Knots Untied by JC Ryle (Available from Amazon or free here)
Now Ryle teaches us about baptism and, of course, argues for the Anglican view.
Firstly he discusses what baptism is:
(i) an ordinance appointed by our Lord Jesus Christ, for the continual admission of fresh members into His visible church;
(ii) an ordinance of great simplicity;
(iii) an ordinance on which we may confidently expect the highest blessings, when it is rightly used;
(iv) an ordinance which is expressly named in the New Testament about eighty times;
(v) an ordinance which according to Scripture, a man may receive, and yet get no good from it;
(vi) an ordinance which in Apostolic times went together with the first beginnings of a man's religion;
(vii) an ordinance which a man may never receive, and yet be a true Christian and be saved.
Secondly Ryle looks at what is the mode of baptism and argues against:
(i) baptism always meaning immerse;
(ii) baptism symbolising the believer's burial and resurrection with Christ.
Thirdly Ryle considers the subjects of baptism and asserts that infants of believers should be baptised because:
(i) of the Old Testament use of circumcision;
(ii) it is not forbidden in the New Testament;
(iii) households were baptised;
(iv) Jesus welcomed little children.
Fourthly Ryle examines what position baptism should hold in our religion:
(i) it is not the very first, chief and foremost thing in Christianity;
(ii) but it should be spoken of with deep reverence and in close connection with the highest privileges and blessings;
(iii) remember that other subjects are spoken of more frequently in the New Testament.
What I did appreciate was Ryle's candour toward Baptists as brothers and sisters in Christ and his point that although water baptism doesn't save, there is a baptism that does: 'There is a baptism which is absolutely necessary to salvation, beyond all question. There is a baptism without which no one, whether old or young, has ever gone to heaven. But what baptism is this? It is not the baptism of water, but the inward baptism which the Holy Ghost gives to the heart. It is not a baptism which any man can offer, whether ordained or unordained. It is the baptism which it is the special privilege of the Lord Jesus Christ to give to all His mystical members. It is not a baptism which man's eye can see, but an invisible operation on the inward nature. "Baptism," says St. Peter, "saves us." But what baptism does he tell us he means? Not the washing of water, "not the putting away the filth of the flesh." (1 Peter iii. 21.) "By one spirit are we all baptized into one body." (1 Cor. xii. 13.) It is the peculiar prerogative of the Lord Jesus to give this inward and spiritual baptism. "He it is," said John the Baptist, "which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." (John i. 33.) '
Next week's reading
Read Chapter 6 (Regeneration).
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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