Who would do that?

This past week, a gentleman called me to ask me what I thought about a scenario. A man came forward in church and wanted to get baptized for the remission of his sins. The preacher knew this man was living with a woman. The man came forward, and the preacher said baptized him without a word about his situation at home. The man continued living with the woman. The caller finally asked me, “Chuck, would you have baptized this man?”

Let’s take a closer look at this as scenario clearly demonstrates a couple of common problems in the Lord’s church. One, the man who wanted to become a Christian did not know everything he needed to know. Two, the preacher failed to tell the man what he needed to know. When people preach baptism rather than being converted to Christ, some baptisms will result in people who merely got wet. What good is a baptism without a conversion? Nothing!

Too often, baptism is perceived as a “get out of jail free” card. Some people treat it as though the act of getting wet means a person’s actions no longer matter. Let me be clear - that could not be farther from the truth. Peter stated that those who want to be saved must repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38). Look closely at that text. The word “and” makes repentance and baptism equally important.

Paul pointed out that godly sorrow leads to repentance (II Cor. 7:9-10). To repent is to turn away from sin, not go right back into it. Did this man know that fornication is still fornication whether you are baptized or not? The point of being baptized into Christ is to put off the old man of sin (Rom. 6:4-7). Only those who have godly sorrow for transgression will turn away from it. Those who do not turn away from sin have not repented. In the example scenario, this means that the man went down a dry sinner and came up a wet sinner.

Could this person have been baptized properly if he was sorry for all his sins (including fornication) and had no plans to return to that lifestyle?  Of course! People also sometimes get the wrong idea that when you become a Christian, the sins you were committing before baptism are no longer considered sin after conversion (meaning you can continue those same activities without penalty). Again, this reasoning is flawed. This is why there are many “Christian” couples in a unlawful marriages (Matt. 5:32; 19:9). They think that by being baptized, the marriage is now acceptable to God. His word is clear – if it was unlawful prior to being baptized, it is unlawful afterwards!

When someone wants to become a Christian, the teacher must make sure that they count the cost. They need to be informed of what will take place during the baptism and what God expects afterward. Without that understanding, a person was not baptized scripturally (Acts 19:1-5). Remember, the blood of Christ only washes away sins that are repented of (Rev. 1:5; Acts 22:16; Gal. 3:27).

Allow me to explain one more detail. When someone becomes a Christian, they have not learned everything. People often become a Christian without knowing that certain things are sinful. This should be expected! As the new Christian learns and grows, he may realize that a certain activity is sinful. Does he have to get baptized again? No – he simply needs to repent of that sin. This is exactly what Simon was told when he sinned shortly after his baptism (Acts 8:18-24).

Sin is always sin, and ignorance is not an excuse (Acts 17:30). Sin is washed away by a proper baptism, but activities that were sinful before baptism remain sinful after baptism. This is why baptism alone is not enough – we must grow in knowledge, recognize these things and repent of them. May we all recognize this.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Chuck