The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-01-07
|DR. DICKINSON TALKS ON MEANING OF THE
 BAPTISM OF JESUS
Takes Up Rockefeller's Recent Sug- gestion That Baptists No Longer
 Make Baptism a Prerequisite

Dr. A. J. Dickinson preached last even ing at the First Baptist church on the text: Thus It Becometh Us to Fulfill All Righteousness, and gave the congre- gation the interpretation of that sub feet by MT. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. He said: "John, the Baptist, said that he did not know Jesus until he came seek ing baptism; but it had been revealed to him that upon whomsoever thou shalt see the spirit descending, and abiding upon him, the same is he that baptizeth with the spirit, and 1t was by this sign at his baptism that he was able to iden- tify Jesus as the Coming Messiah he preached.
 | But John examined those coming to | him for baptism, and Paul tells us that | he taught them that they should be- lieve on him who should come after him; that is, on Jesus, Acts 19:3." Said Dr. Dickinson: Now, when he told Jesus this he must have replied that he was ! that coming one himself and that being made known to John, he said: I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?' Jesus answered him: 'Suf- fer it now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness' From Johns viewpoint of a baptism of repentance l unto the remission of sins with view to faith in the coming one, he did the natural and appropriate thlng In trying to hinder Jesus.
 CHRIST IN BAPTISM
 "Now baptism, though it is predicated OF repentance and faith and has in view remission of sins, is really an act of loy- atty and allegiance between the person receiving it and him unto whom and in whose name it is administered, and it implies the entrance of the former on the relation of discipleship to the lat ter Hence believers are said to be baptized into Christ Jesus; to put on Christ in baptism; to be grafted into 1 him.. etc.; and these personal relations imply that there is a response on the l part of Jesus to their baptism, so that they are baptized into Christ Jesus as 1 his disciples and he into them as their Lord Both of these being taken to- gether fulfill all righteousness in such an act. and so the baptism of Jesus as hr entered on his messianicl mission was 1 his messinia response to the baptisms of the people, he meeting them, as 1t were in the waters of baptism. There 1 are three persons involved in each and every baptism, the repentant believer in the Coming Messiah. the administrator,
 
 first two are met in his name there | is he also. his own baptism being his pledge to that end. So the baptism of Jesus means that he does and will re- spond to every disciple who seeks to be | baptized into him, and it was necessary to assure the effectiveness of your own in instituting relations of discipleship with him. Baptism would have been one-
 sided and incomplete without having been administered to the Messiah.
 This explains why Jesus himself bap- tized not but his disciples:' for being himself party, principal, to every baptism administered into him as Mes siah. it would have been as inappropriate for him to have officiated as for one tc perform his own wedding ceremony.
 BRETHREN SHOCKED
 ''Mr John D. Rockefeller. Jr in an
 address before the Baptist union of New
 York, shocked our brethren with the proposal that we no longer make the or
 dinance a prerequisite to joining the church. but that we recognize in 1t 2
 personal duty and privilege. ratheE thar a shihbcleth at the door of the church
 Whatever one may say of his conclu-
 sion. his premise is clearly right, fo, baptism is in the New Testament a per
 sonal duty and privilege between cact
 one and his Lord. and not an ecclestas tcal institution or passport. It is ap
 ploprlate when one is joining the Lord
 and it has only incidental connection witt -s- f-s-o M. ke2.~