The Ohio Independent Baptist, August 1960

L l't1ti11\1 ,a ft 0111 l)ag 2) \ 1· ·111"' ' 'l' llll 1\ cts l ~18 s l1t1t1ld ~111s,, er tl1i s ar~\llllt'tlt al c. \\ nrt glad tl, at l)t ... nrt1111, ~1ars a k1,o,, 1 dgc t1 1 nt " ,v·,sl111 ~ a,,.,~ ~ 111s" is 111C't ,l ill101 ical V l1at 11, f~11ls lo ~ , ~ tl1at 11 l1'- tl1 ,t<.id.;;; :,11d ~ttl)t1-..1cls from l11s t<' .. t. H 111<,k 'S _11...111~ns sn)r . • " \ ~.l~l' a 11d l)c l)n_i1t12 d ar1d ,va l1 a, a tliy s111s 111 b,11 t1s111 , ,, l1c11 l1c ~,11d 111s t ad, "calli11g 011 t h 11a111' cf tlt<..' l l'li.'' ('all111g 1::-. a11 aorist participl and i11cli– l' ,ltl'S tl,at tl1l: cnll11,g \\ ,l s l1 fo r baptisn1. "Havi11g call d ttl,."Otl tl1c 11~-1111c oi tl1t:: Lord.' ' ,,,ould be b tt r. Th Gosp 1 J)t 01111s 1.. ,, 1tl1ol1t atl)' co11d1t 1011 that ' 'Whoso , , r shall call U})\l ll tl,l 11cl111\. of tl1 Lord l1all be a, 1 d" Rom. 10.13. Of l'(\ttrs at1l , , a~ f orp;i, · 11 b fore h ,,,ent down 111to the ,, ,lt r The r al pa age u d to prove baptismal washing away of sin i Epl1. 5:25. 26. " 'Cl1ri t al o lo, 1 ed the church and gave hin1self for it; tl1at he ntigl1t sa11ctify it, having cleansed it by the ,,,a bing of \\·ater "vith the \-vord ' or literally by means of . ' . (1n trun1ental dative) the "vashing of water in the d 't •• , \\'Or . . . p. 35 Dr. A . T. Robertson judges differently on p. 521 of his gramn1ar. He thinks that "to loutro' is in the locative -dative case. Since the form is the same in either case we must thin1:: i1: Gr~ek to ~,e~ide who is right, and not 'in English or F1nn1sh. · Loutron 1s not the act of washing, but the bath in \\~hich the washing is done. That sh ows that it is not in the instrumental case, for one does not cleanse anything with a bathtu b but in it. Nor does that m ean our sins are washed away in a baptistry when we remember it is symoblical language. Symbolically they are, but actually they a r e \\'ashed away in the blood of Christ. I t might be well to point out that the Greek does not say ' 'washing of water by THE word," but "in word." Nor does it use the expression "logos' but the preached word "rhema.' ' The two ar e often syn onymous, but s ince it is th; ~iving Word that saves, one would expect P aul to use logos if he had wanted to say that baptism plus the word saves. There is another way of translating "en rhemati.' Julius Mantey Greek professor and writer of Greek textbooks u sed to say in class, ' It may m ean 'As we might say.' w'e can translate it this way: having as we might say washed her in a laver of water .' That puts quite another meaning into the verse. The Lutheran interpretation of Eph. 5:26 seems foolish when applied to unconsciou s infants. A couple Bible verses may be quoted before they sprinkle a child but they are not soul -winning verses. The prominent part is not the Word as Dr.. ~aarnivaara claims, but a questioning of the child by the m1ruSter and the answers of its sponsors. They answer that he renounces the devil and accepts the creed of the church. Then the minister sprinkl es the child three times in the name of the Triune God and says that God has 'be– gotten thee again of Wat er and the Holy Ghost, and hath for– given thee all thy sins." Where have they any Word for that? They have misquoted Mark 10:13-16, as Dr. Saarnivaara ad– mits, and assumed a baptismal salavation that they cannot prove. Surely that is honoring the Word in its breech and not in its observance. SAVED BY WATER? The last verse that Dr. S aarnivaara brings forward is I P et er 3:21. ' 'T11' lik ' fi g t1r w l1 r .t111to cv n b<1ptism clot} 1 nlso 110\,\ sa ,, us ( r1ot th(" JJUtl111g c1wc1y of th filtli o( the fl s l1 ), l)U t tl1 an~W('t· of a gc>ocl consc1enc towarcl Go<l 1> tl1C' l'C'Sttrr c t ion of J estts C'h1 ts t ' Pc t r c.oays 'B ' l ' l t l , y . . . . ~c , ap- 1s n1 co 1 sav us. ou say, 'Bap tism docs not save.' Don' t you scC' ll1 a l what you say is th dirc,ct opposite lo wllat lb wo1 d of God says?" p. 36. Whc~1 it is obj ctcd tl1al Peter says he is not talki 11 g about t~c pu~~111g away of tl1c, filth of the flesh, this answer is given.: P e ter says that baptis1n is not such a ceremonial wasl11ng as the Old Covenant washings were fl cl t 'I · · · · e oes 110 say: t is not the external washing that saves but' He says .that 'baptism .doth save u s,' not in the Old' Co\.·e~a~t ceremonial way but ~n the N~w Covenant way . . . The N~w Tes.tament w~s?1ng, baptism, does give a good con s~ienc.e .since. the finished work of Christ, His resurrection gives 1t its efficacy' pp. 37, 38. ' . It. is a clever ans":'er , b? t Peter says that baptism is a like figure unto the f1gurat1ve salvat ion of eight people in the flood. Actua lly _it .was not t~e water that saved Noah, but t~e ark ; and so 1t 1s not baptism that saves us by Christ. Y :t 1n one sense the water that killed millions could b said to save Noah and his family figuratively for it was th: wat~r that carried the a:k to safety. Just s'o the death of ~hr1st saves ~s, and ba~t1sm ~ecomes the antitype (as Peter l1te~ally calls it) of the f1gurat1ve salvation of Noah by water. It is cor,~ect t? ~ay wit1:- P eter that "In a figure baptism saves u s, but is 1s unscr1ptural to leave out the first phrase and say that baptism saves us. There is not a. hint in the whole epistle of First Peter th~t h,e was referr.1ng to Old Testament washings when he said, . not the puttmg away of the filth of the flesh." What he did try to do was correct any impression that he meant that the water of baptism actually saves us, for it is the an– swe: of a goo~ conscience that saves us through the resur– rection of Christ. That deep truth is harmonious ,vith the Gospel of gr ace. The troubled conscience cannot rest even on the death of Christ until in his resurrection it sees that he .indeed died for our sins and is now risen for our justifi– cation (Rom. 4:25) . Faith in that finished word of Christ does indee~ give. r~st to the conscience, but baptism does not. If bapt1s~ d1~ it, there would n ot be so many baptized people wandering in the desert of uncertainty as to their sal– vation. Next month we shall take up the Lutheran teaching on infant ba:ptism and falling from grace, as well as go over a few more Scriptures that they clai.m teach baptismal regeneration. We have already seen how bald and bold that teaching is, and how contradictory to the Bible doctrine of salvation by grace. When we consider that half of the church members -0£ America believe in this Lutheran teaching or worse, and half ~f the others. are trusting in their baptism far more than they like to admit, we cannot wonder why Christianity is as powerless as it is . Surely we Baptists still have a work to do! This review will run through October. To help pastors to get it into tJie homes of those who do not subscribe (and as a help to get them to subscribe) we are otferi•.vg the July- - A ug.-Sept.-Oct. issues in bundles at half O'r less than half prices. If you wish any July and Aug. issues, we will send them as long as they last, but put in an advance order at once for S ept. and Oct. Rates: Be a copy for one month, 15c for two months, 20c for three, and 25c for four. =====================================================================================-=======================================· OUI FELLOWSHIP PAGE ( onti11ue l from page ) with several professions of faith among the students. CENTRAL BAPTIST, Columbus Recently a ; oung couple who had been attending our services interviewed Pastor McKeever in regard to mar– riage and were led to Christ. They have been baptized and received the right hand of fellowship July 10th. The church has set a goal of $200 for the Home for the Aged, and the DVBS con– tributed an offering of $16.57. FIRST BAPTIST, Galion Daily Vacation Bible School con– cluded with an average of 100 in attend– ance and with 10 decisions for Christ. Miss Beryl Gow, an instructor of teach– ers for the Child Evangelism F ellow– ship in Ohio, who is a member of our church, conducted the school. A formal dinner honoring five high school graduates was enjoyed by the young people. Three of our youth will enter Cedarville College this fall . A STATE SUNDAY SCHOOL CONTEST THIS FALL? Pastor Wilfred Booth of Galion, one of the committee who planned it, re– ports that so far (July 12) only two churches had 1·egistered to enter it. Two years ago such a blessing was r eceived from it. Why not enter into it whether you think your church will win or not? Even losers will be benefited by it, for all will register some improvement. Send your registration and $6 fee to Pastor Howard Jones, 1616 Marlor Rd., Bucyrus, Ohio. The dead line for en– trance is Sept. 15th.