The house of God is the place where God has promised to meet with, and bless His
people. It is that sphere over which Jesus Christ currently functions as the saviour
of the body . . . . an high priest over the house of God.
Baptism offers the believer in Christ admission into this realm. The believer, then,
is in the place of blessing and can avail himself of God's gracious plan through the
priesthood of Christ.
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By
which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were
disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the
ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like
figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth
of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and
authorities and powers being made subject unto him" (I Pet 3:18-22).
Moses E. Lard, a contemporary of Alexander Campbell, wrote in his book, "We maintain
that the sinner, though a believer, is still required to repent and be baptized in
order to the remission of his sins, and, consequently, that they are not remitted
before and without baptism."
He also states: "Where salvation is promised to a person, or affirmed to him, on
certain named conditions, though it may depend on more conditions than those named, it
can never depend on less."
On into the book, he introduces I Peter 3:21 as proof that baptism is required of the
alien sinner in order to the remission of his past sins. He begins by saying, " . . .
. the passage, as it now stands in the common version, conveys no intelligible meaning
whatever; indeed, it is simply a jumble of words without meaning." He tinkers with the
text for several pages in the book then finally says, "Hence, baptism doth also now
save us, because therein our sins are remitted."
James M. Zachary, another of Mr. Campbell's brethren, wrote, "We are saved by
faith--not immediately upon its first existence, but when it leads us to do the will
of God . . . . Thus we see sinners are saved not by faith only, but by faith and
obedience."
Later in the book, Mr. Zachery singles out I Peter 3:20-21. "When a sinner has been
prepared by faith, repentance, and confession, then baptism initiates him into the
grace of God, into the body of Christ, into the reign or kingdom of Christ. Baptism is
the great river, flowing as the boundary line between the kingdom of Satan and the
kingdom of Christ."
Both of these men apply I Peter 3:21 to alien sinners. These writers seem to overlook
the us, of whom baptism doth also now save, which included the apostle Peter, who
authored the Epistle. Also, those about whom Peter wrote, are further identified by
Peter as being those who are:
1) "begotten . . . . again" (I Pet 1:3); 2) "kept by the power of God through faith"
(1:5); 3) "redeemed" (1:18-19); 4) "born again" (1:23); 5) "lively stones . . . . a
spiritual house" (2:5); 6) "called . . . . out of darkness into his marvelous light"
(2:9); 7) "the house of God" (4:17); 8) "the flock of God" (5:2); and 9) "in Christ
Jesus" (5:14). The alien sinner obviously is not in view here.
Peter does not say, as Mr. Lard affirmed, "Hence, baptism doth also now save us,
because therein our sins are remitted." Nor does Peter say, "baptism hath saved us by
making contact with the blood of Christ." Instead, Peter said, " . . . . baptism (not
hath, but) doth also now save (not alien sinners, but) us . . . . (not by making
contact with the blood of Christ, but) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is
gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God . . . ." (I Pet 3:21-22).
The aspect of salvation which baptism is essential to is progressive. That is, the
lifetime responsibility of the baptized believer, as discovered in the second aspect.
It is offered only in "the house of God," and baptism places one into that realm.
Roy E. Cogdill, another Church of Christ debater, argued that the salvation which was
predicated of baptism was " . . . . from past sins or eternal salvation . . . .". He
told us which of the two he thought it applied to in his words, " . . . . he did not
mean that the individual who believes and is baptized shall surely and positively go
to Heaven. He was not promising salvation in the eternal sense and naming baptism as a
condition thereof."
The aspect of salvation which baptism is essential to has nothing whatever to do with
the remission of past sins or eternal salvation, yet Mr. Cogdill saw only those two
possibilities. The reason Mr. Cogdill, and all who teach baptismal regeneration, say
the salvation offered the alien sinner is only from past sins is because all who teach
baptismal regeneration also teach the doctrine of apostasy.
Mr. Cogdill's brother, Eugene S. Smith, stated their position as follows: "One sin,
unrepented of, will send an individual down to hell because sin cannot enter into
heaven . . . . Not one sin. And if a child of God sins, and dies, not having reprented
of that sin, into hell he goes."
No wonder Mr. Campbell called it, " . . . . the mighty struggle for eternal life."
Campbell wrote, " . . . . the commands . . . . to attain the resurrection of the just;
to lay hold on eternal life . . . . are accompanied with such exhortations,
admonitions, cautions, as to make it a difficult and critical affair, requiring all
the aids of the Spirit of our God, to all the means of grace and untiring assiduity
and perseverance on our part."
Yet, God's Word says, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life" (Rm 6:23). The fact is baptism doth also now save us . . . . by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God. Paul wrote,
"But this man . . . . hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession for them" (Heb 7:24-25).
In Hebrews 10:21, he added, "And having an high priest over the house of God." In
Hebrews 9:24, he said, "For Christ is not entered into holy places made with hands,
which are the figure of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for us."
Each one of these verses refers to the work which Christ is currently doing in heaven
as an high priest. Associated with this work is the word save in Hebrews 7:25.
This is the same sense this word is used in I Peter 3:21-22, ". . . . save . . . . by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of
God . . . .". The us of I Peter 3:21 involves the house of God
I Pet 4:17, just as the us of Hebrews 9:24 involves the house of God, Hebrews 10:21.
Baptism inducts the believer in Christ into this realm. It is only over this realm
that Jesus Christ functions as an high priest. Therefore, baptism is essential to the
save of Hebrews 7:25, connected with the priesthood of Christ.
Paul wrote, "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat
down on the right hand of God" (Heb 10:12). He added, " . . . . It is Christ . . . .
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us" (Rm 8:34).
In Mark 16:16, when Christ taught, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved .
. . .," we read in that context, "So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was
received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God" (Mk 16:19). From that
position in heaven, Paul wrote to baptized believers, saying, "Seeing then that we
have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens . . . . Let us (not alien
sinners, but those in 'the house of God,' over which Christ functions as priest)
therefore come boldly unto (not the cross from which the grace of God was extended to
alien sinners, but) the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help in time of need" (Heb 4:14, 16).
"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners" (I Tim 1:15). This is the work of Christ as "the saviour of
the world" (I Jn 4:14), and in order to that end, " . . . . Christ . . . . hath once
suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put
to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit" (I Pet 3:18).
But, " . . . . after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the
right hand of God" (Heb 10:12). Christ came into this world to die on behalf of alien
sinners, which death served as payment for the penalty of sin, and enabled God to
offer salvation on the basis of justice satisfied.
Having accomplished that work, Christ left this world, went back to heaven, and
currently functions as "an high priest over the house of God." As such, He "is the
saviour of the body," and offers those therein "mercy and grace to help in time of
need."
If you are lost, without a Saviour, "dead in trespasses and sins," we commend you to
the finished work of Christ on the cross. God offers you a Perfect Substitute. Receive
the benefit of it "through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph 2:8-9).
If you are a believer in Christ, thus one who has everlasting life (Jn 6:46), but have
not followed the Lord in baptism, we commend you to the ever present work of Christ,
seated at the right hand of God, from which God equips you with everything needed to
be successful in your life as a Christian. Follow the Lord in baptism. It is not
optional, but a commandment. The benefit is great in your life as a child of God. It
adds you to the church. Since the resurrection, Christ serves as High Priest over the
church providing much benefit to the baptized believer. BD
REFERENCES: Moses E. Lard, Review of Campbellism Examined, 1857--written in response
to the book Campbellism Examined by J.B. Jeter, a Baptist preacher; James M. Zachary,
The Witness of the Spirits; Cogdill-Jackson Debate; Alexander Campbell, The Christian
System.
people. It is that sphere over which Jesus Christ currently functions as the saviour
of the body . . . . an high priest over the house of God.
Baptism offers the believer in Christ admission into this realm. The believer, then,
is in the place of blessing and can avail himself of God's gracious plan through the
priesthood of Christ.
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By
which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were
disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the
ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like
figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth
of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and
authorities and powers being made subject unto him" (I Pet 3:18-22).
Moses E. Lard, a contemporary of Alexander Campbell, wrote in his book, "We maintain
that the sinner, though a believer, is still required to repent and be baptized in
order to the remission of his sins, and, consequently, that they are not remitted
before and without baptism."
He also states: "Where salvation is promised to a person, or affirmed to him, on
certain named conditions, though it may depend on more conditions than those named, it
can never depend on less."
On into the book, he introduces I Peter 3:21 as proof that baptism is required of the
alien sinner in order to the remission of his past sins. He begins by saying, " . . .
. the passage, as it now stands in the common version, conveys no intelligible meaning
whatever; indeed, it is simply a jumble of words without meaning." He tinkers with the
text for several pages in the book then finally says, "Hence, baptism doth also now
save us, because therein our sins are remitted."
James M. Zachary, another of Mr. Campbell's brethren, wrote, "We are saved by
faith--not immediately upon its first existence, but when it leads us to do the will
of God . . . . Thus we see sinners are saved not by faith only, but by faith and
obedience."
Later in the book, Mr. Zachery singles out I Peter 3:20-21. "When a sinner has been
prepared by faith, repentance, and confession, then baptism initiates him into the
grace of God, into the body of Christ, into the reign or kingdom of Christ. Baptism is
the great river, flowing as the boundary line between the kingdom of Satan and the
kingdom of Christ."
Both of these men apply I Peter 3:21 to alien sinners. These writers seem to overlook
the us, of whom baptism doth also now save, which included the apostle Peter, who
authored the Epistle. Also, those about whom Peter wrote, are further identified by
Peter as being those who are:
1) "begotten . . . . again" (I Pet 1:3); 2) "kept by the power of God through faith"
(1:5); 3) "redeemed" (1:18-19); 4) "born again" (1:23); 5) "lively stones . . . . a
spiritual house" (2:5); 6) "called . . . . out of darkness into his marvelous light"
(2:9); 7) "the house of God" (4:17); 8) "the flock of God" (5:2); and 9) "in Christ
Jesus" (5:14). The alien sinner obviously is not in view here.
Peter does not say, as Mr. Lard affirmed, "Hence, baptism doth also now save us,
because therein our sins are remitted." Nor does Peter say, "baptism hath saved us by
making contact with the blood of Christ." Instead, Peter said, " . . . . baptism (not
hath, but) doth also now save (not alien sinners, but) us . . . . (not by making
contact with the blood of Christ, but) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is
gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God . . . ." (I Pet 3:21-22).
The aspect of salvation which baptism is essential to is progressive. That is, the
lifetime responsibility of the baptized believer, as discovered in the second aspect.
It is offered only in "the house of God," and baptism places one into that realm.
Roy E. Cogdill, another Church of Christ debater, argued that the salvation which was
predicated of baptism was " . . . . from past sins or eternal salvation . . . .". He
told us which of the two he thought it applied to in his words, " . . . . he did not
mean that the individual who believes and is baptized shall surely and positively go
to Heaven. He was not promising salvation in the eternal sense and naming baptism as a
condition thereof."
The aspect of salvation which baptism is essential to has nothing whatever to do with
the remission of past sins or eternal salvation, yet Mr. Cogdill saw only those two
possibilities. The reason Mr. Cogdill, and all who teach baptismal regeneration, say
the salvation offered the alien sinner is only from past sins is because all who teach
baptismal regeneration also teach the doctrine of apostasy.
Mr. Cogdill's brother, Eugene S. Smith, stated their position as follows: "One sin,
unrepented of, will send an individual down to hell because sin cannot enter into
heaven . . . . Not one sin. And if a child of God sins, and dies, not having reprented
of that sin, into hell he goes."
No wonder Mr. Campbell called it, " . . . . the mighty struggle for eternal life."
Campbell wrote, " . . . . the commands . . . . to attain the resurrection of the just;
to lay hold on eternal life . . . . are accompanied with such exhortations,
admonitions, cautions, as to make it a difficult and critical affair, requiring all
the aids of the Spirit of our God, to all the means of grace and untiring assiduity
and perseverance on our part."
Yet, God's Word says, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life" (Rm 6:23). The fact is baptism doth also now save us . . . . by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God. Paul wrote,
"But this man . . . . hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession for them" (Heb 7:24-25).
In Hebrews 10:21, he added, "And having an high priest over the house of God." In
Hebrews 9:24, he said, "For Christ is not entered into holy places made with hands,
which are the figure of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for us."
Each one of these verses refers to the work which Christ is currently doing in heaven
as an high priest. Associated with this work is the word save in Hebrews 7:25.
This is the same sense this word is used in I Peter 3:21-22, ". . . . save . . . . by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of
God . . . .". The us of I Peter 3:21 involves the house of God
I Pet 4:17, just as the us of Hebrews 9:24 involves the house of God, Hebrews 10:21.
Baptism inducts the believer in Christ into this realm. It is only over this realm
that Jesus Christ functions as an high priest. Therefore, baptism is essential to the
save of Hebrews 7:25, connected with the priesthood of Christ.
Paul wrote, "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat
down on the right hand of God" (Heb 10:12). He added, " . . . . It is Christ . . . .
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us" (Rm 8:34).
In Mark 16:16, when Christ taught, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved .
. . .," we read in that context, "So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was
received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God" (Mk 16:19). From that
position in heaven, Paul wrote to baptized believers, saying, "Seeing then that we
have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens . . . . Let us (not alien
sinners, but those in 'the house of God,' over which Christ functions as priest)
therefore come boldly unto (not the cross from which the grace of God was extended to
alien sinners, but) the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help in time of need" (Heb 4:14, 16).
"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners" (I Tim 1:15). This is the work of Christ as "the saviour of
the world" (I Jn 4:14), and in order to that end, " . . . . Christ . . . . hath once
suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put
to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit" (I Pet 3:18).
But, " . . . . after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the
right hand of God" (Heb 10:12). Christ came into this world to die on behalf of alien
sinners, which death served as payment for the penalty of sin, and enabled God to
offer salvation on the basis of justice satisfied.
Having accomplished that work, Christ left this world, went back to heaven, and
currently functions as "an high priest over the house of God." As such, He "is the
saviour of the body," and offers those therein "mercy and grace to help in time of
need."
If you are lost, without a Saviour, "dead in trespasses and sins," we commend you to
the finished work of Christ on the cross. God offers you a Perfect Substitute. Receive
the benefit of it "through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph 2:8-9).
If you are a believer in Christ, thus one who has everlasting life (Jn 6:46), but have
not followed the Lord in baptism, we commend you to the ever present work of Christ,
seated at the right hand of God, from which God equips you with everything needed to
be successful in your life as a Christian. Follow the Lord in baptism. It is not
optional, but a commandment. The benefit is great in your life as a child of God. It
adds you to the church. Since the resurrection, Christ serves as High Priest over the
church providing much benefit to the baptized believer. BD
REFERENCES: Moses E. Lard, Review of Campbellism Examined, 1857--written in response
to the book Campbellism Examined by J.B. Jeter, a Baptist preacher; James M. Zachary,
The Witness of the Spirits; Cogdill-Jackson Debate; Alexander Campbell, The Christian
System.
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| Second Aspect of Salvation--Baptism's Role, Part II CHAPTER 20 By Bobby Dunn |