Baptism as an Ordinance 1

Rudy Du Plooy

Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

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We have been talking about the nature of baptism – is it a sacrament or is it an ordinance?

Last time we looked at arguments in favor of the view that baptism is a sacrament.

A means of grace by which one is born again spiritually, united with Christ in his death and resurrection, and incorporated into his body, the church.

Today we want to look at an alternative understanding of baptism.

This alternative views baptism as an ordinance, not as a sacrament or special means of grace.

We’ll look at two arguments in support of the view of baptism as an ordinance.

1. Those who think of baptism as an ordinance rather than a sacrament remind us that Christian conversion and initiation in the New Testament is a process – a process that involved, first of all, repentance and faith, then receiving the Holy Spirit, and finally water baptism.

Conversion is inward.

Initiation is outward.

Initiation is the public identification of the believer with the Christian church – with the body of Christ.

It is a sign, as it were, of the inner work that has taken place in conversion.

The key to conversion is baptism of the Holy Spirit.

When a person is regenerated by God, when the Holy Spirit comes into him, he is baptized in the Holy Spirit and is born anew to spiritual life and eternal life.

So the key to conversion will be baptism in the Holy Spirit.

The key to initiation into the Christian church, however, is water baptism.

So what makes a person a Christian on this view is not water baptism.

What makes him a Christian is that inner work of the Holy Spirit –that work of regeneration that has made him born anew to eternal life.

Let’s look at some passages in support of this understanding.

First, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14.

Here Paul is recalling his experience of sharing the Gospel with the Thessalonian believers.

2 Thessalonians 2:13–14 BSB

13 But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth. 14 To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Notice the elements in their conversion that are here described.

First of all there is God’s election.

Then there is God’s calling.

Then there is faith.

And then, finally, regeneration in the Holy Spirit:

So all of the essential elements of conversion are there: election, calling, the response of faith, and sanctification by the Holy Spirit.

There is no mention whatsoever of water baptism.

It is these elements that are sufficient for conversion and being a Christian.

Look over, similarly, at Galatians 3:1-5, then also verse 14. Paul says,

Galatians 3:1–5 BSB

1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? After starting in the Spirit, are you now finishing in the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so much for nothing, if it really was for nothing? 5 Does God lavish His Spirit on you and work miracles among you because you practice the law, or because you hear and believe?

Galatians 3:14 BSB

14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

In Galatians we again have these essential elements to conversion.

There is preaching.

There is faith.

Then there is the reception of the Holy Spirit.

So the preaching of the Word, the response of faith, and then the receiving of the Holy Spirit make a person a Christian.

Turn over to 1 Corinthians 1:13-17.

Here Paul is reminding the Corinthians of his behavior among them in preaching the Gospel. He writes,

1 Corinthians 1:13–17 BSB

13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that I do not remember if I baptized anyone else. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with words of wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Without wanting in any way to depreciate the importance of baptism, I think it is undeniable that baptism clearly did not lie at the heart of the Gospel for Paul.

This wasn’t the main concern that he had.

He preached the cross of Christ faithfully.

People responded.

Then he may or may not have baptized some of them.

Baptism clearly wasn’t at the heart of the Gospel message for Paul.

Turn over then to 1 Corinthians 6:11.

This is one of the verses to which the

sacramentalist appeals as a baptismal verse to show baptismal regeneration. Paul describes the various sins of the unrighteous and then in verse 11 he says,

1 Corinthians 6:11 BSB

11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

The washing here is interpreted by the sacramentalist to be a reference to baptism.

But there is no reason to take it that way.

The washing here is not talking about the physical washing you have in water.

It is talking about spiritual cleansing.

How do we know? Because It is the Spirit who does this!

What about Romans 6?

Again, this is a passage on which the sacramentalist heavily relies to show that in baptism we are united in Christ’s death and resurrection and therefore come to be members of his body.

Romans 6:1–4 BSB

1 What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer? 3 Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.

Well, it seems to me that the person who defends baptism as an ordinance can plausibly say that what we have here is a metaphorical description of baptism.

He uses the metaphor of burial and rising again to describe what happens in baptism.

This isn’t a literal burial with Christ but metaphorically speaking we are buried with him in the waters of baptism.

So this serves a symbolic function.

It is, as I say, an outward sign of this spiritual reality.

You will remember that impressive list I read last time from G. R. Beasley-Murray about all of the blessings that are ours in virtue of baptism.

Well, the point that the person who thinks of baptism as an ordinance wants to make is that all of these same blessings are ascribed simply to faith.

They are all the result of faith.

Beasley-Murray himself recognizes this.

On page 272 of his Baptism in the New Testament he has this to say:

“[I]n the New Testament, precisely the same gifts of grace are associated with faith as with baptism.”

The same gifts of grace that are ours in virtue of being baptized are ours in virtue of our faith.”

Forgiveness, cleansing and justification are the effect of baptism.

But in 1 John 1:9, forgiveness and cleansing attend the believing confession of sin, while the doctrine of justification by faith in Romans 3-4 scarcely needs citation.

1 John 1:9 BSB

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Union with Christ comes through baptism.

But is accorded to faith in Ephesians 3:17.

Ephesians 3:17 BSB

17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,

Identification with Christ in his death and resurrection is rooted in baptism.

But faith alone is in view in Galatians 2:20, and in Colossians 2:12 faith is the means whereby new life is gained in baptism.

Galatians 2:20 BSB

20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Colossians 2:12 BSB

12 And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.

Participation in Christ’s sonship is bound up with baptism.

But in Galatians 3, faith is explicitly mentioned as the means whereby sonship is possible, and in John 1:12 faith alone is in view.

Galatians 3:26 BSB

26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

John 1:12 BSB

12 But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—

Membership in the Church, the

Body of Christ, is through baptism.

But it is quite certain that in the New Testament Church membership would have been normally dated from baptism.

The Spirit is given through baptism.

But to faith in Galatians 3:2, 14.

Galatians 3:2 BSB

2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?

Galatians 3:14 BSB

14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

The new life of the Spirit is given in baptism.

But to faith in John 1:12-13.

John 1:12–13 BSB

12 But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.

The inheritance of the kingdom is for the baptized in John 3:5 but for faith in John 5:

John 5:24 BSB

24 Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life.

One New Testament writer makes the summary statement, ‘Baptism saves you’.

1 Peter 3:21 BSB

21 And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Another makes the yet more characteristic assertion,

Ephesians 2:8 BSB

8 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,

Conclusion:

I think you can see that all of these wonderful blessings and graces that are ours in virtue of being baptized are said to be ours in virtue of our faith in Christ.

I think the reason for this is simply that conversion and baptism follow each other so closely in the New Testament as conversion and initiation that they are described as one process.

You could ascribe these blessings either to one half of the process or to the other half of the process.

They are united.

It would be unthinkable that there would be born again, regenerate Christians who would refuse to be baptized and would therefore not have undergone initiation.

In summary of the first point: conversion and initiation in the New Testament involved repentance and faith, reception of the Holy Spirit, and then water baptism.

Next time, we’ll continue our discussion by looking at a second argument in favor of viewing baptism as an ordinance of the church.