Explaining Baptism to CofC Members

One subject that will certainly come up when discussing the doctrine of justification by faith with those in the Churches of Christ, is the Christian practice or ordinance of water baptism. For if we are indeed saved by evangelical Christianity's view of salvation by personal faith in Jesus Christ (i.e. believing He took the punishment for sin we deserved at the cross) and our obedience to the moral and religious commands as found in the pages of the New Testament are only the result (rather than the means or the cause) of our salvation, how then can baptism save us?

And to be sure, evangelical Christianity does believe that we must be baptized in order to be saved- but certainly not in the same way. Let the reader understand we are talking about true, actual or Holy Spirit Baptism rather that rite, ritual or "water" baptism. We will talk more on this in a moment, but here I am convinced that an entire book can be written on the subject of comparing the different views of baptism that are held by evangelical Christianity with those beliefs earnestly held by those in the Churches of Christ.

First, may I say that it has been my experience that the Churches of Christ believe in what I will call "water baptismal remission of sin" -as though it is only through the ordinance of water baptism that believers can receive the forgiveness of sin.

Remember as a rule, those in the traditional Churches of Christ believe there are a minimum set of biblical command requirements that each of us must obey in order to be saved, hence the term "The 5 Step Plan of Salvation" . And the salvation of the believer who has done everything as it is required in the New Testament, except have their sins literally "washed away" through the ordinance of water baptism, is uncertain at best.

However, water baptism in evangelical Christianity is understood in the same light as communion in that it is an ordinance practiced by those who are already saved. Therefore what evangelical Christianity means when it says that we are saved through baptism is the believer's real or actual baptism of the Holy Spirit that comes upon us at conversion.

Perhaps then the best way to explain baptism is that water baptism is the external symbol of the believer's real or actual Holy Spirit baptism.

Jay Adams makes this point in his book The Meaning and Mode of Baptism. For as he points out, no one can question the fact that the scriptures mention two very different kinds of baptisms, and yet Ephesians 4:4-5 tells us there is "one Lord, one faith, (and) one baptism."

For example:

"I ( John the Baptist ) baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come One who is more powerful that I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." Matthew 3:11


“I (John) indeed baptize you with water, but He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Mk 1:8


“John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier that I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Luke 3:17


“I (John) would not have known Him, except that the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The Man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’” John 1:33


"On one occasion, while He (Jesus) was eating with them, He gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak of. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." Acts1:4-5


"Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were setting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." Acts 2:2-4


"As I (Peter) began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning (i.e. Acts chapter 2). Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'" Acts 11:15-16


It is from this vantage point that difficult passages of scripture, which are often used by the Churches of Christ to defend their doctrine of "water baptismal remission of sins," begins to make sense to us. For if we consider examples like1 Peter 3:21, a verse often sighted by the Churches of Christ "and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you" -we begin to understand that the apostle is referring to real or actual Holy Spirit baptism:


"He (Jesus) was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.

In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also- not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ..."


Scripture describes the Holy Spirit as "the living water.”

For example in John 4 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” In John 7 Jesus says, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive.”

Thus, it seems apparent "this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you" is talking about the anti-type (i.e. superior) "water" baptism, that is, real or actual Holy Spirit ' baptism that now saves you.'

May I also point out that if the apostle were only referring to natural water here, then the wrong people in this passage were "water" baptized. For just as the example of Pharaoh and his army in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, the only ones who had natural h2o water applied to them were those who perished in the flood!

So while it is true that water baptism symbolically points us to the spiritual reality of the believer's Holy Spirit's baptism, we dare not be trusting in it ( the symbol ) to save us. As Jay Adams writes in his book, "The ritual must symbolize the real, or it is no symbol at all, and thus has no point." For just as there are those within the church who administer the rite of water baptism to new converts (Matt. 28:18-19), it is the Holy Spirit who actually baptizes the believer into the body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:13 says, "For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink."

Other related scriptures:

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." Galatians 3:26-27

"And you were also included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit ..." Ephesians 1:13-14

"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit ..." Titus 3:4-5