Who is My Brother?

            Have you ever really sat down and tried to decide who your brother or sister in Christ really is? There are a lot of people who claim to be our brethren, but are they really? We call other members of the church Brother so-and-so or Sister so-and-so, but what about those who are members of some denomination?  Many times I have heard a member of one denomination call a member of another denomination, or even a member of the church, “brother”, but, are we really, and would it be right for us to call a member of some denomination our brother? Who are really our brethren?

            In Matthew 12:46-50, Jesus tells us who His brethren are.

While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him. And one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking to speak to thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren! (Mt. 12:46-49)

Those who are His disciples are those who are His brethren, and if brethren of the Lord, we are brethren of one another. Isn’t that what that is saying? “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Mt. 12:50). Those who are doing the will of God, or are obedient to Him, are brethren. Those who are doing the will of God are those who are obedient to His word, the Bible, who are also those who are Christians, which means, those who are of Christ, followers of Christ, or, in other words, the disciples of Christ. Look at what Hebrews 2:11 tells us: “For both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.” Who is “he that sanctifieth? That’s Christ. Who are “they that are sanctified”? That’s Christians. So all of us who have been sanctified in Christ, and Christ Himself, are all brethren.  So, who is my brother or sister in a spiritual sense? Anyone who is a fellow Christian. To ask, “who is my brother”, is basically the same thing as asking, “who is my fellow Christian”? When we know what a Christian is, we will know the answer to the question, “who is my brother”.  So, to help us determine further, who our brother is, let’s ask the question, “Who is a Christian”?

(I) Who is a Christian?

            There is, perhaps, no question in the religious world about which there is more confusion than this. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of schools and colleges scattered all over this continent which are labeled as “Christian” schools, but their not; not really. There are “Christian” radio stations all over the place that are not Christian. There are “Christian” programs on our Televisions promoting what they are airing as Christian, and yet they and their teaching, are nothing like Christ nor what He taught. There are “Christian” day-cares, “Christian” counselors, “Christian” musical concerts, and all of these kinds of things, that most of the time are not Christian at all. Just calling something “Christian” does not make is so. Who is a Christian, really?

            Galatians 3:26 says, “For ye are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus.” If we are “all sons of God”, that means that we are all brethren, right? Just as all of those who are sons of our earthly fathers are all brethren those who are sons of God are all spiritual brethren. How? “Through faith, in Christ Jesus.” But don’t stop there. It isn’t telling us that those who just believe in Christ Jesus are brethren, there is more included in “faith” than just believing. We can’t just lift one particular verse out of the Scriptures and say, “that’s it”, Paul goes on to tell us what he means. In the next verse: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). Right there is our answer. Who are our brethren? Those who are in Christ. How does one get into Christ? We just read it, “as many of you as were baptized .” At what point does a person put on Christ? When he believes? Oh, no! After we have believed we still have not “put on Christ”, only after we have been baptized. What did Mark tell us in Mark 16:16? “He that believes shall be saved?” No! He said, “he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.”

That aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water: which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1 Pet. 3:20-21)

 Unless a person has been baptized, he is not a Christian, he is not saved, and he is not our brother. If that is not true, where is the verse that says otherwise? Where is the example that shows us otherwise?

            In Acts chapter 16, we read about a girl who had a spirit of divination followed behind Paul and his companions crying out, “these men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim unto you the way of salvation” (Act 16:17). Well, what was that way of salvation that they were proclaiming? When the Philippian jailor asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved”, he was told, “believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house” (Acts. 16:31).  Was he saved at that point? No! It says that he and those of his house were taught and then they were baptized. In verse 34, it says, “and [he] rejoiced greatly, with all his house, having believed in God.” What did it mean that he “believed in God.” It meant that he heard the gospel, he believed it, and he was baptized. Those who “proclaimed the way of salvation” told him that he needed to be baptized. If not, where did he get the idea that he needed to do it, and that “very hour of the night”?

(II) We Must be Baptized for the Right Reason

            There are a lot of people who if we were to ask them if they were baptized will tell us yes, but just because a person has been baptized does not mean that that person is really “in Christ.” There are a lot of different baptisms, and for a lot of different reasons, but there is only one baptism that is able to save us. Unless we are baptized for the remission of sin, we are still lost in our sin because has not yet been remitted! When the people there on the Day of Pentecost asked “Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do?” The answer given was, “repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins” (Acts 2:38). We are not baptized as an outward expression of some inner grace! We are not baptized in order to become a member of some sectarian church! We are not baptized because we are already saved! Those are all man-made practices, but God said, we are to be baptized for the remission of our sins. When our sins are forgiven us in baptism, the Lord adds us to His church and we become a member of the body of Christ (cf. Acts 2:47; 1 Cor. 12:13). There is only ONE scriptural baptism!

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all. (Eph 4:4-6)

            If that was not why we were baptized, then we need to be baptized again! When Paul found those who were baptized for the wrong reason, he re-baptized them.

And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples: and he said unto them, Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed? And they said unto him, Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit was given. And he said, Into what then were ye baptized? And they said, Into John's baptism. And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him that should come after him, that is, on Jesus. And when they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. And they were in all about twelve men. (Acts 19:1-7)

(III) We Must Understand What We Are Doing When We are Baptized

            If we don’t understand what we are doing when we are baptized, then it doesn’t do us a bit of good. If someone comes forward to be baptized and I ask that person, because I don’t already know his or her situation, “why do you want to be baptized”, and the answer is, “I don’t know”, or “just because”, or “my mom told me too”, or “because my dad was baptized”, I’m not going to baptize that person until he knows why he needs to be baptized and his reason for doing it is scriptural. Otherwise, it won’t do him a bit of good, but it will do him great harm. If I baptize him without him knowing why, he may get the false impression that he is saved when he is not. He will have a false sense of security! It would be tragic for any person to go into eternity thinking he is a Christian only to find out that he is not. It may appear unkind to refuse to baptize someone who is not ready, but it would actually be more cruel and unkind to go ahead and do it anyway, knowing that it will do him no good. 

            Just as faith without baptism cannot save us, neither can baptism without faith: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mk. 16:16). “And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him” (Heb. 11:6). How many faiths are there? Just one: “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph. 4:5). Where does that faith come from? The Scriptures: “So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Ro. 10:17). Without a knowledge of the gospel, there cannot be a belief in the gospel, and a person baptized without a proper faith cannot be saved by baptism alone. The same thing can be said of repentance: “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Lk. 13:5). And the same thing can be said of confession of faith in Christ: “because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Ro. 10:9).

            Infant baptism does not save. The infant cannot sin and has no need of baptism. An infant has no way of hearing and understanding the gospel, he cannot believe it, he cannot repent, and he cannot confess his faith in Christ. An infant can’t even make the choice to become a Christian, he is baptized without his consent; it is something that is done to him and without him wanting it to be done. The person who is baptized must know what he is doing, believe in what he is doing, and make the choice for himself to be baptized, otherwise, he is not a Christian.

(IV) Baptism is an Immersion

            The world calls a lot of things “baptism” today that is not baptism at all. Webster does not tell us what it means to be baptized. Webster tells us what the word “baptism” means in the English language today. But, baptism is not defined by the way that people use the word today; it is defined by the way that God uses it in His word at the time, and in the culture that it was given. That is the one that we need to know. The Bible tells us what it means to be baptized, not man. Baptism is by immersion; when a person is baptized, he is immersed in water; he is buried in it; anything other than that is not baptism. Sprinkling is not baptism. Pouring is not baptism. Baptism is baptism, being completely submerged in water, from head to toe, and nothing else.

            Our English word, “baptize” is really just a transliteration of the Greek verb “baptizo.” The same word in Greek was just converted over into English. Well, what does it mean? According to Thayer it means, “to dip, dip under, immerse.” What does W.E. Vine tell us it means in the original language and culture? “To dip.”

            If being baptized is not really a dipping or immersing the entire person in water, then why did John the baptize need a lot of water in order to baptize? It does not require a lot of water to pour or sprinkle, but John 3:23 tells us, “And John also was baptizing in Enon near to Salim, because there was much water there.”

            In Acts 8 we read about the conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch. When he was baptized it says,

And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, for he went on his way rejoicing. (Acts 8:38-39)

Would they have had to go down into the water in order to sprinkle or pour?

            In Colossians 2:12, it tells us that when we are baptized, we are “buried with Him.” The only way that we could be buried with Him in baptism is if we are covered with water. If we have not been immersed in water, we have not been baptized.

(V) We Must Be Born Again of Water and the Spirit!

            The need for baptism in order to become a Christian is certain beyond any shadow of a doubt. There is just no reasonable doubt about it. Let’s look at one more passage that confirms this profound truth. In John 3, beginning in verse 1, we read about a man named Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night. He was a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews. Jesus said to him, “verily, verily…” or truly, truly, or most assuredly, in other words, He was about to tell him something that was beyond question or doubt, or any uncertainty. “…Except one be born anew [or from above, ASV footnote], he cannot see the kingdom of God.” There is no possible way for a person to “see the kingdom of God” unless he is born “anew”, or “ born again” (KJV). Unless a person is born again, he cannot be saved, period.

            “Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” His confusion is due to the fact that he did not have the benefit of hindsight as we do to look back on this conversation already knowing the gospel of Christ, the only “birth” he new of was a literal, physical, birth of a young child. But, that was not what Jesus was speaking of.

            “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” He wasn’t talking about a physical rebirth; He was talking about a spiritual one. We are not born again physically, but spiritually. Notice also that the first “Spirit” is spelled with a capital S where the second is spelled with a lower-case s. That’s because the first “Sprit” is talking about the Holy Spirit and the second one is talking about the human spirit. That which is spirit, man’s spirit, is born of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, but not the Spirit alone, it says we are born of “water and the Spirit”; there are two elements there. So, man is spiritually born again, and he is born of two things: water and Spirit. The Spirit there, we know is the Holy Spirit, what about the “water”?

            If we were to walk over and pull any dictionary or encyclopedia of our bookshelf and look up the word “water” they would all tell us the same thing; water means H2O. Water is water; that is what the word “water” means here. If a person is born again by “water and the Spirit”, there is no reason to try and make it mean anything other than what it says! We are born again by the Spirit and the water of baptism. We are begotten by the seed of God’s word and born again in baptism. Man is converted by the power of the gospel, revealed and given to man by the Holy Spirit, and he is spiritually reborn when his sins are washed away in the waters of baptism and he is raised up a newborn Christian. “Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).

            In order to become a Christian, a person must obey the gospel that has been revealed to us in the scriptures and be baptized; there is no other way.

Conclusion

            The question that has been asked this morning is an important one: “Who is my brother?” By that, we want to know who our brothers and sisters in Christ are, who are our spiritual brethren? Well, if someone is a Christian, then he is our spiritual brother. That is not where the confusion is, though, the confusion seems to be in trying to determine who a Christian is. I think this confusion can be cleared up fairly quickly by finding out how it is that the Bible teaches us that a person becomes a Christian. Too many times we look over here at this group and say, “well, they’re a lot like us, they believe this and this and this, and we also believe this and this and this.” Then, we look over here at that group and do the same thing, and then another group and another. If we will just go back to the Bible and find out what we must do to become a Christian in the first place, then it should not be that difficult to see that any person who has not done that is not a Christian.

            According to the Bible, what must a person do in order to become a Christian? He must be baptized. Just any baptism? No, he must be baptized for the remission of sin. What if I was baptized as a baby? Then you were not subject to baptism at that time and where not capable of being scripturally baptized; you are not a Christian. What if I was baptized because uncle Joe was baptized but I didn’t really know what I was doing or why? You are not a Christian. What if I was “baptized” by sprinkling or pouring? You were not really baptized and never really became a Christian. In order to be a Christian, Jesus said a person must be born again of water, that’s baptism, and the Spirit, converted by the gospel; there is no other way. A person must be baptized for the remission of sin, immersed in water, and fully informed and sincere about what he is doing, having heard and believed the gospel, repented, confessed, and then baptized.

            Just think about those folks on the TV, on the radio, in denominations, singing in “Christian” bands, and teaching in “Christian” schools; think about all of our religious neighbors, how many of them have done what the Bible teaches us we must do in order to become a Christian? If they haven’t, then how can they be Christians? They are not really Christians, and are not our brother and sisters in Christ; they can’t be, not according to the Bible. What about those who have become Christians according the gospel plan of salvation, but they worship with instrumental music or whatever? If they have obeyed the gospel plan of salvation, then they are our brethren, but they are in error and that is another topic for another lesson about Christian fellowship, so I am not talking about those folks, only those who claim to be Christians but have never obeyed the gospel; they are not our brethren and not really Christians at all; they are still lost.

            That is why it is so important to make the distinction that we have made in this lesson this morning; our souls depend on it! Their souls depend on it! We must recognize the difference and convert those who are in error.