Minister. The minister was
an authorized officer. John the Baptist was a man sent from God (John
1:6), with priesthood from his father Zacharias (Luke 1:5) and a divine commission
to baptize. The apostles authorized to baptize were those whom the Lord has
sent; Paul, recognizing that the Lord had not sent him principally as a
baptizer, nonetheless baptized when needed and ensured the work was done by
those authorized to do it (1 Corinthians 1:14-17). The matter of who could
perform the ordinance was not casual; it was a matter of authority received from
those who had it . . .
Effect. The effect was
real. Baptism was for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). It was a real
saving act, not a symbol of one. Peter is unmistakable: baptism doth also
now save us (1 Peter 3:21)—not by the washing of the flesh, he immediately
adds, but by the answer of a good conscience toward God and by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptism in the apostolic gospel is an
ordinance of salvation, a definite act with covenantal consequences, performed
by an authorized minister, received by a believing penitent.
Connected to baptism was a second
definite ordinance: the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. . .
. After baptism, the Holy Ghost was given by the laying on of hands of one
having authority (Acts 8:14-17; Acts 19:5-6; Hebrews 6:2). The two ordinances
together—baptism of water for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands
for the gift of the Holy Ghost—were the apostoli doorway into the Church. (A. Howard
North, The Apostasy from the Original Church of Jesus Christ: How
Christianity Preserved Faith in Christ but Lost His Apostles, Priesthood,
Authority, Ordinances, and Church [2026], 197-98, italics in original)
