For about two thousand years there have been various disputes in the church concerning the qualifications for believing in the Lord and being saved. The proper way to resolve this matter is to come back to the Bible. We must remember, however, that the New Testament service is a service of the Spirit and not of the letter. Therefore, when we read the New Testament, we should not search for a set of rules on how to handle a certain matter. If the Bible gave us a set of rules to follow, then we would not need to serve according to the Spirit. To do things according to regulations is not the service of the Spirit. Hence, there are no clearly defined rules concerning the receiving of those who are saved in the New Testament. It only mentions one point here and another point there and gives us one pattern here and another pattern there. In this way it allows us to learn how to touch the spiritual reality.
Although we do not have to keep a set of ordinances according to the letter in order to touch the spiritual reality, this does not mean that there are no principles or light in the Scriptures. In the Bible God uses plain words and patterns to show us the kind of person who may be baptized, who may be recognized as our brother or sister, and who has received the Lord’s grace and may be received into the church.
According to church history, before the Catholic Church came into being, the church received people, baptized them, and called them brothers and sisters according to the holy Scriptures. Their outward situation forced them to do these things according to the Scriptures, because at that time the Roman emperors were greatly persecuting the church, persecuting anyone who believed in the Lord and confessed that he was a Christian. Under such an atmosphere of persecution the church had no problem regarding receiving the believers.
Early in the fourth century the Roman general Constantine, desiring to gain the Roman Empire, vowed that if he gained control of the Roman Empire, he would embrace Christianity as the religion of the empire. Later, after gaining control of the empire, he issued an order asking all the citizens to join the Christian religion and rewarding with silver and garments all those who joined. Thus, almost all the citizens of the Roman Empire joined Christianity. During this time the church became deformed. The Bible tells us that the church is like a mustard seed (Matt. 13:31), which is a small seed of life that produces a small herb. However, when Constantine accepted the Christian religion and made it the imperial religion, the church was completely changed in its character and became deformed. Originally it had been a small herb, but it became a great perennial tree-the Catholic Church. Not only is this great tree deformed, the birds of heaven-Satan and his evil spirits-also come and roost in it. The mutated Roman imperial church baptized people regardless of whether they had repented and confessed their sins or whether they had the life of God. As long as a person was a Roman citizen, he could be baptized.
After the Roman Catholic Church was officially formed, the membership began to include not only Roman citizens but also people of other nations. The only requirement for them to be baptized was that they had to acknowledge the God of the Catholic Church. As long as a person acknowledged the God of the Catholic Church, he could be baptized. Later, the Episcopalian church was formed. To be baptized by the Episcopalian church of a certain country, a person had to meet only one qualification-he had to be a citizen of that country. For instance, the Anglican Church did not ask if a person was saved or not. As long as he was British, he could be baptized. If a person did not wish to join the state church, he could join any of the private churches, which were more advanced than the state churches. For example, the Methodist church founded by John Wesley told people that anyone who wanted to escape the future wrath could be baptized. They said this based on Matthew 3:7b, which says, “Who prompted you to flee from the coming wrath?” In the preaching of the gospel, John Wesley was quite proper, but in baptizing and receiving people, his requirement was too arbitrary.
Among the private churches, the Presbyterians and the Lutherans have similar practices. They ask people to learn their doctrines and then baptize them only when they understand the doctrines. They ask the candidates to listen to the preaching of the word and to pursue the word. Then after the candidates pass an examination, they are baptized. There are also some denominations that baptize babies. As long as someone is a member of that denomination, his children can be baptized soon after birth. All these practices are unscriptural.
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