I literally just finished writing another article about how the first church’s message always included baptism. While writing I found myself wanting to bring up common arguments against baptism. But didn’t want the article to turn into a thesis. That being said the common objections to baptism still need to be answered. Starting with one I hear often. That being baptized cannot be that important because it is not a major teaching point in the epistles.
That statement in itself does carry some truth. We do not see the same call to baptism in them as we do in the Gospels and the book of Acts. The act of baptism does not even take place in many of the Epistles. But that is not to say that the subject is completely missing in the epistles. In fact, it is in those books that we are given some of the greatest insight into the meaning behind baptism.
Colossians 2:11–12 (ESV)
11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
1 Corinthians 12:13 (ESV)
13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
1 Peter 3:21 (ESV)
21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
The truth of the matter is that baptism is not something we see the writers strongly pointing churches to in their letters. There are not really any verses that instruct churches to baptize but that’s for good reason. First of all the epistles were not the first communication the writers had with these churches. There were often written as follow-ups to previous visits they had made. In which the apostles and disciples brought people to faith and would have already seen those they wrote to baptized.
Which would have been the same way those church leaders brought in new believers. Following the same plan of salvation, they followed themselves. The same plan of salvation that Peter laid out on the day of Pentecost. When the Christian church really begins to take the form we know today.
Acts 2:37–38 (ESV)
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Because of this, there would have been no reason for the various writers to instruct the people to do what they were already doing. Normally that was actually the entire purpose of an epistle. To correcting issues that were known to be taking place in a specific church. Considering the lack of references to baptism in the letters we must assume that the early churches did not have many issues in that area.
But ultimately the entire concept can be brought down without all that explanation. Trying to say that baptism is not necessary because the epistles do not explicitly say it is required is ridiculous. Primarily because Jesus, the end all be all of the Christian faith, taught that all people must be baptized.
John 3:5 (ESV)
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Matthew 28:19 (ESV)
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Also, we must always remember that we are not told that only some scripture is important. Nor does the Bible say we should only apply the teaching of certain books to our life. No, the Bible points to the fact that we must accept all of God’s word in our lives. We cannot discount the importance of one instruction just because it is not mentioned in every other section of the Bible.
Please do not try to use this misguided interpretation of scripture to believe that you have no need to be baptized. The scripture is very clear in pointing out that all people need to be baptized. Want to know more about the act of baptism and it’s importance? Please read some of the other articles on the subject. So that you will better understand what God is calling all people to do.
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