ANALYSIS OF ROBERT STEIN
ARTICLE ON BAPTISM
This is an examination of an article by Robert H. Stein, "Baptism
and Becoming a Christian in the New Testament, Southern
Baptist Theological Journal, vol. 2, Spring 1988, pp.
6-17.
Doctor Stein at the time of writing the article was the Mildred
Hogan professor of New Testament at Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. Dr Stein is widely published
and is respected as a distinguished scholar.
We are extracting relevant quotes form Dr. Stein's article in
order to present his salient observations on the topic of his
article.
The highlighting of certain words in red or yellow are by Dr. Ian
A. Fair by way of emphasis.
Dr. Stein begins
his article with this statement:
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"The purpose of
this article is to investigate how baptism is related to the
experience of conversion in the New Testament." |
He continues by
stating the thesis of his study and article:
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"In
the New Testament, conversion involves five integral related
components or aspects, all of which took place at the same
time, usually on the same day. These five components
are repentance, faith, and confession by the individual,
regeneration, or the giving of the Holy Spirit by God, and
baptism by representatives of the Christian community." |
Dr Stein continues by observing that:
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"It should be
noted that the individual is the "doer" of the first three
components. He/she repents, believes, and confesses.
In the other two components, however, the individual is the
recipient and is acted upon. He/she receives or is
given the Spirit by God and is baptized by the church." |
We agree with Dr.
Stein in these remarks, only wish to observe that in baptism Paul
explains that it is God who is working and the baptized is raised
with Jesus through "faith in the working of God" (Col
2:12).
Dr Stein observes:
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"...the
experience of conversion was understood to involve all five
components which normally occurred at the same time.
As a
result, when one or more of these aspects is missing from a
specific passage or conversion account, we should presume
that although not mentioned, they are assumed." |
Dr. Stein's
observation on the above point is extremely significant!
Dr Stein then continues by listing the relationship of several of
these components. He observes that:
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Faith and Baptism (are) Associated
Together
Gal 3:26-26. "It should be noted that Paul uses 'faith' and
'baptism' interchangeably in this passage... Paul neither
exalts faith at the expense of baptism not baptism at the
expense of faith. They are integrally related, and
each assumes the other."
Repentance and Baptism (are) Associated
Together
Similarly, the baptism of John intimately
associated these two components. (Mk 1:4, Mt 3:2-6, Lk 3:3,
Ac 19:4).
Faith and Regeneration (i.e., the Receiving of the Holy
Spirit) (are) Associated Together
"Gal 3:2...The assumed answer is that the Galatians
received the Spirit, experienced regeneration or were 'born
again,' when they believed."
Baptism and Regeneration (i.e., the Receiving of the Holy
Spirit) (are) associated Together
"In Titus 3:4 ... 'he saved us, not because of righteous
things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved
us through the washing of rebirth and renewal of the Holy
Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus
Christ our Savior....' In light of the fact that the
readers of Titus had all been baptized and that such a rite
clearly had nuances of washing (cf Ac 22:16, 1 Cor 6:11, Eph
5:26), the expression 'washing of rebirth' is best
understood as referring tot eh readers' experience of
conversion when they were baptized and received the Holy
Spirit.... Additional examples of the tie between baptism
and regeneration can be found in Acts 9:17-18, 10:44-48, and
John 3:3 and 5."
Baptism and Confession (are)
Associated Together
"In Acts 22:16 Ananias tells Saul of Tarsus, 'And now
what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash
your sins away, calling on his name.'"
Faith and Repentance (are) Associated
Together
"Mark 1:14-15."
Repentance, Baptism, and Regeneration (are)
Associated Together
"In Acts 2:37-38 Luke states that after Peter's
Pentecost sermon the people were 'cut to their heart' and
asked Peter and the other apostles, 'What shall we do?'
To this Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized every one of
you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of
sins. and you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit.... Another example where these three dimensions of
the conversion experience are associated together is Acts
11:1-18..."
Faith, Baptism, Regeneration, (and)
Repentance are Associated Together
"Acts 19 describes Paul's encounter with certain 'disciples'
in the city of Ephesus. The single clearest question
that he could think of asking in order to determine if these
'disciples' were Christians was, 'Did you receive the Holy
Spirit when you believed?' (19:2) When they responded
negatively by saying that they had never even heard of the
Spirit, he then asked 'Then what baptism did you receive?'
(19:3) They replied that they experienced the baptism
associated with John the Baptist. Paul then preached
to them the Christian message (19:4b), and on hearing this
they responded positively, were baptized, 'in the name of
the Lord Jesus,' (19:5) and received the Holy Spirit (19:6). |
Dr Stein
then moves on to his next argument by observing:
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"in light of
the various examples given above it seems reasonable to
conclude that all five of these components (repentance,
faith, confession, regeneration, and baptism) were
understood by the biblical writers to be involved in the
conversion experience. They are inseparable.
At times, one or more of them may be omitted, according to
the emphasis of the writer,
but even if a
component is not mentioned it is nevertheless implied and
assumed.
This can be seen in Ac 2:38. When Peter responds,
'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of
Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. And you will
receive the gift of the Holy spirit.' he does not mention
the need for faith. Yet certainly it must be assumed
that this was also required for conversion." |
Dr. Stein's next
discussion involves what he identifies as "Salvation" and the Five
Components. He list the components and relevant Scriptures.
Bold italics mine, IAF):
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"Salvation
Comes Through Repentance
Second Peter 3:9 '...He is patient with you, not wanting
anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.'"
"Salvation Comes Through Faith
This can be seen in the following passages: (Eph
2:8-9) (Ac 16:31) Jn 3:16-17)"
"Salvation Comes Through Confession
The most famous passage illustrating this is Romans 10:9"
"Salvation Comes Through Regeneration
In Titus 3:5 Paul states that God 'saved us, not because of
righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by
the Holy Spirit...'"
"Salvation Comes Through Baptism
"...1 Peter 3:21... This verse, which is notoriously
difficult for non-sacramentalists, appears to say that
salvation comes through baptism. If those reading this
passage had experienced a
repentance-faith-confession-regeneration-baptism conversion
and all these dimensions took place at the same time, this
passage is quite understandable, and the attempted
interpretation which seek to deny the normal meaning of the
term 'baptism' are not necessary.
It should
be noted that all five components described in my thesis
(repentance, faith, confession, regeneration, baptism) are
mentioned in the New Testament as bringing salvation." |
Dr. Stein then
moves on to discuss the relationship of justification with the
five components he has identified, and observes that all five are
associated with justification in the New Testament, citing 1 Cor
6:11; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Acts 10; Acts 26:18; and Romans 4:3-8.
When summarizing his arguments, Dr. Stein cites his main thesis
for the study:
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"In the New
Testament, conversion involves five integral related
components or aspects, all of which took place at the same
time, usually on the same day. These five components
are repentance, faith, and confession by the individual,
regeneration, or the giving of the Holy Spirit by God, and
baptism by representatives of the Christian community."
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He adds:
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"Conversion to
Christianity involved accepting and experiencing this whole
package, not just elements of it.
The fact that the Christian community is involved in the
experience of conversion guards against the privatization of
the conversion experience." |
His final
arguments relate to the necessity of baptism in the conversion
process. Although we might differ with Dr. Stein in the
"exceptions" he uses, we are in agreement with his major
premise. We will discuss these "exceptions in the
conclusion of this survey of his article.
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"Is Baptism
Necessary for Salvation?
Was baptism necessary for salvation in New the Testament?
Is baptism necessary for salvation today? These two
questions must be answered separately.
(Here I differ with Dr. Stein somewhat!)
Either
they did not want to repent-believe-confess- Christ and
thus did not want to become a Christian
(here I agree with Dr. Stein)
or they did repent-believe-confess Christ but were
physically unable to be baptized. The most famous
example of the latter is the thief on the cross (Lk
23:39-43).
(This example is not a valid exception since Jesus had not
as yet died on the cross, had not yet completed his
sacrifice for sin, and thus being baptized into Christ's
death and resurrection was not available. The thief
on the cross, although a border line case, still fell
under the Old Covenant. Christian baptism was not
yet n effect!)
If the Philippian jailor had died of a heart attack before
reaching the waters of baptism on the eventful night, he
would have been a second example.
(However, he did not die and therefore this is not an
exception. An hypothetical case could apply, but the
Philippian jailor is not one! We would agree with
Dr. Stein in this sense, that should a person be on the
point of being baptized but died at that point before
being baptized, having believed, repented, and confessed
the name of Jesus, that God's grace would most certainly
come into effect. However, Dr. stein will shortly
argue in agreement with this, that one should not build a
theology on exceptions!)
Yet to establish an understanding of the normal conversion pattern
based on extremely rare or unusual experiences is to
emphasize the abnormal. In general a person could
not be converted to Christianity in the New Testament
apart from baptism....
Thus the
rejection of baptism was a rejection of the divine program
of conversion!
....To refuse baptism in the first century was to refuse
consciously and willingly what God said should and needed
to be done. Such rebellion was damnable...." |
Dr. Stein
proposes some Consequences of Separating the Five Components
of Conversion:
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"The cardinal problem with most views on baptism today
is that the five components integrally associated with
conversion in the New Testament are now separated in
time. Roman Catholic theology recognizes
that regeneration and baptism belong together.
(By introducing the doctrine of "original sin" -
IAF)
... (Roman Catholic theology)... divorces baptism and
regeneration from the human experience - repentance,
faith, confession. Thus it seriously deviates from
the New Testament pattern.
Lutheran theology also recognizes that baptism and
regeneration belong together. Like Roman Catholic
theology it believes in baptismal regeneration...As a
result of its support of infant baptism, it argues that
God supernaturally gives the gift of faith (fides
infantilis) to the infant being baptized....it
(Lutheran theology)
still deviates from the New Testament understanding
because it divorces repentance and confession from the
other components of conversion.
Reformed theology deviates even more significantly from the
New Testament pattern in that it separates baptism from
all the other components of conversion. Based on
the doctrines of predestination and divine election,
baptism is seen as a 'seal' of covenant grace and
identifies the recipients of infant baptism as members
of the body of Christ.
Baptist theology also deviates
(Dr. Stein's own conclusion!)
from the New Testament pattern. Although
repentance, faith, confession, regeneration are
associated with baptism, baptism is separated in time
from these four components. Thus baptism is an act
which witnesses to a prior experience of repentance,
faith, confession, and regeneration.
As a result
such passages as Romans 6:4, 1 Peter 3:21, Titus 3:5,
John 3:3ff., and others, which associate baptism with
the experience of conversion, are embarrassing to many
Baptists and often received strained exegesis at their
hands. |
Some Closing
Observations by Dr. Ian A. Fair
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1. |
I am in complete
agreement with Dr. Stein's approach and support his primary
thesis which we include here for clarity:
"In
the New Testament, conversion involves five integral related
components or aspects, all of which took place at the same
time, usually on the same day. These five components
are repentance, faith, and confession by the individual,
regeneration, or the giving of the Holy Spirit by God, and
baptism by representatives of the Christian community." |
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2. |
I also support
Dr. Stein's closing observations:
"Thus
the rejection of baptism was a rejection of the divine
program of conversion!
....To refuse baptism in the first century was to refuse
consciously and willingly what God said should and needed to
be done. Such rebellion was damnable...." |
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3. |
I
agree with Dr. Stein, although feel that Dr. Stein has
somewhat fallen into his own trap:
"Yet to establish an
understanding of the normal conversion pattern based on
extremely rare or unusual experiences is to emphasize
the abnormal. In general a person could not be
converted to Christianity in the New Testament apart from
baptism.... "
I am of the opinion that to
cite such cases as the Thief on the Cross and the possible
death of the Philippian Jailor is misleading since the Thief
on the Cross fell under the Mosaic system and not he
Christian system, albeit only by a few hours, and the
Philippian Jailor did not die on the way to the cross.
I agree that to argue a theology from the extreme examples
is not sound theology, and should be handled as aberrations
form the normal.
I am of the opinion that a true believer who dies on the way
to baptism, or the person who is simply not able to
appropriately believe and repent should be left to the grace
of God and should not factor into the primary basis of
conversion as defined by Dr. Stein. |
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4. |
Dr. Stein errs
in differentiating the present time from the New Testament
times. His argument that the people in the New
Testament had the advantage of not being confused in
that they had the Apostolic preaching to guide them clearly
while we do not and are faced with confusing arguments is
misinformed! We have a very clear Apostolic message in
the New Testament, just as clear a message as the
people in New Testament times. Furthermore, we have in
one place, the New Testament, the full Apostolic message
whereas in New Testament times as cited by Dr. Stein,
they did not have the completed New Testament, only isolated
occasions of Apostolic preaching. We have no excuse
for not understanding clearly the Apostolic preaching, and
Dr. stein has clearly and successfully presented the
Apostolic proclamation regarding Christian conversion. |
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5. |
In
spite of the above critical observations I believe Dr. Stein
has presented an excellent theology of Christian conversion. |
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