meaning Christians who have approached visitors at worship assemblies and told them in less than five minutes of conversation, “You need to get baptized.” Sometimes well-meaning parents consistently emphasize to their pre-teen children that they need to “get baptized,” while failing to emphasize what God requires prior to that important and indispensable act of obedience.

Some of us are putting the cart before the horse. Some are putting it far before the horse. And some are putting out the cart with no horse at all.

The Necessity of Instruction

Before one is qualified to be immersed into Christ, there are truths and concepts that one must understand. Christianity is a taught and learned religion. In Romans 10:13-14, the apostle Paul wrote of the progression involved in bringing a person to salvation. There must be teaching; there must be the reception of that teaching; there must be faith that is generated through the teaching; then, there is calling on the name of the Lord, which brings salvation (a calling that includes immersion, Acts 22:16). As Jesus said, it is the one “who has heard and learned” that is ready to follow him (John 6:44-45, ESV).

This teaching and learning process takes more time for some than it does for others. Several times in scripture God’s inspired writers compared the teaching, learning, and maturing process to planting, watering, and growing crops. In this earthly realm, we understand that such a process takes time. There is the cultivating of the soil (Jer. 1:10), the planting of the seed (Matt. 13:3-8), the watering of the seed (1 Cor. 3:6), and an unspecified number of days and nights that the sower waits for the seed to germinate and the plant to grow (Mark 4:26-29).

The same is true in the conversion of a sinner – especially one who has had little or no prior instruction in biblical subjects. Therefore, to rush a person to the waters of baptism before the soil has been cultivated and the seed planted and watered is not helpful. To the contrary, it short-circuits God’s own design for conversion. Yes, it is urgent that the lost come to Christ before it is too late. But coming to Christ involves more than just being baptized. It involves heart cultivation, teaching, and learning.

When Is a Sinner Ready for Baptism?

The best place to start is here: “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Heb. 11:6). There is no pathway to being saved from our sins without a belief in the God who has been offended and dishonored by those sins.

One must also understand who Jesus is and trust in what he has done to make salvation possible (John 8:24). Paul affirmed that the gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). The same apostle described the gospel that must be believed as the good news that “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared” to many (1 Cor. 15:3-5).

Entrance into the kingdom is about Jesus and the cross, a fact that is clear in the sermons preached in the book of Acts. What was Peter’s main subject on Pentecost? Jesus (Acts 2:22-36). What was his main subject in Acts 3:13-26? Jesus. When Philip went to Samaria, he “proclaimed to them the Christ” (Acts 8:5). When Philip began teaching the Ethiopian treasurer, what did he preach? Jesus (Acts 8:35). What was the subject of Peter’s initial instruction to Cornelius? Jesus (Acts 10:34-43). When the jailer in Philippi inquired of Paul about salvation, the apostle directed him first to Jesus (Acts 16:30-31). In Thessalonica, Luke identifies the subject of Paul’s teaching as the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (Acts 17:2-3). Can you see the consistent pattern? In the New Testament, people were not merely told to “get baptized.” They were taught first about a person.

When one understands that Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth as a man to suffer the penalty for sins he didn’t commit, the sensitive heart will want to know what he needs to do to respond properly to that amazing gift (Acts 2:36-37; Rom. 5:8). That response includes “godly grief” that “produces a repentance that leads to salvation” (2 Cor. 7:10). To embrace the gospel is to embrace a life change. One cannot continue to live for oneself after becoming a Christian (2 Cor. 5:14-15).

When one has come to believe in Jesus and truly wants to turn from sin, he will not be ashamed of the one who died to save his soul. This lack of shame can be shown in many ways, including verbal proclamation (Matt. 16:16; Rom. 10:10; 1 Tim. 6:12).

Finally, one must understand the necessity of and purpose of being immersed into the body of Christ – that it is “for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). Paul affirms that there must be “faith in the powerful working of God” when one is baptized (Col. 2:12). One cannot trust in what God is doing in baptism if he doesn’t understand what God is doing in baptism.

Conclusion

Can a person learn the basic facts of the gospel and obey it in the same day? Certainly (Acts 2:1-46; 8:26-40). But the importance and urgency of becoming a Christian demand that we never rush someone into the water before they understand what they are doing and why. Becoming a Christian is far more than knowing what a sinner must do. It is first and foremost about what Jesus has already done. Then, and only then, does the focus turn to the sinner’s response.