Monday, June 21, 2021

Micah Wilder is Wrong about Water Baptism and its Relationship to Salvation

In his book, Passport to Heaven, we find the following anti-biblical (and blasphemous) understanding of water baptism from Micah Wilder:

 

Water baptism isn’t to join a church or to be saved; it is a public witness of one’s faith in Christ and a symbol of becoming a new creation in him. It represents the death of our old self and our resurrection into newness of life through the Spirit—just as Christ was buried and then rose from the grave. More so, I believe true spiritual baptism is not about being dipped in physical water, but immersion into the Word of God, who is Jesus Himself, And once the Spirit of God has given that baptism, no man can take it away from you . . . The more I read the Scriptures, the more I began to see baptism in a different light. I wondered, Could baptism be more of a picture—an allegory—than an actual ordinance? When Jesus said that His baptism fulfilled all righteousness, what did that really mean in the simplest of terms? Was it possible that when Jesus was demonstrating all righteousness in the River Jordan, He wasn’t showing how to be baptized, but rather, what baptism represented? If so, maybe baptism wasn’t as much of a physical act as it was a picture of our righteousness—from justification, through sanctification, to ultimate glorification. I couldn’t help but notice the not-so-hidden theme in His baptism. (Micah Wilder, Passport to Heaven: The True Story of a Zealous Mormon Missionary Who Discovers the Jesus He Never Knew [Eugene, Oreg.: Harvest House Publishers, 2021], 177, 178)

 

In reality, the Bible, whenever it discusses the relationship between salvation and baptism, teaches that baptism is the instrumental (not meritorious) means of remission of sins and regeneration. Furthermore, there is not a single individual in the first 1,000 years of Christianity (unless you want to include Gnostics!) who rejected baptismal regeneration.

 

To see why Wilder is simply wrong and peddling a false gospel on this and other issues, see my book-length work defending baptismal regeneration (which I sent to Micah a few weeks ago and is a topic I would be more than happy to have a full, moderated debate on):

 

“Born of Water and of the Spirit”: The Biblical Evidence for Baptismal Regeneration (*)


 

For articles on this blog addressing baptismal regeneration, see, for e.g.:


 Christ's baptism is NOT imputed to the believer


Full Refutation of the Protestant Claim Romans 10:9-10 Teaches Sola Fide (a text Wilder references in his book a number of times, but never exegetes!)









J. Paul Sampley on Baptismal Regeneration and Ephesians 5:25-27 


On the related issue of imputed righteousness (which informs a lot of the errant arguments against baptismal regeneration and other doctrines), see:

 


(*) if anyone wants a free copy, I will happily send a PDF—contact me at ScripturalMormonismATgmailDOTcom