"If Baptism Is So Important..."

If one thing in THIS life is important, it is a proper understanding of how to get to heaven. With so many different 'religions' in our world, how does a person know who is right? After all, every one can't be right if all believe differently.

I believe it takes a simple study of what God Himself has stated in His Holy Word. So let's do that in this study together. Do not take my word for anything you may read here; go to 'The Book' itself for all answers. God bless as you read over the next few lessons.

1.) There is a simple principle of language that many of us constantly use, but overlook in scripture. It is called 'synecdoche'.
It means: the part represents the whole. We use 'synecdoche' all the time in English.

Here are some examples:

1. "Bless your heart" = We don't mean bless the organ that pumps your blood. We mean "Bless all of you." The part represents the whole. The heart represents the whole person. 

2. "It's good to see your face" = "It's good to see YOU, all of you"

3. In a prayer we may say, "Bless the hands that prepared this food" = "Bless ALL of you" 

4. "I like your wheels" = "I like your whole car" 

5. "Let's do a head count" = "Let's count all the people" to include their bodies.

6. "I have 100 head of cattle" = "I have 100 whole cows"
We use 'synecdoche' all the time. It's second nature and we seldom give it a thought.

This kind of language is also used in the Bible. 

When the New Testament writers speak of being saved by believing, they are using "believe" 'synecdocally'.

The term "believe" represents the whole response to the gospel. The emphasis he is trying to make in the context decides which term he uses. 

Sometimes he speaks of being saved by repentance (2 Pet. 3:9) but repentance is representative of the WHOLE response to the gospel to include faith, baptism, and being faithful.

Baptism is used synecdocally in 1 Pet. 3:21 and "believe" in places like Acts 16:31.

But it is apparent that "believe" is used in a representative way in this verse because the jailer was baptized the same hour of the night. Confessing is used in Romans 10:9-10 along with belief.

It is absolutely absurd to expect the New Testament writers to write down every single faith-response to the gospel every time they talk about it. 

But WHATEVER they wrote, whether believe, repent, baptism, works, confess - - ALL were representative of the WHOLE response to the gospel. The hearers understood this.

2.) Baptism is, in fact, mentioned in every single detailed conversion story in the book of Acts. 

We must remember that faith, repentance and baptism, all combined, are what make up the three facets of conversion.

Some passages of scripture emphasize baptism. 
Other passages emphasize belief, and still others emphasize repentance. Some emphasize two out of the three. And yet in still others, all three facets can be seen together.

In the book of Acts, when the question was asked, "What must I do to be saved?" some were told they needed to believe because they had not yet done so.

Others were told to repent because they had not yet done that. And still others were told to be baptized because that still needed to be done. 

If the New Testament and its teachings are taken as a whole, then it is certainly reasonable to conclude that God requires faith, repentance, and baptism for a person to be saved.

For example, just because one particular passage does not emphasize repentance, it does not mean we do not need to repent. Jesus very clearly stated in Luke 13:3, "that unless we repent, we too, will all perish." 

Does that mean then that the passages that emphasize faith, that repentance is not required? Of course not! What about passages that don't mention faith, repentance or baptism? 

Take a look at Acts 14. Here, large numbers of people were being converted, yet nothing is mentioned specifically as to how people responded, not even faith!
The fact that they believed must be inferred. 

Acts 14:21 tells us;
"They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch..."

Next, we find where people were converted, but it only mentions repentance, nothing of faith:

In Acts 26:20;
"First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds."

So we see that some passages speak of repentance. Does that mean they didn't believe? Of course not. Other passages speak of faith or belief. 

Does that mean they did not repent? No. But we now know from the scriptures, for conversion to occur, even those who oppose baptism will state that at least faith and repentance are required.

This tells us we cannot isolate one single passage from the rest of the other scriptures in trying to derive its meaning. In other words, let God's Word speak for itself.

We must look at what the Bible says in all places regarding a particular subject and combine all these passages to see them together as a whole. 

Someone will point out that the fact they repented implies they also believed. This is true. And by the same token, passages that speak only about faith imply, likewise, that they not only repented, but that they were baptized as well.

Again, every detailed conversion story in the book of Acts mentions baptism and that it is for the purpose of washing away sin.

The vague, passing references to conversion mention only belief specifically, but when the scriptures become more specific and detailed, baptism is always there.

Even further, "to believe" implies believing the gospel message, and the gospel message includes not only faith, but repentance and baptism as well.

I find it interesting, but sometimes non-Christians understand baptism better than those who profess a faith in Christ. 

Ask a Hindu what baptism means and they will tell you it is something one does when they want to become a Christian.

Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16:19, "I give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven…" Jesus mentioned keys in the plural, not one key. So this means there is more than just one single "key".

Take the example of a bank vault that has two or more locks on it. One key is given to one officer of the bank, and a second officer holds a second, different key. It takes both keys to open the vault. Either one by itself will not open the vault.

It is the combination of both keys being used simultaneously that will successfully open the vault. And so it is with conversion and the keys to the kingdom of heaven. 

These keys are: faith, repentance, baptism. It is when baptism is combined with faith and repentance, simultaneously that conversion occurs.

We will continue this study with more references next time. God bless as you study His Holy Word.