Tag: soteriology

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What is the Meaning of the Word “Baptism”?

Mark 10

35James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, *came up to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” 36And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 37They said to Him, “Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.” 38But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39They said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. 40“But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” (Mark 10:35-40, NASB)

Luke 12

50“But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! (Luke 12:50, NASB)

The Daily DAVEotional

I was recently engaged in an online conversation with a person who took issue with my blog post “Does Acts 2:38 Teach that You Must Be Baptized to Be Saved?”

This person argued that baptism by water is not only necessary for salvation but it is necessary to receive the Holy Spirit.

If you’ve read any of my many posts on baptism (see list below),  you know that my position is that water baptism is symbolic, a physical illustration of a spiritual reality.

My argument is simple: most people import their modern understanding of baptism onto the New Testament texts that mention the word. But in the New Testament, the words “baptize” and “baptism” have a broader meaning than our narrower modern definition.

Most of us, when we hear the words “baptize” and “baptism”, automatically think of the religious rite whereby a person is either immersed in water or sprinkled with water.

While it’s true that in the New Testament, baptism often refers to the religious ritual that we’re most familiar with, there are a number of instances where the word doesn’t refer to the ritual cleansing we tend to think of when we hear the word.

I’ve highlighted, via my blog, many different instances where the words “baptize” and “baptism” are used in ways that don’t match our typical modern understanding.

A few different posts that feature passages where this is the case are my posts, “What is the Meaning of the Word Baptize?”, “What is Baptism?” and “What is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit?”

The passages above from Mark 10 and Luke 12 are further examples of how the words “baptize” and “baptism” have a broader meaning in the New Testament than we typically account for.

Click here to see a A Comprehensive List of Blog Posts Based on Bible Passage Reference

In the Mark passage, James and John come to Jesus and ask for Jesus to do them a favor. Essentially, they ask Jesus to put them in positions of authority next to Jesus when He enters His glory.

Jesus responds by asking them if they are able “to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”

What is Jesus referring to here?

Jesus cannot be referring to a water baptism as he was already baptized by John the Baptist earlier in the storyline (see Luke 3:21-22). So what is this “baptism” that Jesus is going to experience?

In Luke 12, Jesus references a “baptism” that is distressing him.

Clearly, the use of the words “baptize” and “baptism” in these two passages is not the same as we tend to think of it. Jesus is not talking about immersing others in a pool of water in order to cleanse them from their sins so that they might experience eternal life.

It’s obvious from the context that Jesus is talking about his impending suffering at the hands of the religious leaders, a suffering that will include not only physical beating and torture but an excruciatingly painful death as well.

Jesus is asking James and John if they are able to “identify” with the suffering that he’s going to be identified with.

Essentially, Jesus is saying to James and John:

Oh, so you want to have a position of authority in heaven right next to me? Ok. Are you able to endure the suffering that I’m going to endure? Are you able to accomplish the mission that I’m about to undertake?

James and John, in their ignorance, tell Jesus that “Sure, we can do that!”

In as diplomatic a way as possible, Jesus tells them that they really don’t know what they’re asking. At the same time, Jesus lets them in on a secret, that yes, they WILL experience suffering and endure persecution for the sake of Jesus, but NO, Jesus will NOT be promising them a position of authority next to him in heaven.

What is the point of unpacking these stories?

The point is to demonstrate that the words “baptize” and “baptism” have a broader meaning in the New Testament than our modern definition.

In the New Testament, the broader meaning of “baptize” is “identification”. The context determines what the person is being identified with. When John the Baptist was baptizing people, the people were identifying with his message of repentance.

But Jesus’ baptism is different than John’s. According to the Scriptures, Jesus’ baptism is greater than John the Baptist’s and it is characterized by the Holy Spirit, not by water.

Jesus’ baptism entailed people becoming identified with the person of the Holy Spirit. It’s at that point that the person becomes united with the Holy Spirit and becomes identified as a member of the body of Christ – they become a member of the family of God (see Romans 6:1-6 and 1 Corinthians 12:13).

In the Bible, water is a symbol for the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, water baptism is an illustration for the spiritual baptism that has already taken place in the life of the believer.

When a person is baptized with water, they are identifying themselves as a member of God’s family. The process itself is symbolic. The person, who was formerly dead in their sins and alienated from God, is immersed in water (a symbol of the Holy Spirit). This immersion signifies the union that happens the moment the Holy Spirit comes into our lives.

When the person is raised from the water it symbolizes the new life that now exists as a result of their new union with God via the Holy Spirit.

So what is baptism?

Baptism is not just a religious rite whereby a person is either immersed in or sprinkled with water. Baptism has a much deeper meaning. At it’s core, the baptism that Jesus offers is identification with the Holy Spirit, signifying a union with God and an initiation into the family of God.

More on Baptism:

 

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Reflection

If you hold to the view that baptism in water is necessary for salvation, what do you think was the purpose of Jesus being baptized? Do you think Jesus needed to saved?

Jesus clearly uses the terms “baptize” and “baptism” in ways that do not match our modern understanding. How do you explain Jesus’ use of these terms? What do they mean in this context?

John the Baptist said that while he baptized with water, one was coming after him who was much greater and he [Jesus] would baptize with the Holy Spirit. If Jesus baptizes with the Spirit, why do you think people put so much emphasis on water baptism?

Paul, in Ephesians 4:5 says that there is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism. What do you think is the baptism that Paul is referring to? 

If the words “baptize” and “baptism” have a broader meaning of “identification”, how does this change your understanding of the ordinance of baptism within the church? 

 

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Should People Take the Mormon “Challenge”?

Galatians 1

6I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who in his love and mercy called you to share the eternal life he gives through Christ. You are already following a different way 7that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who twist and change the truth concerning Christ.

8Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including myself, who preaches any other message than the one we told you about. Even if an angel comes from heaven and preaches any other message, let him be forever cursed. 9I will say it again: If anyone preaches any other gospel than the one you welcomed, let God’s curse fall upon that person.

10Obviously, I’m not trying to be a people pleaser! No, I am trying to please God. If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ’s servant. (Galatians 1:6-10, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

If you haven’t noticed, Mormonism has been a huge topic on social media the last few days. The main topic of discussion and debate has been centered around the question of whether or not Mormons are Christians.

For context, the Department of Defense recently posted a memo regarding new abbreviated codes to identify the many different religious backgrounds that might be represented among the troops.

According to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, the previous list of religious options was out of control, with over 200 different options. The goal was to simplify the number of codes and options, making it easier for chaplains to do their job of ministering to the troops.

The problem was that the new list had a number of different Christian denominations listed, such as “Christian-Baptist” and “Christian-Presbyterian” but the Mormon Church was not listed as Christian. Instead, it was listed simply as “Latter Day Saint.”

This set off a firestorm among many Mormon influencers and regular Mormon Joes who were offended that the U.S. government apparently didn’t consider Mormons to be Christian.

Chief among those speaking out online were Utah Senator Mike Lee (@basedMikeLee on X), who took every opportunity to post his thoughts and objections to this “egregious error” inflicted on Latter Day Saints.

This incident sparked a lot of online conversations about whether or not Mormons are Christians.

Mormons, of course, believe they ARE Christians, while evangelicals have argued that Mormons are NOT Christians because, despite the fact that Jesus Christ is in their name, they do not hold to the traditional Christian doctrinal views on Jesus, God, the Church, salvation, or the Scriptures.

The online discussion afforded many Mormons, including Senator Lee, the opportunity to inform and proselytize others regarding the Mormon faith.

In one of his posts, Senator Lee offered up what I’m calling the “Mormon challenge”:

This is the Mormon “trump” card so to speak. “Just read the Book of Mormon in it’s entirety”, they say, “and ask God humbly and with sincerity if it’s true.” This challenge is often offered as a gauntlet that is laid down for those who portend to be truth-seekers.

“What do you have to lose”, Mormons ask. The sentiment is, “Don’t be a chicken!”

Millions of Mormons attest that Mormonism is indeed true based on this challenge.

Should Christians accept this challenge?

The answer is a resounding NO.

There are two reasons why Christians should not take this challenge and neither of them have to do with being scared of the outcome.

The first reason you should not take this challenge is because it’s not falsifiable. The challenge is actually like the old “heads I win, tails you lose” proposition, which means that the challenge is designed to “prove” Mormonism is true regardless of the results of your humble and sincere prayer.

Think about it: if you pray and you say that you felt nothing or you didn’t get any firm and obvious confirmation from your prayer, the Mormon can just say that you were obviously not sincere enough, or humble enough or something similar.

Yet if you say that you DID feel something, that emotional response, regardless of how small or incomprehensible, is offered as proof that Mormonism is true.

In other words, the challenge simply appeals to an emotional response as evidence of veracity.

This leads to the second reason one should NOT take this challenge, which is that it’s unbiblical.

Nowhere in Scripture are people encouraged to evaluate truth claims by appealing to an emotional response.

Instead, we are exhorted to test a message against the clear revelation that has already been given by God.

Acts 17 is a good example of this. I have written about this passage in another blog post, “Fact-Checking and Misinformation in the New Testament” in which the Bereans were commended for testing Paul’s message against the Scriptures.

A second clear example of testing a message is in the Galatians passage listed above, in which Paul tells his audience that any “gospel” message that is not in alignment or in agreement with the gospel message he had already preached to them was to be rejected. Paul tells the Galatians that the person giving this false message is to be cursed.

We know exactly what the message was that Paul originally preached to the Galatians because he writes his letter to the Galatians to reinforce the original message and to correct their subsequent misunderstanding brought about by false teachers. The gospel message Paul preached was a message of justification by faith in Christ alone, apart from any works.

Since we already know that the Mormon message is different than Paul’s message on many different levels doctrinally, there is no need to “pray on it.” In fact, reading the Book of Mormon and praying on it could be considered disobedience to Paul’s admonition to outright reject so-called gospel messages that are different from what he taught the Galatians.

The debate about whether Mormons are Christian or not, while interesting, is in many ways irrelevant. The truth is that anyone can identify themselves as a Christian. Yet, it’s not as important what you call yourself as what you believe.

Mormons say they are Christians because they follow Jesus Christ. But so do Jehovah’s Witnesses, Catholics, Evangelical Christians, Liberal Christians and even Progressive Christians. Even Muslims will tell you that they respect and revere Jesus as a prophet.

All these groups, along with Latter Day Saints, have wildly different theological views on God, Jesus, salvation and the nature of the church, and yet, they all consider themselves “Christian”.

Are they Christian? The only way we can really know is to evaluate their beliefs in relation to what the Bible teaches.

With that in mind, I propose an alternate challenge to those who consider themselves Mormons…a challenge that is actually biblical. The challenge is to read the Bible cover to cover. Then compare the teachings of Mormonism with the teachings of the Bible, and specifically, compare the Mormon message with the gospel message taught by Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament.

Then tell me – does Mormonism line up with the already revealed and accepted teachings of Jesus and the apostles?

So Mike Lee (and other Mormons)….will you accept the challenge?

 

Did you enjoy this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to like, leave a comment below, and share it with your friends or on social media if you found it helpful or interesting. Your support keeps the conversation going!

 

Reflection

What is your definition of a Christian? According to the Bible and the gospel, how does one become a Christian?

What was the essence of the salvation message taught by Jesus and His disciples? What is the essence of the Mormon message regarding how a person is saved?

What is the traditional Christian teaching on the nature of Jesus? How do Mormons view the nature of Jesus? Are these two views the same? How do they differ?

Do you think it matters what a person believes about Jesus in order to be saved? Or is it simply enough to say you believe in Jesus? 

 

photo by Dave Lowe