Baptism is a church ordinance by which the Christian shows his faith in and his acceptance of the sacrificial, substitutionary death of Jesus on his behalf and in his stead.
It is a symbol and memorial of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The one receiving it shows thereby that he believes Jesus actually experienced death, burial, and resurrection in his place, and having accepted the provisions thus made by Jesus for his salvation from sin and his restoration to life beyond the grave, he indicates it by entering into this sacred rite.
In receiving baptism one also declares that he renounces the world; he crucifies the "old man" —the sinful nature—and accepts the resurrection power of Jesus Christ to live a new life.
Faith is one of the prerequisites for baptism. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16).
Faith is based upon the word of God. It is exercised with reference to the promises and declarations found in God's Word. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). It is clear then that instruction in the Word of God is an essential preparation for baptism.
In harmony with this it will be seen that when Jesus sent forth His disciples and gave them the great commission to carry on His work in the earth, He told them they were to "teach" people as a preparation for baptism. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matt. 28:19). Notice that this teaching was to be thorough and inclusive, as stated in the next verse: "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (verse 20).
The Scriptures were written that men might know God's will. The "all things" He has commanded men to do are found in the Bible. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). Therefore, those preparing for baptism are to study and be taught the Scriptures.
Does that mean that one is not properly prepared for baptism until he has a complete knowledge of the Scriptures? If that were true, who would ever be ready for baptism? For no one is ever graduated from the study of the Bible. There is always more to be learned. The Christian is to "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18).
Obviously it is meant that one who is to be baptized should have an understanding of the fundamental teachings of the Bible and the plan of salvation commensurate with his opportunities to learn and his capacity to understand. One need not be a college graduate to be eligible for baptism. In fact, those who are exposed to higher education all too often are strangers to the things of God as revealed in His Word. Neither could it be said that one must be fully matured in years before he could be baptized and become a member of the Lord's body. A youth who is not yet even a teen-ager, but who has reached the age when he can understand the Scriptures well enough to be accountable for his conduct, and who shows that he is capable of exercising faith and has been converted, is surely eligible for baptism.
Rebaptism
Is there ever an occasion when a Christian who has been baptized once, and properly so, might properly be baptized again? We have already noted that those baptized are first to be taught the Scriptures. Suppose one's understanding of the meaning of certain scriptures changes after his baptism, and through study he learns that those who had formerly instructed him were not fully informed and had led him to erroneous conclusions? Suppose he finds out that although he thought he was fully obeying God he was actually disobeying Him? Suppose he comes to see that he had actually been transgressing some of the plain commands of God at the time of and after his baptism? Then what is his responsibility?
Many fine Christians have gone through such an experience. Many have been wrong when they thought they were right. Through many centuries the true church has been attacked and the truths of God's Word "cast down" (Dan. 8:12) and obscured. During the Dark Ages good honest people thought they were doing right when they were doing things we know today are condemned in God's Word. Many have prayed to Mary and the "saints," confessed their sins to a human priest, burned candles before images, and thought they were doing right. And many are still doing these things. What shall they do when they learn that these things are contrary to God's Word? Would it not be the right thing to rebaptize these people when they learn that they have grossly misunderstood the Scriptures and are actually living in transgression of the law of God? The answer is obvious.
But let us look a little closer. What if some earnest person learned that he was observing the wrong day as the Sabbath and yet was baptized? When he came to a correct understanding of the Bible and learned that the seventh day is the Sabbath, not the first, and although ever so sincere he was actually and openly transgressing one of the commandments of God, would it not be proper for that one to be baptized again? Surely it would be just as necessary for him as it would for those who had been praying to Mary and adoring images. The point may be vastly different, but the principle is the same.
There is an example in the Scriptures where some believers who had not been fully instructed at the time of their baptism were baptized again when they received further light. (See Acts 19:1-5.)
In the days of Israel and the sanctuary service the Lord gave instruction as to what one should do who had been living in sin unknowingly. When he came to know of his transgression he was to bring his sin offering to the sanctuary, as he would for any other sin. (See Lev. 4:2, 27-31.) Of course, this does not mean that those who transgress a commandment of the Lord in ignorance are condemned, but it shows that we are to regard such transgression as sin when we come to know about it. We are to confess it and put it away. And where it is open transgression of one of God's commandments, would it not seem proper to be baptized again when we receive the light and learn that we had actually been transgressing God's law?
Our fathers and mothers did many things contrary to the Scriptures, thinking they were obeying and honoring the Lord. Will they be lost for that transgression? You say No, and you are right. But what of their children living in this great truth-restoring age? Will they not be judged by the greater light that is now available? When we learn that we have been living in transgression it is certainly proper and right that we should repent and confess that transgression, and treat it just as we did the transgressions that were known to us at the time of our former baptism.
A Preacher Who Wanted to Be Baptized
A minister recently learned of the true Sabbath and decided to obey God. He had been baptized by immersion. In fact, he himself had baptized many others. Someone raised the question as to why he should be baptized again. His reply was unequivocal. He said, "I want to wash away all the error." If that was his conviction, was he not right in desiring rebaptism? Baptism symbolizes the washing away of our sins. "And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16).
According to 1 John 3:4 "sin is the transgression of the law." And "all unrighteousness is sin" (chapter 5:17). If we have been breaking any of God's commandments, then it would seem clear that we should repent and wash away that sin by baptism even though we may have been baptized one or more times before.
One who had backslidden from God, turning back into open sin after his baptism, would expect, of course, to be baptized again if he repented and turned back to God. If his backsliding was of such a nature as to separate him from church membership, he would naturally reenter church membership and fellowship in the same way he entered the first time; that is, through faith in Christ, which faith is expressed in baptism. There would be no question about the propriety of rebaptism under these circumstances. And it seems almost equally clear that in the case of one who had been baptized while holding erroneous doctrines and living in transgression of some clear command of God, rebaptism would be natural when the truth is discovered and accepted.
An important part of God's last message to the world is a call to His people to come out of Babylon. To come out of Babylon in this age of light is to turn back to the beautiful simple truths of the Bible as taught and lived by Jesus and the apostles. It is to believe and live as the early church did before she was overtaken by apostasy and worldliness. To come out of Babylon is to come out of the darkness and errors brought into the church through the great apostasy, many of which errors still hold sway in some churches today. To come out of Babylon is to come into the full light of Christ's marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). And one -who accepts that light allows the Lord to live His life in him, and by so doing he can by His grace "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Rev. 14:12), and carry on to completion the great Reformation so nobly begun by Luther and the other Reformers.
Surely when God's true children hear the call to "come out of her, my people" (Rev. 18:4) they will recognize it as a call to break off completely from any and all errors that have crept into the church during the centuries of apostasy. Today God is finishing the truth-restoring work of the Reformation, and when one makes the great decision to follow and accept the light He has revealed, the natural thing is to witness to his decision by baptism.
Most of those who request admittance into the Adventist Church are baptized even if they have been baptized before, and they testify that they receive a great blessing through the experience. Among the few who enter upon profession of faith, some often decide later to be rebaptized. When asked why they do this they will usually say it is to make the separation from error complete.
To unite with the great Advent Movement of these last days is often to find a new fellowship with Jesus, and when that is the case, this experience of baptism will make it all the more real. Those who have not been clear upon this question of rebaptism would do well, we believe, to give study to the suggestions set forth here, and to consider also the testimonies of those who speak from experience and declare that rebaptism has brought a great blessing to them.
