Digital Commons @ George Fox University Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations 2-2020 Bringing Life Back to Christianity: Taking a Fresh Look at Baptism Shawn W. Hart Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/dmin Part of the Christianity Commons GEORGE FOX UNIVERSITY BRINGING LIFE BACK TO CHRISTIANITY: TAKING A FRESH LOOK AT BAPTISM A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF PORTLAND SEMINARY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY SHAWN W. HART PORTLAND, OREGON FEBRUARY 2020 Portland Seminary George Fox University Portland, Oregon CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL ________________________________ DMin Dissertation ________________________________ This is to certify that the DMin Dissertation of Shawn W. Hart has been approved by the Dissertation Committee on February 27, 2020 for the degree of Doctor of Ministry in Leadership and Global Perspectives Dissertation Committee: Primary Advisor: Darrell Peregrym, DMin Secondary Advisor: Ron Clark, DMin Lead Mentor: Jason Clark, PhD, DMin Expert Advisor: Dan Lioy, PhD Copyright © 2020 by Shawn Hart All rights reserved ii DEDICATION To My Family, Thank you for the patience you have shown as I have fought through my education and my personal spiritual journey. Only those who endure such a journey truly understand the struggles that are associated with it. I am thankful for having such a great group of people to use as sounding boards, critics, and encouraging centers. I am blessed. To My Church Family, What a blessing it is to have a family of fellow believers in Christ with whom to share this journey. You have been there, tolerating my weird hours, numerous excuses, and messy-office stages as I pushed forward. I am thankful for your encouraging thoughts and constant love. To the God of Heaven, What a privilege it is to be trusted as a messenger of the Gospel. I have believed for a long time that I was called to the ministry; even at times when I attempted to find a different course, God put me back on track. It is for this reason that I thank God for the opportunity to reach others with His message of Salvation; as always, I pray sincerely that He is not disappointed by my efforts. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION .............................................................................................................. III PREFACE ..................................................................................................................... VI ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ VII SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 1 A History of Biblical Cleansing ................................................................................. 6 Old Covenant Cleansing ...................................................................................... 10 New Covenant Cleansing ..................................................................................... 11 Simple Obedience ................................................................................................ 12 Baptism and the Evangelical Church ........................................................................ 13 Why Sacraments? ................................................................................................ 13 Problems in Evangelicalism ................................................................................. 15 SECTION 2: THESIS ................................................................................................... 25 5 Biblical Benefits of Water Baptism ....................................................................... 25 Biblical Cleansing ................................................................................................ 28 United to Christ ....................................................................................................... 32 Roadblocks and Warnings .................................................................................... 33 Union versus Unity .............................................................................................. 35 Benefit ................................................................................................................. 36 A New Covenant with God ...................................................................................... 39 Moses and the Sin Offering .................................................................................. 39 An Insufficient Covenant ..................................................................................... 43 A Better Covenant ............................................................................................... 44 Receiving Forgiveness of Sins ................................................................................. 47 Paying for Sins..................................................................................................... 47 The Egyptians ...................................................................................................... 49 John’s Converts and Rebaptism ........................................................................... 50 Washed in the Blood ............................................................................................ 51 Receiving the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit ............................................................. 52 Holy Spirit of the Old Testament ......................................................................... 52 Promise of the Holy Spirit .................................................................................... 54 Evidence of the Holy Spirit .................................................................................. 55 Entrance into the Kingdom of God .......................................................................... 57 Understanding the Kingdom ................................................................................ 57 Earthly or Heavenly? ........................................................................................... 60 Flesh versus Spirit ................................................................................................ 62 The Body of Christ .............................................................................................. 64 iv SECTION 3: CONFLICTING TEACHINGS TO BAPTISM........................................ 68 But What About… ................................................................................................... 68 But what about Romans 10:9? .............................................................................. 68 But What about Grace? ........................................................................................ 71 But What About the Thief on the Cross? .............................................................. 76 But What About Asking Jesus into Your Heart? ................................................... 80 SECTION 4: THE SOLUTION .................................................................................... 83 Warning Scriptures… ............................................................................................ 83 SECTION 5: ARTIFACT DESCRIPTION ................................................................... 88 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................... 90 v PREFACE Growing up, I heard a number of terms used to define one’s Christian beliefs: conservative, liberal, modernist, feminist, and even open-minded. I have always classified myself as a “scripturalist”; the reason for this is grounded in the value that I place on God’s Word: the Bible. I do not only love and respect Scripture, but I also try diligently to set my life according to how it reads; furthermore, I try to encourage those I teach to do the same thing. This leads to the reason for this paper: integrity of Scripture. Over the years, I have seen various movements of ideological thought interfere with God’s Word; we have become a society that is more influenced by worldly opinion and values rather than Godly dedication. I believe this is a serious mistake. So why did I choose “baptism” out of all the topics I could have chosen? The reality is that I do not believe that anything in the Bible builds on our relationship to God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit like the act of baptism does. Scriptures shows such a value to what it brings to the table that I believe neglecting its proper teaching is to the detriment of the believer. Furthermore, I believe understanding baptism in its entirety helps to create a spirit of inclusion and oneness with God: oneness that builds faith, strengthens beliefs, and encourages through struggling. The purpose of this paper is not to criticize or alienate those who read it, but rather to encourage everyone to go back to Scripture and find the beauty of baptism that I believe God has placed there. vi ABSTRACT “WORLD’S GREATEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE” was the boast of the notecard passed down for three generations. This particular recipe had won eighteen county fairs, five state fairs, and even a write up in Reader’s Digest, and now…it is yours! As you looked over this recipe that had survived the ages, you noticed “nutmeg” was one of the ingredients; you are not a fan of nutmeg though, so you used cinnamon instead. Next, the pecans were replaced with walnuts; the milk chocolate chips were replaced with dark chocolate; the salt