8有些热心宗教的人持守外面的字句形式。（罗二27～28。）以受浸为例，许多亲爱的基督徒固守他们关于水浸的观念。我自己照著圣经非常赞成水浸，我绝不会用洒水给人施浸。然而，受浸这件事几乎完全成了仅仅外面的形式。我们必须避免一切外面的形式。保罗告诉犹太人，他们的割礼若仅仅是外面的，就不是真的。真割礼是里面的，在心里，也在灵里。我们可将同样的话应用到受浸，因为就一面说，受浸顶替了割礼。在旧约里有割礼，在新约里割礼由受浸顶替了。只要割礼仅被当作外面的形式实行，就不是真的，照样，受浸若只是外面的，也绝不会是真的。原谅我说，几乎所有的受浸都已堕落到外面的形式里。我能从自己的经历说明这事。首先，有一位牧师用几滴水给我行了点水礼，后来我领悟这是错的，是不合圣经的。然后，由一位弟兄会教师在海里给我施浸。此后，有人告诉我，在海水而不在淡水里受浸是错的。照他们说，人应当跟从耶稣的榜样，在河里受浸。接著，可能另一位牧师会争辩那仍是错的，因为不是在约但河里。至终我领悟，即使人在约但河里受了浸，别人也会告诉他们那是错的，因为他们没有在耶稣本人受浸所在的地点受浸。争辩是无止境的，批评也是不公平、不合理的。关于受浸这事，人们争辩、争论了许多世纪，因为他们固守外面的形式。有些人，像贵格会和宾路易师母（Mrs.PennLewis），拒绝用外面、物质的浸。虽然我不赞同这点，但我警戒你不要注重照你看为正确的形式。你不是主，我也不是。无论你在热水或冷水里，海水或淡水里，河里或海里，一次或数次受浸，仅仅外面的形式算不得甚么。我们需要里面的实际。我不鼓励你把任何事情当作形式实行。我们不该执著于任何形式，却该专注于实际。
8Some religious people keep the outward form in letter (2:27-28). Take the example of baptism. Many dear Christians cling to their concepts about baptism by immersion in water. I myself am strongly in favor of baptism by immersion according to the Scriptures and I would never baptize people by sprinkling them. However, this matter of baptism has almost entirely become a mere outward form. We must avoid all outward forms. Paul told the Jews that if their circumcision is merely outward, it is unreal. The genuine circumcision is inward, in the heart and in the spirit. We may apply the same word to baptism, for, in a sense, baptism replaces circumcision. In the Old Testament was circumcision, and in the New Testament circumcision has been replaced by baptism. Since circumcision is unreal as long as it is practiced as a bare outward form, so baptism can never be real if it is simply outward. I am sorry to say that nearly all baptisms have degraded into an outward form. I can illustrate from my own experience. First, I was sprinkled with a few drops of water by a pastor. Later I realized that this was wrong, that it was unscriptural. Then I was immersed in these a by a Brethren teacher. After this, someone told me that it is wrong to be baptized in salt water instead of fresh water. According to them, people should follow the example of Jesus and be immersed in a river. Then, perhaps, a pastor will argue that it is still wrong because it is not in the river Jordan. Eventually I realized that even if people had been baptized in the river Jordan, someone else would tell them that it was still wrong because they had not been immersed in the precise spot where Jesus Himself had been baptized. The arguments are endless, and the criticisms are unfair and unreasonable. People have argued and disputed about baptism for centuries because they cling to an outward form. Some, like the Quakers and Mrs. Penn-Lewis, have repudiated the outward, physical baptism. Although I do not agree with this, I caution you not to pay attention to a form which is correct according to your sight. You are not the Lord, neither am I. Whether you are baptized in hot water or cold water, salt water or plain water, in the river or in the ocean, one time or several times, the mere outward form means nothing. We need the inward reality. I do not encourage you to practice anything as a form. We should not be attached to any form, but pay our full attention to the reality.