Baptism, meaning of

Baptism in faith is our meeting point with the saving death of Jesus Christ without which there is no forgiveness of sins and therefore no hope.

Baptism

• is our open confession of our need for God’s redeeming grace.
• is the token that we are crucified with Christ.
• is the means of cleansing from past sins.
• is a sign of rebirth as a spiritual creature.
• is an echo of the greater rebirth in spirit nature.
• makes us heirs of God’s promises.
• inscribes our names in the book of life.
• is NOT optional.

The importance of baptism —

• Only one way: John 14:6; 3:5.
• A command of Jesus: Mat 28:19-20.
• Required even when the Holy Spirit already given: Acts 10:47,48.
• The answer of a good conscience: 1Pe 3:20,21.
• Assumed by Paul as inevitable: Col 2:12; Rom 6:2.
• Immediate: Acts 8:12,36; 9:18; 10:48; 16:33.

Why was Jesus BAPTIZED (since he was sinless)?

Jesus accepted baptism because his Father desired it of him. His baptism was an example for others (note Acts 2:38). He pointed the way for the rest of humanity, linking himself, in his sinlessness, with the sins of those, of like nature, whom he came to redeem. “All flesh is grass”, including the flesh of the Son of God.

Why must one be immersed and not sprinkled with water?

• The method of baptism — Down into the water, up out of the water: Mark 1:10; Acts 8:38,39.
• John baptized in Aenon, because there was much water there: John 3:23.
• Likened to burial: Col 2:12.
• In the cloud and in the sea: 1Co 10:2.

Immersion, pouring or sprinkling? — Sprinkling as a baptismal method arose because of the baptism of infants. The baptism of infants arose because of the adoption of a false doctrine of sin: that infants possess guilt for sin because they are born “in Adam”, and need baptism to remove this guilt. But the issues to be confronted and mastered before baptism are for mature decision; baptism is for adults.

Sprinkling? Note Acts 8:36; it is inconceivable that a man crossing a desert would not have a few drops of water in his possession.

While sprinkling fits the “washing” imagery of baptism in the NT, it hardly fits the burial and resurrection pictures which are just as important.

John the Baptist is often pictured pouring water over the heads of his followers; this fits only slightly better!

How much knowledge is sufficient to be considered for BAPTISM? Prerequisites for baptism —

• Hearing: Mat 28:19; Acts 11:14; 16:14,32.
• Belief: Mark 16:16; Acts 8:12,37; 18:8.
• Confession/Repentance: Mark 1:5; Acts 2:38.
• A right attitude: 1Pe 3:21; Rom 6:17.

What must be believed?

“But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women” (Acts 8:12).

Things concerning the kingdom of God —

• promises to Abraham: Gen 11; 12; etc.
• the faith of Abraham: Gen 15:6/
• established a nation in God’s land: Josh.
• the throne of the Lord in Jerusalem.
• the promises to David: 2Sa 7.
• the faithlessness of Israel: 2Ch 36.
• the kingdom overthrown: Eze 21:25-27.
• salvation is of the Jews: John 4:22.
• strangers from the covenants of promise: Eph 2:12.
• yet children of Abraham by faith: Gal 3:7.
• and heirs according to the promises: Gal 3:29.
• …by BAPTISM into Christ: Gal 3:28.

Things concerning the name of Jesus Christ —

• realization that all men are sinners: Rom 3:23.
• sin leads to death: Rom 6:23.
• death is final: Psa 146:4.
• no help from man; only God can help: Psa 146:3,5.
• only one way to reconcile men to God: Rom 5:11.
• because Jesus overcame sin, the root of separation: Heb 4:15.
• destroyed the devil through death: Heb 2:14.
• Jesus, not having sinned, could not be held in the grave: Acts 2:24.
• we are linked to this through BAPTISM: Rom 6:3,4.

Who should be the one to administer a valid BAPTISM?

Baptism is effectively the entrance into the household of faith, so to be baptized by a member of that household is appropriate. Baptism also follows a public confession of belief — and one would surely want to confess this belief to fellow-believers. But the validity of your baptism depends on what is in the heart of the person being baptized, not the status of the person who hears one’s testimony and helps ensure that one is submerged.

Themes involved with baptism:

Submission/Acknowledgement —

Baptism is a command. We can submit to it or refuse. Baptism is not however a normal career choice; something which just happens naturally. It is a revolution, a complete change in the course of someone’s life: when he embraces new goals, a new family, a new life. A natural child of Adam, born under the shadow of death and bound by the dominion of sin, reaches a point where they voluntarily choose what is good and holy, and reject all that is related to the kingdom of sin. They don’t do this because it is expected of them, or from desire for reward, or from fear of the consequences of doing otherwise, but out of a pure, transforming, love for the Father.

Confession: Rom 10:9,10; 1Ti 6:12,13, 1Pe 3:21.

No other resources: Gen 47:18, Luke 7:42; 8:43; 15:14.

Sincerity and motive are important: Rom 6:17; Eph 2:8-9; 1Pe 3:21.

Identification with Christ —

• No one can come to the Father except by him: John 14:6.
• Baptism is into his name, into him, closely associating with all aspects of his sacrifice: Rom 6.
• In “equivalent” pagan ceremonies, the identity of the initiator was paramount. Not so here; baptism is into Christ and the baptizer can be anyone: John 4:2; 1Co 1:13-17.
• Compare Passover: it is not enough to see the lamb killed; blood had to be sprinkled on the door: Exo 12:23.

Burial — Rom 6:4; Col 2:12.

Part of a bigger symbol:

• plunged into water = dying with Christ.
• held (briefly!) underwater = buried with him.
• emerging from the water = raised with him.

Death and Life —

“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it (Mat 16:25), if we keep it for ourselves we cannot keep it for ever. To willingly lose our life is to surrender it to God’s service, and to exchange our so-called freedom for discipleship. Or, to “voluntarily choose what is good and holy, and reject all that is related to the kingdom of sin.” This is because we recognize that our life has as its object the satisfaction of selfish desires, so we decide to deny it any opportunity of mastery, to crucify it, to bury it. As Jesus was condemned to death at the judgment seat of Pilate, so we condemn ourselves to death at the judgment seat of our own conscience.

Death: Rom 6:6,7; Gal 5:24.

Yet life: Rom 6:8,11; Gal 2:20; Eph 2:1,5; Col 2:12,13.

Some parallels

• Noah’s flood (1Pe 3:21): Gen 7:23.
• At the Red Sea (Egypt died, Israel lived): Exo 14:28,29.
• At Gilgal: Josh 4:1–8:9.
• Cleansing the leper: Lev 14:4-7.

Circumcision —

• Under the law it was a token of covenant status: Gen 17:10,11.
• Like baptism, it was symbolic of disowning the flesh.
• The uncircumcised were unable to eat the passover (like the unbaptized at the breaking of bread): Exo 12:43-48.
• Baptism paralleled with circumcision: Rom 2:29; Phi 3:3; Col 2:11.
• Note Gilgal: Joshua 4:1-8,9; 5:2-9; 10:15,43; 1Sa 11:14,15; 15:33.
• Site of John the Baptist’s work: John 1:28; Mat 3:9.

Washing —

• Baptism cleanses: Acts 22:16; 1Co 6:11; Tit 3:5; Heb 10:22; Rev 1:5; 7:14.
• “He that is bathed needs not save to wash his feet but is clean every whit” (John 13:10).
• Under the Law of Moses, priests were ritually washed before putting on holy garments (we are, in a sense, priests continuously after baptism): Exo 40:12-15, Lev 8:6-9. Aaron washed particularly before changing garments on the Day of Atonement: Lev 16:4.
• Gr “baptizo” occurs twice in LXX; one is 2Ki 5:14 (Naaman washed 7 times in Jordan and was healed from leprosy).

Change of clothes —

• Putting off the old: Rom 13:12; Eph 4:22; Col 2:11; 3:8,9.
• Putting on the new: Rom 13:14; Gal 3:27; Eph 4:24; Col 3:10,12,14.

Pervasive theme in OT; note washing and changing garments above, also:

• Adam and Eve exchanged their own provision (fig leaves) for skins of God’s giving: Gen 3:7,21.
• Joseph and Jehoiachin re-clothed on release from prison: Gen 41:14; 2Ki 25:27-29.
• Elisha rent his own clothes and took up Elijah’s mantle: 2Ki 2:12,13.
• Joshua son of Josedech exchanged filthy garments for new ones: Zec 3:3-5.

In Christ’s parables:

• The wedding feast: Mat 22:11,12 (cp Isa 61:10).
• The old garment and the new piece: Mark 2:21.
• The good Samaritan: Luke 10:30,34.
• The prodigal son: Luke 15:22.

In his miracles:

• Bartimaeus cast away his garment: Mark 10:50.
• Legion clothed: Luke 8:27,35.

Canceling sins —

• Acts 2:38; 22:16; Col 2:11.
• Of John’s baptism also: Luke 1:77; Mark 1:4.

Rebirth —

• A new creature: Rom 6:4; 2Co 5:17; Gal 6:15.
• Born again: John 1:13; 3:3,5; 1Pe 1:3,23; 2:2.
• Renewal of the mind: Rom 12:2; 2Co 4:16; Eph 5:26; Col 3:10; Tit 3:5.
• Note: after “baptizing” himself (LXX) in Jordan, Naaman’s flesh was as a newborn child’s: 2Ki 5:14.

Change of allegiance —

Baptism is typically “into the name” of the Lord. The Greek is ‘eis to onoma’, a term used in Greek banking when a sum of money was placed “in the credit of” another person. This would imply that when baptized we are “made over” to Christ. Also, as truly as a bride takes on the name of her husband, so we take on the name of Christ.

Enrolling in a new family or community —

Through baptism, we become sons and servants of God, join the one body of Christ, become heirs of the promises to Abraham, are lifted into heavenly places: John 1:12; Rom 6:17-22; 1Co 12:13; 15:22; Gal 3:26-29; Eph 2:6,13,19; 3:6; Col 1:13.

Both Old and New Testaments occasionally use the idiomatic expression “upon whom the name of God is called”. When this idea is used with other names it refers to adoption of a new family name, for example: Est 2:14; Gen 21:12; 48:16, Isa 4:1.

With God’s own name it is used of:

• the people: Deu 28:10; 2Ch 7:14; Isa 43:7; 63:19; Jer 14:9;
• Jeremiah himself: Jer 15:16;
• Jerusalem and its people: Jer 25:29; Dan 9:18,19;
• the ark: 2Sa 6:2; 1Ch 13:6;
• the temple: Jer 7:10,11,14,30; 32:34; 34:15; 1Ki 8:43; 2Ch 6:33; and
• certain Gentiles: Amo 9:12.

This is the background to the NT usage, closely linked with the idea of baptism: James 2:7; Acts 15:17 (= Amos 9:12, and note Acts 15:14); Acts 22:16. Note too the name in the forehead of the High Priest: Exo 28:36 (cp Eze 9:4; Rev 14:1).