The Baptist tell us that baptism is just a mere external bodily act, gaining them nothing but mere church membership. This is not found in the Scriptures. The apostle Paul by inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes: “bodily exercise profits little.” 1 Timothy 4:8 They mock baptism for the remission of sins and its importance in the plan of salvation. We have been taught that immersion in water, in the name of Jesus Christ is an act of the whole man, body soul and spirit. The soul of the intelligence subject is fully immersed into the Lord Jesus, as his or her body is immersed in the water; the reason for the action is this is what was commanded by the direction of the spirit, who inspired the message given by the apostles.1 Corinthians 12:13 So Paul would writes: “by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.” Our souls, by this instruction, meet with the blood of the Lord Jesus. As our body rises out of the water our spirit becomes one with all the family of God. It is not like circumcising a Hebrew infant or proselytizing a Gentile adult to the message of Moses authority. The candidate, believing in the person of the Son of God, and willing to submit to Him, immediately, upon recognizing Christ Jesus, is buried with the Lord, and arises with the Lord, not corporately, but spiritually, with the whole soul.
We need to watch how we speak of bodily acts in obedience to divine institutions. Call to your mind all of the physical sacrifices of pure animals that were a part of the Patriarchal and Mosaic institutions. These were merely physical acts and were in no a benefit to the animal sacrificed. The animal never gained any special favor or notice from God. The animal was just a means to the end. Remember, the crucifixion on Mt. Calvary, and talk not lightly of bodily acts. There were two other men sacrificed on crosses that day. There was no benefit to the body of either of these. Christ was the only sacrifice who received reward, acclamation, and received the promise of God. Christ was not the outward flesh but the spiritual being who went to the alien world. There is no such thing as outward bodily acts in the Christian institution. Less, than all the other acts of obedience, is the act of immersion!! In the immersion of the sinner, who has a believing, penitent heart, the spirit, soul, and body of man becomes a possession of and one with the Lord. 1 Corinthians 6:19 The physical body itself will be transmuted on the day of resurrection and be changed into a glorious body. In this act of immersion, the power of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit comes upon us. It is immediately after this act that the Holy Spirit of God comes into us to live in the human body as we remain faithful. It is immediately after baptism that the Father and Son, take up residency in the heart.” If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make our abode with him. John 14:21-24 The body is the means through which this takes place but the body itself never gains purification, justification or any other enhancement. Baptism is not just a physical act, the body is the medium or means through which these acts take place. To put it another way, the being who never had a body and had not committed sin would never need to be baptized. Transgressors of the Old Testament covenant, be it Patriarchal or Mosaic laws had bodies, but none of their bodies will be saved-they will be transmuted. You cannot claim they were all baptized, so you cannot claim that baptism is a physical act. Baptism is the command, immersion is the action/ means of obeying the command. In is irreconcilable with the Scriptures or logic that someone baptize infants. That the body of an infant is not required for salvation, is seen when the infant dies before accountability. Then the use of the body would not be the means in which and through which obedience to the commandment of God would be offered. The infant is neither born in sin, nor can commit sin, nor can inheritance sin therefore, the child one day before accountability, dies with never having a need of the body! Obeying the gospel, the tongue of the sinner does not save. The tongue is merely the instrument through which the heart speaks. “For with the heart man believe is the righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:10 This helps us understand Romans 10:13. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” It is not the calling of somebody’s name, it is the obedience to the command that was given, that saved! Why do the Baptist, baptize at all?
