Knowledge and Baptism

Matthew 28:18-20

Richard Hollerman

We know that many are confused about baptism. We refer to the subjects of baptism (adult or infants), the meaning or purpose of baptism (either because one is already saved or in order to be saved), and the action of baptism (whether immersion, sprinkling, pouring, or all three). Of course, there are many other aspects of this act but at least these several come to mind. Since people are so confused about all of this and assume that it is not really important, they conclude that it really doesn’t matter which view one were to take on any of these positions. But is this correct?

First, let’s remember that the Lord Jesus did give baptism as an integral part of the so-called “Great Commission.” Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). This makes the command to baptize to be very, very important. It rests on Christ’s own authority. Further, it is our Lord’s parting command to His followers. Yes, this shows how vital baptism is!

After His opening statement, Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). How were “all the nations” to be made “disciples”? Through baptism! Again, this shows that we must not scoff at baptism or minimize it. It is essential to one’s becoming a disciple or a follower of Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus goes on to say, “. . . teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Not only is a disciple to be made through baptism but also through the teachings of Christ. People must come to see that the person coming to Christ is to be taught to obey all the Jesus commanded His apostles. Notice also that this baptizing and teaching activity will remain “to the end of the age”—until Christ returns at the end of the age, the end of time!

Would you now say that baptism is extremely important? Yes, it is, and it must be obeyed just as Jesus commanded. We must never be guilty of dismissing it, minimizing it, or overlooking it.

But this fact brings up a very troubling matter. If this is so very important to the Lord Jesus, what about those professing Christians who do not obey His words? Do they not see that this is a vital teaching? Do they have a different view of all of this than does Scripture? Doesn’t Christ’s other words mean anything? If a person obeys these other commands of the Lord, perhaps we can overlook the portion that we have been examining? Could this be true?

Think of the different portions of this section of Matthew and let us ask several important questions about them. Notice these questions:

First, what if a person is a “Oneness” individual or a “Jesus Only” believer, thus he doesn’t baptize “in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” In fact, he doesn’t even believe in the personhood or personality of the Father, the Son, or the Spirit. What if such a person spends his whole life preaching the Oneness doctrine or spreads it across Africa. What if he lives a sacrificial life and even is martyred? Won’t God accept his misunderstanding and still accept him?

Second, what if a person (or whole denomination) doesn’t believe in making each one baptized a disciple? Or we might put it this way: What if a person doesn’t believe that a person must be a disciple before he can be baptized? As we know, at least half of professing Christians think that a baby can be baptized even though there is no way that the infant can be old enough to believe or repent (Acts 8:12). These preachers must not believe that a person who has been baptized or will be baptized must be baptized (since one baptized must be old enough to believe and repent). These “infant baptizers” are willing to “travel  around on sea and land to make one proselyte” (Matthew 23:15) but this activity surely must be in vain since a person can only be truly Biblically baptized if he is old enough to believe (Acts 16:31) and repent (Acts 2:38) and become a disciple (Matthew 28:18-20).

Third, let’s remember that Christ’s command includes the statement that we should “baptize” people from all nations to make them true disciples (Matthew 28:19). What if a person has little or no idea that he is to be a real disciple or follower of Christ Jesus? And what if a person totally misunderstands even the meaning of baptism? Those of you who have studied into this matter know that baptism is from the Greek baptisma and consists of “the process of immersion, submersion and emergence” from the water (see W. E. Vine, Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words). What if a person merely sprinkles water on the subject or merely pours water on the head of the subject—instead of actually baptizing (immersing or dipping) the person? Does God accept this faulty view and treat the person as having been baptized even when the person has not been baptized (immersed)?

Fourth, another question that we might want to ask is this: What if a person either doesn’t want to “observe all” that Jesus commanded or doesn’t know enough to obey all that Jesus commanded? What if the person has little interest in obeying all of the Lord’s teachings? Or what if a person thinks that he is obeying all of Christ’s will but actually is not? Does Jesus accept this non-obedience or partial obedience instead of actually requiring the person to obey? (As a case in point, suppose that a person who wants to become a disciple and be baptized denies the necessity of breaking bread or drinking from the cup in memory of Jesus—1 Corinthians 11; Matthew 26:26-28.)

All of these points come to us as we read the last three verses of the Gospel of Matthew, in the so-called Great Commission. Obviously, we could ask more questions and we could go to other passages as well, but we have only concentrated on this one passage of Scripture. Have you ever asked yourself questions like this? Does it even concern you?

What if a person has no idea that Christ’s parting words pertain to people old enough to repent and believe the gospel? And what if the person only reads the book of Acts and never reads Matthew, thus he doesn’t know about our Lord’s command to baptize into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit? What if a person is not a Greek scholar and has no idea that baptism actually is an immersion in water—thus he only thinks that any water act is fine for “baptism”? What if a person doesn’t know that an individual must become a disciple through this act of baptism and thinks that one may become a disciple over the years or perhaps doesn’t even know what discipleship is all about? You can see that only in looking at these three verses, there are many different views and there are many who have no idea what these views might be.

We don’t propose to answer all of these questions or deal with all of these issues here. Could it be that God will accept this person, regardless of how important Jesus Christ says that it is? Have you ever thought of this? What if God will just say something like, “I’m sorry, Joe or Mary, that you didn’t understand this important teaching. But since you didn’t understand it and were not interested in learning about it, I’ll just overlook all of this. People have been mistaken on many things and, regardless of how vital this seems to be, I’ll just dismiss all of this and accept you!”

Could this actually happen? Or will it not happen this way and the Lord will hold people accountable for this act that they have omitted, denied, rejected, or misunderstood? What do you think? Regardless of what you or I think, let’s agree that this is utterly important and we are accountable for what we know. Let’s believe and love the Lord Jesus and determine to please Him! There are many different articles on this website (www.Truediscipleship.com) that will further elucidate this subject. We encourage you to check these out as soon as you can.

May God bless you abundantly as we all seek to know God’s will by searching His divine, inspired, and inerrant Word!