Baptism - A Watershed Issue
“Baptism: A Watershed Issue”
Col. 2:11-13
A. A church hired a new preacher and they liked him, but he had a problem. He preached on
the subject of baptism every week. After several weeks the elders of the church met with
him and they said, “We understand the importance of baptism, we have that down now,
but next Sunday we want you to preach on Matt. 3:10, “The axe is laid at the root of
the tree.” He said, “Alright.” The next Sunday came and he said, “Our sermon today is
Matt. 3:10 ‘The axe is laid at the root of the tree.’” They took that axe and they cut
down that tree so they could dam up the creek so everyone could be baptized!”
1. There have been those who thought that baptism is all we know how to preach in our
brotherhood. If that was ever the case it certainly is not so now.
2. There is not a clear scriptural teaching on baptism in many churches that claim to be of
the New Testament order.
3. If the cross was the stumbling block for the Jews, baptism for salvation is a stumbling
block for the evangelical world.
4. The misunderstanding about baptism is a hindrance to our work as we try lead people
to salvation in Christ.
B. I don’t believe there is any subject in the NT that there is more confusion about than the
subject of baptism (how, who, for what purpose).
1. You can blame the baptismal confusion on the devil—he has muddied the water.
2. Ed Bousman said, “The war is at the water and the battle is over the blood.”
3. I want to present 10 objections that are raised against baptism and answer each one
scripturally.
I. BAPTISM IN THE NEW TESTAMENT IS SPIRITUAL AND NOT WATER.
A. One of the arguments against baptism is that when it is mentioned in the New Testament
in regard to salvation it means spiritual baptism and not water baptism.
1. The teaching goes something like this; when you believe in Jesus and turn your life over
to Him, you are baptized in the Holy Spirit inwardly. Then sometime later you undergo
water baptism to show outwardly what God already did inwardly. That is a spiritual
baptism and a water baptism. How many baptisms is that? Two!
2. Eph. 4:5 “[There is]…one Lord, one faith, one baptism.”
3. There is only one baptism and it is both spiritual and physical.
a. John 3:5 “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you unless one is born of the water
and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
b. Heb. 10:22 “let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our
hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure
water.”
II. CORNELIUS WAS SAVED BEFORE HIS WATER BAPTISM.
A. In my opinion, the salvation of Cornelius is the most-misunderstood text in the book of Acts.
1. In Acts 10 we have a story about a man name Cornelius and his family becoming
Christians. It is true that Cornelius spoke in tongues before his baptism, but that did not
save him as many people erroneously think.
2. Cornelius was the first Gentile convert to Christ. God worked a miracle in the conversion
of Cornelius not to save him, but to show Peter and Peter’s prejudiced evangelistic team
that the Gentiles were welcome to Jesus’ salvation. God was saying to Peter and his
evangelistic team the ground is level at the foot of the cross. “Whosoever will may come.”
3. Acts 10:47-48a “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have
received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he? And he ordered them to be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ.”
4. There is no NT equivalent to the conversion of Cornelius. If this is an example of the
“normal conversion” of people, then where are the people who can do what Cornelius did?
5. Cornelius was saved at his water baptism and not when he spoke in tongues—that
was a sign that Gentiles were acceptable to receive salvation in Christ.
III. JESUS SAVES NOT BAPTISM.
A. It is true that Jesus saves, but the real question is “when does Jesus save?”
1. When you read of a condition for salvation, you must understand there may be more
conditions, but there can never less.
2. Jesus is the one who first gave us the teaching of baptism—not talking about John’s
baptism because they are not the same.
a. Mark 16:15-16 “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to
all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who
has disbelieved shall be condemned.”
b. Matt. 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all…”
(Notice in that text that Jesus separated baptism from the “teachings.”)
3. Jesus saves and He said baptism saves.
IV. WE ARE SAVED BY FAITH ALONE.
A. There are plenty of passages in the NT that say we are saved by faith.
1. John 3:16, Acts 16:31, Rom. 3:28.
2. Faith is the first condition of our salvation, but it is not the only condition.
3. Faith is the means by which we receive salvation, but it is not the time/occasion we receive
it.
a. I came to faith in Jesus when I was a little boy about five years old, but that didn’t save
me. I had no interest in becoming a Christian for many years, but I believed the gospel
story about Jesus—I had faith
4. Nowhere does the NT say we are saved by faith alone.
a. Jas. 2:24 “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”
b. Faith is like the opening of our soul so grace can be poured in at baptism.
V. BAPTISM IS A WORK AND WORKS DO NOT SAVE.
A. One of the biggest objection to baptism being a condition for salvation is that baptism is a
work and thus cannot be considered a condition for salvation.
1. Rom. 3:20 “By works of law no flesh will be justified in His sight.”
2. Rom. 3:28 “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law.”
a. Works of law are things like the Ten Commandments, the law of the conscience, the
commands of the New Testament—the law of love.
3. Please understand there is a difference between works of law and gospel commands.
a. Did you know that that great grace book—Romans says the good news is something to
be obeyed. Rom. 10:16 “However, they did not all heed the good news.”
b. How many of you take medicine every day? Would you consider taking a pill equal to
weeding the garden or painting the porch? Those last two are work aren’t they? You
know what? All three of them are something you do. Taking medicine is just
following the doctor’s orders so you get better.
c. Gospel commands like repentance and baptism are following the orders of the Great
Physician to get well—they are gospel commands and not works of law.
B The truth is baptism is a work—a work of God.
1. Col. 2:12 “having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with
Him through faith in the working of God.”
VI. A PHYSICAL ACT CAN’T HAVE A SPIRITUAL EFFECT.
A. There is an argument that a physical act can’t bring about a spiritual result.
1. Remember as we already pointed out that baptism is not just a physical event, but it is a
spiritual event also.
2. Tit. 3:5 “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but
according to His mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.”
3. There is no opposition to the flesh and the Spirit. John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory as of the only begotten from the Father full of
grace and truth.”
4. What was the history’s most-important event that brought about our salvation? Something
physical wasn’t it? A physical death brought about our spiritual salvation.
5. If something physical can’t influence something spiritual, why did Jesus leave us with a
physical act to remember Him by—The Lord’s Supper?
VII. PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN BAPTIZED SHOW FORTH
CHRISTLIKENESS.
A. One of the arguments against baptism as a condition for salvation is that there are people who
have never been baptized and they show forth more Christlikeness than some who have been.
1. Let me ask you a question, did the people in the Old Testament possess the Holy Spirit?
No they didn’t. Did any of them possess love, joy, peace, self-control? Of course. It’s
possible to be loving without the Holy Spirit living in you. Haven’t you seen non-
Christians who were loving people?
2. The Bible says in Acts 10:1-2 that Cornelius was God-fearing, devout, gave many alms,
and prayed continually. Was he saved? No, he wasn’t but he was seeking God.
3. Jesus said in Matt. 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in
Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will
declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
4. Salvation is not based upon experience but truth.
a. John 8:32 “And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
VIII. THE THIEF ON THE CROSS WAS SAVED WITHOUT BEING BAPTIZED.
A. One of the two thieves that were crucified on each side of Jesus said, “Jesus, remember me
when you come in your kingdom.”
1. Luke 23:43 “And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in
Paradise.”
2. Did the people in the Old Covenant have to be baptized to be saved? Of course not. Jesus
baptism didn’t come into existence until He inaugurated it after His resurrection.
3. Remember that man they let down through the roof on the sheet? What did Jesus say to
that man? “Your sins are forgiven you.” Was he forgiven?
4. After the resurrection, Jesus instituted His baptism—then it became part of the terms of
pardon.
5. Christian baptism did not exist when the thief died.
IX. BAPTISM IS THE NT REPLACEMENT FOR OT CIRCUMCISION.
A. In Col. 2, Paul mentioned baptism in connection with circumcision.
1. Did you know that for the first 1500 years of Christianity that baptism was considered a
salvation event? If someone tells you baptism is not a salvation event, you can tell them
they are teaching something that is only 500 years old.
2. In the 1500’s, Huldreich Zwingli had given up the idea that baptism. He said everyone
before was wrong about baptism. He had to find a reason to practice baptism—he found it
in Col. 2. Zwingli said there has only been one covenant since Abraham. He taught that
Israel and Christians are one and the same church.
He said baptism is the NT replacement for OT circumcision. Did circumcision save the
child under the law? No, it was an outward sign that the child belonged to a covenant
people. Zwingli taught baptism is just an outward sign that this child belongs to a family
of faith. You want to know where the idea that baptism is an outward sign of an inward
reality came from—Zwingli!
3. What Zwingli missed in Col. 2 is the fact that Paul compared baptism to a circumcision
not made with hands. Did you know there are two circumcisions in the Bible? A physical
one of a male, Jewish child who is 8 days old, and a spiritual one.
4. Jer. 4:4a “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and remove the foreskins of your heart.”
5. Acts 7:51 “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always
resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.”
6. Baptism is a spiritual circumcision not a physical one.
X. PAUL SAID HE CAME TO PREACH NOT BAPTIZE.
A. 1 Cor. 1:17 “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in
cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.”
1. People who know their way around the Bible a little bit like to quote that verse as an
indictment against the necessity of baptism.
2. The church at Corinth had a problem with placing too much honor upon preachers. The
problem was so bad that it caused division in the church. Some were saying, ‘I am of
Cephas,” others said, “I am of Apollos,” still others said, “I am of Paul.”
a. 1 Cor. 1:13-15 “Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or
were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you
except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one would say you were baptized in my name.”
(This assumes they were baptized doesn’t it? And Paul did baptize some.)
3. Paul was not minimizing baptism at all.
4. Paul did not want people to boast that he baptized them.