Biblical Essays
BAPTISM
Scripture gives us the simple fact that believers must be baptized. It says nothing regarding whether it should be in public or private. It does not tell us that it should be “In a place accessible to the public.” It is left entirely open. Who witnessed the eunuch being baptized? Where was Paul baptized; or Lydia; or the jailer? Where in the New Testament are we taught to contemplate the public, either in baptism or the Lord’s Supper? No doubt “the unlearned or unbeliever” may come into the place where Christians are assembled, but testimony to the world is not the object when Christians come together for communion or worship. Matthew 10:32 does not refer specially to the act of baptism. Our whole life should be a testimony for Christ. The Christian himself is “the epistle of Christ, known and read of all men.”
We believe that Matthew 28:19 furnishes the proper formula for Christian baptism. We are not aware of any subsequent revelation on the subject. “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Here we have the full revelation of the Godhead, the true foundation of Christian doctrine. We see no reason for departing from the form of words prescribed by our Lord Jesus Christ. Is not His commandment more binding on us than the example of any or all of His servants?
It is to be desired that Christians see eye to eye on every subject, but this can hardly be expected, and most assuredly we should not allow our happy fellowship with the members of Christ’s body to be hindered in the smallest degree by difference of judgment on such questions about baptism as mentioned above. Is baptism necessary? Yes, but as long as a man is true to Christ – His name, His cause, His truth, His glory – we can love him with all our heart, though we may deem him mistaken regarding his view regarding the above questions about baptism, i.e., performed in private or public, how much does one need to know before being baptized, etc. May the Lord bind us all more closely to Him and to one another by the precious ministry of the Holy Spirit.
We believe that a continuous urging on of such questions about baptism can lead to disastrous results. We do not complain about any who conscientiously hold this or that view on these subjects, but we do complain about those who, instead of preaching and teaching Jesus Christ, are disturbing the minds of God’s people by, for instance, pressing on them infant baptism. For our own part – seeing the question has been forced on us via email responses – we can only say that for many years we have been asking in vain for a single line of Scripture for baptizing any except believers or those who professed to believe. Though we have been presented various reasonings, inferences, conclusions and deductions, we have yet to be offered one direct Scriptural authority teaching otherwise.
