John Wesley is most noted as the Methodists and several denominations, including the Church of the Nazarene, derive their beliefs from his writings. While no mere man’s writings establish the truth, it is interesting that his view of baptism was quite different from the denominations we find today.<\/p>\n
“By baptism, we enter into a covenant with God, an everlasting covenant, are admitted into the church, made members of Christ, made children of God. By water as the means, the water of baptism, we are regenerated or born again.” [John Wesley,\u00a0A Preservative Against Unsettled Notions in Religion<\/em>, p. 146-150, as quoted in\u00a0Millennial Harbinger<\/em>, Volume 1 by William Kimbrough Pendleton and\u00a0Theological Writings on Various Subjects<\/em>\u00a0by Peter Nead].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Now Wesley did advocate infant baptism by making the false conclusion that if Jews entered the covenant at eight days, then Christians could also enter a covenant in infancy. Wesley missed that the Christian covenant is also based on a person’s faith (Mark 16:16) and repentance from sins (Acts 2:38). However, it remains an interesting statement because today many denominations declare that baptism is completely unnecessary. If it is practiced at all, it is said to be merely for a show — “an outward sign of an inward grace.”<\/p>\n
That baptism makes us a part of a covenant is seen in\u00a0Colossians 2:11-13, “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses.<\/em>” Circumcision was the signed given to the Israelites to show that they were under a covenant with God. For Christians, this physical sign was replaced by baptism to signify that we too are under a covenant with God.<\/p>\n
Baptism puts us into the kingdom of Christ as well. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise<\/em>” (Galatians 3:26-29). Being in Christ, we also become children of God. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him<\/em>” (I John 3:1).<\/p>\n
That through the waters of baptism is taught by Paul. “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit<\/em>” (Titus 3:4-5). Jesus had declared this earlier when he told Nicodemus, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God<\/em>” (John 3:5).<\/p>\n
It appears that John Wesley understood the importance and purpose of baptism better than many who wish to call themselves Christians; yet, who reject what Christ asked of them. How can they claim to love the Lord? “If you love Me, keep My commandments<\/em>” (John 14:15). What he has asked of us is not hard. “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome<\/em>” (I John 5:3). And what did our Lord command of his people? “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 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; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age<\/em>” (Matthew 28:18-20). Matthew followed that statement with a hearty “Amen!” (so be it!)<\/p>\n
Do you love the Lord? While you submit to his rule and his commands? Then why follow the teachings of men? Do as the Lord commanded and enter into a covenant with him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton John Wesley is most noted as the Methodists and several denominations, including the Church of the Nazarene, derive their beliefs from his writings. While no mere man’s writings establish the truth, it is interesting that his view of baptism was quite different from the denominations we find today. “By baptism, we…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-5782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-baptism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5785,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-are-your-references-on-john-wesleys-view-of-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":5782,"position":0},"title":"What are your references on John Wesley’s View of Baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Re:\u00a0John Wesley\u2019s View of Baptism Could you please send me the references or citations for the quotes from Wesley? Thank you for this page, it is very beneficial. Answer: The quote can be found in: John Wesley,\u00a0A Preservative Against Unsettled Notions in Religion, p. 146-150, as quoted in\u00a0Millennial Harbinger,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5200,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-holiness-movement\/","url_meta":{"origin":5782,"position":1},"title":"The Holiness Movement","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: I Thessalonians 5:16-28 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Pietism took off during the 1600's with Philipp Jakob Spener (1635-1705) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Eventually a denomination form that was referred to as the Moravian church \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0From here we skip ahead to the early 1700's II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0John Wesley (1703-1791) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He was raised in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52771,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-jesus-baptism-save-before-his-death\/","url_meta":{"origin":5782,"position":2},"title":"How could Jesus’ baptism save before his death?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a member of the Church of Christ. My son-in-law has decided to follow the Baptist teachings. I have done much study on baptism since his decision. I have studied many questions on your site. I am perplexed by your responses on one set of verses: John 4:1-2.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38990,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-is-the-church-of-christs-view-of-baptism-different-from-the-denominations\/","url_meta":{"origin":5782,"position":3},"title":"How is the church of Christ’s view of baptism different from the denominations?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I recently came across a YouTube comment about baptism that puzzled me a bit: \"It's also important to know the church of Christ view of baptismal salvation is different from every other view; that of the Lutherans, Anglicans, Catholics or Orthodox.\" Is this a correct assessment? If so,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34443,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/immersion-pouring-and-sprinkling-a-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":5782,"position":4},"title":"Immersion, Pouring, and Sprinkling: A History","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce Edwards, Jr. Truth Magazine XIX:27 (May 15, 1975), pp. 422-424 This writer can remember witnessing at the age of five the \"baptism\" of his infant cousin; the denominational \"pastor\" sprinkled drops of water upon his forehead. I wondered at the significance of that action then, but now, with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85724,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-need-to-be-baptized-again-after-falling-away-and-returning\/","url_meta":{"origin":5782,"position":5},"title":"Do you need to be baptized again after falling away and returning?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I trusted Christ as my Savior when I was a teenager, but I wasn't baptized. Then I read Mark 16 and was scared, so I got baptized at a Pentecostal Church. However, they taught that baptism didn't save, and I wasn't sure if it did when I was baptized.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5782\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}