A. INTRODUCTION: WHY WE DON’T UNDERSTAND
1. Because we are mentally limited. We don’t understand all things. “He that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth” (John 12:35, KJV).
2. Because we are spiritually blinded. “The god of this world hath blinded the (spiritual) minds” (2 Cor. 4:4).
3. Because we can’t know all of God’s truth. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts . . . for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8-9).
However, we can know all the truth we need to know to live for God.
4. Because the Bible doesn’t contain everything. “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29).
5. Because we haven’t grown to understand all natural things. “When I was a child, I spoke as a child . . . but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see though a glass dimly” (1 Cor. 13: 11-12).
6. Because we read our opinions into the Bible (isogesis), rather than reading and doing what God commands (exegesis).
B. VERSES ABOUT BAPTISM
1. “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned (damned, KJV)” (Mark 16:16).
POINT:
a. A person must believe and be baptized to be saved.
b. Baptism doesn’t save, but can’t be saved without immersion.
c. You will be lost if you do not believe and be baptized.
COUNTERPOINT:
a. Majority argument. Over 300 verses only say believe, and omit baptism.
b. Illustration of those not baptized (immediately or at all). Paul called Jesus Lord, Ananias called him brother. Paul baptized none (1 Cor. 1:14).
c. Baptism is left out of The Gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-4). “I declare unto you the gospel.”
d. The negative response in Mark 16:16 leaves out baptism.
e. It is tied to the Great Commission that says the gospel must be preached to all the world, and then after a person believes, they must be baptized as evidence as an outward sign to be accepted in the church and as a testimony to the world.
2. “Peter said to them, ‘Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins’” (Acts 2:38).
POINT:
a. You must be water baptized in the name of Jesus only. This is called oneness doctrine.
b. Only those baptized in Jesus’ (only) name are saved.
c. Most Jesus only churches add the manifestation of tongues (Acts 2:3; Acts 10:44-46, Acts 18:5-6).
COUNTERPOINT:
a. Jesus commanded us to use the Trinity when baptizing. “Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matt. 28:20). (Note the word name is singular).
b. Because the Jewish crime was rejecting Jesus and crucifying Him, they had to repent at the point of their sin, by being baptized in Jesus’ name.
c. Those who were baptized with one name or three names (interchangeably) are recognizing the Trinity, i.e., “Equal in nature, separate in person, submissive in duties.”
d. Those who baptize in the formula, “Jesus only,” reject the Trinity. (Most are modalists, i.e., one God appeared in three different modes).
e. Contrast. The baptism of Jesus is contrasted with “The baptism of John the Baptist” (Matt. 21:25). For three years everyone focused on the baptism of John, now the emphasis is on being baptized in the name of Jesus.
3. Paul testifying of his baptism. “And now why are you waiting? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16).
POINT:
When one obeys by faith, his sins are washed away in the act of baptism.
COUNTERPOINT:
a. Repentance. Paul had rejected the messianic claims of the Lord Jesus, so in his baptism Paul had to focus on his rejection of Jesus as evidence of his repenting, i.e., “calling on the name of the Lord.”
b. Symbolism. The believers are saved when they identified in spirit baptism with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, i.e., “We were buried with Him through baptism unto death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead . . . we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” (Rom. 6:4-5). Water doesn’t save; it is only a symbol of conversion.
c. Regeneration. Sins are washed away when we are born again, not by baptism. “He saved us through the washing of regeneration” (Titus 3:5).
4. “Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God’” (John 3:5).
POINT:
a. One must be baptized in water and be born again to go to heaven.
b. Water baptism is necessary to be saved.
COUNTERPOINT:
a. The word “water” has three interpretations. First, the Bible, i.e., “with the washing of the water by the Word of God” (Eph. 5:26). Second, natural birth. The first birth when the water sac is broken and the second birth is regeneration (see parallel argument). Third, John the Baptist’s baptism came first then regeneration introduced by Jesus.
b. Parallel argument from Jewish poetry (repetition, not rhyme)
First Birth Second Birth
v. 4 mother’s womb Born when old
v. 5 water Spirit
v. 6 flesh Spirit
C. WHAT MUST WE BELIEVE
1. Vast majority of verse commands us to believe.
2. No works. “For by grace are you saved through faith, it is the gift of God, not of works” (Eph. 2:8-9).
3. Symbol. Bible believers have been saved by faith, and then they want to show the world by symbol, i.e., baptism.
NOTE: Email any problem verse you want Dr. Towns to discuss with just one sentence explaining why it is “hard” to understand.
If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:
Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God and rejoice with you.
All PBC lessons are available online at trbc.org/pbc. Go to www.Hopenow.tv for the current program schedule.
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Dr. Towns' email is ELTowns@liberty.edu
Dr. Towns’ web address is www.elmertowns.com
