THE KINGDOM & BAPTIZING THE NATIONS
“Make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them … teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” (Mat. 28:19-20 abbrv., emphasis mine)
Commission Omission?
What
has become known as the Great Commission, perhaps, may be summed up poetically and
(dare we say?) optimistically in the hymn, Onward! Christian Soldiers.
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Marching as to war
With the Cross of Jesus
Going on before.
Christ, the Royal Master,
Leads against the foe;
Forward into battle;
See! His banners go.
Could it be any simpler than that? Jesus, the
Royal Master, leads His troops into the nations to baptize them and to teach
them. What could go wrong?
The American Civil War ran from 1861-65. Interestingly, the English hymnist, Sabine Baring-Gould, wrote Onward! Christian Soldiers in 1865.
There’s a dramatic scene in the Gettysburg movie (1993) that depicts Robert E. Lee reprimanding one of his officers, General J.E.B. Stuart. This movie clip is often used in leadership courses as an example of “reprimand and redirect”. General Lee reiterates to Stuart the setback he has caused to the Confederate army, during which Lee says to Stuart,
“Perhaps you’ve misunderstood my orders? Perhaps I did not make myself
clear? Well sir, this must be made very clear. You sir, with your cavalry are
the eyes of this army. Without your cavalry we are made blind. That has already
happened once. It must never, never happen again.”
General Stuart offers to resign his position. General
Lee tells him there is no time for that and says,
“You must take what I have told you and learn from it – as a man does. There
has been a mistake. It must not happen again.”
Lee then goes on to praise his officer, to offer
him words of encouragement. Reprimand and redirect.
Why does Christ’s Great Commission seem to be having little effect on the nations in our own day? Is it possible that Christ’s preachers and teachers need to be reprimanded and redirected? Perhaps we have misunderstood His orders, and His Christian army, like Lee’s, has been made blind? Have we misunderstood what Christ meant when He commissioned His army to baptize nations and teach them all things that He has commanded His Christian soldiers?
Baptizing the Nations
“So shall He sprinkle many
nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; for what had not been told them
they shall see, and
what they had not heard they shall consider” (Isa. 52:15). Is the LORD being
unclear here? Should that word “sprinkle” perhaps be translated as startle
instead of sprinkle, as some Bibles footnote? The same Hebrew word is used in
the following for dedicating Levites, i.e., priests, “Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them:
Sprinkle water of purification on them…” (Num. 8:7a).
Would anyone be as quick as to substitute startle for sprinkle in this verse?
Why then the aversion to God sprinkling nations? Why will kings “shut their
mouths at Him”? What are the nations going to be told? What are they going to
hear? The Commander of the LORD’s army answers this where He says that the
nations are going to be taught “to
observe all things that I have commanded you.”
If you are wondering what “So shall He sprinkle many nations” and “Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them:
Sprinkle water of purification on them…” has to do with baptism, then I
ask you, have you perhaps misunderstood our Royal Master’s orders? He promised
that He would sprinkle many nations and He has commanded us to baptize the
nations. Yes, baptism has to do with the promises of God, His
covenant promises.
God is
faithful to His covenant and to His covenant people whenever they are faithful
to Him and His covenant. Picture the time His covenant people obediently
“walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them
on their right hand and on their left” (Exo. 14:29). What happened to the army
that was pursuing them? “The waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all
the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of
them remained” (Exo. 14:28). Paul comments on this stupendous
event, “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our
fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were
baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1 Cor. 10:1-2). The army of
Pharoah was fully immersed and the nation of God were, well, if you’ve ever walked through a cloud, (in Scotland it’s called “scotch mist”), you’ll agree
that it would be more of a sprinkling than an immersion because “they walked on
dry land.”
We find the Table of Nations listed in Genesis 10. Thus, Noah’s family became many families, even many nations. “Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated” (Gen. 9:18-19).
When God poured out the rains of the Deluge on the ark and the earth, the cargo inside was safe and dry. However, unlike the
eight, those outside were immersed. Peter says that those in the ark were
involved in a type a baptism. “God’s patience waited in the days of
Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that
is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to
this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an
appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ” (1 Peter 3:20b-21 ESV).
The next
global “baptism” is to be by fire. “The earth was formed out of water and
through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the
world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and
earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of
judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (2 Pet. 3:5b-7 ESV).
Oh, perhaps you’re still wondering how we are supposed to immerse whole nations? And so you’ve had to reinterpret our clear orders to fit in with your own personal understanding of the words baptism and nations. Perhaps you’re thinking goes something like the following: Jesus must mean not that we are actually to baptize whole nations, for that would be impossible, but that we are to immerse each individual, but not until they make a profession of faith. Huh?
Sacraments
The mode and
meaning of baptism are far greater subjects than we have space for, but, for
the sake of brevity, suffice to say that baptism is about applying the
promises, yea, the covenant of promise, to that which belongs to God. In turn,
that to which God’s promise is applied swears allegiance to God. In the words of Roderick Lawson
late of Maybole,
The word sacrament is derived from a Latin word, which signified the sacred oath of fidelity to his commander, which the soldier took on entering the army for the service of his country. In a Christian sense, it means the vow of fidelity and obedience to Christ which is taken when we enter the Church. This vow was taken for us in Baptism, when we were infants. In the Lord’s Supper, we take it upon ourselves.[1]
What belongs to God? What has the Father promised His Son? “Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession” (Ps. 2:8). Onward! Christian soldiers. God’s army on earth must snap to attention and say, “Your will be done!” The Son has asked for and has been given the nations that we are to baptize and teach. Indeed, He owns all the ends of the earth. After completing His mission on earth, the Royal Master ascended, “Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed” (Dan. 7:14). Onward! Christian soldiers,
At the sign of
triumph
Satan’s host doth flee;
On, then, Christian soldiers,
On to victory!
Hell’s foundations quiver
At the shout of praise;
Brothers, lift your voices,
Loud your anthems raise!
Christian
Nations
What
is a nation? The three main components of any nation comprise of family,
church, and state. Can a family swear allegiance to God? Can a church? Can a
state? Yes? How about a whole nation? Of course! Once a nation is taught to
obey all things Christ has commanded, it can become one nation under God, as
can a family, and as is the true church.
Reflecting
the one and many aspects of the Triune God, the family of God is made up of
many families (Eph. 3:15), the Church of God is made up of many churches (Rev.
2:3), and the Nation of God is made up of many nations (Rev. 15:4).
The
symbol of the Family is a rod (Prov. 22:15). The symbol of the Church is keys
(Mt. 16:19). And the symbol of the State is a sword (Rom. 13:4). Each of these
spheres is sovereign in its own right as per in sphere sovereignty under God.
Therefore, though they may be involved in the process, the Family and the
Church do not punish criminals. That is the jurisdiction of the State.
Likewise, though they may be involved in the process, it is the parents of the
Family that discipline their children, not the Church or the State. And
finally, it is the Church that disciplines its members, not the Family or the
State. This Church-discipline may involve withholding the Lord’s Supper from
the offending member until he or she shows repentance. Unrepentance means excommunication.
It is here that we see how a Christian nation should operate. The State or the
Family do not get to administer the two sacraments. Only the Church does.
A paedophile parent will destroy his or her family. The paedophile will be banished from the home of the family, excommunicated from the church (if a member), and imprisoned by the state. Each jurisdiction cooperates with the others in the sexual deviant’s condemnation. The kingdom is shut against those who behave like unbelievers. In the Heidelberg Catechism, we see something of how the church functions in the nation,
Lord’s Day 31,
Q & A 83
Q. What are
the keys of the kingdom?
A. The
preaching of the holy gospel and Christian discipline toward repentance. Both
of them open the kingdom of heaven to believers and close it to unbelievers.
Q & A 84
Q. How does
preaching the holy gospel open and close the kingdom of heaven?
A. According
to the command of Christ:
The kingdom of
heaven is opened by proclaiming and publicly declaring to all believers, each
and every one, that, as often as they accept the gospel promise in true faith, God,
because of Christ’s merit, truly forgives all their sins.
The kingdom of heaven is closed, however, by proclaiming and publicly declaring to unbelievers and hypocrites that, as long as they do not repent, the wrath of God and eternal condemnation rest on them. God’s judgment, both in this life and in the life to come, is based on this gospel testimony.
We see then that the keys of the kingdom are the preaching of the gospel and Christian discipline always with a view to repentance. “Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:14b-15). Though the family and the state may be of assistance, only the church holds the keys of the kingdom in the nation. The family and the state do not get to administer the two sacraments, viz, water baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The gospel is the proclamation of God’s covenant of grace. The sacraments are the application of God’s covenant of grace to members of the church.
Covenant of Promise
God
made a gracious promise, a covenant of promise, to His Church in the Old
Testament, i.e., to the nation of Israel, “Now therefore,
if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall
be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exo.
19:5-6a).
Only a
remnant of believers remained when Christ walked among them on earth (John
1:11). But then, as now, whole nations are to be ingrafted into the same
olive tree that is Israel (Rom. 11:17-18). As Paul says, “Now to Him who
is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus
Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since
the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures
made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God,
for obedience to the faith” (Rom. 16:25-26).
Notice the words “for obedience to the faith” while remembering the words of the Great Commission, “Make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them … teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” Yes, the nations are to be taught to obey Christ. Family, Church, and State, each in their respective spheres, are to be involved in teaching the nations. Without encroaching on the church, the family and the state can reinforce what is taught by it. Therefore, in a Christianised nation one would expect to see in the family, children being brought up “in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4b), in the state, “For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath of him who practices evil” (Rom. 13:4) and we have already seen that the church is to be about the business of the “preaching of the gospel and Christian discipline with a view to repentance.”
Royal
Priesthood & Holy Nation
We
have already mentioned how the Levites were cleansed, “Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them:
Sprinkle water of purification on them…” (Num. 8:7a). The sprinkled water
symbolized their cleansing. It was a picture, not the same as but similar and
related to what Moses did when he, “took the blood, sprinkled it on
the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has
made with you according to all these words” (Exo. 24:8), and similar to but not
the same as what we see in water baptism and in the Lord’s Supper, i.e., the
gospel.
So, with numerous families making up the family
of God, numerous nations making up the nation of God, and numerous churches
making up the church of God, we are ready to see where we as Christians fit
into the Great Commission. “But you are a
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people,
that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness
into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now
the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” (1
Pet. 2:9-10).
We Christians
are God’s “royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people”. This is
what is usually referred to as the priesthood of all believers.
Lord’s Day 26
Q & A 69
Q. How does holy
baptism remind and assure you that Christ’s one sacrifice on the cross benefits
you personally?
A. In this way:
Christ instituted this
outward washing and with it promised that, as surely as water washes
away the dirt from the body, so certainly his blood and his Spirit wash away my
soul’s impurity, that is, all my sins.
Q & A 70
Q. What does it mean
to be washed with Christ’s blood and Spirit?
A. To be washed with
Christ’s blood means that God, by grace, has forgiven our sins because of
Christ’s blood poured out for us in his sacrifice on the cross.
To be washed with
Christ’s Spirit means that the Holy Spirit has renewed and sanctified us to be
members of Christ, so that more and more we become dead to sin and live holy
and blameless lives.
Q & A 71
Q. Where does Christ
promise that we are washed with his blood and Spirit as surely as we are washed
with the water of baptism?
A. In the institution
of baptism, where he says:
“Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit.” “The one who believes and is baptized
will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.”
This promise is repeated
when Scripture calls baptism “the water of rebirth” and
the washing away of sins.
Lord’s Day 27
Q & A 72
Q. Does this outward
washing with water itself wash away sins?
A. No, only Jesus
Christ’s blood and the Holy Spirit cleanse us from all sins.
Q & A 73
Q. Why then does the
Holy Spirit call baptism the water of rebirth and
the washing away of sins?
A. God has good
reason for these words. To begin with, God wants to teach us that the blood and
Spirit of Christ take away our sins just as water removes dirt from the body.
But more important, God
wants to assure us, by this divine pledge and sign, that we are as truly washed
of our sins spiritually as our bodies are washed with water physically.
Q & A 74
Q. Should infants
also be baptized?
A. Yes. Infants as
well as adults are included in God’s covenant and people, and they,
no less than adults, are promised deliverance from sin through Christ’s blood and
the Holy Spirit who produces faith. Therefore, by baptism, the sign
of the covenant, they too should be incorporated into the Christian church and
distinguished from the children of unbelievers.
This was done in the Old Testament by circumcision, which was replaced in the New Testament by baptism.
The
Water & The Spirit
Just
as the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper present to the eyes of faith,
Christ’s broken body on the cross and His shed blood, so the sprinkled or
poured out water upon the recipient in water baptism signifies Christ shed
blood and poured out Spirit cleansing, washing away a sinner’s sins.
Who
are included in God’s covenant promise? “Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and
let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is
to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as
the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38-39).
Does the Lord
our God call whole families to be part of His holy family? Does He call whole
nations to be part of His holy nation? Of course He does and has! But what is
the big hold up in the Great Commission in our own age? Could it be that a
major portion of the Lord’s church has misunderstood the meaning of baptism as
illustrated by the present day fixation of so many denominations on
immersionism? Could it be because a major portion of the Lord’s church has
misunderstood that the church also includes the children of believers? To
misunderstand the scope of baptism and its bigger picture is to misunderstand
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, i.e., “So shall He sprinkle many nations.”
“I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh” (Acts 2:17, 10:45; cf. Joel 2:28-29).
“For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the
dry ground; I
will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring” (Isa. 44:3). “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall
be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your
idols” (Ezek. 36:25). “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:2) Etc.
These are the promises of God, His covenant promises. They are all included in
His covenant grace. The two sacraments, i.e., Baptism and The Lord's Supper,
are administrations of God’s covenant. In them the gospel promises are depicted
– Christ's body and blood in the Lord’s Supper and Christ's Spirit and blood in
water Baptism.
What does the
shed blood of Christ and His poured-out Spirit have to do with the nations?
Again, “Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your
inheritance, and
the ends of the earth for Your possession” (Ps. 2:8). So, “Onward!
Christian soldiers.”
Crowns
and thrones may perish,
Kingdoms rise and wane,
But the Church of Jesus
Constant will remain,
Gates of hell can never
’Gainst that Church prevail;
We have Christ’s own promise,
And that cannot fail.
Achilles’
Heel
A
faulty view of baptism leads to a faulty understanding of ecclesiology (Church)
and pneumatology (Spirit). As per the Old Testament promises, and in particular
those in Joel 2, the Father and the Son sprinkled all the nations when They
poured out Their Spirit, as witnessed on the day of Pentecost and as recorded
in Acts 2. John the Baptizer said that Jesus was going to pour out the Spirit,
“John answered, saying to
all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming,
whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the
Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16). As Jesus said as He was getting closer to
receiving God’s poured out wrath upon Himself at the cross for our sins, “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already
kindled! But I have a baptism [βάπτισμα] to be baptized [βαπτισθῆναι] with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!” (Luke
12:49-50).
It is very difficult for those who have been
taught that whenever they see the word “baptize” in the Bible, they are to
think “immerse”. We have just seen Jesus refer to Himself having to undergo a
baptism (βάπτισμα) while on the cross! Where’s the dipping or
immersion or burial here? Yes, the word
can and does also mean immerse. (See e.g., Luke 16:24; John 13:26; Rev. 19:13.)
However, it never means dip or immerse the human body when it is
referring to water baptism which, as we have seen, pictures the Spirit being
poured out to wash away our sins with the shed blood of Christ. (See e.g., βαπτισμός, the act of dipping or washing,
Strong’s Concordance). Peter quotes
Joel in his sermon, twice saying, “And it shall come to pass in the last days,
says God, that I will pour out My spirit on all flesh … I will pour out My
Spirit in those days…” (Acts 2:17-18).
This faulty view of water baptism is, I believe,
the Achilles’ heel of the church today. (In Greek mythology, Achilles’ mother
is said to have dipped him into the river Styx while holding him by the heel,
supposedly gaining him body invulnerability everywhere apart from the heel that
didn’t get wet.)
“Dipping of the person into the water is not
necessary; but baptism is rightly administered by pouring or sprinkling water
upon the person.” (WCF 28 para 3). The idea of the Westminster Assembly that
compiled the Westminster Standards (including the Westminster Confession of
Faith just quoted) was to standardize the religion of the four nations that
made up Great Britain. It was decided that these nations were to be baptized by
pouring or sprinkling.
After an extensive debate, the Westminster Assembly agreed, by a narrow margin, on the lawfulness of dipping, while holding that pouring or sprinkling was the more appropriate mode.[2]
Once we see how the Holy Spirit relates to baptism, then we will no longer be blind to the enemy’s numbers and movements. The Holy Spirit working with His Word is the eyes of this Christian army. Without Him we are made blind, and we are simply sitting within the four windowless walls of our church buildings as the enemy comes in like a flood. But the nations are His inheritance, and the ends of the earth are His possession. Christ’s kingdom rules over all. Yes, “Forward into battle; See! His banners go.”
Showers of Blessing
Not forgetting the “covenant rainbow”, once you
see baptism in its true Biblical (and eschatological) light, then you will see
every shower of rain that falls as a picture of refreshing renewal. “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return
there, but water
the earth, and
make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall My word be that goes
forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in
the thing for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:10-12).
Think of the rain and the snow as picturing the avian Spirit (yes, white doves and snowflakes! but let’s not overdo it) poured out from heaven on the nations. As does well-watered soil, the Spirit thus produces bumper crops as He works with His Word in the hearts of the nations.
Who are the
nations and how are the nations baptized? We have already
noted what John the Baptizer said, “He
will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” How
does Jesus baptize the nations? “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy
Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the
circumcision [i.e., the Jews] who believed were astonished, as many as came
with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the
Gentiles [i.e., the nations] also” (Acts 10:44-45). O Palmer
Robertson objects to the typical use of the English word Gentiles as
used in most Bibles:
Substituting “nations” or “all
nations” or “peoples from all nations” for “Gentiles” provides a much more
illuminating reading appropriate to the expansive perspective of the Christian
gospel. Indeed, some passages would present a translation challenge. But the
consistent substitution of “nations” for “Gentiles” throughout the New
Testament could have a significant impact on the communication of the
universalistic character of the new covenant gospel and could provide a
powerful impetus for evangelism and missionary endeavours. The book of
Revelation climaxes in the biblical concept of “nations” and “peoples.” Seven
times over, Revelation joins together references to every tribe, tongue,
people, and nation as those who share the blessings of the redeemed by
Christ (Rev. 5:9; 7:9; 10:11; 11:9; 13:7; 14:6; 17:15). How out of place it
would sound to substitute “Gentile” for “nation” in these climactic contexts.
“Every tribe, tongue, people, and Gentile” shall praise Him?[3]
The Lord’s army has been blinded somewhat in our own day due to misunderstanding what our Royal Master means by “baptizing the nations.” Too many churches think that this is an order to mainly focus on the individual and their individual profession of faith rather than God’s covenant promise, first to us, but also in the big picturee to His Son, yes, yet again, “Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession” (Ps. 2:8).
As important
as they are, if we were to focus more on God’s promises than professions, i.e.,
more on God than the individual, in regards to baptism, we would not be so
blind. “For all the
promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory
of God through us” (1 Cor. 1:20). Whether water Baptism or
that to which water baptism points, i.e., Spirit baptism, we must see it speaks
of the Father fulfilling His promise to the Son by the Spirit. This picture is
lost to the observer watching individuals been immersed, yes, sometimes even in
plastic kiddie’s swimming pools! The recipients for water baptism now includes
those who were “afar off” prior the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, yes, the
nations. We know this because that is who Jesus baptized with His Spirit.
To make sure
our eyes are truly open, let us now join the dots. Those who crossed the Red
Sea on dry land under the cloud “all were baptized into Moses.” That word
“into” (εἰς)
is the same word in “baptizing them [the nations] in (εἰς) the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit.” So we see then that baptism in the former is to be identified with
Moses as God’s intermediary, and the latter directly with the Triune God of
whom Jesus is the Mediator. John the baptizer was the last of the Old Testament
prophets. Those who identified with him and his call for repentance were
baptized by him and into him. Commenting on Acts 19:24-28, says Calvin,
“John was, so to speak, an intermediary between Christ and the prophets... He went before, lighting the way for Christ, and gave a wonderful explanation of His power. His [John's] disciples are justifiably said to have had knowledge of Christ.”
Now, don’t miss what John saw when he was
baptizing Jesus, “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also
was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit
descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven
which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased” (Luke
3:21-22). Yes, the last of the Old Testament prophets knew all about the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, into Whose name we are identified by Christian
water baptism.
Yet there is confusion when baptism becomes associated with the mediators Moses or John rather than the Triune God whom they serve. Likewise, our focus must be on the promise of God instead of the profession of an individual lest we end up confused about the meaning of baptism.
“And it happened … that Paul … came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s baptism.” Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied” (Acts 19:1-6).
Nigel Lee interacts with
John Calvin regarding these verses,
Paul said: “John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance!” Here Calvin comments “that the baptism of John was a sign of repentance.... Today, there is no difference between it and our own baptism.... It [baptism by John] was a token and pledge of the same adoption and the same newness of life which we receive in our baptism today. Therefore we do not read that Christ baptized afresh those who came over to Him from John! “In addition, Christ received baptism in His own flesh -- so that He might associate Himself with us by that visible symbol. But if that fictitious difference [between baptism by John and our own baptism today] be admitted -- there will vanish and be lost to us this unique favour: that we have a common baptism with the Son of God.” And He, the sinless One, was certainly not regenerated thereby! Calvin continues: “It [baptism by John] is the same baptism” as Christian baptism. “But now, the question is asked whether it was right to repeat it.... Fanatical men of our day, relying on this evidence [cf. Acts 19:3-5], have tried to introduce Anabaptism.... I deny that the baptism of water was repeated!”
So,
when John spoke about Jesus baptizing with the Spirit and fire, He was
including all the nations (and not just the Hebrew nation) as being the
recipients of the name of Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit – as
spoken and pictured in water baptism. The Father promised to give His Son the
nations by giving “the Man Christ Jesus” the Spirit to fulfill that covenant
promise.
“Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles [the nations]. He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust” (Mat. 12:18-21 from Isaiah 42:1-4).
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| Image from Net |
As General Lee said to General Stuart when he was finished reprimanding him, “Let us speak no more of this.” If only!
Like
a mighty army
Moves the church of God;
Brothers, we are treading
Where the saints have trod;
We are not divided,
All one body we,
One in hope and doctrine,
One in charity.
[1] Roderick Lawson, The Shorter
Catechism with Commentary and Scripture Proofs, Free Church of Scotland Publications
Committee, Edinburgh, no date, Comment on Quest. 92.
[2] Robert Letham, Systematic
Theology, Crossway, Wheaton, Illinois, 2019, 707.
[3] O Palmer Robertson, Israel and the Nations in God’s Covenants, (Waters, Reid, and Muether, Covenant Theology: Biblical, Theological, and Historical Perspectives, Crossway, Wheaton, Illinois, 2020), 516.
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