Assembly: Baptism — Joel Portman

Baptism Before Assembly Fellowship

There's another question that I might take up the time to look at tonight, and that is, we always, and this is something being questioned today very seriously by some in different parts, and that is, we believe that a person who is professed to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, or her Savior, should be baptized by immersion prior to being received in assembly fellowship.

The New Testament Pattern in Acts 2

Now you say, that's not something that really bothers us here in Blue River. Well, good for you. I'm glad of that. But there are many places, many assemblies even, where there are believers that say the New Testament does not teach that a person has to be baptized to be in assembly.

Now, I don't know if you've ever heard that, but I hear it, and I've heard it, and you likely will if you live long enough. There are those that say, there's no verse you can give me to tell me that a believer professing faith in Christ has to be baptized first before they're received in the assembly.

Well, I beg to differ. There might not be scriptures, but there are abundance of patterned scriptures that give us an indication. For instance, let your mind go back to Acts chapter 2, that one that we refer to many times in the commencement of this church age, where Peter, having preached the word to those on that day of Pentecost that says that they that gladly received his word, that is they believed it, they embraced it with all their heart, they recognized the truth of it, and I take it that was the moment of their conversion.

They that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about 3 ,000 souls. Now there's an order there, and that is that that order is established by the practice, because God teaches not only by precept and principle, but he also teaches by practice.

There was a practice established there in that early day, and you follow that right through the book of Acts, and you know as well as I do that almost without exception, I can't think of any exceptions, those that believed on the Lord Jesus Christ were baptized by immersion the same day they believed, the same day they were saved.

Well I should say there's an exception, isn't there? Paul was three days without sight after he trusted Christ as his Savior on the Damascus road, and three days later when Ananias came, then he received his sight and he was baptized.

But you understand that very shortly, let's be safe on that, very shortly after a person trusted Christ as Savior, they were baptized. He's the opening unit, as he's going on the way home, he trusted Christ, he believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and he was baptized right there along the way.

And we find that what that indicates to us is that in the New Testament, essentially speaking there were no unbaptized believers, right? So that you find that there were those that the day they believed or shortly after they believed they were baptized.

Baptism as Identification With Christ

That was an indication of their identification with the Lord Jesus. In fact in Mark chapter 16 it says that he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. That is, those two are linked so closely together, and I'm not suggesting we should baptize people today in this particular period on the same day they profess to be saved, but nevertheless we have that as a pattern in the New Testament, that's what we're going to, we're not introducing present day conditions back into the New Testament.

But in the New Testament they that believed on the Lord Jesus Christ were baptized so subsequently, evidently, as the normal practice, there were no unbaptized believers that were even possibly eligible to come into an assembly fellowship.

Paul's Baptism as a Pattern for Believers

So when you look at Paul you find that that was a pattern for him, he had trusted Christ and when Christ came to him, chapter 9 of Acts, he was baptized and then it says he was with the disciples and they're going in and they're coming out and they preach boldly in the synagogue in the name of the Lord Jesus.

So here's a man that set the pattern that gives us an example for how we ought to behave today. So while there is not a verse, and one couldn't say that here's what the Word of God teaches in terms of an actual verse that says that it should take place, nevertheless we see very clearly that from the pattern of the New Testament that was a characteristic.

Baptism and the Lordship of Christ

Now I would ask, go further than that and ask the question, if a person didn't want to be baptized, why should there be an assembly? Because baptism also is not only an identification with Christ, an acknowledgement of the fact that he has saved me, but baptism is also linked with an acknowledgement of him as my Lord.

I am subject to him, I'm obeying his will and I'm testifying to the fact that I don't belong to myself, I belong to him. In Romans chapter 6 that is following very closely on the subject of the two heads, the Adam and Christ, of course, at the end of chapter 5, and I believe that what is indicated is that this is the outward expression of the acknowledgement of the fact that I publicly am being identified with the Lord Jesus, that I am voluntarily acknowledging my subjection to him, to do his will, he is to be my Lord.

So if a person is not willing to be baptized, there's not exercise about that. How could they possibly be suitable to be in an assembly where the Lordship of Christ is to be acknowledged and his will is to be carried out?

Obedience to the Word of God in Assembly Fellowship

So that we have another reason, I believe, that would indicate to us that those who are to be in assembly fellowship should be baptized. In addition, you could also make the point that those that are in assembly fellowship are to be those that are obedient to the Word of God.

And the Word of God commands that every believer should be baptized as a principle of God's Word. So how would you have a person in the assembly who is disobedient to the Word of God and not desiring to be in subjection to him?

So I would take it that we have very solid ground to refute those who would argue the fact that one does not have to be baptized in order to be in assembly fellowship. And I hope that you have a good solid ground for answering anyone who might propose such a thing to you, because I really believe it's a very important principle of the New Testament.