John's Baptism?

[BG]

B

 

[DonP]

Was John's Baptism Christian Baptism?

The Pharisees sent the Priests and Levites to ask John the Baptist if he was the Christ.

They asked him, "Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ...?" Jn 1:25

Was the baptism that Christ received of John, Christian baptism?

Not in my opinion

it was a call for the Jews to repent and cleanse themselves in preparation for the coming of the Messiah
like they cleansed themselves in repentance many times before.

Num 8:6 "Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them ceremonially. 7 Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purification on them, and let them shave all their body, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean. NKJV

2 Chron 29:15 And they gathered their brethren, sanctified themselves, and went according to the commandment of the king, at the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD NKJV

Lev 14:7 And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the open field. 8 He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean.
NKJV

 

[Brian Withnell]

Were the twelve apostles baptised with anything other than John's baptism?

An interesting point is that the 12 apostles are not recorded as having been baptized at all. They are recorded as baptizing people, but there is no explicit record of them being baptized.

I would not say they were not baptized; for the same reason that I would not say that children were not baptized in Acts 16:33 and following.

But I would certainly state that the baptism of John is not Christian baptism if for no other reason than the passage from Acts 18:23 to Acts 19:7. It seems clear that the passage is making a distinction between the two baptisms, one being a baptism of repentance, the other being something else (see verse 19:4). Paul does not relate there what the baptism in Christ is, but it is certain that it is not a baptism of repentance. There is precious little in the Bible that speaks what baptism is (apart from John's, which is contrasted with Christian baptism). Paul does put a parallel in Col 2:11,12 which equates Christian baptism with circumcision

In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. (ESV)

The grammar is a little dense, but taking the main phrases and putting them side by side "In him you were circumcised ... having been buried with him in baptism ...."

The rest is critical for full understanding, but is by no means the main structure of what is being said.

 

[Brian Withnell]

The Ephesian disciples received an adult (non-Trinitarian) baptism of repentance from John and do not appear to be aware that the One of whom John spoke had even come.

Apollos obviously was not fully instructed ... he only knew of John's baptism, a baptism of repentance, not Christian baptism, but verse 25 reads:

He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.

From what I can see, knew the way of the Lord, and accurately taught about Jesus. The author appears to be going to great lengths to establish that Apollos was a Christian, but had a lack of knowledge of Christian baptism. The "way of the Lord" would clearly imply that Apollos was Christian (even more pointed than Acts 9:2 a "generic" reference to "the way" but clearly implying Christians).

If anything, the passage is showing how the church dealt with error in the teaching of baptism as it went forth from the beginning. The error was thinking that Christian baptism was a baptism of repentance, just as John's baptism was. Teaching of baptism to those that are already Christians is very rare in the Bible. The vast majority of instances of baptism being to those that are being converted from pagan backgrounds; i.e., they do not already believe, and so are instructed to both believe and be baptized. This is not those in the church now and raised within her. To them the instruction is very rare indeed ... and then mostly dealing with other problems, not instruction on baptism itself. We see those few places as baptism is: 1) being dead to sin (Romans 6); 2) being into Christ (1 Cor 1); 2a) is the whole church (including those past) 1 Cor 10 and continued into chap 12; 3) is clothing oneself with Christ (Gal 3:27) 4) is indicative of unity (Eph 4:5); is equivalent of OT circumcision (Col 2:11,12); and 5) is our identification with Jesus (1 Peter 3:13-22). (I don't include 1 Cor 15:29, as I take this to be Paul using a particular practice that he does not endorse to show that the Corinthians did not hold consistent with what they were saying.)

That Apollos knew "the way" is fairly clearly stated, but he did not know Christian baptism. The same appears to be true of the 12 mentioned in chapter 19 ... Paul did not relate the gospel, but upon telling them there was a difference between John's baptism, and Christian baptism, he baptized them into the name of Jesus and they received the Holy Spirit. There was no need to tell them to repent and believe, they already did believe, but had not been baptized. This is in contrast to what we see in Acts 16, where the message had to be told first, then when the response was evident, the converts were baptized. The same model is evident in Acts 18:1-11 (as well as earlier times within the spread of the gospel). Acts 18:24 - 19:8 is the first time Paul (or anyone else for that matter) came upon people that already believed in Jesus, yet had not been baptized into anything other than John's baptism. So what did the church do? It made them aware that there was not only a baptism for pre-Christian era repentance to prepare the way for Jesus, but also a baptism that was into Christ, i.e., an identification with the visible church and Christ. I am convinced these men would have been Christians, they knew the way; they had just not been instructed as to the need for baptism as a sign and seal of the gospel.