Michaelsmth in Christ,
In order to object to water baptism as being regenerative you must refuse to take literally many passages of scripture including the words of Jesus in John 3:5 which say, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” In an attempt to explain this verse away some will make the claim that the water spoken of in this passage refers to the bag of waters/amniotic fluid of a mother’s womb. They then say that the first half of Jesus statement merely refers to a person’s natural birth.
This view does violence to the passage in which Jesus tells Nicodemus that a man must be born anew in baptism. Clearly, the bag of waters interpretation cannot be true. First of all, those who make the case for the interpretation do not offer any evidence that the Jews described childbirth in terms of the bag of waters. We know that Jesus was talking about the water of baptism because the scriptures that immediately follow the meeting with Nicodemus say that, “After this Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judea: there he remained with them and baptized” (John 3:22). The subsequent verses also mention that John the Baptist was nearby baptizing because there was an abundance of water. The entire context is about water baptism. Baptism has always been associated with water, whereas childbirth in Jewish usage was more likely associated with blood. A biblical foundation for this latter point is found in John 1:12-13 where we read, “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God: who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
More scripture showing the regenerative nature of baptism.
OT-- Baptism prefigured
Ezk 36:25-28
I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Compare this to:
ACTS 2:37-39
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him.”
Going statement for statement we see an unmistakable pattern and prefiguring in Ezekiel with a corresponding fulfillment in the NT. The Book of Acts makes the connections abundantly clear. In Ezekiel we are told that God will use water to cleanse you of your uncleannesses (i.e sins). In the book of Acts it says to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins. God says in Ezekiel that he will “give you a new heart and remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” In the book of Acts we are told that they were cut to the heart. In Ezekiel God says, “I will put a new spirit within you.” and in the book of Acts we are told that we will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then finally in Ezekiel God says, “…and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.” And in the book of Acts we are told that “the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him.” Clearly, all those that the Lord our God calls to himself are rightly called “his people.”
Beyond this we read the following NT scriptures.
Matthew 3:15-17
But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
In this passage we see Jesus receiving baptism. Obviously, Jesus did not need baptism as we do. Nevertheless, Jesus is baptized for two reasons. One is to “fulfill all righteousness” This makes holy and efficacious baptism for all Christians of all times. Secondly, we see that Jesus receives the Holy Spirit. Thus we are shown what takes place for us in water baptism. We receive the Holy Spirit and we become adopted sons and daughters and we are made righteous before the Lord.
Returning to the book of Acts we read the following:
ACTS 19:1-7
“While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve of them in all.” This passage of scripture clearly shows that John’s baptism of forgiveness did not have the gift of the Holy Spirit attached to it. These disciples were therefore baptized again in the name of Jesus and thereby received the gift of the Holy Spirit. The following passages of scripture further attest to the necessity and efficacy of baptism.
ACTS 22:16
And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’
MARK 16:16
He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
ROMANS 6: 3-4
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
cont. on next post
)is a little convoluted. But if you more or less agree that it holds water, we’ve moved very far from the protestant sides:
