Taking the Baptism of Other Orders

Elder J. H. Purifoy, Zion's Advocate, 1879

As Published in The Christian Baptist, September 1995  

    We learn in the Bible that there is but one baptism. Immersion is not always baptism; to call re-immersion "re-baptism" is a misnomer. Baptism is an ordinance of the church of Christ, and none can be admitted into the church and enjoy her privileges without submitting to this divine ordinance. Immersion, then, to be regarded as baptism, must be administered to regenerated subjects by authority of the church at the hands or her Scripturally-ordained ministers. Again, immersion would not be baptism if we lost sight of its proper design. For instance, as in the case of the twelve disciples at Ephesus in Paul's time.

  The design, therefore, of true baptism is to show that we have not only truly repented of our sins and brought forth fruits meet or worthy of repentance, but that we are new creatures in Christ, dead to the world, the love of sins and its consequences, and are alive to God, holiness and newness of life. We are buried, therefore, with Christ in baptism, and are raised from the watery grave to walk in newness of life. And I believe another part of the design is to show our literal or physical death, burial and resurrection from the grave of these mortal bodies of ours, changed in the resurrection and fashioned like unto the glorious body of Christ and raised to immortal glory when our blessed Lord shall come again.

  From these premises, we learn that the church of Christ herself must be cautious lest, through ignorance and want of fidelity to her King and Lawgiver, she invalidates the ONE baptism of the gospel. If this be so concerning the true church, what can be said of the immersion of false churches? Can they be valid? Can they be recognized and endorsed by the church of God, Whose Head is the Lord of glory, while false churches have for their head or origin, poor fallen, sinful men? Would it not be presumption in me, or any man, to organize a society and call it the church of God [or church of Christ]? And, if I did, would my claim make it the church, or even a branch? Certainly not!

  Must we recognize other organizations as churches just because they claim to be such? We cannot. Therefore, we cannot receive the administration of the ordinances by them. If they are not the true churches of Christ, they have no right to the ordinances of the gospel. When members come from them, we BAPTIZE them, NOT RE-BAPTIZE them. Primitive Baptists are the living exponents of the principles and practices of primitive Christians from the days of John the Baptist, and, as long as they are steadfast to these principles and practices, they will be blessed of the Lord and prosper spiritually.