Foolish Preaching About Baptism --
In our last article we began a review of a sermon outline by a Baptist preacher on "The Doctrine of Baptism." In that article we reviewed what he had to say about Acts 2:38 and Mark 16:16. You are encouraged to read that article once more before continuing this study.
After trying to show that Acts 2:38 and Mark 16:16 do not teach that baptism is essential to salvation he says, "I Peter 3:21 makes it clear that baptism is only a figure or symbol of salvation which is in Christ. If baptism were necessary to salvation why did Jesus never baptize anyone or tell anyone to be baptized in order to be saved?" Foolish preaching contradicts what the apostles taught on I Peter 3:21, as well as Acts 2:38 and Mark 16:16. Peter said, "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God) by the resurrection of Christ." Leaving out the parenthetical statement in this verse, we read the main clause as, "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us by the resurrection of Christ." Foolish preaching says, "Baptism doth not save us"; The only difference between what Peter wrote and what foolish preaching says is the difference between "now" and "not." I believe that Peter knew what he was saying when he wrote I Peter 3:21. After false teachers talk about and around what he wrote, the words of Peter remain the same.
Foolish preaching says, "Baptism is only a figure or symbol of salvation which is in Christ." Look at I Peter 3:21 carefully. Do you see anything there that would make you think that "baptism is only a figure or symbol of salvation"? You would never get this idea without some assistance from some false teacher.
Peter says that baptism is a figure, all right, but he doesn't say that it is a "figure or symbol of salvation." Beginning with verse 20, we read, "Which sometime were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us ..." What is the word, "figure", referring to? Let Peter answer that. Peter says that baptism is a "figure" of the salvation of eight souls by water in the days of Noah. He doesn't say that baptism is a "figure or symbol of salvation which is in Christ." When God instructed Noah to build the ark and take his wife, his three sons and their wives into the ark, they were saved from the flood. "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us..." Only those who entered the ark were saved from the flood. Entering the ark was essential to their salvation from the waters of the flood.
But someone argues, "Baptism is not essential to salvation because Peter said it was not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God." No, baptism is not the "putting away the filth of the flesh." Baptism is not taking a bath, nor is it performed with any intention of giving the sinner a bath. It is performed because Jesus said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." It is performed because Inspiration teaches us to "Repent ye and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." The expression, "filthiness of the flesh," refers to dirty bodies. Baptism is not performed to cleanse the body, but "the answer of a good conscience toward God."
Some folks think that people are to be baptized because they are already saved. They think that baptism answers the good conscience toward God. They think they must first be saved by faith only, and then submit to baptism to "join" some denomination. What does this expression, "the answer of a good conscience toward God" mean? The American Standard Version translates it: "the interrogation of a good conscience toward God." It gives the words, "inquiry," or "appeal," in the footnote, suggesting that the passage may be translated that it is "the inquiry of a good conscience toward God," or "the appeal of a good conscience toward God."
Goodspeed's translation is, "Baptism, which corresponds to it, now saves you also (not as the mere removing of physical stain, but as the craving for a conscience right with God) — through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." Goodspeed shows that the "filthiness of the flesh" refers to physical stain, and shows that the "answer of a good conscience toward God" refers to the idea of "the craving for a conscience right with God." Goodspeed is the professor of Biblical and Patristic Greek at the University of Chicago. Although he is "liberal" he is recognized as a scholar among denominational people. His translation does not support the "foolish preaching" that baptism is only a "figure or symbol of salvation."
The new Revised Standard Version has been heralded as something wonderful, especially among sectarians. It makes the passage in I Peter 3:21 as plain as human tongue could possibly make it, "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 clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." This translation makes it clear that the "figure" is the correspondence between baptism and the salvation of Noah and his family from the flood. It makes it clear that the "filthiness of the flesh" refers to the dirt of the body. It makes it clear that baptism is to be considered as "an appeal to God for a clear conscience."
If baptism is an appeal to God for a clear conscience, how can any intelligent man say that baptism is only a figure or symbol of salvation? The only reason to be suggested is that foolish preaching tries to cling to false doctrine in spite of what the Bible says.
The Baptist preacher further asks, "If baptism were necessary to salvation, why did Jesus never baptize anyone or tell anyone to be baptized in order to be saved?" The will of Christ became effective when he died on the cross. Alter the resurrection, he said to his apostles, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Jesus told the apostles to preach the gospel. He said that those who believe it and are baptized shall be saved; those who do not believe it shall be damned. I believe what Jesus said. Why don't you believe it? Give your preacher the test; ask him if he believes it. When he tries to explain it so that it does not mean what it says, you can rest assured that he does not believe it. You ought to obey Christ, rather than men.