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Everything We Need to Know about Water Baptism - Part Two of Four
Introduction
In this article we'll examine the purpose for baptism, the proper method of baptism, in what name should people be baptized, where should baptism be done, who is authorized to perform baptisms, and infant baptism. What Is the Purpose for Baptism?
Jesus commanded us to baptize His disciples, but notice that He didn't explain why we must baptize them: "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."" (Matthew 28:18-20)Here are some ways that Bible scholars have described the purpose for water baptism: "This word gives Paul's vivid picture of baptism as a symbolic burial with Christ and resurrection also to newness of life in him as Paul shows by the addition "wherein ye were also raised with him" (en wi kai sunhgerqhte). "In which baptism" (baptismati, he means). First aorist passive indicative of sunegeirw, late and rare verb (Plutarch for waking up together), in LXX, in N.T. only in Colossians 2:12; Colossians 3:1; Ephesians 2:6. In the symbol of baptism the resurrection to new life in Christ is pictured with an allusion to Christ's own resurrection and to our final resurrection. Paul does not mean to say that the new life in Christ is caused or created by the act of baptism. That is grossly to misunderstand him. The Gnostics and the Judaizers were sacramentalists, but not so Paul the champion of spiritual Christianity. He has just given the spiritual interpretation to circumcision which itself followed Abraham's faith (Romans 4:10-12). Cf. Galatians 3:27. Baptism gives a picture of the change already wrought in the heart "through faith" (dia thβ pistewβ)." (Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament, Colossians 2:12, emphasis added)We know that symbolism is important to God because symbolism is found throughout the entire Bible, and therefore it should be important to us as well, which means that we need to understand and properly fulfill symbolic acts. As the above commentaries have described, baptism is a symbolic picture of our identification (through faith) in what Jesus has done for us. It's a picture of being buried with Jesus and raised to new life in Him, as the following passages describe: "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." (Romans 6:4) What Is the Proper Method of Baptism?
Another issue to consider is the method of baptism. Does it need to be done by sprinkling water on people's heads? By pouring water on their heads? By fully immersing them under water? Does it matter? In order to answer these questions, let's first take a look at the meanings of the main New Testament Greek words for baptism. According to The Complete Word Study Dictionary of the Old and New Testaments (Dr. Spiros Zodhiates), the Greek word baptizo means "Immerse, submerge for a religious purpose, to overwhelm, saturate, baptize." The same Greek dictionary says that the Greek word baptisma "indicates the result of the act of dipping." Other Greek dictionaries and Bible commentaries give similar definitions for these Greek words. Notice that these New Testament Greek words for baptism specifically refer to immersion and dipping, not sprinkling or pouring. For a thorough study of the Greek words for baptism and how those Greek words were used in the first century, see A Historical View of Greek Words Underlying "Baptism, Baptize"  ,
which clearly shows that full immersion is the proper method of baptism.
In order to determine if Scripture allows baptism to be done by sprinkling water on a person, here's every verse in the New Testament that contains the various Greek words for "sprinkle": "The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean." (Hebrews 9:13)As we can see, none of the Greek words for "sprinkle" are ever used in reference to baptism. The Greek words for "pour" are sometimes used for pouring wine or perfume and for pouring out God's wrath, none of which relate to baptism. In order to determine if Scripture allows baptism to be done by pouring water on a person, here are all of the other New Testament passages that contain the Greek words for "pour": "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:28)As we can see, none of the Greek words for "pour" are ever used in reference to baptism. Now let's look at some examples of how baptisms were performed in the New Testament. For example: "Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized." (John 3:23)Notice that John was baptizing people at that location because there was plenty of water. If you think about it, he wouldn't have needed "plenty of water" if all he had to do was sprinkle or pour water on people's heads. A small stream would have worked just fine. But if he needed to baptize people by fully immersing them, then plenty of water would be an important issue. Since John was baptizing people at that location because there was plenty of water, this verse is a better fit with baptism by full immersion than with baptism by sprinkling or pouring. John's baptism was not a Christian baptism (Acts 19:1-6) because Jesus had not yet died on the cross. However, there's no indication anywhere in the New Testament that John's baptism was done any differently than Christian baptism (i.e., full immersion versus sprinkling or pouring). Here are a couple more examples: "As soon as Jesus was baptized [baptizo], he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him." (Matthew 3:16)It could be argued that those people might have gone down into the water up to their ankles or knees, and John the Baptist and Philip might have scooped up some water with their hands and then sprinkled or poured it over Jesus' and the eunuch's heads. But the Greek word for "baptized" in the above passages is baptizo (see the definition above), which is the same Greek word used for washing hands before eating a meal in Mark 7:4-5 and Luke 11:38. According to various Bible commentaries, it was the Jewish custom to dip one's hands in water before or during a meal, and that's why the Greek word baptizo is used in Mark 7:4-5 and Luke 11:38 (see for example Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament
and
People's New Testament ).
Notice that if John the Baptist had dipped his hands in water and then sprinkled or poured the water onto Jesus' head, then it would have been John's
hands
that were baptized
(baptizo)
by being dipped or immersed under the water, just like in Mark 7:4-5 and Luke 11:38. But since we're specifically told that it was Jesus and the eunuch who were baptized
(baptizo),
this means that it was Jesus and the eunuch who were dipped or immersed under the water.
Here's another example: "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" (1 Peter 3:21)Notice that Peter referred to dirt being removed from the body during baptism. If we sprinkle or pour water onto a person's head, then dirt would only be removed from his or her head. On the other hand, if we fully dip or immerse (baptizo) a person's body under water, then dirt would be removed from his or her body. So Peter's statement describes full immersion, not sprinkling or pouring. There's not a single example of anyone being baptized by sprinkling or pouring (or any other method besides full immersion) anywhere in the New Testament. We've seen that Jesus commanded that His disciples must be baptized in water (Matthew 28:19), and we've seen that new disciples were baptized in water immediately after they received salvation, and we've seen that full immersion is the only proper method of baptism. After the cross, a "disciple" is a person who has received salvation through proper faith in Jesus (for the full New Testament teaching on how to receive salvation and make sure you're going to heaven, see my article called How to Receive Salvation). We'll look closely at infant baptism later in this article, but if the only baptism you've received was as an infant or by some method other than full immersion then you've never had a valid Christian baptism. If you've never had a valid Christian baptism, this won't keep you out of heaven as we'll see throughout this series but it means that you're living in disobedience to God and you'll be disciplined (perhaps severely) both in this life and in heaven (see section #11, #12, and #13 in my article called Cheat Sheet). In order to get into obedience concerning baptism, find the right church and tell them that you're a Christian and you need to be baptized in water by full immersion. God wants us to go to a specific church, and if we're paying attention then He will lead us to it (see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance). In What Name Should People Be Baptized?
Another issue concerns the name in which we should be baptized. In the Great Commission, Jesus said: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19)So if we baptize people "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" then we're obeying Jesus' command. However, notice the name in which these people were baptized: "because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." (Acts 8:16)This means that baptizing people "in the name of Jesus Christ" or "in the name of the Lord Jesus" is perfectly fine. In other words, it's not the specific wording that's important. What's important is that we're baptized in Jesus' name. Remember, there is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4, John 17:3, Romans 3:30, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Ephesians 4:4-6, 1 Timothy 2:5, James 2:19), and He exists in three divine Persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:13-17, 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14, Ephesians 2:11-18, 1 John 5:6-9), so where the Holy Spirit is, Jesus and the Father are there as well. Since there's only one God, whether we baptize people "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," or "in the name of Jesus Christ," or "in the name of the Lord Jesus," or something similar, these all have the same effect. Where Should Baptism Be Done?
Recall that John the Baptist chose a particular spot for doing baptisms "because there was plenty of water": "Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized." (John 3:23)This is the only passage in the entire New Testament that gives us an indication of why a certain spot was chosen for doing baptisms. So whether we baptize people in a church building, a swimming pool, a lake, a river, an ocean, or some other place, the only issue is that there's enough water for a full immersion. Who Is Authorized to Perform Baptisms?
It would be easy to assume that only ordained pastors are allowed to baptize people, but there are no examples in the New Testament of any ordained pastors baptizing anyone. Instead, we see the apostles commanding that people be baptized (the apostles didn't always do the baptizing themselves, as in Acts 10:44-48 and 1 Corinthians 1:14-18), and we also see ordinary Christians such as Philip and Ananias baptizing people: "But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women." (Acts 8:12)Philip was not an apostle (Acts 6:1-6), and Ananias was not an apostle (Acts 9:10-18). They were the only Christians that we see in the above situations (apart from the people who needed to be baptized), so they were the ones who did the baptizing. Here's what Jesus told us to do in the Great Commission: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19)Since all Christians are authorized to "go," and since all Christians are authorized to "make disciples," then all Christians are authorized to "baptiz[e] them" as well. So even though we usually leave the baptizing for pastors to do, all Christians are authorized to perform baptisms. What about Infants?
After studying this issue in depth, my conclusion is that infant baptism is not supported in Scripture. One argument for baptizing infants is based on the assumption that there were infants in the households that were baptized in the New Testament. Therefore, let's examine all of the passages in which households were baptized:
These are the only passages in the entire New Testament in which households are described as receiving water baptism, and we can see that there are no infants mentioned anywhere in these passages (nor in any other passages on baptism). In fact, several times we're told that the people who were baptized in these households were those who had understood and believed the message of Jesus Christ, something that infants cannot do. Of all the households I'm aware of (whether friends, family, co-workers, or people in my neighborhood), very few of them have infants, and the same is probably true for you as well. It's not safe to assume that any of the above households had infants because numerous households (both then and now) have no infants in them. Most of the books of the New Testament were written decades after the cross (see my article called Who Wrote the New Testament?), which was ample time for Christians to have babies. Yet throughout the New Testament there are no commands for infants to be baptized, and there are no examples of any infants being baptized, and there are no examples of any parents being chastised for not baptizing their infants. Infant baptism is not supported in Scripture; it's not a valid Christian baptism. Two more ways that people sometimes justify baptizing infants are 1) by saying that children were included in every covenant that God made with people so infants must be included in the New Covenant, and 2) by saying that Jesus welcomed little children and blessed them (e.g., Mark 10:13-16). But these things have absolutely no bearing on baptizing infants. There are no covenants between God and people in which infants were baptized (see my series called Covenants, Dispensations, and the Ten Commandments), and there's no scriptural evidence that Jesus ever baptized (or commanded baptism for) any infants or little children. Infant baptism is not supported in Scripture; it's not a valid Christian baptism. Another argument that people use in support of infant baptism is that in God's covenant with Abraham and God's covenant with Moses, they both were told to circumcise every male infant on the eighth day of life: "Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner - those who are not your offspring." (Genesis 17:9-12)The argument is that Christian water baptism for infants took the place of Old Testament circumcision on infants as the sign and seal of God's covenant. However, this is an unsupported assumption because there's not a single passage anywhere in the New Testament that says such a thing, not even the one passage that people use to support that argument: "In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins" (Colossians 2:11-13)The argument that some people make is that the above passage shows a direct connection between baptism and circumcision, and therefore infants under the New Covenant should be baptized just as male infants under the Old Covenant needed to be circumcised. However, notice that the above passage specifically says that being raised to new life is through our faith, yet it's impossible for infants to understand the Gospel message and choose to put their faith in Jesus. That passage also says that we are buried with Jesus in baptism, which specifically describes full immersion under the water as we saw in an earlier section, yet churches that make the above argument tend to baptize infants by sprinkling or pouring water on their heads (as you can see online), so they're not properly understanding and obeying the above passage. In addition, the above passage says that we were dead in our sins and that God made us alive and forgave our sins, yet the New Testament makes it clear that infants have no sins on their record so they are not dead in their sins and do not need to be forgiven as infants (see my article called The Rapture of the Church - Part Eight). So once again we can see that churches and Christians who believe that infants should be baptized do not properly understand and obey the above passage. Remember, God commanded male infants to be circumcised under the Old Covenant (Genesis 17:9-12, Leviticus 12:1-3, above), but there's no corresponding New Covenant command for infants to be baptized. Instead, we're commanded to baptize new disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), which are people who have heard the Gospel, understood the Gospel, and believed the Gospel. This specifically excludes infants. Infant baptism is not supported in Scripture; it's not a valid Christian baptism. People sometimes quote Acts 2:38-39 in support of infant baptism because the apostle Peter told people to be baptized, and then a moment later he said, "The promise is for you and your children." However, this promise does not refer to baptism as we can see when we examine Peter's statement in context: ""God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, 'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."' Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah." When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, 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. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off - for all whom the Lord our God will call." With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day." (Acts 2:32-41)The above passage does not support infant baptism because the promise that Peter referred to is the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit, as Peter specifically said in Acts 2:32-33 and in Acts 2:38 (both highlighted above). This promised gift is referred to in the New Testament as being baptized with the Holy Spirit (see my series called How to Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit), which Jesus had earlier told Peter and the other apostles about: "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:13)So the promise that Peter said was "for you and your children" is not about water baptism, it is specifically the promise of the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit for spiritual empowerment (see my series above). Notice that a few moments earlier in Acts 2:32-41 (above) Peter had mentioned what those people were seeing and hearing, referring to 120 disciples all speaking in tongues after receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:1-13). Just before that, Peter had said that this outpouring of the Spirit was fulfilling a prophecy in which God said He will pour out His Spirit on people, even on "Your sons and daughters": "Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.'"" (Acts 2:14-18)When Peter said that "The promise is for you and your children" (Acts 2:32-41, above) and "Your sons and daughters will prophesy" (Acts 2:14-18, above), he was not referring to infants receiving spiritual empowerment or prophesying. He was simply telling them that the promise is for them and their descendants who become Christians. We know this because Peter specifically told those people to repent for the forgiveness of their sins (as we'll see in Part Four when we study Acts 2:38 in detail) and they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, then he said that the promise is for them and their children, and then he added, "for all whom the Lord our God will call" (Acts 2:14-18, above). In other words, this promise is for all Christians. Infants are not called by God for salvation and they cannot repent for the forgiveness of their sins (see my article called The Rapture of the Church - Part Eight), so Peter was not referring to infants. Furthermore, after Peter finished addressing those people, we're told that "Those who accepted his message were baptized" (Acts 2:32-41, above). Infants are incapable of understanding and accepting the Gospel message, so there were no infant baptisms being mentioned or taking place in that passage. Infant baptism is not supported in Scripture; it's not a valid Christian baptism. When churches baptize infants, it's usually because those churches believe Calvin's view of Unconditional Election. In essence, the idea is that before there were any humans on earth, God chose, elected, or predestined specific people to receive salvation and eternal life. He did not choose them because of anything He foresaw that they would do or believe, but instead He chose them for His own reasons and His own good pleasure. In other words, people cannot do anything to earn or merit or deserve salvation, and they cannot resist salvation (referred to in Calvinism as Irresistible Grace), because people's salvation is entirely up to God. According to this view, infant baptism testifies to the world that God chooses us for salvation according to His grace before we have any chance to understand or do anything that might appear as if we have earned salvation or earned the right to be baptized. However, this view, along with the rest of "5 Point Calvinism," is completely unscriptural and completely wrong (see my article called Our Lives Are Not Predestined). Infant baptism is not supported in Scripture; it's not a valid Christian baptism. In addition, there are several passages in the New Testament that talk about children or babies being ceremonially clean or holy (Matthew 18:3-6, Luke 18:15-17, Acts 2:37-39, 1 Corinthians 7:14), but this does not mean that they should be baptized. We know this because in the New Testament there are no commands to baptize infants, and there are no examples of any infants being baptized, and we're never told that infant baptism has replaced infant circumcision, and we're never told that infant baptism testifies anything to the world about God's grace. The entire New Testament shows that people were only baptized in water after they believed in Jesus (as we saw in Part One), which infants are incapable of doing. Infant baptism is not supported in Scripture; it's not a valid Christian baptism. As we saw earlier, if the only baptism you've received was as an infant or by some method other than full immersion then you've never had a valid Christian baptism. If you've never had a valid Christian baptism, this won't keep you out of heaven as we'll see throughout this series but it means that you're living in disobedience to God and you'll be disciplined (perhaps severely) both in this life and in heaven (see section #11, #12, and #13 in my article called Cheat Sheet). In order to get into obedience concerning baptism, find the right church and tell them that you're a Christian and you need to be baptized in water by full immersion. God wants us to go to a specific church, and if we're paying attention then He will lead us to it (see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance). Back to Part One. Continue on to Part Three. For the glory of the Lord Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, who came in the flesh, was delivered over to death for our sins, and was raised to life for our justification. Dave Root home page and email: https://www.vividchristianity.com "Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:3) "Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist - denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also." (1 John 2:22-23) "If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God." (1 John 4:15) "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world." (1 John 4:1-3) "And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist." (2 John 1:6-7) "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." (Romans 4:25) |
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| All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (R). NIV (R). Copyright (C) 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. (Emphasis added.) |