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Things to Ask Your Preacher, Part 3 Original Air Date: August 20, 2000 Today marks the third week we have given you some questions to ask your preacher. Regardless of what you might think or what preachers might believe, no preacher anywhere has the right to preach anything other than what the Bible reveals. Over and over again, the scriptures warn against and condemn preaching anything other than Christ’s inspired, saving gospel. In Gal. 1:8, Paul cautioned, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” Another gospel would be the commands, opinions, or traditions of men instead of the pure, genuine, and unaltered gospel of Christ. This gospel is the power of God to save the lost, according to Rom. 1:16, which says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.” What should our attitude be toward those who preach a doctrine that is not taught in the Bible? John the apostle tells us in 2 Jn. 10: “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him.” The Bible is clear on this one point: We cannot give encouragement or comfort to a preacher or to his doctrine if the pages of scripture do not teach that doctrine. Therefore, it is critical to listen to preachers with an open Bible to know with certainty that the doctrine they teach is Christ’s. This is not only wise, but it is founded upon a biblical example found in Acts 17:11. This verse tells us that when the apostle Paul went into the small village of Berea to preach the gospel of Christ, those people listed with an open mind. But they were not empty-headed; they also opened their Bibles to check out his preaching. The verse says: These [the people of Berea] were more fair-minded [the King James Version says noble — they were more virtuous] than those in Thessalonica [now, here is why], in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. This was not insulting to Paul. He did not want people to follow him; rather, he wanted people to follow Christ. It is precisely because of these passages and these examples that I encourage you to check out your preacher and his preaching. Insist that he have Bible book, chapter, and verse for what he preaches. Ask him to prove his doctrine scripturally. If he teaches a doctrine for you to believe or obey, then he needs to be able to direct you to the passage in the Bible that teaches the doctrine. So I have been taking a few of the prominent doctrines of Protestant denominationalism and suggesting that you ask your preacher where the Bible teaches those particular doctrines. If your preacher preaches it, then he owes it to you, to himself, and to God to back up his doctrine with the Bible. If he can’t give you a Biblical justification for what he teaches, then he needs to explain to you and to your congregation why he teaches something not established by the Bible. If he is honest in his preaching, then he will not be offended that you ask for the passage that proves his teaching is scriptural. Now let’s continue giving you some questions that you should ask your preacher. First, ask your preacher where the Bible says babies were ever baptized. Many of you are members of denominations that baptize infants. If you are in a church where babies are baptized, then your preacher has been practicing and preaching this, has he not? If he doesn't teach or practice infant baptism, then don't bother asking him about it. He couldn’t find the passage any quicker than I could. But some of your preachers do preach infant baptism, and they do baptize babies according to their idea of baptism. I’m especially talking to people who have preachers like this right now. Please go to your preacher and ask him for the verse that says babies were baptized in the days of the apostles. Of course, if it’s there, then he knows where it is and he’ll be glad to give it to you in a New York minute. If the Bible says babies were ever baptized, I want to start baptizing babies too — but I want to see the passage in the Bible first, and so should you. So please help me out by asking your preacher for the text. If he does provide you with the verse, then please phone or write me with the passage. If he refers you to the cases of Lydia and the jailor in Acts 16, telling you that their households were baptized and that those households included their infants, just ask him if households always included infants. In other words, ask him if it is possible for a household to exist without having infants in it. I’ll bet you know a number of households that have no infants in them. Try hard and see if you can think of some. Don't you remember some households in which the children are all grown? And don't you recall some that have no children of any age in them? I know that you know of such cases. So to baptize a household would not be any proof of infant baptism. Lydia's household was made up of the women who were associated with her, according to Acts 16:13. Also, if she had been married, it would have been her husband's household, not Lydia’s. And Acts 16:34 tells us that the jailer “believed in God with all his household.” This verse tells us that all the members of his household were old enough to believe. That proves there were no infants there; an infant is incapable of believing in Christ, and every preacher knows this. So a household baptism offers no proof for infant baptism. Tell your preacher he will have to do better than that and actually give you a text that says babies were ever baptized. If he has been teaching you to baptize your babies, you have a right to ask him to give you scriptural authority for it. So don't let him off until he finds the passage for you. I have often read in Acts 8:12, which says, “Both men and women were baptized.” But in that case not a word is said about their babies being baptized. In Acts 8:37, Philip told the Ethiopian that one must believe before he could be baptized. As we just pointed out, infants are incapable of believing the gospel. Also, when Jesus gave the great commission to his apostles, as recorded in Matt. 28:19, he told them, “Go, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them.” This shows that people must be taught the gospel before they can be baptized. But infants are not subjects of gospel teaching. If your preacher tells you that this says to baptize nations and that infants are a part of nations and should, therefore, be baptized, just ask him if atheists are not a part of nations too. Ask him if he thinks this authorizes the baptism of atheists. It is an easy matter to find where men and women — believers — were baptized, but I am waiting to find where inspired men ever baptized babies. So ask your preacher about it. If he baptizes infants, then he should know where the Bible teaches it. Another question to ask your preacher is this. Ask him where the Bible says babies are born in sin. This is the fundamental reason that many teach that babies are to be baptized. However, some who believe that babies are born in sin don’t baptize those babies. But, let me not get sidetracked here; the question for you to ask your preacher is where the Bible says babies are born in sin. Frankly, I know that nearly all religious bodies teach this. Very likely, your preacher does the same thing. Perhaps you didn't even know that he teaches this. But go to him and ask him if he believes that babies are born in sin. If he does, then ask him where the Bible says so. I remember that Jesus says in Matt. 18:2–3, “Then Jesus called a little child to him, set him in the midst of them, and said, assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Think about this. If men must become as little children to enter the kingdom, then that doesn’t sound like little children are sinners, does it? Jesus said in Mk. 10:14, “Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.” Since the kingdom of God is made up of such as little children, it becomes evident that little children are not born in sin. But maybe your preacher knows the text that says babies are born in sin. If not, then he will be able to find it in the Bible. So go to him this very day and ask him for it. If you press him hard enough, he might offer as his proof that babies are born in sin Psa. 51:5, which finds David saying, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” Conveniently, these preachers make this passage say something that it does not say to support their theory that babies are born in sin. David is neither charging his mother with being stained by original sin, nor is he saying that he is stained with original sin. Instead, David is lamenting the condition of this sinful world. He is bemoaning the fact that sin is prevalent in this world. Let me give you a New Testament text that might help us to understand David’s words. In Acts 2:8, we read the people’s response to the apostles’ speaking in tongues on the day of Pentecost. They asked, “And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?” They are not saying that they were born speaking a language. Instead, they affirm that they were born in a land where a certain language was spoken. This is what David is affirming in Psa. 51:5. He says that he was born in a world where sin was prevalent. He is not saying he was born a sinner any more than those in Acts 2 said they were born speaking a language. If we can understand the passage in Acts, then we will not be misled by someone’s twisting of Psa. 51. When you ask your preacher for the passage saying that babies are born in sin, don’t let him misapply the words of David. Another question you should ask your preacher is where the Bible says that anyone was ever baptized by sprinkling or pouring water on his or her head. Some of your preachers have preached and practiced sprinkling or pouring for a long time. Did you ever see your preacher pour a little water or sprinkle a few drops of water on the head of a person and call it baptism? Did you ever hear him say, while doing this, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost?” I feel sure that many of you have seen and heard just such things. Many of you might have grown up in a church where this was common and you have never seen anything different. But have you ever gone to your preacher and asked him where the Bible says that inspired men ever followed such practices? Have you ever asked your preacher where anyone in the New Testament was ever baptized in these ways? Ask your preacher for the text in the Bible that gives such information. If your preacher has been baptizing people by sprinkling and pouring, then he will know right where such authority can be found in the Bible, if it is in the Bible at all, and surely he will not object to your asking about it. He is your preacher, is he not? And you are helping to pay him to serve you in this way. So don't feel any hesitancy about it at all. If you are paying him to teach you, you have the right to ask this of him whether he likes it or not. If he refers you to the statement in Isa. 52:15, which says, “So shall he sprinkle many nations,” and tells you this is a prophecy of baptism by sprinkling, call his attention to the fact that the marginal reading of the American Revised Version reads, “So shall he startle many nations.” This shows that the word from which sprinkle comes means startle. As a matter of fact, several translations say, “And he will again startle many nations.” All one needs to do is examine the context and it becomes evident that startle is preferred to sprinkle. Let’s read the entire verse in The New Living Translation. It says: And he will again startle many nations. Kings will stand speechless in his presence. For they will see what they had not previously been told about; they will understand what they had not heard about. I ask you, what could there be in sprinkling a few drops of water on a person's head that would cause kings to be startled or to shut their mouths in astonishment? He knows before going to this verse that he is misusing it. Or if he refers you to Ezek. 36:25, which says, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you,” ask him if he is sure this refers to baptism. Call his attention to the statement of the entire verse. It reads, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.” Ask him if he is willing to say that baptism will cleanse a man from all his filthiness and from all his idolatry. If he is unwilling to say this, he cannot hold to this passage for baptism. He will likely tell you that you have to be cleansed from all your filthiness and idolatry before you can be baptized. So according to his own belief, this passage cannot refer to baptism. And while he is squirming in an effort to find where anyone was ever baptized by sprinkling, you might wish to direct his attention to the statement of Paul in Rom. 6:4. There he says, “Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” This passage says that in baptism one is buried and raised. While he is checking the words buried and raised as they are used here in connection with baptism, you might also read to him Co1. 2:12, which says, “Buried with him in baptism, in which you also were raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.” In both of these passages Paul says that men are buried and raised in baptism. Ask your preacher why Paul specifies a burial and a resurrection if sprinkling and pouring will do just as well. If he tells you that any of the three — sprinkling, pouring or a burial — will be all right, then ask him why Paul said in Eph. 4:5 that there is “one baptism.” If sprinkling, pouring, and immersion are all scriptural forms or modes of baptism, then we have three baptisms. But Paul said there is one. And since Paul said there is one baptism, ask your preacher which one is right. Insist that he tell you whether the one baptism is the one mentioned by Paul in Rom. 6:4, where he says it is by a burial and a resurrection, or if it is by sprinkling or pouring, which are never mentioned in the Bible as baptism. Sticking with the theme of baptism, ask your preacher where the Bible calls baptism nonessential. Have you ever heard your preacher say that baptism is nonessential for salvation? I am sure you have heard those words, or similar words, many times. Don’t you remember all the times he has preached that baptism is not essential, and that you can be saved as well without it as with it? Don’t you remember the times he would make fun of those who believe that baptism was, in fact, essential for salvation? I am sure many of you have heard your preacher say these very things. If you have, you have the right to go to him and ask him where the Bible says it is nonessential. If the Bible makes a statement like this, he will know immediately where to find it and he should be glad to have you question him about it. (I say he should be glad, but I doubt that he will be glad.) While you wait for him to show you the requested passage, you might show him what Jesus said in Mk. 16:16: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” After reading this verse to him, ask him why Jesus made both belief and baptism necessary to salvation if baptism is not essential. Ask him why he always puts salvation before baptism when Jesus put it after baptism. You can see that both these ideas cannot be correct, because they conflict with each other. Either Jesus was wrong when he placed salvation after baptism, or your preacher is wrong when he places it before baptism. Ask your preacher which is right. And it will be well to have him read Peter's statement in Acts 2:38. He said to sinners who wished to know what to do to be saved, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Have him notice carefully the purpose of baptism as revealed in the language of Peter. He said to be baptized for the remission of sins. Ask your preacher why he says a man must already have the remission of sins before he is baptized when Peter says to be baptized for the remission of sins. I am sure that you can see that baptism is not nonessential if it is for the remission of sins. This is the very purpose that Peter gave for baptism. Since the Bible says that baptism is for the remission of sins, ask your preacher if he thinks some other passage will deny what Acts 2:38 affirms. If the Bible did that, it would be a book of contradictions and would not be worthy of acceptance. But the Bible does not contradict itself. It says men must be baptized for the remission of sins, and if your preacher says this is not true, he is the one who is wrong about it. Also ask your preacher if it is essential for a person to be in Christ in order to be saved. Can one be saved out of Christ? If he cannot, then it is essential for a man to get into Christ in order to be saved. Did you know the Bible says in Gal. 3:27, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ?” What puts a person into Christ? Paul says we are baptized into Christ. So if a man can be saved without baptism, he can be saved without getting into Christ. Ask your preacher where the Bible says a man can get into Christ, before and without baptism. Here is a fifth question for your preacher. Ask your preacher where the Bible says water baptism was for the Jews only. Some preachers have been preaching this, and perhaps your preacher is one. Preachers have made many efforts to get baptism out of the plan of salvation. Some have begun preaching that water baptism was commanded only for the Jews, and that it was for a limited time only, and that it cannot be made binding on gentiles. Have you heard your preacher say this? If you have, then go to him and ask him where the Bible makes any such statement. I have looked for that passage but have never been able to find it. If your preacher has been preaching it, then likely he has found it. So you ask him for it and then send it to me, because I would like to have the information too. If it’s in the Bible then we need to know where it is so we can preach it too. I have read Jesus’ statement in Matt. 28:19, when he gave the great commission. There the Lord said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” In this I can see that the words of Christ authorized the apostles to baptize people of all nations. If baptism was intended only for the nation of Israel, then why did Jesus say all nations? Jesus must not know what some modern preachers know, because Jesus said that baptism was for all nations. I ask it again, if baptism was for the Jews only, then why did Jesus say baptize men of all nations? Frankly, I’m not able to answer this question, but if your preacher has been preaching this theory, perhaps he knows why. So ask him about it. If your preacher tells you that Peter commanded baptism for the remission of sins in Acts 2:38 when he was speaking to a multitude of Jews, and that this proves that baptism is for the Jews only, ask him what the next verse means. It says, “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Now, my friends, to whom did Peter offer the promise? He said it is to you. This referred to the Jews who were then present. But he also said it is to your children. This refers to the descendants of the Jews in future generations. But was that all? No, he further said the promise is to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. Has God ever called the gentiles to salvation? Sure he has! Then the promise is to them too. So this extends the promise to all Jews and gentiles — that is, all nations. But can the promise extend farther than the conditions upon which the promise is made? Certainly not! Well, the promise is conditioned on baptism. Consequently, baptism extends as far as the promise. It applied then to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. If your preacher, after reading these things, still insists that baptism was only for the Jews, then ask him why Peter commanded gentiles to be baptized at the house of Cornelius. This record is found in Acts 10:47–48. He told gentiles words by which they were to be saved. The record tells us that Peter said this: “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.” This is specific and direct. Peter commanded gentiles to be baptized in the name of the Lord. He referred to water baptism, because he said, “Can anyone forbid water?” Ask your preacher if Peter made a mistake when he commanded gentiles to be baptized. If baptism is only for Jews, then Peter made a huge mistake. But the Lord guided him. A number of miracles were worked to get Peter to the gentiles to tell them this very thing. So somebody is wrong, either your preacher or Peter. Ask your preacher which it is. |
