Aquatic Heresies Testifying Nothing

Mat 3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 3:3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Mat 3:4 And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. 3:5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 3:6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

What on Earth was going on back then?

What sins were they confessing? Were they confessing ALL their sins? How long did that take?

If I had to go out to the Jordan River and confess all my sins, man, I’d be in that river for years. I’d die an old man still standing in that river confessing my sins.

How many Baptists preachers today ask new converts to confess their sins before they get baptized? Why not if that was the method of John the Baptist?

The Baptists, along with most of Christianity, are engaged in aquatic heresies testifying nothing.

Let us consider what was really going on with John the Baptist in Israel before the Lord began His ministry.

Mat 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 3:9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

Mat 3:10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Tell me, when was the last time you saw a denominational pastor publicly rebuking people who came to be water baptized? This wasn’t just any rebuke. John the Baptist called them names – a generation of vipers!

Plus, when was the last time you heard a Baptist preacher tell a crowd, “You need to bring forth fruits meet for repentance before you can be water baptized”?

Did you also notice all the other stuff John said? He didn’t talk about Christ dying for their sins. He talked about judgment. He said, “And NOW also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees.” He said, “He that cometh after me… SHALL baptize you with the Holy Ghost AND with fire… AND he WILL throughly purge his floor, AND… he WILL burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

The axe had already begun to be laid unto the root of the trees. The same God who is baptizing them with water will also be baptizing them with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The three baptisms went together with judgment (Matt. 3:11-12). If you got water baptized, then you were qualified to be baptized with the Spirit, in which case you’d be filled with the Spirit and enabled with miraculous gifts, which will protect and empower you through Israel’s baptism of fire, which is the Tribulation.

Baptism wasn’t about the past. Baptism was about the future. The people were being water baptized because they were fleeing the wrath to come.

Traditional Grace Thinking

The traditional MAD BAD view on water baptism is that God promised that Israel would become a kingdom of priests. Therefore, John’s baptism was everyone’s induction into the priesthood because when a Levite became a priest, he was washed with water in Exod. 29:4.

I freely admit that never made sense to me, although I would never fight with anyone about this, nor try to major on this minor topic, and I will always be open to pushback and different points of view.

Indulge me for a second. Consider that in the OT the Lord never told Israel they would all have to be water baptized to become a kingdom of priests. What did He tell them? He said in Exod. 19:4-6 that to become a kingdom of priests they simply had to obey His voice. Prophecy never spoke of Israel being water baptized to become a kingdom of priests. Water baptism was never a requirement for the nation to become a kingdom of priests. Obedience to His Word was God’s requirement.

You might say, “Well, wouldn’t obedience to His Word mean that you should be inducted into the priesthood in like manner as the Levites?”

The type of baptizing John was doing did not exist in the law. The only similarity between Exod. 29:4 and what John was doing was that… there was water.

Plus, when a Levite became a priest, he wasn’t simply washed with water (Exod. 29:4). He had to put on a turban and a crown (Exod. 29:6). He had to don the priestly robe (Exod. 29:9). He had to be anointed with oil (Exod. 29;7). He had to provide a sin offering (Exo. 29:10-14), a burnt offering (Exo. 29:15-18), and a peace offering (Exo. 29:20-21). He had to touch the heads of those animals, personally kill them, pour the blood at the bottom of the altar, burn the liver, kidneys, and fat (Exod. 29:10,15). Plus, they had to touch the blood, which had to be smeared on the right ear, the right thumb, the right big toe, and then sprinkled upon the altar (Exo. 29:20-21). At least they got to eat the flesh (Exod. 29:32). That was probably tasty.

Being washed with water wasn’t the only thing a man had to do to become inducted into the priesthood. If we, as a grace movement, are going to say that everyone was being water baptized to become priests because that was prescribed by the law, then I’d say to you that they were debtors to follow ALL the laws for the Levites.

You might say, “Well, John wasn’t following anything specific in the law. He was just following principles about diverse washings in the law. The law taught sanctification.” Except the law is this giant vortex that sucks you in and takes over every aspect of your life. You’re trapped by it. You can’t escape it. If you want to follow what the law taught about sanctification, then you followed the law. You didn’t create new ordinances patterned after the law. You followed the law. What did the law teach about sanctification for priests? They had to be males. They had to be 25 or 20. They had to go through far more than just water baptism to become priests.

That was never John’s baptism.

John was baptizing everyone who came to him in faith with fruit meet for repentance. When God told Israel they would become a kingdom of priests, He was talking to ALL of Israel. Not the men only. The women, too. God never said to Israel, “If you obey my voice, then you will all become priests just like the Levites.” God also never said, “To become a kingdom of priests, you all need to be water baptized like the Levites.” God said, “If you will obey my voice then… you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests.” Obedience to His Word was what God required.

Plus, I would suggest that a kingdom of priests never meant they were going to be a kingdom of Levites. Do you know what happens to the Levites in the millennial kingdom? They become the janitors of the temple. Their only job will be to scrub the altar and the sanctuary (Ezek. 43:20-27; 44:25-27; 45:18). The new priesthood in the kingdom will be given to the sons of Zadok (Ezek. 40:46; 43:19; 44: 15-31). The Levites lost all their privileges to be priests in the kingdom because of apostasy.

If the Levites lost their status in the eyes of God, what kind of priests will Israel become in the millennial kingdom? Nothing to do with Levites. In the kingdom, their priesthood is Melchizedekian, like Christ, their new high priest, which is a completely different order.

A kingdom of priests simply meant that God viewed all the Jews as taking on priestly roles acting on God’s behalf toward the Gentiles. They would be intermediaries between God and the Gentiles. This was about God’s design for them as a nation to act as priests to an unbelieving world, and they achieved that by simply obeying the Lord. Bullinger described it as, “The whole nation being a priest with respect to other nations, as the tribe of Levi for Israel.” As the Levites were priests to Israel, the whole nation acted as priests to the Gentiles.

John the Baptist never once talked about becoming priests in the Gospels. John never talked about the priesthood. John never spoke of how God is now fulfilling His promises to Israel that they’ll become a kingdom of priests through this ceremonial cleansing he’s performing. John never talked about people being cleansed with water like the way priests were cleansed with water.

I’d suggest that we need to pay more attention to what John the Baptist actually said. John himself told us everything we need to know about water baptism.

What Did John the Baptist Say?

First, John the Baptist taught a message of salvation by faith alone.

Act 19:4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

John told the people to believe on Him who should come after him. That is, to place their faith upon Jesus Christ, on who He is as the Son of God. If the people accepted John’s message by faith, they got saved even if they hadn’t seen Jesus yet.

This is in perfect alignment with the rest of the Gospels, because salvation was always by faith. Consider what the Lord told Nicodemus in Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already – why? – because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. These are the Lord’s own words. The Lord told Nicodemus that everything has now changed for the Jews with the arrival of their Messiah. There is now a necessity for a spiritual rebirth, both individually and nationally. That rebirth will only take place if they, each one, place their faith in who Christ is as their Messiah, as the only begotten Son of God.

The Apostle John would also write in Joh 3:36, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” Plus, he writes in Joh 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”

These verses are irrefutable – justification was by faith alone in Christ alone.

“Wait a minute, Joel! What about Mark 16:16?”

Okay, let’s talk Mark 16.

Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mar 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

“See, Joel? The Lord clearly says, ‘He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.’”

This is the Gospels we’re reading. We have to ask ourselves, “What kind of deliverance was the Lord talking about?” Not every reference to “saved” meant individual justification. Remember, John’s father, Zacharias, talked about salvation in Luke 1:67-80, except he was talking about Israel’s deliverance from her enemies.

So what kind of salvation is the Lord talking about here in Mark 16? I’d suggest that all those miraculous abilities He lists makes it easy to figure out what kind of deliverance He’s talking about. He’s talking about deliverance through the Tribulation.

This is more than simple justification. He means protection through all His 21 judgments in the Tribulation. If you’re not a believer, you’re toast. But if you’re a believer and you’ve been water baptized, the Lord says in Mar 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; Mar 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

My favorite miraculous gift in this list is vs. 18, if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. That will come in handy during the tribulation when all water on the planet turns to blood (Rev. 8:6-13). That’s the kind of deliverance the Lord is talking about. If you believe, you’re justified. If you believe and you get water baptized, you will become spiritually empowered with miraculous gifts so you can be delivered through the Tribulation.

When will they get those miraculous abilities? When the Spirit is poured out at Pentecost. “Okay, Joel, but all those people are dead. They never went through the Tribulation because the age of grace happened.” Exactly. I’d suggest that during the Tribulation, Mark 16:17 will be in play in the sense that those who simply believe will become specially empowered by the Spirit. The Spirit was already poured out at Pentecost. The Spirit won’t be poured out again. After we’re gone in the Rapture, I think anyone who believes that Christ is the Son of God will become empowered by the Spirit through the Tribulation.

Because if, as they proclaimed all throughout the Gospels, the kingdom was truly at hand, then so was Daniel’s 70^th week. They would endure God’s baptism of fire first before the kingdom would ever see the light of day.

These people did not get water baptized because they needed a ceremonial cleansing to become priests. They got water baptized to flee the wrath to come.

Back to John the Baptist

Notice what John said in Mat 3:10. “And NOW also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire...”

What axe is laid unto the root of the trees? He means that through his ministry of water baptism God is now already separating the wheat from the chaff. He is already dividing the believers from the unbelievers in Israel. He is already in the process of preserving the believers through His baptisms of water and Spirit for when the time comes in the Tribulation that He allows unbelieving Jews to die in their sins and burn up in the baptism of fire. In other words, they’ll be cast into hell for unbelief upon their deaths in the Tribulation.

No unbelieving Jew will escape God’s judgment in the Tribulation. He will THROUGHLY purge his floor. He will gather his wheat into the garner, and He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. People were coming to Jesus in faith and being water baptized so they will be saved and protected through these judgments of God.

Because if the kingdom was truly at hand, then so was Daniel’s 70^th week.

What John was doing came as a surprise to few in Israel. These three baptisms of water, Spirit, and fire were prophesied in Isa. 4:4 as how God would drain the swamp of Israel. Water baptism was never this isolated thing. Water baptism was part of three baptisms that all went together: baptisms of water, Spirit, and fire.

Notice in Matt. 3:11-12 the connection between the three baptisms of water, Spirit, and fire to judgment in the Tribulation. John says, Mat 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Mat 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Notice how water baptism was merely the first of three baptisms – all connected. After mentioning the baptism of fire, John puts the fear of God in people by highlighting how God will purge His floor. The chaff will be burned up with unquenchable fire. Why does he say that? Because he wants the people to come to Christ in faith, be water baptized, and be empowered to endure the Tribulation.

How can you not connect baptism of fire with the chaff burning with unquenchable fire?

What is the point John is making? He’s saying to them, “You need to escape His coming judgment, because nothing unrighteous will survive Daniel’s 70^th week. You will not survive the baptism of fire without the Spirit and the water.” This collection of three baptisms was God’s process of draining the swamp in Israel. This was how He was getting the people to repent, to come back to righteous living in obedience to Him. And after the baptism of Spirit, they would be empowered with miraculous spiritual gifts to get through the baptism of fire. THEN, the kingdom would be established.

O Generation of Vipers!

Consider what John said to the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Mat 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Why did John say this to them? Were they automatically disqualified from being water baptized simply because they were Pharisees and Sadducees? No, of course not. God would have all men to be saved.

So why did John say this? Because they came under false pretenses. They wanted to join the party even though they had no faith, no repentance, and no fruit. They were the generation (or offspring) of vipers, children of that old serpent. They were full of venom and malice. Any time you try to play nice with them, they always bite you.

How did John the Baptist know these snakes had come under false pretenses? Because he was filled with the Spirit (Luke 1:15). He knew who had sincere faith and who didn’t. He knew who was coming under false pretenses, just like Peter in Acts 5 when he was filled with the Spirit and knew that Ananias and Sapphira were lying.

There were no false conversions in John’s ministry.

John was filled with the Spirit. If you came to John with sincere faith and fruit, he’d know you were telling the truth, and he’d allow you to be water baptized.

Thus, if John filled with the Spirit allowed you to be water baptized, that meant that God Himself had given His stamp of approval for your faith and your fruit. From that moment forward, you knew you were justified. You knew you had been delivered from all the wrath to come. You knew you were on your way to getting the Spirit poured out upon you, and you would be thoroughly equipped to endure the Tribulation to the end.

But if you came to John with no faith and no fruit, he’d turn you away and give you the “generation of vipers” speech. If John refused to water baptize you, then you had better rethink your life. You’d better rethink what John said, find some faith in Jesus and get saved, bring some fruit meet for repentance, because you were on a path of getting hewn down by the axe and getting cast into the fire when Daniel’s 70^th week begins.

Those Pharisees and Sadducees needed to come back with some faith. They needed to repent, to change their minds and accept Christ as the Messiah and show their faith by bringing – what?

Fruits Meet for Repentance

I’m going to speak at Shorewood’s Zoom Talk this Friday, September 13, at 8 p.m. EST! Come join us! I’m going to share a small slice of grace history when C.R. Stam came to my tiny grace church in Springfield, OH, and debated a couple of other pastors on water baptism. This was my obsession. For years, I listened to this 6-hour debate on cassette tapes. I thought it was endlessly fascinating.

Stam, of course, felt that water baptism was required for salvation in the Gospels. He said something that always bothered me. Mar 1:4 says, “John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,” and Stam argued that this meant people got water baptized in order to get their sins removed.

How can this be? If the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin, how could water? Oceans of water could never remove one sin from one person. Plus, why would these people need to be water baptized to get sins removed if their sins were going to be dealt with at Calvary in the near future? What’s the point?

I think Stam had it backwards. The baptism didn’t remove the sin. The people had come to John having already removed that sin themselves. That’s what John meant when he said in Mat 3:8, Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance. What fruit? Fruit is a good work you do after you get saved. The fruit in this case is that they gave up a sin in their lives as a show of faith.

Repentance for the remission of sins was in the sense of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. They purged themselves from those sins. They went to John with that fruit. The fruit is that they removed that sin from their lives. They confessed that sin, and if they genuinely believed and they were telling the truth about having purged that sin, John would allow them to be baptized.

Because John was filled with the Spirit, there were no false baptisms. If you showed up under false pretenses, you’d get the “generation of vipers” speech. But if you showed up already justified by faith with real fruit in which you’ve purged yourself from a sin to demonstrate your commitment to righteousness because the Messiah is here, then John would baptize you. And if you were justified and water baptized, you were all set for the Tribulation. You have escaped the wrath to come. You didn’t have to worry about God’s judgment. God would protect and preserve you. You were well on your way to being filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in a couple of years, which would empower you with miraculous spiritual abilities through the Tribulation.

What are examples of sins they could give up that would qualify as fruit meet for repentance?

In Luke 3, the people asked John that very question, and John gave them examples!

Luk 3:10 And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? 3:11 He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. 3:12 Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? 3:13 And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. 3:14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.

The people came asking John what were examples of acceptable fruit that would demonstrate a legitimate change of heart about the Messiah? John gives them examples! Instead of thinking of self, do good to others. Good fruit would be a demonstration that you are now focused like a servant upon the welfare others. If you’re a publican stop overtaxing and skimming money. Stop being violent. Stop falsely accusing others. Stop fighting with your boss about your wages.

Doing those works did not get them saved. These works were simply fruit from their salvation. The fruit was nothing more than a demonstration of their faith to show that not only do they believe in Christ as their Messiah, but they are also now actively purging sin from their lives in their new commitment to the righteous ways of the Messiah who has now arrived.

God wanted them justified and already bearing fruit in their walks from their salvation. If you did all those things, you were well on your way to being protected and preserved by God when the Tribulation starts. You were not only justified in the sight of God but you were also qualified to have the Spirit poured out on you so you may do miraculous things through the Tribulation.

What if you were a Jew who believed but you didn’t get water baptized? That happened. They were still encouraged throughout the book of Acts to be water baptized to get the Spirit (Acts 19:1-7). Why? Because nobody knew how long this period of grace would last. I think this is also why Paul baptized Crispus and Gaius in 1 Cor. 1:12-17. They were probably believing members of the Little Flock who failed to get baptized, and Paul accommodated them to assist them in their kingdom program. Even in Revelation and the seven letters to the seven churches, the Lord told the Jews in Ephesus that they still needed to do the first works (Rev. 2:5). I think those first works had to be water baptism.

In the Gospels, the Jews were saved by faith alone but failure to be baptized of water and Spirit meant you were only hurting yourself when the Tribulation starts, which would ultimately result in a loss of reward at His Second Coming because of your failure to obey the Lord.

The Method of Water Baptism

What was John’s method? Did he fully immerse people or did he sprinkle them?

Yeah, one of those two.