Tag Archive - Mark

Proverbs 12

February 16, 2009 in Proverbs with 0 Comments

Today (Feb 12) is Rachael’s birthday. We have Micah’s birthday and our anniversary coming up over the next 10 days.

Here are some thoughts on chapter 12 as I continue reading through Proverbs:

A noble wife is the crown of her husband, but the wife who acts shamefully is like rottenness in his bones. (12:4)

This is so true (and timely with Valentine’s Day nearby). I can’t think of a time when Saralynn acted in a way that truly embarrassed me. Sure, she does stuff that I think is goofy, because it’s not my personality. But she is my “crown”, my pride. (I wish she could always say the same about me.) Love you, babe!

A righteous person cares for the life of his animal, but even the most compassionate acts of the wicked are cruel. (12:10)

Argh! I’m constantly threatening our dog, Roger. And the kids have picked up on it. Probably better change that. (Who knew that dealing with pets was in the Bible?)

The righteous do not encounter any harm, but the wicked are filled with calamity. (12:21)

The only way that can be true is if we approach life with the right perspective. Jesus said:

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it. For what benefit is it for a person to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his life? Mark 8:35-36

If our lives are wrapped up in what happens in this world instead of the next, we will not be able to believe this proverb. However, if we believe that everything in this life is designed to grow us into eternal Christ-followers, it makes a lot of sense.

Baptism, Part 5

February 3, 2009 in Water Baptism with 0 Comments

This is the last post in a series on water baptism. In Part 1 and Part 2 we explored what water baptism is and how the early church performed it. Part 3 introduced the teaching that water baptism can provide salvation – a teaching that we thoroughly debunked in Parts 4a, 4b, and 4c.

Based on all of that, to finish this series, let’s answer the questions “Who should be baptized and when?”

As usual, we’ll go back to the Scriptures and see the pattern established there:

  • John baptized people “as they confessed their sins” (Matthew 3:6; Mark 1:5) and because of their “repentance” (Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:12-16). Repentance means change of heart, mind, and action.
  • The apostles baptized people “who accepted [Peter's] message” about Jesus Christ (Acts 2:41)
  • Philip baptized Samaritans “when they believed…as he was proclaiming the good news” (Acts 8:12)
  • Philip baptized the Ethiopian official after he “proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him” (Acts 8:35-38)
  • Ananias baptized Saul after his encounter with Jesus on the way to Damascus (Acts 9:1-18)
  • Peter baptized people in Cornelius’ house after they “received the Holy Spirit…[and] accepted the word of God” (Acts 10:44 – 11:1)
  • Paul baptized Lydia after God “opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying” (Acts 16:14-15)
  • Paul and Silas baptized their jailer and his family after he asked what he “must do to be saved” and “he had come to believe in God, together with his entire household” (Acts 16:30-34)
  • Paul and his team baptized people in Corinth after they “believed” (Acts 18:8)

In every single recorded case, baptism followed someone’s belief in Jesus Christ. Even if was at the same time they believed, in each case, they believed first and were baptized after.

There is not a single biblical case where a person was baptized first, then believed in Christ or was baptized for salvation without believing in Jesus.

Additionally, it seems that everyone who believed in Jesus Christ for salvation was baptized, most of them as soon as possible afterward.

I don’t think this needs a lot of explanation.

Who should be baptized? Everyone who has already believed in Jesus, turned from their sins, and accepted his salvation.

When should a person be baptized? As soon as possible after their salvation.

At OTCC we’ll baptize anyone who has accepted Christ as long as they understand what baptism is – an outward expression of an inward reality.

The only caveat to this practice for us is in the case of minors. If an under-age person wants to be baptized, and he or she is still living at home, we must have permission from the parents. (The same is true of church membership.) We will not baptize minors against their parents’ wishes.

Have you turned from your sin and believed in Jesus Christ for salvation? If so, have you been baptized in water to express that publicly?

You can read all the posts in this series here.

Baptism, Part 4b

January 28, 2009 in Water Baptism with 0 Comments

OK, we’re looking at a couple of passages on baptism and salvation that seem to stump people a lot. In Part 4a, we explored Acts 3:28. Let’s look at the next one.

The one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16

I have to say that I was really tempted to roll this verse in with Acts 2:38. It would have been a lot less complicated. There would be less risk that way. Oh well, sometimes you have to take the hard way because it’s the only way the truth will come out.

There are two ways to look at this passage – one is difficult, the other easy. Let’s look at the easy way first. That way, if you don’t like complicated stuff, you can stop reading and think all is well.

Easy Answer

The question is: Does Mark 16:16 support the teaching that baptism is necessary for, or a means of, salvation? The easy answer is “No” for all of the same reasons as Acts 2:28.

First, Jesus was a Jew. Mark was a Jew. The disciples were all Jews. So repentance and baptism went together, even though repentance actually brought salvation.

Secondly, Mark’s gospel is actually Mark’ s re-telling of Peter’s eyewitness account, probably after Peter’s death. History tells us that Mark was very close to Peter and acted as Peter’s interpreter and probably scribe. Had Peter written down these stories instead of Mark, we would be calling it the Gospel of Peter. And as we have seen, in all of Peter’s teaching, salvation comes through repentance.

Hard Answer

The hard answer is hard, because it’s hard  to explain, but because many people find it hard to believe.

Here’s the problem: According to the oldest and best Greek copies of Mark that we have available to us today (called manuscripts), Mark 16 actually ends with verse 8. That is, verses 9-20 were added to the text later, probably to help finish the story.

What’s most interesting to me is that there are controversial (and by “controversial” I mean false) teachings that come from this short section at the end of Mark that stir up a whole lot of heat:

  • verse 16 – Baptism is necessary for salvation
  • verse 17-18 – Genuine believers will be able to do supernatural things: cast out demons, speak in tongues, play with snakes, drink poison, and heal people

The thing is, not a single one of those things is supported ANYWHERE ELSE in Scripture! Just this passage. And yet there are churches, for instance, that risk their members’ lives by bringing rattlesnakes into their services because of one part of one verse that was not even part of the original text!

 

OK, my rant’s done. Anyway, whichever answer you prefer, the easy one or the hard one, when you take this passage and line it up with the teachings in the rest of Scripture – literally, grammatically, and historically – we find one more passage that does not prove that baptism is a means of salvation.

Baptism, Part 3

January 24, 2009 in Water Baptism with 0 Comments

We are looking at the biblical teaching of water baptism. So far we have established:

  1. The word “baptism” means “immersion” or “to dip under” (Baptism, Part 1)
  2. The earliest Christians all baptized people by plunging them fully under water(Baptism, Part 2)
  3. Water baptism is a public symbol that a person has new life through Jesus Christ, and immersion best illustrates Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection (Baptism, Part 2)

However, there is a teaching about baptism that contradicts what we have already seen. It is a well-known teaching, so prevalent, in fact, that the question comes up every time I teach at Hope Ministries. It is a teaching that I have discussed with many people over the years, and one that is hard to convince people who believe it otherwise. This teaching is that a person must be baptized in order to have salvation.

While there are many churches and denominations that hold this to be true, probably the most well-known is the Catholic Church. And its teachings on this are very clear. The following quotes come from the official Catechism of the Catholic Church (Second Edition). The bolding is all mine for emphasis.

Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: “Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water and in the word.” (p. 312)

The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude [bliss, happiness]… (p. 320)

By Baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin. (p. 321)

Baptism is birth into the new life in Christ. In accordance with the Lord’s will, it is necessary for salvation, as is the Church herself, which we enter by Baptism. (p. 324)

There are several footnotes to the above quotes, but they are all from other Catholic documents, not from the Bible. However, there are references to the Scriptures throughout this section of the Catechism. Since the Bible is where we go to center our study, here are the passages most often used to support this teaching (all quotes are from the NET Bible unless otherwise noted).

Do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life. Romans 6:3-4

Having been buried with him in baptism, you also have been raised with him through your faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead. Colossians 2:12

For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Galatians 3:27

When the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior. Titus 3:4-6

Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” John 3:5

Peter said to them, “Repent, and each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38

The one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16

Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you– not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience– through the resurrection of Jesus Christ 1 Peter 3:21 (New American Standard)

Let’s take these one at a time.

1. We have already seen in the first two passages (Romans 6:3-4 and Colossians 2:12) Paul’s teaching that water baptism symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The person being baptized uses public water baptism to identify themselves with Christ and his church and committing to the new life offered by Christ’s salvation. Since this symbolism requires faith in Christ first, these passages do not support baptism as a means of salvation.

2. The answer to Galatians 3:27 (and many other misunderstood Bible teachings) comes from the context immediately surrounding the verse. Paul’s discussion in this chapter centers on the question, “Does salvation come through keeping the law or through faith?” His response is unashamedly “by faith.” In fact, in the previous verse he wrote, “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith.”

Notice also that he refers to being “baptized into Christ”, not “into water.” Upon faith in Christ, a person is added to the body of Christ, the church. He is “immersed” or “plunged” into new association with Christ and his people. Since this is the only reference to baptism in the whole letter, and since the context is about salvation through faith in Christ, not water baptism, this verse does not support baptism as a means of salvation.

3. In Titus 3:4-6 we find a similar instance to Galatians 3:27. In this letter we find no reference to baptism at all – into water or into Christ. The phrase “washing of the new birth” obviously refers to salvation, but it has no reference to water baptism.

Throughout the Scriptures salvation is referred to as a washing of sin, something that water – even water blessed by a person – cannot do. This is fact according to the writer of Hebrews: “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).

If baptism in water can wash away sins and give salvation, then traditional Christianity has major problems, including (but not limited to):

  • Hebrews 9:22 is wrong, and the Bible has been discredited.
  • Jesus’ death and bloodshed have no value whatsoever.
  • God is both a murderer and sadist, commanding the deaths of countless animals and Jesus, when water would have been sufficient.

Since the rest of the Bible teaches salvation is available only through Jesus’ death and resurrection, and baptism is not even mentioned here, this passage does not support baptism as a means of salvation.

4. Another verse commonly used to support this teaching is in Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John 3:5. Once again, a look at the immediate context and the historical context makes the answer plain.

In this account, Jesus, an Old Testament Jew, was talking to Nicodemus, another Old Testament Jews, using Old Testament Jewish references and terminology. Jewish understanding did not (and still does not) allow for a suffering Messiah or a combination Jew-Gentile church. In Jewish teaching, the kingdom of God will be the Messiah’s literal reign on Earth, delivering the Jews from all outside government and oppression. It will be a time of complete peace under God’s headship.

When Nicodemus came to Jesus, he wondered if it was possible that Jesus was the Messiah and if the kingdom would be commencing soon. Jesus answered the (unasked) question by stating that entrance into the kingdom would be based on spiritual, not national or ethnic, criteria. This is why Nicodemus, not understanding, asked about being born – physically – again. His idea of the kingdom was purely physical.

Throughout the Old Testament, the prophets used both wind (translated “spirit” here) and water to describe God’s Spirit. By using both, Jesus was emphasizing the spiritual nature of the kingdom, rather than just the physical (which it will also be). Jesus’ follow-up statement in verse 6 compares physical birth to spiritual birth: “What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit” and emphasizes that entrance into the kingdom will be by spiritual birth.

That part of the conversation concludes with Jesus making reference to his crucifixion, “so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:15), making the case again that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Since this discussion is primarily about Jews, not Christians, and since baptism was not mentioned, this passage does not support baptism as a means of salvation.

 

The last three passages will take a little more time to explain, and this post is already long, so we’ll push those off to Part 4.

Baptism, Part 2

January 20, 2009 in Water Baptism with 0 Comments

We are answering questions that come up frequently about baptism. We introduced the word “baptism” in Part 1 and found out that it’s most natural meaning is “to dip, immerse, or plunge” under something, usually water.

Based on that information we should be able to answer these two questions:

  1. Is there a proper method for Christian baptism?
  2. What is the significance of water baptism?

Method

Baptism at Elisha's spring - Jericho. Picture by Jane DenboAccording to some of the best authorities available today on the old Greek language, baptisma means “to dip in or under water”, “to immerse”, and “to bathe”.

  • Four hundred years before the New Testament was written, Plato used the word to described something being “soaked in wine”.
  • It is used in the Greek Old Testament to described what Namaan did when he “went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times” (2 Kings 5:14).
  • There is a completely different word, rantizo, that means “to sprinkle”, that is never used in the context of baptism.
  • The verb form, baptizo, is used figuratively in Greek literature in phrases like “immersed in cares” and “plunged in grief”. Jesus also used it to describe his upcoming torture (Mark 10:38-39; Luke 12:50)
  • In the New Testament, 13 of its 19 occurrences are John’s baptism in the Jordan River.

These are just a few samples of the wealth of evidence showing that baptizo and baptisma mean full immersion into water. Trying to make it mean any other form of “baptism”, such as sprinkling or pouring, requires a stretch of the natural meaning of the word.

However, in the second century a document was published by the leaders of the church that many people use to allow baptism by a method other than full immersion. Although this is not a book of the Bible, it shows how Jesus’ early followers lived out his teachings. Here is the passage from The Didache, or “The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles” (translated by Cyril C. Richardson):

(Chapter 7) 1. Now about baptism: this is how to baptize. Give public instruction on all these points, and then “baptize” in running water, “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” 2. If you do not have running water, baptize in some other. 3. If you cannot in cold, then in warm. If you have neither, then pour water on the head three times “in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” 4. Before the baptism, moreover, the one who baptizes and the one being baptized must fast, and any others who can. And you must tell the one being baptized to fast for one or two days beforehand.

(source: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/richardson/fathers.viii.i.iii.html)

From earliest times, baptism was done by immersing the person under cold, flowing water (like John did in the Jordan River). Because baptism was so important, in extreme cases they would be allowed to pour water over the person, but that was not the normal method.

Significance

So if baptism is just dunking a person completely under water, what’s the point? Kids do that in lakes and streams and swimming pools all summer long. What is the significance of a formal, church-celebrated, water baptism?

Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life. Romans 6:4

According to Paul, water baptism is symbolic of the new life we have through our faith in Jesus Christ. The person’s submergence into and emergence out of the water symbolize the person’s death and burial to sin and the resurrection to his or her new life in Christ.

Notice that Paul does not say that the water baptism “gives new life,” but rather “so we may live a new life.” Every instance of baptism in Jesus’ name occurred after the person believed in Jesus Christ. Not before. Not in place of.

Consider another passage where Paul uses water baptism to link us symbolically to Christ.

Having been buried with him in baptism, you also have been raised with him through your faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead. Colossians 2:12

Baptism of 95 PeopleSo what does water baptism do? Well, first, it gets you wet. You can’t go under water and come back up dry. There is a physical aspect that shows you have been affected in some way by this. It’s uncomfortable, it’s cold.

But so was Jesus’ death. And when we choose to stand up in front of God’s people and willingly be plunged into a cold, wet, “grave”, we are identifying ourselves with Jesus Christ who did the same for us.

Secondly, it offers a fresh start. Water washes things, but only physical things. Water baptism can’t get to our sin; only Jesus can do that.

By taking the plunge with him into the cold “grave” we symbolically bury our sinful past. By coming back up out of the water we celebrate the new life that God has given us through Jesus’ resurrection and identify with Jesus’ body, the church.

By the way, of all of the different methods of baptism that people use, only complete immersion fits the symbolic identification with Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

So, water baptism is for the purpose of publicly identifying with Jesus and his church, and it is to be done by full immersion into water, unless there are extenuating circumstances.

So if that’s what it is, what it baptism not? Well, look at that in Part 3.

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