Let Us Give Thanks

In 1863, President Lincoln set Thanksgiving as an Official Day for the Nation.  This speech was written by Secretary of State William Seward:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity… no human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

But he wasn’t the first president to call for a day of thanksgiving to God. Here is George Washington’s speech in 1789:

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanks-giving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness." Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war, for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness…for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us. And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions…to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord. To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Of course, there are many great verses thanking God in His Word. Here are a few:

• Psalm 95:2-3
Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.

1 Corinthians 1:4-5
I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way--in all your speaking and in all your knowledge--
• Ephesians 1:15-16
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.
• 1 Timothy 4:4-5
For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
• 1 Chronicles 16:34
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
• Psalm 7:17
I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
• Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.
• Psalm 100:4
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
• Isaiah 12:4
In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.
• Jeremiah 33:11
the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD, saying, "Give thanks to the LORD Almighty, for the LORD is good; his love endures forever." For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,' says the LORD.
• Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:18
give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

What Happens to Us Right After We Die? Scripture Has a Surprising Answer

Perhaps the most important question of all time, to a lot of people, is, What happens after we die?  Is there life after death?   This question has puzzled mankind since Adam, and there are many different theories suggested.  Here are a few below, mostly from groups Americans are familiar with: 

1)      

     Atheists:  Nothing happens after you die.  You don’t have a soul or spirit, so your body decays, and that’s all there is. 

2)      Buddhists and some other Eastern religions:  You are reincarnated into a different creature.   You simply go on living in a different form. 

3)      Jehovah’s Witnesses: You don’t have a soul or spirit, like the atheistic view.  However, you live on in the perfect memory of God.  In the resurrection, God will re-create you to be once again the exact person you were, character flaws and all.  Saved people will live forever on a paradise Earth, a re-created Garden of Eden.  A top crew of 144,000 Christians actually go to heaven.  While most say they are not in the 144,000, they’re satisfied about a paradise Earth awaiting them. 

Even among professed Christians, there still are different answers.

4)      Seventh-day Adventists:  You have a soul, and when you die, your soul sleeps, until the resurrection, when it’s awakened and then it joins your body and goes to heaven or hell 

5)      Roman Catholics:  If you’re classified as a saint, your soul goes directly to heaven.  If you’re a “regular” Catholic, you can expect to go to purgatory.  It is neither hell nor heaven, but it’s where somebody who will ultimately have salvation can be purged of their sins.  In medieval Catholicism, it was viewed as almost like hell, full of torture and suffering.  But supposedly after you spend a time there (whose length depends on what kind of person you were),  you can go on to heaven.  Modern Catholicism has taken much of the sting out of purgatory—now it is viewed as not pleasant, but the cleansing from sin can be done without the torture and suffering—for most people.  But someone who isn’t, by Catholic definition, a Christian, they go directly to hell after they die. 

6)      Most Protestants:   whether liberal or evangelical, they believe that a saved Christian, once he dies, his soul goes straight to heaven.  His body goes to the grave, and will rejoin his soul at the resurrection.  Unsaved souls go to hell.  Liberal protestants believe that most people will be saved, while evangelicals have leaned toward a fewer number, though less assertive about that lately. 

As you can see, views differ even among those who claim to be Christian.  Now you may argue that that’s what it should be, since no scientific evidence can be obtained to prove one or the other.  You may even believe the current cultural icon statement:  “Whatever you believe is true for you.”   But the hard reality is, if you claim to be Christian, you’re covenanted to the Bible as God’s infallible Word on the subject.  And God is rather clear in the Bible on this subject, as He would be, since Scripture claims in various places that He loves His children—so He would tell us “where we’re moving to.”  

So, let’s study what the Word says on the “moving” issue.  Let’s promise ourselves that what the Scripture says is more important than what our church says.  That’s because, unfortunately, NONE of the six theories above is correct—not even the mainline Christian ones.  That’s because the doctrine of the intermediate state has either been warped or lost.  But it’s definitely in Scripture.  Studying that is the ultimate focus of this blog.

In a nutshell, here is the overall spoiler summary, before I narrow the focus:  When we die, our bodies go to dust, but our souls live on.  Those souls don’t immediately go to heaven or hell.  They all go to an intermediate state called hades.  Now, you must throw out meanings that you may have in your head about this word, and accept Scriptural indication as, simply, a waiting place, the temporary realm of the dead.  Hades is not hell.  Hell is a different Greek word. Hades is divided, in Scripture, into two parts.  The lower region, where the unsaved souls go, is a dark and gloomy place, where they are suffering in some degree of heat, and keenly aware of the lake of fire nearby—which is where they eventually will be cast (that’s hell).  Their temporary time in hades is a time of great sorrow and inner turmoil.  It is not as bad as hell—but it is a very warm, painful and anxious place.

In hades also there is a region of the saved, the righteous, who are escorted there by angels.  This is called “paradise” and “Abraham’s bosom”—it is a heavenly place, but it’s not the ultimate heaven.  The righteous can fellowship with other saved souls (the same cannot be asserted for the unsaved).  They feel in some way the presence of Christ—but they are not in heaven, where He is.  

No one can cross from one region of hades to the other—the unsaved may recognize somebody in the saved group, but can’t “switch sides” no matter what.  There is no opportunity for salvation beyond death.   THIS life decides your fate for eternity, my friend.

Hades, may I assert, is temporary--until the resurrection of everyone for the Judgment.   At Christ’s return, hades is emptied.  All will be judged.  In Judgment the body is miraculously put back together and joins the soul.  Then God sends His obedient children to heaven, and the rest to hell—for eternity.  Thus, hades is temporary; heaven and hell are for eternity. 

So no one goes straight to the final destination when they die—they go to a “waiting place,” they go to one of the two sectors of hades.  Scripture is clear—hades is not for the purpose of changing final destination.  Your final destination is fixed during this life.  We are now “probies,” as it were.  Our life on earth’s main reason is a testing period for where we spend eternity.   

Let’s get to Scripture to back up this summary.  I will focus on the intermediate state, hades.  The most detailed explanation of life just beyond the grave is found in Jesus’ account of the rich man and Lazarus.  See Luke 16:22-31, where Jesus says: 

²² So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴ “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’  ²⁷ “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, ²⁸ for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”

What do we see?  

1)      They can see one another and talk to one another— the rich man in the lower region of hades can see how nice the previously poor man has it now in the good section—and Abraham talks to him. Thus, it’s reasonable to conclude they’re both in the same place, but in seriously different environments. 

2)      The previously poor man is in “Abraham’s bosom.”  (It is not called “paradise” here).  He is “comforted.”  The rich man is “afar off”—a “great gulf fixed”-- in another region.  Yet they’re in the same place.  The rich man in the suffering region then becomes the focus.  He is “in torments.”  He “cries out” in agony.  Thirst is a serious problem, since a flame is nearby. 

3)      He is well aware of his previous life, since he remembered his brothers and wanted to see them saved.  This adds to his mental anxiety while there.

4)      As vv 27-31 show, there is no way that someone in the lower region can warn those still alive.  Thus, seances would be meaningless, today as well as then.  

5)      Jesus is tough on the man who is eventually to be cast to hell:   

a.       He is willing to let him suffer, acknowledging as He does, simply, “you are tormented” --without relieving him.   

b.      When the man complains of his suffering, Jesus even taunts him, reminding him of the reversal of roles for the two of them—and telling him, too bad, he can’t change his fate.

c.      Abraham, too, has no sympathy to do anything for the man's  five brothers . 

For those who want to cast these verses aside as theology:  This is not a parable (since it has named Lazarus, and parables don’t do naming).  This is God’s truth for the intermediate state, what happens right after we die.  Other things He says in Scripture are consistent with this doctrine, as we’ll see below.  Second, this is not a polemic on “we love the poor, we hate the rich,” since other Scripture clearly records rich people that get saved—but salvation just happens to a lesser proportion of the wealthy, since there is a natural tendency to be deceived by riches and it’s easier to love and trust the world rather than Christ.

Other supporting Scriptures for the intermediate state: 

1.       Luke 23:43 records Jesus’ words on the Cross to the dying and just-saved thief alongside:  

  And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

So, if the saved poor man’s first stopover after death, from Luke 16, is “Abraham’s bosom,” as we saw above, and if the first stopover for the just-saved thief is in “paradise,” we have to conclude that paradise is another name for Abraham’s bosom.  Paradise is not another word for heaven.  Since Abraham’s bosom is in hades (Luke 16:23), we have to conclude that paradise is too.  Neither person goes directly to heaven.  They both go to hades, the intermediate state.  Jesus was in hades too.  Remember, that’s not hell. 

2.       Matthew 12:40 and parts of Acts 2:22-27:  

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs…you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; ²⁴ whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. ²⁵ For David says concerning Him:  Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.²⁷ For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

As we also proved above, Jesus did not die and go straight to heaven; nor did He go to hell, or “gehenna” in Greek, the lake of fire, a different Greek word.  As it clearly says here, His death would be followed by a short time “in the heart of the earth,” in “hades.”  Thus hades is located deep in earth.   His soul did not remain in hades long—three days and nights. 

Perhaps you have noted, your Bible uses "hell" when it should be called "hades."  Blame William Tyndale.  He took three Greek words, meaning different things, and translated them all "hell" in English.  A proper modern translation would catch this. As we see above, gehenna and hades have been translated "hell."  The third place translated “hell” in English is the Greek “tartarus.”  That’s where the fallen angels went, “pits (or chains) of darkness,” awaiting judgment for their special sin (see my DNA blog).  This is found in II Peter 2:4.  This, like hades, is not hell either--it is a special place for fallen angels awaiting final judgement--when they will be sent to hell.

These truths about the intermediate state were so universally believed by the earliest Christians (they knew their Greek) that it became part of the Apostles’ Creed:  I believe in God the Father Almighty…and in Jesus Christ…was crucified, dead and buried.  He descended to hades (the Greek word); on the third day rose from the dead…Jesus did not go to hell, but gave hope to the waiting godly souls in hades.

3.       John 14:1-3:  

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many mansions;  if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

Note the underlined phrase.  This proves that when the righteous die, they do not go immediately to heaven.  Jesus has to “come again” and pick us up, and then we go to heaven.  If we were already in heaven, He would not have to “come again” to get us.  No, we are in the heart of the earth, in hades, waiting for “pick up.” The pick up will be better than ziplining, better than being an Amazon drone, I’ll bet.  

4.        John 5:28-29:

Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice ²⁹ and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

Thus, ALL will “come forth” to the Judgment at the same time—so hades will be emptied all at once.  If we’re already in heaven, as often taught, the resurrection would be no big deal--since we're "already there."  But it IS a big deal.  It gets us from hades to heaven, not from heaven to heaven.  

Hopefully these many Scriptures will be convincing.  But, you ask, if all the six groups and theories I named at the beginning are wrong, are there any groups who still believe this Scriptural way? Well, many Mennonites, some Brethren, some Amish, some in the Restoration movement, some conservative Anglicans still teach it right.  Teaching on the intermediate state has gotten dropped because it got corrupted by the Catholics’ teaching on purgatory.  Purgatory teaches that (a) the Intermediate State can cleanse your sins and (b) it can change final status. Double False.  Scripture shows that hades (the real Intermediate State) does not change final status, as we saw in Luke.  The sincere pleadings of the rich man were greeted coldly.  The rich man encountered Jesus not as merciful, but as Judge.  Remember, few are saved (Matthew 7:14).  We are shocked and sometimes uncomfortable about seeing this "negative side" of God.  But He doesn't think as we do.  We cannot imagine, for instance, how deep is God’s hatred about sin.  If you’re unsaved when you go into hades, you’re unsaved when you go out.  Period.  There is no Scriptural basis for “cleansing from sin” in that state either.  The idea that you can purge your own sin is completely false and anti-Biblical, as I point out in many blogs. Jesus has done that cleansing from sin for us. The “works vs faith” argument was what kick-started the Reformation—a just movement in its beginning, but it went to wrong theology on some points to get away from looking Catholic. 

Next, Catholicism teaches that there is a special status for those classified as “saints”—they get to go straight to heaven.  Everybody else has to go to purgatory to “work off” their sins.  False.  Scripture is clear that everyone saved is a saint.  There are no “status” Christians.  Philippians 1:1 says:   

Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops  and deacons. 

 If saints are only the “status” Christians, why is Paul calling every Christian a “saint,” and, oh yes, let’s not forget the bishops and deacons.  How do you explain that?  

John Calvin, who formulated many Protestant doctrines (not my favorite person, as I have a blog on him), dropped the intermediate state doctrine (probably to get away from Catholicism as much as possible).  So both Catholics and Protestants have it wrong.  You’ve got to read Scripture for yourselves, folks. 

If you want to know more about what Scripture really says on How Do You Get Saved, so you can graduate from earth to heaven during this “probie” status, you need to know that Catholics and Protestants have that wrong too.   I have a blog just on salvation, and another on initial and final salvation.  Smarter, though, would be tread the Gospels over and over, noting what Jesus says on that very subject.  He is quite clear.

Acknowledgement:  David Bercot, CD, “Life After Death.” Scroll publishing.

Scripture Says Adult Baptism Is A Necessary Part of Salvation

In this CD, Mr. Bercot takes a clarifying look at what Scripture has to say about water baptism. I should add that when he sees doctrinal controversy between denominations (such as on this topic), he resolves it by looking at Scripture, and what the early church (pre-325 AD) believed about it. Their beliefs were more likely backed by Scripture, since that church was closer to the apostles--and they were a church that the Lord made powerful--so it’s likely He didn't see any deviant doctrine there.

The early church believed, from Scripture, that in baptism, the following things happened: (1) all of a person’s prior sins are washed away; (2) a person is born again through baptism of water and the Holy Spirit; 3) through baptism, a person becomes a member of Christ’s church Because of the importance of these, we must conclude that they believed that the salvation process is not complete without baptism.

What does Scripture say? Let’s start with John 3:5:

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Does this not say, clearly, that “born of water” is water baptism? Even in the Greek, the word translated "water" simply refers to physical water. Does it not clearly say that water baptism is essential in being born again?—and that without it, you cannot enter the kingdom of God?  (There are extenuating circumstances, of course).

Mark 16:16 says:

He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

This clearly requires baptism to "be saved," or to be in heaven and escape Judgment.  I might add, at this point, that all these verses assume believer baptism--i.e., as an adult.

Acts 2:36-38:

Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” 37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit

In verses 37-38, Peter has the ultimate evangelistic opportunity. Does he say what all of us evangelical Protestants have been taught, to pray to let Jesus into their heart? No; after they’ve been shown who Jesus is in earlier verses, what they need to do to be saved…is…(1)repentance and (2) baptism. (He emphasizes the importance of baptism, saying “every one of you” needs to do it). These additional two steps will give them remission of sins.

Acts 22:16 was when Saul was saved, becoming Paul, and was told:

…And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’

Baptism washes away our sins. That’s very important, is it not? Without it, with the guilt of sins on us, how can you get to heaven? (Again, allowance is made elsewhere for those who cannot be baptized.) Note the urgent tones that they should be baptized right away.
The early church fathers felt that baptism is important enough that they still insisted that a man who was saved, immediately imprisoned, then martyred fulfilled the required baptism—by having a baptism of blood.

Galatians 3:27:

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

“Baptized into Christ” is clearly water baptism, as Romans 6:2-4 points out:

How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

As you can see, in immersion water baptism you are experiencing a type of the death and resurrection of our Lord.
And what of the phrase “put on Christ?” When you read Romans 13:14, it means wrapping yourself in godly thoughts and not thinking about sinful ones. But it’s also “clothe yourself with Christ,” associated with Genesis 3 when God clothed Adam with skins of an animal being sacrificed after he sinned. That blood being shed to provide the skin was the beginning of God’s plan for His Son, the Lamb, whose blood was shed once for all. The animal sacrifice meant protection from the dire effects of sin. Baptism—and faith in what Christ did--are the means to these desirable and necessary goals in the New Covenant. So necessary that without them, we’re not saved.

Titus 3:5: …but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit

The washing speaks of baptism. Baptism results in regeneration, becoming a new creation. And, as Jesus put it (John 3:3), that’s essential go to heaven. And it clearly says, “He saved us, through the washing of regeneration (through the baptism) and renewing of the Holy Spirit.”

Hebrews 10:22:

let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

“Pure water” is baptism. Baptism helps gives us a full assurance of faith and enables us to draw near to Him.

I Peter 3:21 uses the term “antitype.” That’s a New Testament fulfillment from an Old Testament prefigure (called a type):

There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

This bluntly points out that baptism, and Christ’s resurrection, save us. Of course, in context, and thinking of my “Paul v James” blogs, to be saved at the end, you need baptism combined with true faith, repentance, and obedience. Baptism gives you a “good conscience toward God.” The Old Testament prefigure here is Noah (see I Peter 3:20), whose ark in the water protected against the judgment and saved eight souls.

Again, EVERY ONE OF THESE VERSES IS DIRECTED TO ONE WHO IS MAKING A CHOICE TO BE BAPTIZED. There are no baptisms of babies in Scripture that we know of.

There are other "types" in the Old Testament. Consider I Corinthians 10:1-2's comments on the Jews passing through the Red Sea:

Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

Was crossing the water of the Red Sea (a type of baptism) merely a “symbol” of their salvation from the Egyptians? No, crossing the water DID save them! Then why do most evangelistic churches use the weak word “symbol” when they explain baptism? Using the Red Sea type, baptism completes our salvation. I use the word “complete” because other things of faith were involved too, all of which together ensured their salvation. They had already stepped out in faith to follow God’s leader Moses. In faith they believed the ten plagues were a message from God. In faith they obediently protected themselves from death at Passover, when they obeyed the instruction to put lamb’s blood on the doorposts. And when they packed their belongings and marched out into the desert—that was a great step of faith, since a sensible man would never expect to stay alive long in the desert. All of these things, faith plus obedience, ensured their salvation, but the baptism of passing through the Red Sea completed the job—but all this was still only at the beginning of their journey. They still had to place faith in God throughout the journey.

Another Old Testament figure of baptism—mentioned several times by early Christians—was Naaman, the leper. In II Kings 5, Naaman was purified of leprosy when he was baptized in the Jordan. This was a symbol of what baptism can do for us regarding the leprosy of sin. We are cleansed through it.

If you’re thinking, “surely there was some group who didn’t hold to this view of baptism, who thought it was just symbolic,” you’re right—the Gnostics felt that way. Of course, you also need to know what else they believed--that the creation of the earth and mankind was done by an inferior god, a second god, so his creation was flawed and beyond redemption, so they concluded that flesh cannot be saved. They did not believe in the resurrection of the body—you can’t get a perfect result from an imperfect body. Jesus couldn’t have come in the flesh, since He wasn’t imperfect, as all flesh is. Thus, there was no God Incarnate. No one can be “reborn” through physical substances (since all such are evil)—like water. So baptism has no power to save, it’s just a symbol of what’s happened in the spirit.  So say the Gnostics.  Are these views corrupt, or what? 

Isn’t it terrible that so many of us Protestants agree with this strange group about baptism, that it's just a "symbol?" So our historical support is this deviant bunch. If you agree with the Gnostics, you're also saying all the church fathers, as holy a group as you ever want to meet in heaven, men who were taught by the apostles, were dead wrong. Which group do you want to follow—the Gnostics or the church fathers? Here again, though, let’s get back to Scripture: Can we argue against all the above Scriptural passages? Not without doing twisty reasoning, instead of simple, literal reasoning.

How did the church move away from this doctrine, if it’s correct? Why either baptize babies or, the opposite, say that's it's a "symbol?" I think partly because the church reacted to people’s desire for convenience—people wanted to feel assurance of salvation, wanted a simple “formula.” So eventually they got it—they came up with: do the sacraments, or ordinances, and you shall be saved. Infant baptism came about because of the high infant mortality rates; people wanted assurance that their baby was saved when he died. Also, when an entire nation was defeated by a “Christian” nation, it was required that the entire nation’s children would be baptized. None of these changes were Scripturally based--they are mechanical devices, not a choice being made. This “mechanical” religion requires no relationship with Christ and no day-to-day holiness, as Scripture demands (see the “Paul vs James” blogs). Expanding “the kingdom of God,” as they called it, by sword, by expansion, by alliances with pagans, came naturally to them as well. Scripture explaining the truth of baptism became hidden, in an impossible language (Latin, which most people of that day couldn't understand), so darkness reigned.

When pietism (late 1600s, beginning in Germany) and the Great Awakening revival (1700s, in England and New England) came along, they placed their emphasis on the conversion experience. They called the spiritual awakenings the “new birth.” In their countries’ state churches, everyone had already been baptized—as babies--but many grew up dead spiritually. Rather than preach on the negative topic, “why baptism as a baby wasn’t good enough now,” the revivalists wanted to see as many people saved as possible. They saw the idea of requiring baptism a second time, as an adult instead of a baby, as confusing to most lay people. Confusion would slow the number of people moving forward, mixing a difficult intellectual topic with their wonderful, often real, emotion. Was a second, and real, baptism important enough to trump that? They decided No.

Now I again warn you: Keep in mind this extremely important caution (read the “Paul v James” blogs): Don’t assume you can get baptized, and you’re saved and done. These Scriptural benefits of baptism were not “automatic” at baptism, as I’ve stressed several times in this paper. A saving relationship with Christ, following His commands (and baptism was one of them) are necessary. “Inward” baptism—of the Spirit—was essential as well, not just “outward” baptism.

When you want to submit to the Lord Jesus AND when you are dunked in the water, then your sins are washed away. You need both. If you do the outward baptism without the inward desire for submission and cleansing? You’re still spiritually dead.

Acknowledgements:  Dave Bercot CD, "Baptism"