Hi, My Name Is Ralph Bass...This Is My Library
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Conclusion
II. Purifying and cleansing the sinner, from sin, by the blood of Christ, and sanctifying and filling the child of God with the Holy Spirit.
III. Bringing into the Church of Jesus Christ believers and their children, with infant baptism being that rite of initiation that signifies membership in the New Covenant.
Dipping theology denies all three.
I. Dippers fail to understand the importance of the mersing, merging, uniting, or identifying work of the Holy Spirit in baptism as depicted in Romans 6 and Colossians 2 passages. Instead, they incorrectly view the baptism of the Holy Spirit as water baptism, which they say is simply a symbol and picture of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. It is not; it is much more.
II. The purifying work of the Holy Spirit is entirely missed by dippers. “That such an immersion naturally involves a certain washing or purification, is something purely coincidental. Baptism would be baptism even if one were immersed in something that has no cleansing properties.”[1] If dippers were to admit the purifying role of baptism, they would open the door to the question, “Then how were believers purified in the Old Testament?” This they do not want to discuss. The answer doesn’t “fit” their preconceived idea of what baptism is about.
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In infant baptism the conclusion of the matter is before us in startling clarity: (1) The Old Testament teaches baptism by affusion, which is, sprinkling or pouring. The baptism of John, and Christ’s own baptism, make it certain that the New Testament teaches baptism by affusion, as well; (2) The candidates for baptism are as they always have been; believers and their children; (3) The dipper’s arguments of word meanings, prepositions, church history, and the Romans 6 and Colossians 2 passages utterly fail to support their position.
True Biblical infant baptism is by affusion, not by dipping. It is for believers and their children. Its meaning or purpose is to depict the work of the Holy Spirit in the following ways:
I. Mersing, merging, uniting, or identifying us with the work of Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.
True Biblical infant baptism is by affusion, not by dipping. It is for believers and their children. Its meaning or purpose is to depict the work of the Holy Spirit in the following ways:
I. Mersing, merging, uniting, or identifying us with the work of Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.
III. For dippers, baptism does not exist in a necessary association with church membership. Converts can be baptized without joining the church, while children of believers, who have always been a part of the community of faith, are excluded entirely.
However, a baptism that fails to embrace these three things, through its mode, candidates, and purpose, fails to properly manifest the fullness and richness of the ceremony as depicted in the totality of Scripture. In doing so, it is thereby something less than the fullness of true Christian baptism.
“But I have been baptized by dipping!”
“My baptism clearly missed the fullness of what Christian baptism is all about. Am I permanently disadvantaged by this? Is there anything I can do to regain this richness, this fullness of meaning in Christian baptism?”
For those who have been baptized by dipping, as was this author, there is much that you can do to embrace the Scriptural meaning of infant baptism. Bear in mind, infants are also without a true understanding of their baptism when they are involved in this rite. Your position is not dissimilar. Like infants who have grown up in the church and have come to faith in Christ, you too must learn what your baptism depicts.
Remember, “the sign and seal of baptism can be no pledge or guarantee to us of that which baptism signifies except as we are mindful of God’s covenant, embrace its promises, discharge its obligations, and lay hold in faith upon the covenant faithfulness of God."[2] Therefore, having learned what the Bible has to say about infant baptism, it is your responsibility to be mindful of God’s covenant, embrace its promises, discharge its obligations, and lay hold in faith upon the covenant faithfulness of God. In doing so, all the richness and meaning of Christian baptism becomes yours in these ways:
I. Mersing, merging, uniting, or identifying you with the work of Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection
II. Purifying and cleansing you from sin by the blood of Christ, and sanctifying and filling you with the Holy Spirit
III. Bringing into the Church of Jesus Christ you and your children--baptism being that rite of initiation that signifies membership in the New Covenant.
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[1] Berkhof, L., pg. 628.
[2] Murray, John, pg. 88.
