Here’s the next installment.
Previous posts in the series:
8. The symbolism of infant baptism is most consistent with the sovereignty of God in salvation
It is, I know, a matter of personal opinion and bald assertion rather than scriptural evidence, but when I came to understand the sovereignty of God in my salvation, my own utter inability to come to him, and my complete dependence on the quickening agency of his Spirit for cleansing and new birth, the oft repeated baptistic objection that as a baby I did not understand what was happening to me melted away, to be replaced with wonder at the wisdom and mercy of God, who saw fit, in his vast covenant love, to have the sign of saving grace placed upon me while I was as yet ignorant and unable to do anything but cry out for a mother’s milk. For that was exactly my state when he saved me: unable, helpless, dependant, crying out like a baby for the mercy of another. That picture moved me, and moves me still, to adoration and praise.
9. The meaning of the baptizo word-group cannot be narrowed to mean ‘dip or immerse’ only.
The battle has raged, and continues to rage among Greek scholars over this. Suffice it to say that the evidence is sufficiently clear that baptizo and synonyms cannot be pressed to mean “dipping” exclusively.
10. The spiritual reality (the work of the Spirit in new birth, cleansing, and filling) is always poured out or sprinkled. We are not dipped into the Spirit.
There are no instances of the spiritual reality signified in baptism being spoken of as an immersion. There are the ‘baptism in, with, or by the Spirit’ passages (Matt 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Cor. 12:13), but they rely on a disputed interpretation of baptizo. When we turn to those texts that actually tell us about how Spirit-baptism took place in the New Testament (Acts 1:8; 2:4; 2:17,18; 2:33; 9:17; 10:44,45; 19:6;) we find that the Spirit is poured out upon, or falls on, or fills, or is received by believers. People are not plunged into Him. He comes upon them. They are never immersed in Him. Where does this leave the view of baptizo as ‘to dip’ one wonders?
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July 20, 2009 at 14:13
A Strained view of Baptism « Hand to the Plow.
[...] he then fleshes those reasons out in the following installments, found here, here, here, here and here. Posted by Alexander Brown Filed in Uncategorized Leave a Comment [...]