The question I pose is, “Does one have to have the knowledge that baptism is for the remission of sins, for such to occur?”<\/p>\n
I understand that if one is taught by one who knows the truth, this would not even be a question. However, I can not logically see the command that one must have this “knowledge” of baptism for such to occur. Please give me your comments.<\/p>\n\t
Let me start by posing other questions.\u00a0 How do we know that baptism saves?\u00a0 Is it the act of getting wet that saves or the fact that it is symbolic of something else?\u00a0 If just getting wet was all that was required, then all men would be saved the first time that they went swimming.\u00a0 I Peter 3:21, “and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also\u2014not 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<\/em>.”\u00a0 Peter actually explains it pretty clearly.\u00a0 Baptism does not save you because you got wet or even because you became physically clean,\u00a0 but it saves because of its connection to the resurrection of Jesus.\u00a0 Jesus is the one that said to be baptized (Mark 16:16, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.<\/em>“).\u00a0 If Jesus and the apostles had not said over and over that baptism is how to connect to Jesus, we would not have known that there was a connection.\u00a0 There is nothing about dipping in water that would make us proclaim that it is the “obvious” way to symbolize a resurrection.\u00a0 It only becomes “obvious” when we read the Scriptures.<\/p>\n Now, there are many synonyms for the idea of being saved.\u00a0 Peter said baptism was for the forgiveness of sins in Acts 2:38 “Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.<\/em>”\u00a0 Peter is not contradicting Jesus, he is just saying the same thing in a different way.\u00a0 To have one’s sins forgiven is the same thing that Jesus said when he used the word “saved.”\u00a0 While I don’t think it is necessary that a person understands all the different synonyms for salvation, I do think it is important that they understand at least one.<\/p>\n Some other equivalent statements about baptism: Romans 6:3 “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?<\/em>”\u00a0 Romans 6:5 “If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.<\/em>”\u00a0\u00a0 Again we are back to the meaning of baptism.\u00a0 It includes being saved, the forgiveness of sins, connecting to his death and connecting to his resurrection.<\/p>\n The reason for the baptism at the time of the baptism is also very important.\u00a0 In Acts 19:1-5, “While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”\u00a0 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied.\u00a0 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.<\/em>”\u00a0 Here we learn that belief and baptism need to be at the same time.\u00a0 These disciples of John had been baptized, but they had not been baptized while believing in Jesus. Therefore they were baptized again. It is also interesting to note that both baptisms were commanded by God.\u00a0 The reason for the second baptism was not because the first one was illegal, it just did not count.<\/p>\n Let’s assume for a minute that the person in question is following the common (and false) doctrine that baptism does not mark salvation, but is required to show “an outward sign of an inward grace”.\u00a0 The way this works is that the person believes in Jesus and at the point that he believes, he is saved.\u00a0 Sometime later the person is baptized, but it is not in order to be saved, it is just because Jesus said to do it.\u00a0 This person does not believe they are being baptized to have any sins forgiven because that occurred when he first believed.\u00a0 He is not being baptized in order to connect to the resurrection because he believes that he is already going to be raised even if the resurrection day occurs before his baptism.\u00a0 He is not being baptized to connect to the death of Christ because Jesus already died for his sins and has already hung his sins on the cross.\u00a0 So what is left?\u00a0 The only reason left to be baptized is to show everyone else something.\u00a0 Showing everyone else that you are obedient is not one of the reasons Paul, Peter or Jesus had said was a purpose of baptism.<\/p>\n When one fails to be baptized in order to have salvation, the forgiveness of sins, and connection to the death and resurrection of Jesus, it may have been an event at which the person got wet, but did it do anything?\u00a0 If Jesus was only interested in making sure everyone got wet after salvation,\u00a0 then wouldn’t the person who came to just believe in Jesus and then later went swimming also be saved?\u00a0 Baptism just means immersion in water.\u00a0 It is not the water that saves.\u00a0 It is not the ceremony that saves.\u00a0 It is Jesus that saves.\u00a0 How could a baptism that has no connection to salvation be later substituted as the baptism that brought them to salvation?<\/p>\n That person is not following what Jesus said in Mark 16:16.\u00a0 He is trying to get Jesus to have said, “whoever believes is saved and should be baptized, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”\u00a0 If Jesus had meant his statement to be taken that way, then the whole concept of baptism is not even germane to the sentence.\u00a0 It would have been equivalent to “whoever believes is saved, but whoever does not believe is condemned.\u00a0 By the way, be baptized.”\u00a0 If you take baptism out of Jesus’ statement on salvation, then it should not matter if one is baptized before or after belief in Jesus.\u00a0 However, Paul showed in Acts 19 that substituting the wrong baptism for the right one could not be done.\u00a0 The fact that Jesus put it in the sentence in the position that he did, says that he expected people to believe that he wanted them to be baptized in order to have their sins forgiven.\u00a0 When a person is baptized “after his salvation”, he is telling Jesus, “I don’t really believe what you said, I’m substituting my own will.”\u00a0 If they later come to a realization that baptism is required, they should also come to the realization that they have not been\u00a0 baptized in the way that Jesus said.<\/p>\n Darrell Hamilton<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: The question I pose is, “Does one have to have the knowledge that baptism is for the remission of sins, for such to occur?” I understand that if one is taught by one who knows the truth, this would not even be a question. However, I can not logically see the command that one…<\/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,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[52,1571],"class_list":["post-8987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism","tag-forgiveness"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10963,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-baptism-necessary-for-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":8987,"position":0},"title":"Is baptism necessary for salvation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello! I am from Brazil, and I am seeking salvation. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died for my sins on the cross and rose on the third day for my justification. I am sorry for all my sins. I would like to ask you:\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":55124,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/baptism-and-the-blood\/","url_meta":{"origin":8987,"position":1},"title":"Baptism and the Blood","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by T. Doy Moyer The blood of Jesus saves us from our sins: the blood was \"shed for many for the remission of sins\" (Matthew 26:28). What does baptism have to do with the blood? Peter preached, \"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus\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":33753,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-water-do-when-getting-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":8987,"position":2},"title":"What does water do when getting baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was asked a question, which is, \"What does water do when getting baptized?\" How can I answer this scripturally? Thank you. Answer: It gets you wet. \"Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you -- not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for\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":79303,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-baptism-a-symbol\/","url_meta":{"origin":8987,"position":3},"title":"Is Baptism a Symbol?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"Jesus's blood saves us. It has nothing to do with baptism. Water baptism is symbolic of what happens to us when our sins are washed away by His blood.\" Answer: Why do we need a symbol? If the real thing happened, it happened. How does baptism\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":29030,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-did-baptism-for-the-remission-of-sins-start\/","url_meta":{"origin":8987,"position":4},"title":"When did baptism for the remission of sins start?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In the \"Articles\" section, under Baptism, \"Answering Arguments Against Baptism\".\u00a0 You state that \"Baptism for the remission of sins did not begin until the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:37-38), so the thief (and Jesus) lived under the law of Moses.\" Please read Mark 1:4: \"John came baptizing in the\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":64379,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-baptism-give-continual-cleansing\/","url_meta":{"origin":8987,"position":5},"title":"Does baptism give continual cleansing?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I hope you are well. I have a question for you. I was baptized several years ago and when I was baptized I felt like my heart was not into it completely. I went into the baptism knowing that there were sins that I was not going to\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":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8987","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=8987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8987\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}