Here at Berean Bible Society, we are often asked about our unique position on water baptism. We always respond as graciously as we can, and provide such inquirers with articles and videos that they can use to study our position more thoroughly.
Sometimes we can tell from the way the question is worded that the inquirer believes that water baptism is a part of God’s program for today, and they are just writing us to indignantly object to our position. We received one such email recently, which read:
“You say you don’t believe in water baptism, but to obey the gospel in its entirety means to believe on the gospel of Jesus and be fully immersed in water for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). It is clearly stated, in black and white, what a person has to do for remittance of sins!…Why would water baptism not be required when it is plainly in the Scriptures that it is the method of entering into Christ? Even Jesus was water baptized!”
I responded to this dear brother with the same grace with which we reply to more sincere inquiries, although admittedly with less anticipation of a favorable reply. But the very next day, we received this email in response to the information I had sent him:
“Now I realize the error of water baptism! Wow! I’ve been dunked five times, not knowing that it is not for this dispensation! Thank you dear fellow Christian pastor! I was trusting in water baptism for my salvation, a bit more than in Jesus alone. I repent humbly, and wholeheartedly…I am a youthful 62-year-old who has been through the ringer, searching for the truth…I have believed false preachers on TV, false teachings on the internet, etc., so I decided to look at your Berean website. Someone in years past told me to only trust Bereans. Something inside of me wasn’t sitting well with water baptism for salvation. I had to explore your explained teachings—to my delight, to say the least!”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a dramatic turnaround from someone who gave the appearance that he would not be open to the truth. We share it with you to encourage you to keep sharing Paul’s gospel with anyone and everyone. People like this brother are rare, but they are out there, along with many others who might take a little longer to grasp the truth. You just have to find them. And the only way to find them is to be faithful “stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1,2).
To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:
"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."
To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.