It Is Written

Dying to Live

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Bradshaw

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Series Code: IIW

Program Code: IIW001395A


01:30 ♪[Theme Music]♪
01:49 ♪[Music]♪
01:56 >>John: I'm John Bradshaw. Thank's for joining me.
01:58 This is It Is Written. The year was 1527.
02:03 The event was an execution. The place was Zurich,
02:07 Switzerland, and the man in question
02:09 was Felix Mantz. His crime?
02:13 Well, Felix Mantz had been baptizing adults by immersion.
02:17 The Zurich city magistrates chose to execute him,
02:20 and not by burning at the stake, which was the common method
02:23 of execution in those days, not by beheading him.
02:26 The punishment that they thought fit the crime
02:28 of baptizing by immersion was death by drowning.
02:33 Now Ulrich Zwingli, a key figure in the Reformation
02:36 and the spiritual leader of Zurich, wrote to a friend
02:39 defending the action of the city leaders.
02:43 These city officials were supporters of Zwingli's Swiss
02:46 Protestant Reformation, and they believed that babies
02:49 should be baptized. Mantz had been baptizing adult
02:53 believers in defiance of the ruling of the Zurich
02:55 city council. They had forbidden
02:58 that practice. But why the death penalty
03:01 for baptizing someone? Today, if one church practices
03:04 infant baptism and another church practices baptism
03:07 by immersion, people would typically say, "Okay, you do
03:10 it your way, we do it our way, and we'll agree to disagree."
03:14 You wouldn't expect anybody to think that somebody should
03:17 die for having a different point of view on a subject like that!
03:21 So why did the Swiss reformers think Felix Mantz should die
03:26 for baptizing by immersion? And why did Mantz believe
03:30 so strongly in baptism by immersion that he was willing
03:33 to die for what he believed? Today, in free countries where
03:37 church and state are separate, it is hard to understand how
03:41 a city government could execute someone for a harmless
03:44 religious practice such as baptism.
03:46 In order to understand, let's go back in time, back
03:50 to the Europe of the early 1500's. Separation of church
03:52 and state didn't exist. In fact, infant baptism
03:56 was seen as essential to the union of church
04:01 and state. People were born as citizens
04:03 of the state, and soon after, became baptized members
04:08 of the church. Every person, without
04:11 exception, was a member of the state church before
04:15 he or she could even think. There was no choice
04:19 in the matter. And to a 16th century
04:21 European, that was just the way an orderly society
04:24 had to be. It was pretty much how
04:26 Christendom had been for hundreds of years.
04:30 When the Protestant Reformation came about, most
04:33 of the reformers didn't see a need to modify the union
04:35 of church and state. Lutherans simply wanted
04:37 a Lutheran state instead of a Catholic one.
04:40 Swiss reformers under Zwingli preferred their own Protestant
04:43 Swiss cantons. Later, in Geneva, Switzerland,
04:46 Calvin's reform movement was backed by the authority
04:49 of the city. In all these places, every
04:52 person became a member of the church through infant
04:55 baptism, just as in Catholic controlled regions.
04:58 No one could choose not to be in the church
05:00 or the state. It was as unthinkable
05:03 as it would be for us today to not be a citizen
05:06 of a country. A man outside the church
05:09 was about the same as a man without a country - only worse.
05:12 At least being without a country doesn't mean you'd
05:14 be lost for eternity, as it was believed being outside
05:18 the church meant back in those days.
05:20 Baptizing babies put everyone in the united church and state
05:24 and kept society nice and orderly with church leaders
05:27 and magistrates in an unchallenged position
05:30 of authority. To challenge infant baptism
05:33 was viewed as an attack on the order of society.
05:36 So why was it challenged? What was the problem?
05:39 The problem was the Bible. Felix Mantz, his friend Conrad
05:46 Grebel and several others believed that the Bible taught
05:49 that only repentant believers could decide to be baptized -
05:54 which made infant baptism a logical impossibility.
05:59 They believed that babies - who can neither believe
06:01 nor repent - couldn't possibly decide to be baptized.
06:06 A decision for a baby to be baptized is made FOR
06:09 the child, and not BY the child. So where in the Bible did
06:15 these men get the idea that baptism ought to be
06:17 by immersion - only? We'll find that out in just
06:21 a moment. ♪[Music]♪
06:29 A news story during a recent winter told of a man who
06:32 attempted to remove heavy snow from the metal roof of his home.
06:35 In one heart-stopping moment, all the snow slid off
06:39 like an avalanche, and buried him alive.
06:42 Hours later, his wife returned from shopping and heard
06:45 his call for help. Thank God the story ended well!
06:48 Now baptism is a well-known symbol of dying to self,
06:52 burying the old life and rising to new life in Christ.
06:57 This new life can be yours. To learn more, let me send you
07:00 our FREE booklet called "Buried Alive"
07:03 Just call (800) 253-3000 and ask for your copy of
07:07 "Buried Alive" If the line's busy,
07:09 please try again, or write us at:
07:12 It Is Written, P.O. Box 6, Chattanooga, TN 37401.
07:18 We'll mail a free copy to you in North America.
07:20 Again, our toll-free number is, (800) 253-3000, and you'll find
07:26 us online at itiswritten.com. Thanks for joining me today
07:31 on It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw.
07:33 What would compel a man to be so committed to the idea
07:37 of baptism by immersion that he would give his life
07:40 in defense of his belief? Felix Mantz was executed
07:44 in the year 1526, drowned in Lake Zurich in Switzerland
07:49 because he disobeyed the civil and religious authorities who
07:52 said that only infants should be baptized.
07:55 So where was this man coming from?
07:57 In Mark's account of the gospel commission, Jesus says,
08:00 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved."
08:04 That's Mark 16:16 NKJV. Which indicates that
08:09 baptism is for believers. Believing as a condition
08:14 for baptism is crystal clear in the Bible, especially
08:17 in the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch
08:20 found in Acts 8. The Ethiopian man points
08:24 at a creek or pond near the road and asks Philip if he can
08:29 be baptized. "Then Philip said, 'If you
08:33 believe with all your heart, you may.' And he answered
08:38 and said, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.'...
08:44 And both Philip and the eunuch went down to the water,
08:47 and he baptized him." Acts 8:37, 38 NKJV.
08:54 There are several more places in the Bible where people who
08:56 chose to be baptized were asked to believe.
08:58 It is very clear that a person must believe he or she
09:01 is a sinner and that Jesus is his or her Savior before
09:05 baptism should take place. Even those who came to John
09:07 the Baptist to be baptized came "confessing their sins."
09:11 This is what Felix Mantz and others in the 1520s
09:14 understood. Only a person with conscious
09:16 self-awareness could intelligently see his or her
09:19 own sinfulness, experience repentance, then believe
09:22 in Jesus for salvation from sin and be baptized.
09:26 We can see this when the apostle Peter, in his sermon
09:29 on Pentecost, called for the people to "Repent and...
09:33 be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
09:35 for the remission of sins." Acts 2:38 NKJV.
09:38 Mantz and Grebel and others realized babies can't possibly
09:42 believe, they can't confess their sins, and they cannot
09:44 repent. The two teachers pointed out
09:46 that Acts 5:14 says, "Believers were increasingly
09:50 added to the Lord" and to the church
09:53 - not babies who cannot consciously believe anything.
09:57 The reformer Ulrich Zwingli had the dubious challenge
10:00 of defending infant baptism against overwhelming
10:03 biblical evidence. Of course, he could appeal
10:06 to custom, tradition and to the regular order of society.
10:09 What had normally seemed right to the masses was
10:13 in his Zwingli's favor. Zwingli denounced those
10:15 promoting baptism by immersion as schismatics, as dividers,
10:19 as a threat to the order of society.
10:21 He also added a theological argument that played
10:25 tremendously on the fear of the common people.
10:28 Not baptizing babies was wrong and even fatal because,
10:33 well...what if a baby died without baptism?
10:37 Wouldn't that baby lose out on eternal life?
10:40 Mantz and others would point out that the Bible does
10:42 not have a single account of a baby being baptized.
10:45 Only people old enough to believe and repent and make
10:48 their own choice were baptized. In spite of the fact
10:52 that the Bible writers didn't have a problem
10:54 with babies not being baptized, this fear of babies
10:57 being lost if they weren't was a strong motivator
11:00 against believer's baptism. So what does the Bible mandate
11:05 for babies if it isn't appropriate for them
11:08 to be baptized? It's actually very simple.
11:11 Mary and Joseph took Baby Jesus to the temple
11:14 to be dedicated. Jesus wasn't baptized until He
11:18 was an adult many years later. There is also an account
11:21 in the gospels of mothers bringing their little ones
11:24 to Jesus so He could bless them. Baptism was well known
11:28 at that time, but neither the mothers nor Jesus
11:31 even mention baptism for the babies
11:34 or the young children. God simply asks parents to
11:38 dedicate their children to Him, and then do all they can, with
11:41 God's help, to give their children the best possible
11:45 chance to live their lives for God, and grow to understand God
11:48 as they grow through each stage of life.
11:51 The Bible teaches that baptism is only effective if a person
11:55 believes and repents. Without belief and repentance,
11:59 baptism is simply a form. Baptism cannot create
12:04 salvation, and baptism doesn't earn salvation.
12:07 Without belief, baptism is meaningless.
12:11 But when somebody believes and understands, baptism
12:15 has great meaning. So where did infant baptism
12:20 come from? It was fear of babies
12:22 and young children dying and losing eternal life
12:25 that brought infant baptism into the early church
12:27 in the first place. I remember my own father
12:30 urging one of my brothers to make sure that my brother's
12:32 new daughter was baptized - well, christened actually -
12:35 because my dad believed that if she wasn't -
12:38 and if something tragic were to happen - then his
12:41 granddaughter wouldn't go to heaven.
12:44 Now the first clear reference to infant baptism was written
12:46 by an early church writer named Tertullian, who wrote
12:49 around AD 200 - and he was against it.
12:53 Not long after, Origen, the famous teacher from
12:55 Alexandria, wrote that, "Infants are baptized
12:58 for the forgiveness of sins." According to the historian,
13:01 Adolph Harnack, Origen believed that sins could
13:04 be committed in a former life, necessitating infant baptism
13:08 for forgiveness of sins. Origen also claimed
13:11 "The church had from the apostles a tradition to give
13:15 baptism even to infants." Of course he gave no evidence
13:18 for those claims from the Bible...
13:21 because there isn't any. There IS evidence that infant
13:24 baptism became common in the region of Carthage
13:26 in North Africa between 250 AD and early in the 5th Century.
13:32 Cyprian, the bishop of Carthage from 249-258 AD,
13:36 decided baptism should be carried out as soon
13:39 as a baby is born. There were 66 bishops of North
13:43 Africa present when he made that decision and there's no
13:46 record that a single one of them objected.
13:48 Augustine, also a bishop in North Africa, wrote in favor
13:52 of infant baptism several times. In about 400 AD, Augustine
13:56 expressed the fear of the people.
13:58 He said that an infant who dies before being baptized cannot
14:02 "obtain remission of original sin," that they could
14:06 "not possibly be vivified in Christ."
14:10 In other words, he said, without baptism a baby who
14:12 dies is lost. And the Sixteenth Council
14:16 of Carthage in AD 418 decreed, "If any man says that newborn
14:21 children need not be baptized ...let him be anathema,"
14:26 or, let him be damned forever. The writings of early church
14:30 leaders up to AD 500 make it clear that baptism
14:33 by immersion was the norm throughout Christendom.
14:36 Even in the Middle Ages, the renowned Roman Catholic
14:39 theologian Thomas Aquinas, who allowed for sprinkling,
14:42 wrote in the 13th Century that "the safer way to baptize"
14:46 was "by immersion, because that, is the most common
14:50 custom." Sprinkling first came into
14:53 common use in France, then in the German regions,
14:56 including Austria and part of Switzerland.
14:59 Historians tell us that some groups, such as the Albigenses
15:02 and the Waldensians opposed the practice in the Middle
15:05 Ages, but as a result they faced severe persecution.
15:11 Baptism was never by sprinkling in Scotland "until after
15:15 the Reformation, about the year 1550."
15:19 It wasn't until the Protestant Reformation that baptism
15:21 by immersion became more widespread, but it did
15:24 so at a terrible cost. Felix Mantz was just the first
15:28 martyr of thousands of martyrs that would follow
15:31 in his footsteps. The sad fact of history
15:33 is that both Protestant and Catholic authorities hunted
15:36 down and tried to wipe out the Anabaptists
15:40 - the group that Mantz was aligned with, a group
15:42 who practiced baptism by immersion.
15:46 The late Cardinal Gibbons wrote in his book Faith of our
15:49 Fathers, "For several centuries after the establishment
15:52 of Christianity, baptism was usually conferred
15:55 by immersion; but since the twelfth century the practice
16:00 of baptizing by infusion has prevailed in the Catholic
16:03 Church, as this manner is attended with less
16:06 inconvenience than baptism by immersion."
16:10 Convenience. But there's a better reason
16:12 than that for Christians to do what they do - and that would
16:16 be love for God, and respect for His word.
16:19 Not convenience! Most people are aware that
16:23 not all Christians baptize the same way.
16:25 So, is there a right way and a wrong way to baptize?
16:29 Or does it even matter? Those associated
16:32 with Felix Mantz and Conrad Grebel
16:34 performed baptisms using a bucket and pouring a small
16:38 amount of water on the candidates' heads.
16:41 Many churches today baptize by sprinkling or pouring a little
16:44 water on a person's head. But other churches baptize
16:47 by complete immersion, by submerging a person entirely
16:51 under water: sometimes in a baptistery in a church,
16:53 or maybe, maybe in a river or a lake, or the ocean.
16:56 How does the Bible shed light on the proper method
17:00 of baptism? That's just ahead.
17:04 ♪[Music]♪
17:09 Every Word is a one-minute Bible-based daily devotional
17:13 presented by Pastor John Bradshaw and designed especially
17:16 for busy people like you. Look for Every Word on selected
17:20 networks or watch it on-line everyday on our website,
17:23 itiswritten.com.
17:26 ♪[Music]♪ It was in 1517 that Martin
17:33 Luther sparked the Protestant Reformation, but one historian
17:36 wrote that the event which “symbolized a complete break
17:39 with Rome” like no other happened eight years later.
17:43 So what event could that be? What could be so radical?
17:46 It happened on January 21 of that year, near the Grossmünster
17:49 Church in Zurich, when a dozen men entered the home of Felix
17:52 Mantz, prayed together to God for courage, and...
17:55 This has got to be good, right? and they baptized one another.
17:59 They were “Anabaptists,” or “re-baptizers.”
18:01 They said they weren't “re-baptizers,” but “baptizers,”
18:04 seeing as infant baptism isn't baptism at all.
18:07 Five months later, one of them was martyred.
18:08 Then more, including Mantz himself.
18:11 It was Jesus who said, “Go therefore and make
18:13 disciples of all nations, baptizing them.”
18:16 Matthew 28:19. The Reformers were only
18:18 following Christ's words. That's something all believers
18:21 are called to do. I'm John Bradshaw
18:22 for It Is Written. Let's live today by Every Word.
18:26 If something in today's program has sparked your interest
18:29 in deeper Bible Study, visit our website:
18:31 itiswritten.com where you'll find a host of
18:34 spiritual resources and free Bible study guides.
18:38 You'll find a complete archive of past It Is Written programs
18:40 available in script form so you can read or download them.
18:44 Plus, you can watch a program you've missed via streaming
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18:51 today. And be sure to follow us on
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18:57 What does the Bible say about the way a person should be
18:59 baptized? Here's what we know about Jesus' baptism.
19:03 It says this in Matthew 3:16, "When He had been baptized,
19:08 Jesus came up immediately from the water."
19:14 He "came up." Now that sounds like He
19:19 had been immersed, doesn't it? One comes up after being down
19:23 under. So Jesus was baptized
19:26 by immersion in the Jordan River by John the Baptist.
19:30 Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch by immersion, as well.
19:33 Notice the wording in Acts 8:38 & 39.
19:37 "And both Philip and the eunuch went down into
19:42 the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out
19:47 of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away."
19:51 Acts 8:38, 39 NKJV "Down into the water;"
19:54 "up out of the water." That's immersion,
19:58 without a doubt. As a matter of fact, the Greek
20:00 word for baptize, baptizo, means "to immerse."
20:03 John the Baptist's name meant "John the Immerser."
20:07 Clearly, baptisms in the New Testament were by immersion.
20:11 A fascinating study has been done on the baptisteries found
20:15 in the ancient ruins of Christian churches
20:17 and in the basilicas and cathedrals
20:19 of the Middle Ages. Among the ancient ruins,
20:22 stone-laid baptisteries have been found.
20:24 Some even have steps going down into them, allowing
20:27 individuals to walk down into the water.
20:31 All of them were large enough for people to get in to
20:33 and to be baptized by immersion. Baptisteries carved from huge
20:38 blocks of marble or built into the floor can be found
20:41 in basilicas and cathedrals in many places in Europe.
20:44 In many locations large baptisteries have since been
20:47 filled in, with a font for pouring built over the spot
20:50 where the baptistery used to be.
20:52 Perhaps the most interesting adaptation of a baptistery
20:55 is the one found in the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome.
20:59 An ornate bronze baptismal font holds a small amount
21:04 of water in the front part, but the whole thing stands
21:07 in a large depression in the floor.
21:10 That large depression indicates an earlier form
21:12 of baptism was performed there. Records reveal that Benedict
21:17 XIII, elected the Pope in 1724, anxious to conform
21:21 to the ancient rite of administering baptism
21:23 by immersion "ordered the construction ...
21:28 forming a large basin." And this was after thousands
21:30 of Anabaptists perished for practicing believer's
21:33 baptism by immersion. Of course, succeeding popes
21:36 didn't agree with Benedict XIII, and soon
21:39 the depression was filled in by the baptismal font
21:41 that can now be seen in St Peter's today.
21:44 Well, does the form of baptism really matter?
21:47 If you want to be true to the Bible, you've got
21:51 to believe that it does. But why does the Bible teach
21:54 baptism by immersion? Since the word baptize
21:57 in the Greek means "to immerse," has a person been baptized
22:01 if they were not immersed? What does it really mean
22:05 to be baptized? Baptism has been understood
22:08 as a way to join with the Christian church
22:10 as a follower of Christ - which is a very Biblical idea.
22:14 In Acts chapter 2, 3000 people were baptized and they were
22:18 "added to the church." (You see that
22:20 in verse 47). And in Romans 6, Paul says
22:24 that people who are baptized are baptized into the death
22:28 of Christ. And then just as Christ
22:31 was raised up from the dead, we begin to walk in a new life.
22:35 Listen to this. "Do you not know that as many
22:39 of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized
22:44 into His death? Therefore we were buried
22:47 with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ
22:50 was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so
22:54 we also should walk in newness of life."
22:58 Romans 6:3, 4 NKJV. So what exactly
23:03 does Paul mean? He explains.
23:06 "For if we have been united together in the likeness
23:08 of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness
23:12 of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man
23:16 was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might
23:20 be done away with, that we should no longer
23:23 be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been
23:27 freed from sin." Romans 6:5-7 NKJV.
23:32 Paul is saying that baptism represents the death of our
23:35 old nature of sin and selfishness,
23:38 and a transformation to a new life in Christ.
23:41 In verse 6, he describes the death of our old nature
23:44 as "our old man" who "was crucified with Him."
23:48 What part of baptism represents being crucified
23:51 with Christ; the death to sin and self?
23:54 Well, that would be GOING UNDER WATER.
23:56 Paul calls it "being buried with Him through baptism
24:00 into death" in Romans 6:4. What part of baptism
24:04 represents being resurrected like Christ; changed to a new
24:08 life in Christ? That would be COMING UP OUT
24:11 OF THE WATER. So baptism is a symbol
24:14 of change from spiritual deadness-sin in control
24:19 of the life-to a new spiritual life.
24:22 That is why baptism means "to immerse."
24:25 Only immersion can symbolize the change that comes through
24:28 true conversion. Jesus described true baptism
24:31 as being born all over again. He said these words
24:35 to Nicodemus in John 3. "Except a man be born of water
24:40 and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom
24:43 of God." John 3:5 KJV.
24:47 Sprinkling or pouring simply cannot symbolize the dramatic
24:51 transformation Christ brings about in our lives through
24:54 the Holy Spirit. You see, God is in the business
24:57 of transforming people. Like the prodigal son in the
25:00 parable, those who are lost become found, and those who
25:05 are dead are made alive. And if you've given your life
25:09 to Jesus Christ, He calls you to demonstrate that through
25:12 baptism: a person goes down into what essentially
25:16 is a watery grave - and when you come out of that water to walk
25:20 in newness of life... that's when you're
25:23 really living!
25:29 ♪[ethereal music]♪ Baptism is a well-known symbol
26:04 of dying to self, burying the old life and rising to
26:09 a new life in Christ. This new life can be yours.
26:11 To learn more, let me send you our FREE booklet called
26:14 "Buried Alive" Just call (800) 253-3000
26:19 and ask for your copy of "Buried Alive"
26:22 If the line's busy, please try again,
26:24 or write us at It Is Written, P.O. Box 6,
26:27 Chattanooga, TN 37401. We'll mail a free copy to you
26:32 in North America. It Is Written is a faith-based
26:36 ministry and your support makes it possible for us to share
26:39 God's good news with the world. Your tax-deductible gift can be
26:43 sent to the address on your screen, or through our website
26:46 at itiswritten.com. Thank you for your continued
26:49 prayerful support. Again, our toll-free number is,
26:53 (800) 253-3000, and our web address is
26:57 itiswritten.com.
27:01 Today, we have been talking about baptism.
27:03 What the Bible teaches about being baptized
27:06 by immersion. And the reason that
27:08 is so powerfully important is because baptism by immersion
27:11 represents a life that is being given fully
27:14 and completely to Jesus Christ. When a person is baptized
27:17 by immersion, they are signifying something.
27:19 My life is given to Jesus and I have come up out of that
27:22 water and I am now walking in newness of life.
27:26 Have you made that decision to be baptized?
27:30 And if you haven't, what are you waiting for?
27:33 Perhaps now is the time for you to make a decision
27:35 that says: "Jesus, I'm giving you my life.
27:38 Jesus, I'm serious about it. I want to enter into
27:42 that commitment ceremony with you.
27:44 I'd like to be baptized, have my sins washed away,
27:48 buried in that watery grave. I want to walk in newness
27:53 of life." To learn more about this,
27:55 visit out website itiswritten.com.
28:02 You'll find information there that will help you
28:04 in your journey with Jesus. And I want to encourage
28:06 you today not to wait, but to make that decision
28:08 that sees you follow Jesus' example of being baptized
28:10 by immersion. Let me pray with you
28:12 about that. Our Father in heaven, we thank
28:16 you today for the wonderful gift, really, it's a gift
28:19 of baptism by immersion, which is all to do with that great
28:23 gift of salvation that you gave to us.
28:26 I know that now there are people who are making a decision.
28:28 It's time for me to be baptized. I shouldn't be waiting
28:32 any longer. I need to do what Jesus
28:34 has asked me to do and I need to give Him my heart
28:36 and my life. So take that heart now, Lord,
28:39 and make it yours. Father, I pray that you
28:42 would lead all of us, those who need to be baptized,
28:46 to be baptized and those who have been, to recommit
28:49 their lives to you right now, to walk with Jesus
28:54 living His life in us. We thank you today and we pray
28:59 in Jesus' name, Amen.
29:06 ♪[Music]♪
29:22 Thanks for joining me today. I look forward to seeing
29:24 you again next time. Until then, remember:
29:29 It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone,
29:32 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
29:37 ♪[Music]♪


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