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Originally Posted by Mayflower  But the piont that this person was making, that it does not means that baptism has always a relationship with the local church, because Eunoch was baptize while he did not at that time became a member of a local church.
So what do you think with the comment, that a baptism can take place without being a member of the local church ? |
AS Sam said in the quote above.
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First, if the Ethiopian Eunuch indeed was not baptized into a local church, it was only because no such church existed in Ethiopia. This was clearly an exceptional circumstance that must not be made into a normative principle of the church or applied to situations where a local church does exist.
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I do believe the full quote of point 9 above addressed your questions brother.
Why would anyone want to argue away from being baptized into Church membership? Where are the ordinances of the Lord's Table and Baptism administered? Outside of the church? I don't think so. Where are the bodies discipline and family ties attached to if not a local assembly?
As Dr. Waldron's blog made mention of the Eunoch's tie to Ethiopia, we must assume the Eunoch was attached to something. It was probably first in Jerusalem to where he was going. And he was probably sent out by that local assembly to go home. Either way it is not normative. It is one situation that is mentioned and out of character from the others. He was obviously baptised into Christ and would have been fit by the Spirit of God for a local body. God doesn't have any Lone Rangers as 1 Corinthians illumines for us. We are a body that is fit together.
Anyways I will end with the beginning of the third blog entry by Dr. Waldron.
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Let me introduce them with a qualification or caution. By arguing so strongly for baptism into church membership I do not mean to teach that a baptism which was not into the membership of a local church is not true baptism. I make a distinction between errors which invalidate baptism and administrative irregularities which do not invalidate it. For instance, I would argue that baptism should be performed by an authorized representative of a local church. This does not mean, however, that a baptism performed by someone who is not such an authorized representative is invalid. Similarly, a baptism not into the membership of a local church is irregular, but not invalid.
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Christ knows who are his.