The Gospel of the Forty Days: Baptism, Part 6
Following our recent articles on Christ’s command to baptize, we thought it appropriate to address the following statement published each week on this “Church” page [of the Mojave Desert News]: “Some will vainly trust baptism as sacramental. 1 Corinthians 1:17 deals with that false teaching very clearly and succinctly, ‘For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel ....”
Now there are several problems with this
statement. But first, note that Christianity since the Apostles and through the
present (Catholic, Orthodox) has always understood baptism to be a sacrament
(something God does), as have the main denominations created by the 16th
Century Protestant Reformation (Lutheran, Reformed, Presbyterian, Anglican, and
later, Methodist). Those who reject the concept of sacrament are the multiple
Baptist groups (begun in the 17th Century) and some newer 20th and 21st Century
groups. So rejection of baptism as a sacrament is a very recent development,
contrary to most of Church history since the Apostles.
The statement says, “Some will vainly
trust baptism as sacramental.” The implication of “vainly trust” seems to be
not so much a trust that baptism is a sacrament, but an assertion that one
might “vainly trust” that he is eternally saved merely because he is baptized –
as if the baptism were magic. It is not. Faith in Jesus Christ is required, as
is perseverance until death. Christ did say after His Resurrection, “He who
believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mk 16:16), so faith and baptism is the
usual means Christ gave for salvation. Salvation is always through the grace
and mercy of Jesus Christ and there can never be any “vain” trust in Him.
The statement alleges that baptism as
“sacramental” is a “false teaching” precisely because St. Paul says, “For
Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel.” First, there is no
correlation between Paul’s statement and the nature of baptism as a sacrament.
Second, Paul’s statement is used in this sentence entirely out of context and
in a misleading way inasmuch as Scripture tells us Paul did baptize converts.
Third, nothing in Paul’s statement points to any “false teaching” about
baptism.
In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul is addressing
persons erroneously focused on Paul, Apollos, or Cephas (Peter), as
distinguished from Christ. It is like some today might speak of following
Pastor So-and-So in a not so very different manner that one might speak of
following an Eastern guru. St. Paul’s statement is to focus on Christ – not on
the messenger. He rhetorically asks if Paul was crucified for them or if they
were baptized in the name of Paul. No, only Christ! Paul says he baptized
Crispus and Gaius and the household of Stephanas, and couldn’t recall if he had
baptized anyone else (1 Cor. 1:14-16). Paul, like all the Apostles, did
baptize. Ac 18:8 says Crispus and all his household, and “many of the
Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized” (Ac 18:8). “Were baptized”
– Luke (who was there) does not say who did the baptism, but implies Paul, who
admits to baptizing at least some (1 Cor. 1:14-16). On Paul’s journey to
Corinth we read of Lydia and her household’s conversion and baptism, again
without a reference as to who did the actual baptism although Paul is also implied
there (Ac 16:14-15). Obviously who baptized is not important. Belief and
baptism into Christ is. When St. Peter evangelized Cornelius and his household,
he did not baptize but commanded his companions to baptize (Ac 10:48). Paul
always had many companions who assisted him, and during his 18 months at
Corinth they included Silas/Silvanis, Timothy, Luke, Aquila, and Priscilla.
Baptism is a sacrament as St. John, St.
Peter, St. Paul, and Christ all teach (per our prior articles). Christ’s
glorified flesh, the same flesh and blood as ours (Heb 2:14), is the “new and
living way which He opened for us” to bring us to God with “hearts sprinkled
clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” in baptism
(Heb 10:20-22). Reference: Wulstan Mork, OSB, Transformed by Grace, Scripture, Sacraments & the Sonship of Christ (Cincinnati, OH: Servant/St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2004; originally published 1965, Bruce Publ. Co.), p. 97.