Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share #83 The right baptism
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
#83 The right baptism
From Meditations on the Epistles of John, by Samuel Froehlich
I John 3:1-2:
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should
be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew
him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what
we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for
we shall see him as he is.
By nature no one is of God, for all are sinners, who come short of the glory of
God and bear in them the poison of Adam’s sin and the likeness of the devil; and
he who is not redeemed therefrom, in this time of grace, by faith in the Gospel
of Christ dies eternally on that account. (Mark 9; John 8) And he who does not
believe it makes God a liar. All, by nature, are in the power of the devil and
the Son of God has come in the flesh to release us from him.
These words seem hard and wrong to men, but because they are themselves hard in
unbelief, the Word of God, accordingly, is like a fire which consumes everything
that is of an ungodly nature and like a hammer which breaks rocks: in the
believer this takes place here; in the unbeliever, in eternity. In the former it
accomplishes salvation and blessedness but in the latter, condemnation (for
every sacrifice is salted with fire) and yonder it becomes a worm that does not
die and a fire that does not quench.
In order that the spiritual death in Adam may not become eternal death, through
Christ’s death on the cross it must be given an antidote and outlet; and for
this the believers are baptized into the death of Christ and baptism then
becomes the transition of the death of Christ upon us and, consequently, also of
life, which however is not the case in the baptism of unknowing infants, for
their baptism is neither the baptism of John (for the forgiveness of sin) nor
the baptism of Christ (for the inner purification from sin), but it is nothing
at all, for men in their subsequent life are still dead in sin and the foreskin
of the flesh.
For the right baptism of Christ is herein differentiated from the baptism of
John: in that it is not merely a baptism of water (as is infant baptism), but by
virtue of the preceding faith of the Word, it, through the wondrous, hidden
working of God, is a real planting together with Christ in the likeness of His
death (in relation to sin) and of His life (in relation to righteousness), that,
instead of the devil, the Son of God takes up a dwelling place in us. (John 1:14; Ephesians 5)
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
The indwelling sin-poison, as a disease, must receive drainage by baptism in
Christ, in a similar way that the morbid matter of smallpox receives it by
vaccination. But if vaccination would not immunize one before the outbreak of
the disease, it would be useless and would not answer the purpose; and so is
infant baptism also useless because it does not answer the purpose and the
divine intention of baptism, but rather permits men to remain in sin and
deception throughout life. It neither closes up the source of sin nor opens the
source of life.
But in him who by reason of his faith is baptized into the death of Christ, sin
has been put to death and righteousness has been made alive. For that reason the
people have really not been baptized. For the baptism of Christ is a baptism of
the Spirit and of fire, for purification from indwelling sin and for restoration
of the divine image; for even though natural man has a natural mind, the Word of
God says,
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
But of what use is a lantern that has no light?
View all episodes
By Timeless FaithFrom Meditations on the Epistles of John, by Samuel Froehlich
I John 3:1-2:
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should
be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew
him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what
we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for
we shall see him as he is.
By nature no one is of God, for all are sinners, who come short of the glory of
God and bear in them the poison of Adam’s sin and the likeness of the devil; and
he who is not redeemed therefrom, in this time of grace, by faith in the Gospel
of Christ dies eternally on that account. (Mark 9; John 8) And he who does not
believe it makes God a liar. All, by nature, are in the power of the devil and
the Son of God has come in the flesh to release us from him.
These words seem hard and wrong to men, but because they are themselves hard in
unbelief, the Word of God, accordingly, is like a fire which consumes everything
that is of an ungodly nature and like a hammer which breaks rocks: in the
believer this takes place here; in the unbeliever, in eternity. In the former it
accomplishes salvation and blessedness but in the latter, condemnation (for
every sacrifice is salted with fire) and yonder it becomes a worm that does not
die and a fire that does not quench.
In order that the spiritual death in Adam may not become eternal death, through
Christ’s death on the cross it must be given an antidote and outlet; and for
this the believers are baptized into the death of Christ and baptism then
becomes the transition of the death of Christ upon us and, consequently, also of
life, which however is not the case in the baptism of unknowing infants, for
their baptism is neither the baptism of John (for the forgiveness of sin) nor
the baptism of Christ (for the inner purification from sin), but it is nothing
at all, for men in their subsequent life are still dead in sin and the foreskin
of the flesh.
For the right baptism of Christ is herein differentiated from the baptism of
John: in that it is not merely a baptism of water (as is infant baptism), but by
virtue of the preceding faith of the Word, it, through the wondrous, hidden
working of God, is a real planting together with Christ in the likeness of His
death (in relation to sin) and of His life (in relation to righteousness), that,
instead of the devil, the Son of God takes up a dwelling place in us. (John 1:14; Ephesians 5)
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
The indwelling sin-poison, as a disease, must receive drainage by baptism in
Christ, in a similar way that the morbid matter of smallpox receives it by
vaccination. But if vaccination would not immunize one before the outbreak of
the disease, it would be useless and would not answer the purpose; and so is
infant baptism also useless because it does not answer the purpose and the
divine intention of baptism, but rather permits men to remain in sin and
deception throughout life. It neither closes up the source of sin nor opens the
source of life.
But in him who by reason of his faith is baptized into the death of Christ, sin
has been put to death and righteousness has been made alive. For that reason the
people have really not been baptized. For the baptism of Christ is a baptism of
the Spirit and of fire, for purification from indwelling sin and for restoration
of the divine image; for even though natural man has a natural mind, the Word of
God says,
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
But of what use is a lantern that has no light?