BAPTISM: WHAT IS IT?

Does It Regenerate And Save?

By R. K. Campbell

Every person born into the world is born with a sinful nature, and is a sinner needing salvation. This is a fundamental truth of Holy Scripture (Ps. 52:5; Rom. 5:12; Eph. 2:3), and one which many people acknowledge. Therefore, many agree that one must be born again to enter heaven, as the Lord said in John 3:3: "Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

But how can one obtain this necessary, spiritual new birth, have his sins washed away, and be saved from judgment to come? Many theories are set forth as to how to get to heaven, and various doctrines are held by different schools of religion regarding salvation of the soul. What are we to believe? How can we know the true way of salvation among all the conflicting theories and doctrines of men?

"What does the Scripture say?" (Rom. 4:3) should be our earnest inquiry. "To the law and to the testimony," the prophet Isaiah says (ch. 8:20). "If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."

What Some Teach

Some believe and teach that water baptism is the means of grace whereby the new birth is accomplished and eternal salvation is received. Such would tell us, "It works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this."

Baptism, they say, is the means whereby the Holy Spirit makes all the great things, which Christ has wrought for us, our own. It is "the eternal means, connected with His Word, which offers, conveys, and seals unto men the grace which Christ has merited" (Lutheran Catechism). Without being baptized, they tell us, one cannot reach heaven—even an innocent infant. If one is baptized, he is regenerated, made anew, and received into communion with the Triune God, according to this teaching.

A Divinely Instituted Ordinance

Baptism is a divinely instituted ordinance and one which should be submitted to by every true child of God. It is an established truth of Scripture according to Matthew 28:19, is for "all the nations," and is connected with the promise of Christ to be with us "even to the end of the age" (v. 20). This we truly believe and teach. But Scripture never teaches that baptism is a saving ordinance, working eternal salvation and new birth for the soul. Let us search the Word of God to see what it says about baptism, salvation and new birth.

The Commission to Baptize

In Matthew 28:19 the Lord commissions His disciples to "go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you." First, they were to disciple all nations, then they were to baptize all those who became disciples.