Before Jesus’ ascension after He rose from the dead, He left His apostles with a command:
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (Matthew 28:19)
On Mark’s writing concerning the commission, a promise was seen to be given:
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)
The apostles were to preach the gospel and baptize those who would believe the preaching. The ones being baptized will be saved from sin and will be added by the Lord to His church.
Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. (Acts 2:47)
We hear “baptism” almost every time in the religious world. Most religious bodies exercise what they choose to call baptism. However, the vast majority does not understand the action or purpose. It is very disappointing to see so much confusion and misunderstanding of this subject when an abundance of information is readily available. It is extremely important to understand both the action and the design of baptism. The action, purpose and design can not be changed without canceling its benefits. The baptism practiced by denominationalism is not the baptism the Lord commanded; thus, many are not receiving the blessings given by true baptism.
What is Baptism?
Webster defines baptism as: 1) to dip or immerse in water, to pour and sprinkle water upon, as a religious rite; to administer baptism to; 2) to cleanse, purify, initiate 3) to give a name to at baptism; to christen.
To define biblical word one does not go to Webster’s Dictionary, but one must try to go back to the language in which the New Testament was written. The New Testament was written in “Koine” Greek. While translating the New Testament from Greek to English, scholars did not translate “baptizo” but transliterated it (retaining the word but using characters of the English alphabet). In the original, the specific New Testament word for baptism is “baptism” from “bapto” meaning to dip. The verb “baptizo” means: 1) to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge (of vessels sunk) 2) to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash one’s self, bathe (Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament).
The apostle Paul likens baptism to a burial:
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3-4)
Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. (Colossians 2:12)
We also note the example given to us when after Philip had taught the eunuch:
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. (Acts 8:36-38)
We take note that “water” was the element in which the Eunuch was baptized. In this account we can come up with the conclusion that the baptism the Lord commanded to be preached and obeyed is a dipping, submerging, a burial in water. This eliminates “sprinkling” or “pouring” as baptism. Baptizo was never translated as sprinkling or pouring. Sprinkling is from “rhantizo” while pouring is from “cheo” which are not used for water baptism. We are not in open rebellion with the Lord; thus, we do not substitute sprinkling or pouring for baptism.
Baptism is a command from our Lord (Matthew 28:19). Not only is it a command but Peter also said that baptism saves us.
The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: (1 Peter 3:21)
The gospel of Christ revealed that baptism is essential for our salvation:
