Posted by Ray Kidder on 9/12/2009, 8:16 pm, in reply to "Re: Galatians 6:1-5"
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Searcher,
You wrote that "In 1Corinthians 10 and 11, Paul is writing to JEWISH believers whose fathers crossed the Red Sea. (1Cor 10:1)."
This is from I Corinthians 12 (NKJV):
1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:
2 You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led.
Wasn't this epistle written largely to gentile Christians as well as Jewish Christians, as evidenced by verse 2?
You also wrote that "Many of the ancient heathen religions also used water baptism as a ritual. Men of the early church concluded that it was also for them and that is how the tradition began, but the Word speaks of a baptism connected with the church which is the body of Christ today as ONE BAPTISM. (Eph 4:5). It is part of the unity of the Spirit which is already made without hands and is given for the church to keep. This baptism has nothing to do with any sacrament or ordinance or religious ritual. The one baptism is a washing with the Word that is done by an operation of God. It has nothing to do with a pastor or a priest or a doctrine of men. It is an identification of the believer with the burial and death of Christ."
I agree that baptism has to do with the identification with the burial and death of Christ, but I believe it also has to do with the resurrection from the dead. It may be true that non-Christians used various forms of baptism as a ritual, even before Christianity, but this does not imply that Christians are not to practice this, or that it is invalid. Similarly, many non-Christians believe that there is only one God, and that people should pray to this one God. If the true baptism (that you believe in) has nothing to do with any sacrament or ordinance, what did John the Baptist do to Jesus and others, which Jesus endorsed? What was happening when baptism was practiced in the book of Acts, where water was required? What was Jesus talking about when He mentioned baptism here in Luke 12 (NKJV):
49 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!
50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!
You mentioned the term washing with the Word with respect to baptism. I suspect you were thinking of this passage from Ephesians 5 (NKJV):
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
How do you know this washing of water by the word has to do with your idea of the true baptism, if the word baptism is not mentioned in this chapter?
How do you know it (the washing of the water by the word) does not have to do with water baptism, with the application of water in conjuction with the words that are spoken at the baptism ritual commonly practied in churches?
Ray Kidder
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