LESSON 5.11 FALSE TEACHING ABOUT BAPTISM

Lesson 5 - GOD'S SALVATION

5.11 FALSE TEACHING ABOUT BAPTISM
1.Sprinkling: Were you sprinkled and assured that it was baptism? If so, you have not been saved at all. Sprinkling is not baptism. It is used as a substitution for baptism by many churches, but the Bible does not authorize it. The practice of sprinkling started in the year 253 A.D., or thereabout, after the church began. A man named Novatian was the first to do it. He wanted to be immersed but was very ill and did not want to be lowered into the water. Afraid of dying in sin, he had large amounts of water poured over him in bed trying to duplicate baptism. Many of the church fathers did not recognize this as baptism. They considered this to be unlawful and regarded it incorrect. They also questioned the sincerity of one's baptism at the point of death.

Others began to use sprinkling as a substitute in emergency cases. By the seventh century, the first law of sprinkling was passed by Pope Stephen II giving permission for infants to be lawfully sprinkled as baptism. In the twelfth century, sprinkling was fully instituted as an equal to immersion by many churches. It is now used as a universal method of baptism. But sprinkling is not baptism and is not found in the Bible. Drops of water on the forehead is not a burial in water as we have just studied. Baptism must be the same act as Christ's burial or it is not correct biblical baptism, Colossians 2:12.

2. Baptism by the Holy Spirit or Spirit-filled Baptism: Many churches teach that God baptizes them in the Holy Spirit. They are taught to pray for God to give them this experience. You may have had an emotional experience that you believe came from God. If you believe that God baptized you in the Spirit and gave you a powerful feeling as proof, you have been deceived by a lie.

The Bible nowhere teaches us to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. God has never dealt with man through his feelings. These ideas were conceived by men and are not true. The Scriptures used to support this teaching are taken out of their proper context. Holy Spirit baptism is not promised or commanded today. The Holy Spirit is given to those who are immersed in water as a burial. But the person never feels the Spirit's presence. If you have trusted that God baptized you in the Holy Spirit, you are not saved. You must be baptized as the Scriptures teach to be saved.

3. No Baptism required: Some churches teach that faith alone is all that is necessary to save a person. Though this is commonly accepted and believed by many, it is not true. Faith by itself is dead and useless, James 2:17-18. If one does not act on his faith by repenting of sin and obeying the gospel in baptism, his faith is dead. God saves those who obey the whole plan of salvation, not parts of it. Faith alone is not complete obedience to the gospel. Faith is only the first step in coming to God for salvation.