Jesus wants man to be baptised. He commanded: “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”[1] In John 3.5 Jesus said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Why be baptised? What is baptism?
Why Be Baptised?
Colossians 2:11-14 states that baptism has an inward effect and an outward effect: In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.
The inward effect of baptism is God putting off a man’s body of the flesh, burying him, making him alive, and forgiving him of all trespasses. In short, baptism is the point in time that God chooses to forgive man’s sin. Peter said: “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.[2] Ananias said to Paul: And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptised and wash your sins away, calling on his name.[3] Paul in turn said: Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.[4]
Those who do not believe that baptism is the point in time that God chooses to forgive sin have difficulty explaining the power given by Jesus to the church: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”[5] Where in the New Testament does it record the church exercising this power other than at baptism?
Sin is the breaking of the law. It is written in Isaiah 33.22: Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.[6] God is the lawgiver: For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.[7] God’s plan for man is for him to be with God in a loving relationship. The law of God is consistent with his nature. If God behaves in one way and man behaves in another way, the two cannot be together. So, forgiveness of sin is being with God in terms of behaviour.
As such, Jesus said that baptism saved: Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.[8] 1 Peter 3:19-21 reinforces this truth: … God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ…
The outward effect of baptism is God giving man the sign of his covenant. It is “a spiritual circumcision” or “the circumcision of Christ”. As physical circumcision was the sign of God’s covenant with his people before the death of Jesus[9], baptism is the sign of God’s covenant with his people after the death of Jesus.
What Is Baptism?
Baptism is administered by a minister calling on the name of Jesus and immersing a believer forward with his head bowed into a natural body of water.
Immersion
The New Testament is written in Greek and the word for “baptize” is βαπτίζω (baptizo)which literally means immerse.
God provides two descriptions of baptism in the Bible as examples to follow. The first is the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. He was baptised by immersion. Matthew 3:16 records that immediately after baptism, Jesus “went up out of the water”. For that to happen, Jesus must have first gone down and inside the water. One cannot be “up” unless he was first “down” and cannot be “out” unless he was first “in”.
The second is the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch by Philip. Acts 3:38-39 states that after Philip had baptised the eunuch, the latter “came up out of the water”. As was with Jesus, the eunuch must have been down and inside the water during his baptism. Also, when Philip baptised the eunuch, “they both went down into the water”. If baptism were sprinkling or pouring, why the need for both of them to trouble themselves to go “down into the water”? Couldn’t Philip have just scooped some water in his hand and sprinkle it on the eunuch or pour it over his head? So, the eunuch’s baptism was also by immersion.
Further, John 3:23 records that “John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there”. If baptism were sprinkling or pouring rather than immersing, there would have been no need to do it in a place with “much water”.
Finally, the Bible likens baptism to burial. In Romans 6:4, it is written: We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Colossians 2:12 repeats: “… having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.” In the Bible, a body is buried if it is completely covered either inside the ground or tomb until it is out of sight. Abraham said in Genesis 23:4-8: I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me a burial site among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight (מִלְּפָנָֽי)… If it is your wish for me to bury my dead out of my sight (מִלְּפָנָֽי), hear me, and approach Ephron the son of Zohar for me, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he owns, which is at the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in your presence for a burial site. Also, Matthew 27:59 records that when Jesus was buried, a stone was rolled over his tomb. So, if baptism is likened to burial, the person to be baptised should be completely covered by water until he is out of sight.
Head Bowed
Romans 6:3-5 says that to be baptised is to be “baptised into His death” and to “become united with Him in the likeness of His death”. What did Jesus do when he died? He bowed his head. John 19:30 records: When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Therefore, in baptism, the person to be baptised bows his head and is immersed forward.
This was how Jesus was baptised. If he were immersed backward, during baptism he must be supported by John the Baptist while being lowered inside the water in a supine position and after his baptism he must be lifted up to an upright position by John the Baptist. There is no record of this in the Bible. On the contrary, Matthew 3:16 states that after “being baptised, Jesus came up immediately from the water”. Jesus came up out of the water by himself, without being assisted. This could only have been possible if he had been immersed forward. It may well be argued that Jesus had been immersed backward but emerged by himself unassisted. This is a possibility but to achieve it, it would have taken Jesus some time to manoeuvre himself underwater until he found his feet to stand up. However, Matthew 3:16 has precluded this possibility by stating that the self-emergence of Jesus from the water after baptism was immediate.
Calling On The Name of Jesus
When immersing the person being baptised, the baptist calls on the name of Jesus. This was what the apostles did. In Acts 2:38, Peter taught the crowd in Jerusalem to “be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ”. Acts 8:16 records that the believers in Samaria had “been baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus”. In Acts 10:48, Peter ordered the gathering at Cornelius’ house to “be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ”. And Acts 19:5 records that the believers in Ephesus “were baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus.” In Acts 22.16 Ananias said, “Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.”
The apostles did this although Jesus had commanded them, in Matthew 28:19[10], to “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” because they understood that to baptize in the “name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” meant to baptize in the name of Jesus. Jesus used the singular for “name” indicating that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit share one name. The name of the Son is of course “Jesus”. John 17:11-12 confirms that the name of the Father has been given to the Son: Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. If the name of the Father has been given to the Son, and the Son was given the name “Jesus”, then name of the Father must have been “Jesus”. And the name of the Holy Spirit is also “Jesus” as Jesus announced in John 14:26 that the Holy Spirit would be sent in his name: But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.
Natural Body Of Water
At the time of Jesus and the apostles, there were many man-made pools such as the Pool of Siloam[11] and Bethesda[12]. No baptism however was carried out in them. Rather, the baptisms in both the two descriptions God provides in the Bible as examples took place in natural bodies of water. John the Baptist baptised Jesus in River Jordan.[13] Philip baptised the Ethiopian eunuch in “some water” along the desert road between Jerusalem and Gaza.[14] Pools were not constructed in deserts. Any water poured into it would have evaporated within hours. If the eunuch was baptised in “some water” large enough to accommodate two men in a desert, it must have been a wadi or a spring.
John 3:22-23 records: “After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there…” The word “Aenon” (Αἰνὼν) in Greek means “springs”. The site that Jesus used for baptism was a spring with plentiful water.
Entire Family
The dual effects of baptism have an inexorable consequence on the church. If the inward effect of baptism is the forgiveness of sins, then infants must be baptised because Psalms 51:5 states that infants have sins: Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. And if the outward effect of baptism is likened to circumcision, and infants are circumcised[15], then, again, infants must be baptised.
As a result, the apostolic church baptised entire families. The Bible records that Lydia “and her household”[16] were baptised, the Philippian jailer “and his entire family”[17] were baptised, and “the household of Stephanas”[18] were baptised. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the apostolic church barred infants from baptism.
Misconceptions About Baptism
- Does Romans 4.1-12 say that baptism is unnecessary because one is justified when he believes?
- Does Luke 23:43 show that baptism is unnecessary because the thief on the cross was saved without it?
- Do John 3.16, Romans 10:9-10, Ephesians 2.8 and other verses say that eternal life or salvation is through faith and so baptism is unnecessary?
- Do Romans 3.28, Galatians 2.16, Titus 3.5 and Ephesians 2.8-10 say that works do not save, and so baptism does not save?
- Does Acts 2.38 mean that one is baptised because he already has the forgiveness of sins?
What’s Next?
Read on about another command of Jesus to enable man to choose whether to love God and be with him: Receive The Holy Spirit – Why? What Is The Sign?
[1] Mk 16.15-16.
[2] Acts 2.38.
[3] Acts 22.16.
[4] Rom 6.3-5.
[5] Jn 20.23.
[6] 1 Jn 3.4.
[7] Is 33.22.
[8] Mk 16.16. Some argue that the whole section of Mark 16.9-20 is spurious because it is not in the Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus. However, in Against Heresies, written before these two codices were compiled, Irenaeus quoted Mark 16.19. Despite the lucidity of the passage, some opponents of baptism even go further to argue that baptism is not necessary because if it is Jesus would have carried on to say, “… but whoever does not believe and is not baptised will be condemned”, but Jesus did not add: “and is not baptised”. This argument is farcical. Will one who disbelieve be baptised? His disbelief alone already condemns him. John 3.18 says, “… whoever does not believe is condemned already…” There is no need for his non-baptism to condemn him.
[9] Gen 17.11.
[10] Extant manuscripts rendering Matthew 28.19 as “baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” date back to the 4th century. However, when the 4th century historian Eusebius quoted a 3rd century text of Matthew 28.19, his quotation read: Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in my name. Hence, scholars have suggested that the longer formula was a 4th century insertion to support the Nicene Creed.
[11] Jn 9:7.
[12] Jn 5:2.
[13] Mt 3:6.
[14] Acts 8:26-27, 36-38.
[15] Gen 17.9-14.
[16] Acts 16.15.
[17] Acts 16.32-34.
[18] 1 Cor 1.16.