Berean Digest
Tavares D. Mathews
One Baptism
The Command
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Luke 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Same Message Taught – Everywhere
1 Corinthians 4:17 For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.
Church @ Rome
Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Church @ Corinth
Acts 18:1 After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;
Acts 18:8 And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.
1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
Church @ Galatia
Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Church @ Ephesus
Acts 19:1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,
Acts 19:5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Ephesians 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Ephesians 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. (Acts 19:1, 5)
Church @ Philippi
Acts 16:12 And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days.
Acts 16:15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.
Church @ Colossae
Colossians 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
Colossians 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Church @ Thessalonica
Acts 17:1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
Acts 17:4 And some of them believed, and consorted (joined; attached themselves) with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. (Though baptism is not explicitly mentioned in the case of the church at Thessalonica – surely it is recognized that such is implied by the preceding text.)
Undoubtedly, those who were baptized submitted to immersion for such is the meaning of the word.
The One Body/Church
Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
Ephesians 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Ephesians 1:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Colossians 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Romans 12:4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
Romans 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
1 Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:27 Now ye are the body of Christ [church of Christ], and members in particular.
All those who submitted to baptism were added to the church of Christ – the one and only church for which Christ died. All those who were admitted into the family of God were immersed into Christ. Logic tells us that those who were/are not baptized are NOT in the church of Christ – that is- NOT “in Christ”.