Baptism in a Flood of Opinion

An Editorial Comment on Walt Lechman’s Articles:

"Does Water Baptism Save?" & "Baptism: How Important Is It?"

- By Brian Lawson

Those of us in the Christian faith tend to want a clear and undisputed answer to everything. Maybe it isn’t true of all the Christians reading this, but it certainly is true of me. After reading Walt Lechman’s second article on Christian baptism, it appears that he wants to have clear and undisputed answers to all of the questions about baptism. I would like that too. And I believe that there are some clear answers, but not for all of the questions being asked. I say this because there is at least one question about baptism that I don’t believe any of us have the indisputable answer to: is baptism necessary for salvation? As much as many want to have a dogmatic response to all of the questions on baptism, my current opinion is that we may all be left wanting on this one.

This leads me to identify the phenomenon that I have observed when Christians discuss baptism. The phenomenon that occurs is the flood of opinion that gushes forth as one attempts to persuade another Christian to accept his or her answer even though it is full of complexity. Many of us have been "baptized" several times by these floods. In that regard, both of Walt’s articles may leave one feeling a bit wet. But for all of his effort, both of his articles help us to identify and evaluate two important questions about baptism. Upon evaluation we find that one of these questions does have a clear answer, and the other one does not.

The question with a clear answer is this: Should a Christian receive water baptism? The answer is clearly "Yes." The standard objector to baptism may wish to accuse me of letting loose my own flood of opinion here, but the Bible appears to give the same answer with clarity. Specifically, the Great Commission answers this very question – not so much to the one who would receive baptism, but to the body of Christ who must decide if they are going to administer baptism faithfully. For clearly in Matthew 28:19 Jesus indicated to his apostles that they should be "baptizing" along with everything else He told them to do. We would be hard pressed to believe that this baptism was anything else than an act that a disciple of Jesus should administer to another. I could continue with several additional scripture references, but Walt has already provided enough to support the claim that Christians should receive water baptism. We can certainly see that Jesus commanded it to be done, and we also see that the apostles did take measures to administer baptism – in water. Therefore, the book of Acts (as well as several allusions in the epistles) illustrates that the apostles interpreted Jesus’ reference to baptism in the Great Commission as something administered in water rather than merely an ideological or mystical baptism in "the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."

So, we’ve briefly looked at the question that I believe has a clear answer. But here is the question that I don’t believe has a clear answer: Can a believer in Christ who does not receive water baptism be saved? The question is specific to the Christian age since the time that baptism became a command from Jesus to His disciples. In Walt’s first article, he answered this question with a definite, "yes." His opinion has drastically changed in his second article, and it first appeared to me that he is now saying that if a person has an opportunity to be baptized that they must do so or else they are not saved. Did you get that impression? The last sentence of his article left that impression on both Mark McFall and myself. So I took the opportunity to pose several hypothetical situations where people believe in Jesus Christ but are not baptized (by immersion), asking the question: "Will this person be saved?" Walt’s response was generally, "I don’t know." However, his responses and his article have him leaning toward the opinion that: ‘it seems less likely that a believer in Christ will be saved if they don’t figure out water baptism and receive it as commanded.’

As much as I have stated that the Bible may not provide a clear answer to this second question, both Mark McFall and I also share an opinion to this question – an opinion that is leaning in a different direction than Walt’s. Our opinion is that: ‘it seems more likely that a believer in Christ will be saved even if they don’t figure out water baptism and receive it as commanded.’ Speaking for myself, I was baptized by immersion in water on the day of my conversion and commitment to Christ (and Mark tells me he was baptized a month after his conversion). I believe that Jesus intends for His disciples to both baptize and receive baptism in water. However, I don’t believe that water baptism is essential to one’s salvation. I believe that it should be done in the most biblical mode as possible, but my position is that the doors of heaven are open wide enough for believers in Christ who have been baptized in a technically incomplete fashion.

I could go on from here to provide all of my own arguments, reasons, and Scriptures that allow me to maintain my opinion (in light of Acts 2:38, etc.). I would also go on to explain why I do believe that is, at best, an opinion based on my study of the Bible. But my effort at the present is merely to identify that Walt Lechman’s opinion is now different than both Mark's and mine on the salvation matter of baptism. It is a significant matter, and because of that, we felt that it is necessary to make that difference known. Therefore, we want to make it clear that Walt’s opinion leans in a direction that does not necessarily reflect the opinion of every Christian involved with ITW.

Now, if you are feeling wet after this editorial, it goes with the territory. After all, the issue of baptism is always discussed with a flood of opinion. But this is my last sentence - your opportunity to grab a towel and dry off.

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Note: This page is an editorial comment that refers to both of Walt Lechman's articles about baptism.  However, the first article "Does Water Baptism Save?", was withdrawn by Walt due to the significant change in his own position on the matter.  Therefore, Walt's first article is not available on this website.   His second article has also been withdrawn, but for completely different reasons.  ITW has provided an explanation for this at the following link (where Walt's article once was):  Baptism: How Important Is It?

END                    Posted: 12/01/06