“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.” — Matthew 23:25-26 (NKJV)

 

The scribes and Pharisees were so concerned with appearances that the condition of the inside of the cup and dish (that could not be seen) was not a concern to them — as long as they looked clean they were satisfied. Of course, Jesus was not speaking only of a cup and a dish; He was speaking to their lack of attention to the thing that mattered most, the condition of the heart. Where they were more concerned with the flesh, Jesus was most interested in the condition of the heart.

A parallel exists today in many of our churches; it is the notion that baptism is the litmus test for one’s salvation. Just as the Pharisees and scribes washed the outside of the cup with water and pronounced it clean, baptism is too often thought to wash away sin.

How did the Church become so confused about baptism (and most everything else)? Why do we place so much emphasis on the things that we control, on things that we ourselves can accomplish? John 15:5 says that we can’t do anything unless we are connected to Jesus; even in that we can only surrender ourselves to what Jesus has accomplished.

The Pharisees didn’t get it, they were concerned about appearances; even Peter who walked on it was long in understanding that water could only affect the flesh. Pastors, teachers, and theologians today too often confuse the issue; great discussions and arguments abound when the methods of baptism are discussed, about the depth of the water, or method of application. Baptism is supposed to be an outward sign of an inward grace, a public testimony to what has happened in the heart of the one baptized. It was never about the water, it was, is, and always will be about the blood. We have made salvation about appearances, about what we can do, and what we have done to save ourselves. Water can wash away dirt from our flesh; only the blood of Jesus can wash away the sin that abides in the heart.

Bobby Thornhill