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Believe it or not, a horrible controversy broke out in the early Christian church more than 1,600 years ago, and that controversy gives us insight into some of the terrible scandals that rock the church today.
Life in the Roman Empire was pretty tough for Christians, because even though government permitted religious freedom, it was under the condition that as you worshipped you also recognized the Roman Caesar as a god. And of course, this wasn’t a problem for most of the pagan religions of the empire because they were polytheist anyway.
But it posed a huge problem for both Jews and Christians, who worshipped only one true God, the creator of heaven and earth. The Ten Commandments were clear: “You shall have no other gods before me.” Chapter 6 made it abundantly clear that worshipping the emperor simply wasn’t an option (Deuteronomy 6:4, 14):
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you.”
This, of course, didn’t sit well with the Roman authorities, and as the fledgling Christian church began to grow, it was perceived as a significant threat to the unity of the empire. In the beginning, the Christians tried to distance themselves from the Jews, who were the first and primary recipients of the Roman dragon’s wrath. But this only worked for a little while.
Eventually, Christian refusal to worship the Roman emperor was also discovered. Persecution of the Christians reached a peak when the emperor Diocletian took to the throne. In February of the year 303 AD, Diocletian issued an edict against the Christians that had devastating consequences for all believers. For starters, all Christian soldiers had to leave the Roman army. And after that, church property was confiscated and Christian books were destroyed.
A couple of fires erupted in the emperor’s palace, and like his predecessor Nero, the emperor chose to blame the Christians, and his persecutions were stepped up to even harsher heights. All Christians were required to abandon the Christian faith or be sentenced to death.
It was a crisis for the Christian church that would last for 10 years until it finally cooled down in the year 313. The decade-long attack was so horrible that many Christians today see a clear reference to it in the predictions of the book of Revelation.
From the beginning of chapter 2 until the end of chapter 3, John the Revelator lays out an amazing prediction of church history from the days of the New Testament church right through to the Second Coming of Christ, with a different church from Asia Minor representing each successive church age.
In the message to the church of Smyrna, long recognized as a message to the persecuted church under the Roman Empire, we find these amazing words (Revelation 2:10):
“Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
In prophetic vocabulary, a day is often used to represent a year, and here in Revelation 2, we’re told that the harsh persecution of the Christian church would last 10 days, which equals 10 years. And amazingly enough, the Diocletian persecution lasted from AD 303 to 313, a period of 10 years, just the way John said it would.
When the worst of the persecution came to an end, and especially after the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, a new set of problems emerged for the Christian church. First of all, when the emperor made it popular to become a Christian, the church was suddenly flooded with halfhearted converts who wanted to take advantage of the emperor’s good favor.
Not only was it suddenly popular to be a Christian, there were also financial and social incentives to join the Christian church. But in the hearts of these opportunistic converts, there was little desire to follow the self-denying path of Jesus of Nazareth.
As the clear teachings of Christianity began to water down under the favor of the empire, it became harder and harder for genuine Christians to keep things straight. But in the midst of the flood of new Christian converts, the church had another new problem. During the height of the persecution, many Christians lost their nerve and gave up their Christian faith. Even some of the clergy had handed their Bibles over to the Roman army and publicly denounced the Christian faith in order to save themselves.
This, of course, is not the first time this has happened. The early church had a stunning example of that kind of cowardice in the behavior of the Apostle Peter. I’m sure you remember the story. Peter had openly boasted that he would follow Jesus even if it meant going to his death. “Lord,” he said, “Even if all are made to stumble because of you, I will never be made to stumble. Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you.”
And then, sure enough, when the going got tough, Peter was the first to jump ship. In the space of one night, he openly denied Jesus three times. It turns out that our selfish human nature can be pretty strong when it comes right down to it. More than we’d like to admit, we abandon Christian principle or even break God’s moral law doing the wrong thing to keep ourselves out of hot water.
Abraham told a half-truth and risked the purity of his wife in order to keep out of trouble with the king of Egypt. David had Uriah murdered to cover up his adulterous affair with Bathsheba. Peter quickly abandoned his loyalty to Jesus when he thought it might cost him his life. And some of the early Christians did exactly the same thing. When they saw the armies of Diocletian knocking at their door, they threw away their courage and walked away from the church Jesus had paid for with His life.
Now, on the other hand, there was another group of Christians under the Diocletian persecution who, in fact, seemed to relish the thought of martyrdom. A hundred years before the Diocletian crisis, the church father Tertullian instructed the Christians that it was wrong to run away from persecution. But now there were Christians, particularly in North Africa, who took things a step further and actually volunteered to be put to death.
As the persecutions began to wind down, those who volunteered for martyrdom naturally despised those who had run away. And when some of the apostate clergy tried to come back into the church, those who stood by their faith were naturally reluctant to allow them to return to their posts. After all, how can someone who ran away in a time of trouble be trusted to lead and inspire others in the Christian faith? At the very least, their loyalty to Christ was highly suspect.
The whole question came to a head in the year 311 AD, when the Bishop Felix tried to consecrate a new bishop for the city of Carthage. The appointment was hotly protested, not because the new bishop was unqualified or because his loyalty to the Christian church was questionable, but because Felix, the man who ordained him, was one of those who had surrendered his books to the Roman army. Felix was considered a traitor, a term used specifically to describe those who had sold out during the persecution.
Now, it’s important that you follow me carefully, because the kind of thinking that led to this protest still exists in the Christian world today. Did the early Christians have a right to be suspicious of those who abandoned the faith? Of course. Did they have the right to question their ability to lead the church? Absolutely. But in addition to their questions about Felix, they also said that the newly appointed bishop was unworthy to hold the office because he had been appointed by a man whose faith was suspect.
So, to prove their point, a group of about 70 bishops formed a senate and declared that the new appointment was utterly worthless. And to prove the point, they consecrated their own bishop of Carthage, and the fight was on. The Donatists, as they came to be called, argued that the established church had lost its authority to elect bishops because of apostasy in the ranks. They said that any religious function performed by any questionable minister was completely invalid.
After a period of time, the Donatists began to argue that they were the only true Christians, and they refused to accept any baptism performed by the impure ministers of the central church. As a result, the Donatists began to rebaptize people into their own ranks.
I guess the essence of the argument was this: The validity of any religious function was dependent on the supposed worthiness of the minister who performed it. And to some extent, I suppose that’s true. If you were baptized by someone who openly denies Christ and you were baptized with that understanding, it’s pretty hard to call that a Christian baptism.
But the issue in those days wasn’t whether or not the minister taught the truths of the Bible. It had more to do with whether or not he had fled the church in a time of crisis. So if you were baptized by a minister who had run away but later repented and came back, the Donatists would say that you hadn’t even been baptized at all.
Now, before I go any further, let me say this. I’m not going to defend those who ran away. If I’d lived in those days, I’d probably have my questions, too. But what I want to address is the very nature of baptism itself, so you can see why the Donatists were wrong. Their moral indignation was probably justified. Their hesitation to accept a returning minister was probably right. But their understanding of the nature of Christian baptism was completely wrong. Let me show you what I mean.
If you’ve ever wondered what Christian baptism really means, about the best place to look for an answer is in the book of Romans, chapter 6. Listen to this (Romans 6:3-6):
“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”
In Romans 6, we’re told that baptism is how we completely identify with Christ. Just like Jesus was buried after dying for our sins, we are buried to our old life of sin when we accept Jesus as our Savior. And just like Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, we leave behind our own sinful lives and rise to new ones, where we no longer have to be slaves to sin.
When we are baptized according to the Bible, it’s a symbolic death, burial and resurrection. That’s why for about the first 1,300 years of church history, baptisms were usually performed the same way you find them in the New Testament—by submerging the candidate in water. And the reason the New Testament church submerged their baptismal candidates was because it best represents the death and burial of the sinner and the birth of a brand new person in Christ.
In fact, in the 12th century, English Cardinal Robert Pullus said this: “The immersion of the candidate represents the death of Christ. While he is under the water, the burial of Christ is being represented. When he comes out of the water, the resurrection is represented.”
Now, according to the Bible, when you’re baptized you do it as a tangible demonstration of your faith in Christ’s promise to forgive you, and you do it publicly to identify with Christ. That’s why many of the indoor baptistries constructed by the early church actually had a gallery where spectators could watch your baptism. It was almost like a wedding, because your baptism was the public celebration of your commitment to Christ.
Listen to the words of the Bible found in Galatians 3. It says (Galatians 3:27):
“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
You know, when my wife agreed to marry me, she also agreed to take my name. Now, personally, it’s hard to believe she gave up an easy last name like Pepper for a foreign mouthful like Boonstra. But that’s exactly what she did. And she did it so that she would be publicly identified with me forever.
In the same way, Paul tells us that when we’re baptized into Christ, we publicly take His name. We no longer go by the name of “Sinner”—we go by the name “Child of God.” And in taking Christ’s name, we become Christians, a word that has the very name of Christ in it.
And that brings us back to the big controversy in the 4th century between the Donatists and the rest of the Christian world. Does the fact that a minister was a coward during the persecution mean that the people he baptized were not really Christians?
It’s a question we could easily ask again today, because over the last couple of decades, the Christian church at large has gone through some pretty horrible public scandals.
If you suddenly discover that the priest who performed your Christian wedding was involved in a terrible crime against children, does that mean your wedding doesn’t count? And if you find out that your minister who was so influential in leading you to Christ, if you find out he visited a prostitute or embezzled money from the church, does that mean your own Christian experience is in jeopardy? Or let’s suppose that the pastor who baptized you suddenly gives up on the Christian faith. What does that say about you?
Those are good questions to ask, because people are faced with those sorts of things all the time. In my own experience, I’ve known a pastor who left the Christian faith altogether, leaving behind a trial of heartbroken people who began to wonder if the Christian experience they were having under his leadership was the real thing.
“Pastor,” they’d say to me, “we wonder how long he was lying to us from the pulpit, teaching us things he didn’t even believe himself.” So you can see why somebody might worry. And when it comes to baptism, people tend to worry just a little bit more because the clear teaching of the Bible is that your baptism is the means by which you join the Christian church.
In the book of Acts, chapter 2, we discover that all those who were baptized were added to the organized Christian church of the day. Listen to this account from the book of Acts (Acts 2:41):
“Then those who gladly received his word”— that’s Peter they’re talking about —“were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.”
And down in the 47th verse, the Bible says they were added to the church (Acts 2:47):
“And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
So the question faced by people who have been disappointed by religious leaders is this: When your leader turns out to be less than perfect, or even outright wicked, does that mean your baptism into Christ’s church doesn’t count?
Absolutely not. Don’t forget what the Bible actually says. Romans 6 told us that we are baptized into Christ. Galatians 3 told us that when we’re baptized we put on Christ, as if we had been married to Him. The ceremony of baptism doesn’t belong to your minister, even though he’s the one who performs it.
In the final analysis, your baptism—your death, burial and resurrection into a new life in Christ—is a sacred covenant between you and Jesus. In 1 Peter 3, there’s a wonderful description of baptism where he compares it to the flood of Noah’s day. Listen to this, beginning partway through verse 20 (1 Peter 3:20):
“In the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.”
Now, let me pause for just a moment to be sure you follow this very carefully. Peter is about to compare Noah’s ark to the Christian rite of baptism, and he makes it clear it’s a symbol of salvation. Just like the ark provided safety for Noah’s family, baptism provides safety for you. And that’s not because the act of baptism saves you. It’s because you’re baptized as a result of what Jesus does for you. Let’s continue (1 Peter 3:21):
“There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
Now, that word “antitype” is a fancy word for fulfillment, and it means that the ark Noah built was a symbol that pointed forward to the salvation that Jesus would offer you.
If you pay careful attention to what people actually writes, you’ll notice a couple of really important things. First of all, he stresses the fact that baptism itself does not save you. It’s only a public demonstrate of your faith in Christ. Now, that doesn’t mean baptism is optional, because the Bible issues it as a command. If you repent of your sins and come to Christ, you will be baptized.
The voice of Peter himself preached on the day of Pentecost that people should repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins. Baptism and following Jesus go hand in hand. But still it’s Jesus who saves you, not the ceremony itself.
Secondly, and perhaps related to the first point, I want you to notice why we are baptized as Christians. Peter says it’s not the removal of the filth of the flesh. That means that the act of baptism itself doesn’t actually make you clean. Well, then, why would you bother doing it? The Bible says it’s the answer of a good conscience toward God. And that means we’re doing it because we believe that God can save us, and because we know He asks us to be baptized.
So where does that leave the Donatists, who wanted to reject any baptism conducted by a minister who turned chicken under the persecution? Well, frankly, they didn’t have much ground to stand on, because the Bible makes it clear that it’s the baptismal candidate’s relationship to God that either validates or invalidates the baptism.
You aren’t baptized because of your minister’s conscience. You’re baptized into Christ because of your own conscience. And should you be so unfortunate as to have a minister whose own commitment to God is somewhat questionable, that doesn’t mean your own relationship with Christ needs to be in trouble.
By all means, if your minister doesn’t believe the Bible or he’s teaching stuff that contradicts the Word of God, go find another minister. But be confident in your own relationship to Christ, because in Jesus’ own words, nobody who comes to Him in sincerity will ever be cast out.
A little while ago, a little friend of mine, only 11 years old, was struggling with leukemia, and she didn’t have long to live. As she studied the life of Jesus, she decided to follow him in baptism.
“Pastor,” she said, to me, “I want to die a Christian. I want to be baptized.”
Nothing could hold my little friend back. Even though she couldn’t walk into the baptistry without help, nothing could hold her back. Even though the disease had depleted her body so she couldn’t keep warm in the water, it’s what she wanted more than anything in the world. And even though she was too weak to climb out of the baptistry all by herself, she knew she’d done the right thing. She had answered the call of her conscience toward God.
And a couple of nights before she passed away, she sent me a message.
“Pastor,” she said, “now I’m ready to die because my heart belongs to Jesus.”
You know, her heart belonged to Jesus before she was baptized, but nothing could keep her from publicly declaring it to the world. Even though a lot of people would have argued, and maybe with some justification, that with her terrible illness she could have skipped the baptism and God would understand, she knew it was the right thing to do.
Now, here’s a question for you. The Donatist controversy died out some 1,600 years ago. But the biblical requirement for baptism is still there, and if you haven’t taken that step in faith, if you’ve never been buried in the waters of baptism with Christ, what in the world holds you back? Can you think of one good reason not to answer the call of a good conscience toward God?
I know a lot of people have some decisions to make today, so why don’t we pray together?
PRAYER
Father in Heaven, as we look at the cross of Christ,
something in our hearts tells us we need to respond and accept his gift. We
need to follow Jesus. And we can see that as we follow Jesus, the old sinner
goes away and we become a new creature. That’s why we’re baptized; it’s the
answer of our conscience toward the cross. I pray that those who are listening
and reading this today who need to make a decision would step forward
confidently with Jesus. And I ask it in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scriptures Used in “Baptism in Hot Water”
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with
all your strength. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples
who are all around you.”
—Deuteronomy 6:4, 14
“Do not fear any of those things which you are about to
suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you
may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death,
and I will give you the crown of life.
—Revelation 2:10
“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him
through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the
glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we
have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall
be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was
crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we
should no longer be slaves of sin.”
—Romans 6:3-6
“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on
Christ.”
—Galatians 3:27
“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and
that day about three thousand souls were added to them.”
—Acts 2:41
“And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being
saved.”
—Acts 2:47
“In the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in
which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.”
—1 Peter 3:20
“There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not
the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience
toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
—1 Peter 3:21