Baptism is Necessary to Enter the Millennial Kingdom
I have been a Christian for decades. In that long stretch of lifetime, I had never been baptized until today. My wife and I both went this very morning, stood in front of the whole congregation, which was gathered in a sunbaked tent in the parking lot, and got a handsfree COVID style baptism while the worship team played music. It was a nice event, to say the least.
If you are wishing to ask me what took so long, the answer is quite simple: I didn’t consider it a priority. The perception of baptism I had up until a few weeks ago categorized it as little more than a formality, a gesture even, of one’s devotion to God. The problem I saw with this, and which many Christians share, is the fact that God’s omniscience makes gestures irrelevant, and the cleansing power of being baptized in the Holy Spirit makes it unnecessary. Unnecessary and irrelevant gestures just don’t make it up on the to-do list.
That view changed one night as I was reading the book of John, specifically the record of Jesus’ meeting with the Pharisee Nicodemus. After Nicodemus asked what Jesus meant about being born again, Jesus answered:
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. -John 3:5 NKJV
This is a verse that speaks directly to the point. For one to avoid the meaning of Jesus’ words, he or she needs to rebrand what it means to be “born of water,” or what the Kingdom of God is. Three main views have emerged from this process.
The Womb-water View
The simplest view just says that to be born of water is to be physically born out the womb. The water in this view is merely the amniotic fluid. This is illogical, for it is a natural prerequisite for gaining the ability to rationalize thoughts and learning of Jesus. Proponents usually admit the view is redundant, but use Nicodemus’ question about passing through a mother’s womb a second time as the trigger that prompted the response. This does add a semblance of plausibility, but nothing more. It would still be far-fetched for Jesus to take a valid question about a topic that is completely foreign to Nicodemus, and answer with an obvious, irrelevant truth.
The Built-in Process View
Another view is a procedural view. This view simply states that water is included in the process of salvation, which God will perform when formally cleansing us. They often cite God’s command to tell the Israelites this:
'‘Thus says the Lord God : ‘On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.’’’ Ezekiel 36:25-27
This interpretation takes these verses out of context. God is telling the Israelites that He will restore them to the land promised to their fathers. Throughout this chapter, God is telling them He is purifying both the land, which had become ruined and desolate, and Israel’s people, which are returning to God after rebellion. The wording God uses shows that this is a singular event, which is to be performed on a particular day, for a particular people, and a particular land. None of these words establish a view that God performs all water baptisms Himself. That view has to be forcefully extracted from the text.
The Salvational Requirement View
The salvational view, which is taught heavily by Catholics, states that baptism is a key necessity to earning salvation. This view is contradicted by the many times Jesus talks of salvation through belief in Him. In the same conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus says this:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. -John 3:15-16 NKJV
No mention of water or baptism here, nor in verse 36, John chapter 6, or the other places that teach salvation through faith in Jesus. This is because baptism is not necessary for salvation. Many of these interactions are with groups of people that Jesus passed as He moved around. The fact that He did not tell them it was requirement for salvation when He spoke to them speaks volumes against that belief that baptism is a salvational requirement, for the omission of such a requirement would result in Jesus misleading those groups He did not tell.
The Proper Interpretation
Each of these interpretations exist at the opposite and radical ends of the spectrum: An act of being baptized either does not matter at all, or it matters absolutely to our salvation. None of these are right, and the truth, as is usually the case, lies nearer to the center. Before I can show the proper interpretation of this verse, I need to show the proper interpretation of the Kingdom of God.
A lot of Christians equate the Kingdom of God with the gift of salvation in eternity. I cannot stress how important it is to realize that these are different. When Jesus and Paul speak of the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, or the time of rest, they are referring to the Millennial Kingdom. This is the time before eternity that Jesus spends ruling and reigning with the saints for 1,000 years on this world while Satan is locked in the pit. Entry into eternity takes place in the last day when Satan is destroyed and God brings forth a new heaven and Earth. Entry into the Millennial Kingdom is based upon our righteousness and faith, while salvation through faith alone is all that is needed to be saved in eternity.
It is the belief that these are the same, or at the very least, that the standards are the same, that fosters the confusion on this issue. A faith-only view for entry into the Kingdom of God forces Jesus words to be filtered into a dichotomy. They either must be irrelevant, or they must be extremely important. This trend carries throughout many of Jesus’ parables and Paul’s epistles. With a standard of righteousness that Jesus assigned to the Kingdom of God in Matthew chapter 5, all those warnings and parables make sense.
In that same context, so do Jesus words to Nicodemus concerning baptism: Baptism is not required for salvation in eternity, but it is required for entry into the Millennial Kingdom. It is on the list of a lot of other requirements for entry: One must act righteously, which means fornicators, adulterers, idolaters, and all the other sinners Paul lists do not get in. One must also labor for Christ and not hide their faith, as shown in Jesus’ promise to deny us before the angels if we deny him. We also have to work to bring people to salvation, as shown in the parable of the talents. There is a lot to do, and a lot to avoid doing to enter the Kingdom of God.
The bottom-line is simple: for those that want to rule and reign with Christ and not miss-out for 1,000 years, Baptism is required. If you have not already, go get baptized. It’s worth a few hours to possibly gain 1,000 years.
