Restoration Studies:

RESTORING NEW TESTAMENT TEACHING ON BAPTISM

When the call to go back to the Bible was first sounded, none of the spokesmen appreciated the proper role of baptism in God’s scheme of redemption.  So inured were their minds that they read right over the verses on baptism without perceiving their meaning.

James O’Kelly and his “Christians” continued to hold to the old Methodist practice of offering sprinkling, pouring or immersion to those who thought they were already saved.  When young Joseph Thomas (later known as the White Pilgrim) came to O’Kelly requesting immersion, the older preacher finally persuaded him to accept pouring.  Thomas did so with reservation and requested that an entire tub of water be poured upon him (Joseph Thomas, The White Pilgrim, 1861, p.25; Chester Bullard “The White Pilgrim,” Christian Standard, nd. np.). Later Thomas found men willing to immerse him and immediately he requested and received proper baptism (J. W. West, Sketches of Our Mountain Preachers, pp. 88-89).
Barton Stone’s restoration movement began among the Presbyterians. It was several years before they began to realize the importance of immersion. David Purviance and Reuben Dooley were among the first preachers to request immersion. Stone at first hesitated but was eventually baptized in 1804 in Stoner’s Creek near Paris, Kentucky. Even then he was reticent to preach the necessity of Christian baptism, believing that it had a discouraging effect upon his hearers. Later he fully embraced the Bible way (Earl West, Search for the Ancient Order, Vol. 1, pp. 29-31).

Thomas Campbell was at the home of Abraham Altars when he presented his back to the Bible program for the Christian Association of Washington, Pennsylvania. All of those present were of Presbyterian background. They had been sprinkled in infancy. When he proposed that the Bible be the only rule of faith and practice and that they reject all humanism in religion, a brother Andrew Munro pointed out that such commitment would force them to discontinue infant baptism.  An emotional exchange took place and Campbell, after reflection, calmly said, it if is not authorized in Scripture he was prepared to give it up (Robert Richardson, Memoirs of Alexander Campbell, Vol. I, pp. 2235-238).

When Alexander and Margaret Campbell’s first child was born (March 13,1812), the mother asked Alexander if they should arrange for the babe’s baptism.  Campbell resolved to make a thorough study of the subject before proceeding.  After several weeks of intensive study, he concluded that his infant daughter should not be sprinkled, but that he himself needed immersion. When he shared his conclusions with his father, Thomas announced that he had reached the same conclusion.  Alexander then sought out a Baptist minister by the name of Mathias Luce, requesting that he immerse them according to New Testament teaching. Luce hesitated, protesting that such was contrary to Baptist usage.  Finally he was persuaded that he could not do wrong by helping honest souls  obey God as it is written in Scripture. Upon the appointed day, a large audience assembled on the banks of Buffalo Creek near present day Bethany, West Virginia.  After some seven hours of preaching in which both Campbells and Luce discussed their reasons for being there, seven adults were immersed into Christ in obedience to the Master’s will (Richardson, Vol. I, pp. 391-398).

Later, in 1823, during his debate with W. L. McCalla at Washington, Kentucky, Alexander Campbell first set forth his conviction that baptism was vitally connected with “the remission of sins,” citing Acts 2:38 (Bill Humble, Campbell and Controversy, p. 180).

It was Campbell’s protege, Walter Scott, who took this grand truth and set it forth in popular form with great success.  Young Scott had been employed by the Baptist Churches of the Mahoning Association to be their itinerant evangelist on the Western Reserve of Ohio. Scott had studied the conversions recorded in the Acts of Apostles and recognized the relation of baptism to remission of sins. Being naturally timid, he was reticent to openly preach his views among those Baptist Churches whose members believed in mourner’s bench salvation. On November, 18, 1827, Scott was preaching at the Baptist Church at New Lisbon, Ohio, when he dared to set forth the biblical truth he had learned.  Competing his discourse on Matthew 16:16, he called on those sinners who desired salvation to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). He did so with great fear and trembling. The audience was shocked.  But a Mr. William Amend immediately made his way through the audience, requesting immersion. Amend, a Presbyterian, had said to his wife a short time before that if he ever heard anyone preach baptism as did Peter on Pentecost he would at once obey.  He was forthwith baptized  according to the divine instruction (Dwight E. Stevenson, Walter Scott, Voice of the Golden Oracle, pp. 66-67).  In the three years following, Scott baptized some 3,000 souls according to the ancient gospel.

Until recently, members of the Church of Christ have rarely attended a service when they did not hear the simple New Testament plan of salvation set forth at the close of services.  Unfortunately a new generation of men now feel such an explanation is unnecessary.  In its place they substitute a vague call to respond to Jesus much as our denominational neighbors do.  Lest we forget, or lest the familiar become contemptible, we need to often declare the Bible’s message on baptism.

	Baptism is a command of the Lord (Mark 16:16; Acts 1:48).
	Baptism is the duty of everyone not yet in Christ (acts 2:38).
	Baptism cannot be administered until certain conditions are met: Faith (Mark. 16:16); Repentance (Acts 2:38); Confession (Acts 8:36-38).  Hence babies are not proper candidates for baptism.
	Baptism is an immersion in water (John 3:23; Acts 8: 38-39; Rom. 6:3-4).
	There is only one baptism (Eph. 4:4).  Therefore sprinkling, pouring, and so-called Holy Ghost baptism are excluded.
	Baptism puts one into Christ (Gal. 3:26-27).
	Baptism also puts on into Christ ‘s body which is his church (I Cor. 12:13; John 3:5).
	Baptism is for remission of past sins (Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16).

The Bible does not teach baptismal regeneration. There is no miraculous power in water. The blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all sins (I John 1:7).  God has appointed that his blood saves us when we arise and are baptized to wash away our sins (Acts 22:16).  Baptism is a test of our faith in the Word of God and our willingness to obey Him.
Those who have been improperly baptized should follow the example of the twelve men of Ephesus who were rebaptized according to Paul’s instructions (Acts 19:1-6).
Noble souls in past generations struggled to clear away the ignorance and false teaching that obscured God’s precious plan of salvation. They succeeded in restoring baptism to its proper place in the salvation of sinners. Let us not neglect this beautiful teaching but proclaim it to every creature that they might believe, be baptized and thus be saved (Mk.
16:15-16).