Was Wesley’s baptism invalid?

A baptist explains why he accepts infant baptism as valid.


An interesting argument given the attraction that believer’s baptism has from some Methodists these days.

Was Wesley’s baptism invalid?

Lectionary blogging: Why was Jesus baptized?

The gospel lectionary this week recounts the baptism of Jesus, which raises questions about why Jesus was baptized.

At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River so that John would baptize him. John tried to stop him and said, “I need to be baptized by you, yet you come to me?”

Jesus answered, “Allow me to be baptized now. This is necessary to fulfill all righteousness.”

So John agreed to baptize Jesus. When Jesus was baptized, he immediately came up out of the water. Heaven was opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and resting on him. A voice from heaven said, “This is my Son whom I dearly love; I find happiness in him.” (Matthew 3:13-17, CEB)

It seems only right that we ask questions about the meaning of baptism since John the Baptist himself asked such questions.

John Wesley’s Notes on the New Testament include these comments on these verses.



Let our Lord’s submitting to baptism teach us a holy exactness in the observance of those institutions which owe their obligation merely to a Divine command. Surely thus it becometh all his followers to fulfil all righteousness. Jesus had no sin to wash away. And yet he was baptized. And God owned his ordinance, so as to make it the season of pouring forth the Holy Spirit upon him. And where can we expect this sacred effusion, but in an humble attendance on Divine appointments.

Wesley comes down on the side of interpreting Jesus’ baptism as a model for his followers. Jesus was baptized even though he had no sin and required no repentance, which were key aspects of John’s baptismal message. Jesus did this to set a model for us. For Wesley the baptism of Jesus is an example of the obligations that rest on us as Christians for no other reason than Jesus Christ commands us to observe them. If we reject the command, Wesley argues, we should not expect the Holy Spirit.

As I ponder this passage, my mind turns to Paul’s teaching in Ephesus about the difference between the baptism of John and the baptism of Jesus. The key question in those verses had to do with the Holy Spirit. Did the disciples receive the Holy Spirit when they were baptized? To which the disciples say they don’t know anything about the Holy Spirit?

Paul, engaging in some spiritual diagnosis, asks which baptism they received. He goes on to explain that the baptism of John was a baptism of repentance that prepared the people for the coming of Jesus (as Gabriel said of John in Luke 1).

Paul’s teaching here makes me wonder if the baptism of John was meant to come to an end with the presence of Jesus and the coming of his kingdom. The pre-show shuts down when the main act arrives. Jesus underwent baptism as a way of bringing to conclusion the baptism that is a sign of repentance and opens up the age of baptism that conveys the gift of the Holy Spirit. Could the fulfilling of all righteousness be the fulfilling of the purpose of John’s baptism of repentance?

Lectionary blogging: Why was Jesus baptized?

Delmar’s baptism and Phil Robertson’s repentance

One of my favorite scenes in O Brother, Where Art Thou? is Delmar’s baptism:

Delmar comes up out of the water and declares his sins washed away to the point that neither God nor man has any claim on him any longer.

I thought of the scene while reading one of the less newsworthy parts of the GQ interview with Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson.




Robertson may not follow in the church of Delmar, but it sounds quite similar to me.

And that got me thinking. Is this correct? Doesn’t repentance require an effort to make right the damage we have caused others?

For some folks that could be an impossible task, of course. We cause so many hurts and wounds that we cannot even count them all, much less repair each injury. But there is still something here that sounds wrong to me. Even if we hold to a strong reading of Paul’s words that we die to the old self and rise as a new self, it seems to me that repentance toward God does not mean we have truly repented of the harm we have caused other humans. It feels to me, rather, that using our baptism as a way to absolve ourselves of wrongs we have done to other people is trading on God’s grace in ways God did not intend.

This is a complicated, pastoral question that probably does not lend itself to absolute rules. But I wonder how others understand it. To what extent does repentance require seeking to undo or heal the damage we have done to other people?

Delmar’s baptism and Phil Robertson’s repentance

A reason to call yourself a Christian

Brian McLaren fielded a question from a writer who came from a Christian background but was uncomfortable identifying as a Christian. In response, McLaren offered his reasons for bearing the name “Christian.”


His response got me thinking about the place of baptism in our identity. To be baptized is to be claimed by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and to be named by God. So, for me the reason you use the word “Christian” to describe yourself is because you were baptized.

Someone reading that last paragraph might wonder whether I’m arguing that there is a such thing as a non-baptized Christian. Provisionally, I would say that being a Christian does entail being baptized, but I’m not trying to pick an argument on that point. The Bible sets down no naming convention or rules of use for the name. I simply offer my answer to the question of why a person should use the name, especially if they feel some alienation from Christians and Christianity as they exist in the flesh.

“Were you baptized?’


“Well, then, whatever you call yourself, you belong to Christ.”

A reason to call yourself a Christian

Just a byte of bread?

You may have noticed a Twitter storm recently about online communion.

Whether you noticed or not, here a good summary story about the cause of the activity and the discussions in the United Methodist Church.

Just a byte of bread?

Morgan Guyton on the Eucharist

Morgan Guyton writes about the Eucharist:

For the first 1500 years of Christianity, the high point of every worship gathering was Eucharist. The sermon served to prepare the hearts of the congregation to receive the body and blood of Christ. In today’s Protestantism, the sermon has replaced Eucharist as the focal point of our worship. And the individualistic altar call has replaced the communal table as the congregation’s standard response to the proclaimed word. I wonder if this change is the reason that the Protestant gospel became more about hell than the heavenly banquet that Eucharist proclaims.

Morgan Guyton on the Eucharist