Could You Defend Your Belief In Believer's Baptism? Part 3

Knowing what you believe and why you believe is important.  Perhaps many of us embrace doctrines of the Christian faith and would struggle to defend them.  This is probably true of baptism.  I asked a church leader, saved, baptized, and in church ministry for many years to explain why he believed in Believer's Baptism.  He couldn't.   The goal of this Blog series is to try to assist you in doing that.  

What is the Basic Credobaptist Argument?

  

A.   In the first Blog I wrote that the Credobaptist position is rooted securely in a consistent, precise hermeneutic, whereby the Old Testament is interpreted ultimately, consistently and eschatologically with the New Testament.  Many Reformers sought to do that.  Unfortunately where they interpreted things like the so-called "ceremonial or civil law" or the Old Testament sacrifices in light of the New Covenant, they failed to consistently apply this in other areas, such as the sign of the Covenant.

B & C.   In the second Blog I wrote that that the Credobaptist position is rooted securely in a New and better Covenant, the New Covenant.  This Covenant is different than the Old, not a continuation of the Old; and it is a Covenant that promises life not death.  I also wrote that based on our start point: the New Testament, the clearest, most concise, most unambiguous treatment of baptism under the New Covenant is found in 1 Peter 3:18-20 wherein the Apostle teaches that baptism is for believers only.  

D.    Moving from 1 Peter 3, the Credobaptist will affirm that this baptism that saves – this baptism that is done in faith on the grounds of Christ's work is based on the spiritual reality of Romans 6:3-4.  We believe that when the Holy Spirit made us part of Christ, by faith in Him, we also become partners with Christ's death, burial and resurrection. So in Believer's Baptism, the action of being immersed in the water symbolizes that event of dying and being buried with Christ. The action of coming out of the water pictures Christ’s resurrection.  An well thought through argument will also take you to Colossians 1:13 teaches us that change of status: from darkness to light, from death to life.

E.     A credobaptist will also affirm the word that the Holy Spirit uses regarding baptism: the Greek word βαπτίζω [baptizō]. You will likely hear them point to a recognized expert such as Gerhard Kittel who was a professor of New Testament and is accepted by scholars as one of the best New Testament scholars of original language. When Kittel unpacks the word for baptism he says this:

a.        βάπτω, “to dip in or under”;

b.        βάμμα, “dyed material”;

c.        βαπτά, “dyed or coloured clothes”;

d.        βαπτίζειν τὸ σκάφος, “to sink the ship” & “to suffer shipwreck,” “to drown,” “to perish”

This information enables us to not only see that the "children" or "offspring" of Abraham are understood to those who have faith in Christ; but that their faith in Christ's death and resurrection is professed within the context of believer's baptism, the act itself portraying the spiritual reality that one who has faith in Christ is brought from death to life.

F.     A Credobaptist will rightly note that while there are no recorded infant baptisms in Scripture, BUT the New Testament is replete with the commands, the examples and the inferences of Believer's Baptism as a profession of faith in Christ.  The weight of Scripture ALONE, supports the notion of Believer's Baptism.  The New Testament command to be baptized is to be conducted by the Church.  Based on Matthew 28:18–20, it is a command that is in force “to the end of the age”. 

I'll wrap things up in the 4th and final edition to this topic, next time ...