He and the first members in Providence had been members of a Puritan church Salem, Massachusetts. Early in their lives, probably as babies, they had been sprinkled with water – something which their Protestant pastors incorrectly called “baptism.” Roger Williams was a Paedobaptist – he had been sprinkled as a baby. After these people were expelled from the church in Salem, and after they had settled in what was to become Rhode Island, they attempted to start a Baptist church. One of the group, a Mr. Ezekiel Holliman, immersed Williams, and then Roger immersed Holliman and eleven others. None of them had been immersed before; none of them had ever been members of a Baptist church. None of them were missionaries; none of them were ordained to the ministry. By whose authority did Holliman baptize Williams, and upon what authority did Williams baptize Holliman? There was no scriptural authority whatsoever. What was done that day, may, or may not, have been motivated by a desire to do something for God, but it was not according to the pattern of God’s Word, or according to what Baptists had been doing ever since the days of John and the Lord Jesus.
I mention this today, not only because it involves baptism and the authority to baptize, but because there could have been a similar religious service in the shallow waters of the Jordan River centuries earlier. When the Lord Jesus walked down from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized, the Holy Spirit indicated to John the Baptist that this was the Messiah. With that in mind, John realized that he was standing in the presence of royal deity. As Christ asked him to take him into the river and to immerse Him, John began to argue. “I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? I don’t know that we have the complete reply of the Lord Jesus, but we have the gist of it. “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” John then baptized our Saviour.
By the way, John did not lead Christ into the river and then pour water onto his head, as is so foolishly depicted in Roman Catholic art. The word “baptize” means “dip,” “plunge,” “submerge,” “immerse,” and sometimes even to “drown.” John dipped Christ Jesus, probably backwards, into the water of the river, in much the same way that a dead body might be laid in a grave or tomb. He did not sprinkle or pour water over Christ’s head – rather He “baptized” Him.
Last Wednesday we examined the question, “Why did John baptize Jesus?” This morning I’d like us to think about the reverse, “Why DIDN’T the Lord Jesus Baptize John?” Part of this message is theological and academic, but part of it is very practical and quite important.
Why was it that John baptizing those people who came to him from Judah and Galilee? One reason involved identification. “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” The people whom John was immersing were identifying with John’s message and with the coming Messiah. They were repenting before God; they were acknowledging their sin and their need of a Saviour. Remember that if John couldn’t see genuine repentance, then he refused to baptize them. And as we see in the first disciples of Christ, all of whom came from the ministry of John, they were ready to put their faith in Lord Jesus, once John point Him out and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
As we have said several times over the last few weeks, baptism is a symbolical act, whereby we illustrate our death, and the burial of our old sinfulness, in order to live anew in the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour. Baptism – true baptism – has always been a symbolical act. We have an advantage over those whom John was baptizing. For us who have the privilege of hindsight – baptism is a symbol or picture of the death, burial and resurrection of our Saviour. And it depicts our union by faith with Christ. Therefore, it also illustrates our salvation, our death and new life. As Paul said in Romans 6 – “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
John had never been baptized. He had never been identified with Christ in this fashion. By now he was not a newly repenting sinner. Yes, he had humbled himself before the Lord, but that was probably years earlier. His life-style and ministry, clearly demonstrated that he had forsaken the things of the world, and that his desires were only for the glory of God. He was a citizen and servant of the Kingdom of God – there was no man on earth more ready for the coming of the Messiah. But he had never been baptized. Lord, “I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?”
I think that I can understand John’s desire to be baptized.
So John had not been baptized before the day that he met Christ, because there was no one else to do it. Whereas I have heard of some religious fools since John, who threw themselves into water, saying that they baptized themselves – the idea is ludicrous. John did not baptize himself, and there was no one available to do it to him. But now there was, so why didn’t the Lord Jesus then Baptist John?
My next point will certainly turn some people against me, but I believe that it is true nevertheless. Ever since Matthew 28 when the Lord Jesus gave His authority to the first church, baptism has been a church ordinance. Despite what a great many people might say today, I do not believe that just any Christian, baptized or not, has authority to immerse people in the name of the Lord. When the Lord said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost…” He was speaking to His little church. When Christ said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world…..” He was not speaking about being with the men who heard His voice at that moment. He was talking to the church which He had formed out of the people John had discipled and baptized. The Great Commission was given not to individuals, or to the Apostles, but to Christ’s church.
And what is a church? By definition a church is a “called out assembly” – an “ecclesia.” When I was in the public school from time to time we would have a school assembly. What that meant was that all of the classes were dismissed and every one gathered in the gym. An “assembly” is a group which congregates, gathers and convenes in one place. By simple definition there is no such thing as a universal church or a universal, invisible assembly. The only kind of church to be found in the Bible is local, visible, tangible, actual and practical. And the authority to baptize was first given to the group of disciples which assembled together under their pastor, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that authority was then passed to those churches which were started as missions from that first church.
For reasons which the Lord has not revealed to any of us, John, one of the Lord’s greatest servants, was not invited to be a member of the Lord’s church. Not only was there no reason to baptize John in order to prove or illustrate his identification with Christ, there was no reason to baptize him before accepting him into the Lord’s church. He was not to be a part of that church.
These are some of the doctrinal and theological aspects to this morning’s question. But now we come to the most important aspect of my message.
It is the doctrine of both Catholicism and Protestantism that baptism is a part of a person’s salvation from sin. I can’t show you any scriptures which even hint of that doctrine, because the idea is thoroughly unbiblical. Nor can I show you any scriptures designed to directly refute the idea, again, because the idea is so utterly foreign to the Bible. Ah, but there are many scriptures which declare that salvation is entirely by the grace of God. There is verse after verse which show that the only washing necessary is in the blood of Christ. In fact sin’s only cleansing agent is that blood – it is absolutely necessary. If Christ’s blood is diluted, so to speak, with any work of man, any ritual of religion, any heresy of Satan, then there will be no deliverance from sin.
So why wasn’t John baptized? If I had to guess, I would think that it had something to do with the testimony of his salvation. At some point after the Lord Jesus’ baptism, Christ could have baptized John. I think that it would have been as silly-looking as Holliman’s baptism of Roger Williams, and then the still dripping Williams immersion of Holliman. But in John’s case it would have been far more understandable. I can’t explain why John was not invited to join the membership of the Lord’s church. But for that man to be a part of the church, or not being a part, is really not an important issue. It is far more important for you and me today than it was for John in his day. But in either case, that church membership has nothing to do with salvation from sin.
I think that the primary reason that John was not baptized was to indicate to the world that baptism has nothing to do with the washing away of sin. Baptism might illustrate salvation, but it doesn’t facilitate salvation. It has absolutely nothing to do with redemption except as a picture. So all those Protestants who say that baptism is a part of salvation – they are implying that John the Baptist was deliberately left in his sins. What a terrible implication. It is almost as terrible as to say that you must be baptized in order to go to Heaven.
To be honest, I would like to see every person in this room immersed by the authority of the Calvary Baptist Church. I would like every one of our relatives to join us in the baptistry or off shore in one of the rivers or lakes around here. I would like the privilege of re-baptizing people who would like to serve the Saviour. But I will not baptize a single one of those people if they think that their baptism is in some way saving their souls or completing their deliverance from sin.
John had been delivered from the penalty of his sins – he had been saved by the grace of God. He was living in repentance before God, fully realizing that he was a sinful rebel who deserved Hades. His faith was in the Lord his Saviour, and he realized when he saw Him, that Jesus of Nazareth was the Lamb of God, slain in the will of God from before the foundation of the world, as a substitutionary sacrifice for John’s personal sins. There was nothing that baptism could do to augment the saving grace of God.
Despite the importance of baptism, far more importance is your repentance before God and your trust in the finished work of the Lamb of God. John is an illustration of that fact. Are you ready for the Kingdom of Heaven? Have you repented before God, and are your faith and hope in Christ Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross?