Is Salvation Given in a Metaphorical Baptism?
(This a letter I sent to a brother years ago).
Dear Keith,
I appreciate you meeting and
discussing these vital topics of eternal value.
I truly believe that you are doing the right thing in discussing and
testing the validity of concepts held by others as well as self. I appreciate anyone who can and will take the
time to discuss spiritual things in an effort to tear down walls of
misunderstanding and establish the truth more firmly in one's mind and
heart. Sometimes the process can be
long, but we are commanded to be "longsuffering as we teach the
word".
I'm afraid that the vast majority of religious people today are not
inclined to see how their own views could stand under cross-examination. Those who are truly interested in the truth
of God's word are not afraid to change their mind for the sake of pleasing God. With this attitude any two people who
disagree on the Bible, can begin little by little to chip away at the walls
that divide them. It seems that real Biblical "love" urges this upon
us. So, in response to your thanking me, the pleasure is mine and the feeling
is mutual.
You bring up Luke 12:50
again, and I must say something that I did not get to say the other night. Yes, I agree that baptism can sometimes be
used to refer to some kind of metaphorical submersion, immersion, or overwhelming. I certainly agree that the context is
the determining factor as to how any given word is used. I don't think I said that baptism is always a
word that talks about immersion in water.
It means immersion, which normally implied water, but that
does not mean that it might not at times be employed in another way.
In this case, it is the context
which shows that Jesus was speaking metaphorically. In any other context, we
would think Jesus meant that he needed to be baptized (and we would
automatically think of immersion in water because that is its normal
significance). Even you would have
thought that in another context. What
about this context makes us think of some other submersion? Notice the statement that joins itself to the
50th verse. "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were
already kindled!" It is obvious
that He is not talking about literal fire, but metaphorically speaking of the
fire of religious passion and zeal. But
such fire would not be kindled until after Jesus was flooded(baptized) with
suffering. His suffering in the garden,
His crucifixion, and His resurrection, kindled the fire in the disciples'
hearts and they said "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked
with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"(Luke
24:32). The fire was kindled after Jesus
was bathed or flooded with suffering. "So the serpent spewed water out of
his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away
by the flood"(Rev.12:15).
Metaphorically then, Jesus was baptized by Satan in his attempt to wash
away the worlds' only hope, seeking to destroy Jesus in the suffering and death
of the cross. But, Jesus then crushed
the serpents' head when He was raised from the dead. The disciples would also experience an
immersion in sufferings for the cause of Christ, but the "gates of Hades
would not prevail" against the church.
This is clearly a metaphorical use of baptism, but not the normal
use. The question you have to answer
Keith is which of the following passages take on a metaphorical meaning rather
than its normal meaning?
Matt.28:19? Mk.16:16? Jno.3:22,23?
Acts 2:38? Acts 2:41? Acts
8:12,13? Acts 8:36-38? Acts 9:18? Acts 10:47-48? Acts 16:33?
Acts 18:8? Acts 19:5? Acts 22:16?
Rom.6:3,4? 1 Cor.1:13-17? I
Cor.12:13? Gal.3:27? Col.2:12?
I Pet.3:21?
You will have to take each passage and demonstrate when and why the
context changes the normal use into a metaphor.
This is the area that you and I need to have/take time to discuss more
thoroughly.
The baptism of the Great
Commission (Matt.28:19; Mk.16:16) was performed by the disciples "in the
name of Jesus Christ"(Acts 2:38;10:47-48; 8:12,13), in
"water"(Acts 10:47-48; 8:36-38), "for the remission of
sins"(Acts 2:38; 22:16). You cannot demonstrate a single person in the New
Testament (after the Great Commission began to be carried out) that thought
they were saved before and without baptism in the name of Jesus Christ.
We can dream up situations all
we want, but when it comes back to looking at what the Bible says, salvation
and the joy attendant to that experience always followed
baptism. That does not necessarily fit
what I would like to believe, but I cannot get over the fact that God did not
ask me what I wanted to believe about His terms of entrance into the body of
Christ. It seems clear that baptism was
certainly involved in the salvation process (Mk.16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; I
Pet.3:21), and it takes some fantastic ingenuity of logic to remove it from
that process. I hope I can see it if it is true.
The other area of discussion
is the area of "faith versus works". It is not a discussion of faith
versus activity, but a discussion of faith(what is involved in following
Christ) versus Works(what one would have to do to be justified before God
should that person not believe in Jesus).
There are works that demonstrate the reality and life of faith
(Jas.2:19-24). Without this activity, the faith is no good, it is dead. The works of which Paul says a man might
boast, is the imagined works that some of the Jews apparently felt they could
have by meeting the full demands of the law(Acts 13:38,39;Rom.2:17-23;
3:19-24).
The faith was always an active
faith, "obedience to the faith"(Rom.1:5; 6:17,18; 16:26), a
"walking in the steps of Abraham faith"(Rom.4:12). Abraham was not justified before he demonstrated
faith. Neither are we. The point and act
of demonstration may be different, but the faith is the same. There is no doubt that had God told Abraham
to believe in Jesus and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of
sins, that Abraham would have done that without question. Had Abraham questioned God or said that he
didn't see any sense in His commands, then Abraham would not have been justified
by faith. He would be demonstrating a
LACK of faith. This issue of salvation
by "faith only" is thoroughly denounced by James and never advocated
by Paul or any other inspired man. It
was imagined by Luther, Calvin, and others, but not taught by the
scriptures. We will need to spend more
time on this subject as well.
I am looking forward to our
next period of discussion. I too enjoy it so much when we get together. I thought I would ask if you would like to
correspond on these matters in the mean time?
Again, thank you for your
love and concern for me and your willingness to bear with the challenge that
such studies naturally bring. It can
only do good as long as our spirits are tempered with the desire to help each
other make it to the wonderful Promised Land.
Sincerely,
Terry W. Benton
