W. B. Godbey - Enter His Rest
W. B. Godbey - Enter His Rest
W. B. Godbey - Enter His Rest
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oastingly challenged the whole world to meet them face to face and refute their water theology. As I knew the<br />
war had been there, hot and heavy, for more than a generation, and as my preaching would certainly add fuel to<br />
the flame, I deemed it pertinent to cut the work short in righteousness. Therefore I advertised in the secular<br />
papers circulating throughout my district, my acceptance of all the challenges that had been made or should be<br />
made. These debates occupied four to eight days, and great audiences attended and listened spellbound.<br />
My first debate was in Somerset, occupying eight days and afterward at Highland, Lincoln County, with the<br />
same man, Elder Joseph Ballew, who not only boldly advocated all of their water doctrines but denied the direct<br />
influence of the Holy Spirit on the heart, and in one of his propositions affirmed that a sinner had no right to<br />
pray, as that was the prerogative of citizens only and every sinner was an alien until he was immersed for the<br />
remission of his sins – that made him a citizen of God's kingdom and conferred on him the right to petition the<br />
King, I. e., to pray.<br />
I also had a debate of eight days in Mount Vernon, Rockcastle County, with Elder Kelly, and another in Estill<br />
County, with Elder Harding, and two discussions with Elder Briney. These debates at the different places<br />
covered the same ground, they denying and laboring to disprove the work of the Holy Spirit on the heart, the<br />
right of a sinner to pray, and experimental religion, and at the same time enforcing all of their water doctrines<br />
with every forcible argument. They affirmed that Christian baptism is for the remission of sins. I remember<br />
Elder Harding had it written in large, brilliant letters over the pulpit for everybody to see and read, while he felt<br />
sure that he could prove it beyond the possibility of a doubt. As he was in the affirmative, of course the onus<br />
proband, I.e., burden of proof, devolved upon him. With great force and emphasis he delivered his oration,<br />
occupying a solid hour.<br />
Then I followed him with an hour in the negative. As the people had listened spellbound to his entire discourse,<br />
I began by eulogizing it and stating that it was able and edifying and that I had but one objection to it. Then the<br />
people stared their eyes open, thinking that I was just about to get converted to Campbellism, but when I told<br />
them what my objection was, that it was this, that “There is no truth in it,” their countenances fell. I proceeded<br />
at once and had no trouble to make good what I had said and to show clearly that his great and brilliant speech<br />
was actually destitute of truth.<br />
Argument 1. I began on his proposition, “Christian baptism for the remission of sins.” I proved the proposition<br />
false because it is self-contradictory; no one can be a Christian and have any sins to be forgiven, as every<br />
unforgiven person is a sinner and not a Christian. To make the proposition logical, you would have to change it<br />
so as to read, “Sinner's baptism is for the remission of sins. But the trouble in that case is that there is no sinner's<br />
baptism known in the Bible, as baptism is God's mark which He puts on <strong>His</strong> own sheep and never on Satan's<br />
goats. Then I took his arguments in the order in which he had presented them and clearly showed their utter<br />
falsity, e. g., “Repent and be baptized UNTO the remission of your sins,” (Acts 2:38), and not in order to, as he<br />
construed it. Then I showed from Luke's commission, under which Peter was preaching, as Luke wrote both his<br />
Gospel and the Acts as dictated by Paul, (Luke 24:47), that repentance unto the remission of sins should be<br />
preached to all nations in <strong>His</strong> name, beginning at Jerusalem. In both of these passages we have eis aphesin toon<br />
amartioon, unto the remission of your sins. We have this same statement in both passages precisely, while in the<br />
commission Luke does not mention baptism, but only repentance as the condition of remission of sins for all the<br />
heathen world. In Acts 2:38, where your English says, “be baptized,” you have it in the second person plural, coordinate<br />
with repent, whereas the Greek is in the third person singular, and agrees with the distributive pronoun<br />
ekastos. The simple meaning is, “All ye repent unto the remission of your sins.” This takes in the whole<br />
multitude. Then follows, “And let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.” Every pronoun has<br />
an antecedent.<br />
Here the antecedent ekastos – each one – is the subject of metanoiasate – repent. All who repented received the<br />
remission of their sins according to Luke's commission, (24:47). Then each one who had repented and received<br />
the remission of sins, Peter exhorted to get baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, thus publicly confessing Him.<br />
Argument 2. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mark<br />
16:16.) This was the basis of his second argument in order to prove baptism for the remission of sins. The<br />
solution of it is very simple and easy. A school boy will readily understand it. The Bible tells us of a baptism for