On March 10th 1528 a man named Balthasar Hubmaier was burned at the stake in Vienna, Austria by the Roman Catholic city authorities. His wife, for merely being associated with him, was drowned in the local river. For this serious punishment Hubmaier must have been guilty of a serious crime, wouldn’t you say? Since it was the church that executed him the crime must have been a religious one. Was it some heinous sin or act? No, the execution was for heresy. So, then it follows that the heresy he was promoting must have been something equally as heinous, right? Some type of teaching or doctrine that insults God or Christ, possibly? Denying fundamental truths of Christianity? Well, Hubmaier’s ‘crime’ was baptizing confessing believers.
You see the theology of the Roman Catholic church was that baptism was for infants, not for adults. So, any baptisms that Hubmaier, and other Reformers, were conducting were then outside of the established teaching of the church, thus equaling heresy. They were accused of being ‘rebaptizers,’ baptizing people who had already been baptized. Hubmaier had actually been arrested on multiple occasions before for baptizing individuals but he had only been beaten, tortured, and forced to recant. This last time when he did not recant, he was executed.
It is startling to think that a man and his wife (and many others as well) would be put to death by church authorities in such a gruesome way for dunking people in some water. What is the big deal? But also, it makes me think about Hubmaier’s commitment as well. Why would he perform such an act if he knew it would lead him to this type of suffering and death?
The answer lies in the word ‘conviction.’ His conviction was that baptism was not something done to infants but to those who confess faith in Christ; baptism should come after belief, not before. And that conviction was so strong that he was willing to pay with his life to do it.
I’ve come across multiple believers throughout my ministry who have a trivial view of baptism. They see it as unimportant, an option that they can consider or reject. But stories like Hubmaier come to mind and cause me to reflect on the fact that people literally died to conduct believer’s baptism because they were convinced that is what the Bible teaches. Not to mention the people getting baptized who were also putting their lives in danger. In fact, in Vienna it was outlawed to even attend a ‘rebaptizer’s’ preaching service!
In the Muslim world, if a person comes to faith in Christ, sometimes the rest of the Muslim family doesn’t care…until the person gets baptized. Baptism becomes the ‘last straw’ and the person is excommunicated or worse. This makes me think of the importance of something like baptism: people literally have died to practice it.
But this isn’t an article just about baptism. This is about developing Biblical convictions. Taking a stand on what you believe the Bible teaches. Now we should be humble enough to always consider opposing arguments, but at some point we have to come to a conclusion, and we have to stand firm on it.
I think of myself: would I be so convicted about a subject even like baptism that if I was threatened with execution for me and my wife as well, would I stand firm for that belief or would I cower and recant? Hubmaier did recant on multiple occasions, but eventually his conscience was held captive by the Word of God. “This is what the Bible teaches and I will stand firm on it,” was what went through his head.
Have you developed any Biblical convictions like this? As the persecution of the church of Jesus Christ heats up, what areas will you compromise and what areas will you hold fast? Areas like creation, homosexuality, and the exclusivity of Christ seem like the biggies of today. If the culture puts pressure on you because of what you believe the Bible teaches what are you going to do? Will you stand firm or will you shrug off that conviction for your own comfort? If the culture makes it illegal for you to attend a church where these things are preached, will you obey or will you resist?
It is so important to be well-informed about the Scripture. To take a stand on various doctrines and teachings and hold fast to them no matter what the world may throw at you. It is said that ‘a man may hold convictions, but convictions hold the man.’ I pray that we would firmly trust and stand upon the truth of Scripture, never wavering from our beliefs. This high view of Scripture is necessary for living for Christ in the midst of a hostile world.