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WATER BAPTISM IN THE BIBLE
Ephesians 4:5 states…One Lord, one faith, one baptism…when the apostle wrote this letter, how many different baptisms do you think he had in mind? Here then is another doctrine that mainstream theology has caused much confusion with. Diverse church denominations teach sprinkling, dipping, submerging, infant baptisms, even multiple baptisms. Some teach that it is symbolic, some teach it is not important at all. How do we take something so simple and make it so difficult? The Word of God is true and as we study baptism, truth will be revealed.
Jesus Christ gave us a great commission in Matthew 28: 19-20… Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. We have to ask ourselves a question: Did Jesus merely want us to repeat His words here or did He actually want us to carry out this mission by baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost? If a candidate for baptism has not received the revelation of Jesus Christ, he or she (in most cases), will not be baptized in His name. The fact of the matter is found in the Acts of the Apostles where the commission was carried out exactly as Jesus Christ intended it to be.
We will find in the second chapter of Acts, the apostle Peter preaching his first message concerning the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Immediately after the message, we’ll pick up on this in Acts 2:37-39…Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. First of all, notice the question was posed to Peter and all the rest of the apostles. This is significant because it puts all in one accord, of the same mind, on the same page. Also notice that they were moved to the point of asking what they needed to do. Peter responded…Repent (see Luke 13:3&5), and be baptized in the name (see Matthew 28:19) of Jesus Christ, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Our part is two-fold; repent and be baptized for remission of sin, then Jesus Christ is bound by His word to fill us with His Spirit for this is His promise to us. A promise from God who cannot lie, for this would be contrary to His nature. Peter did not proclaim to the people to be baptized by simply repeating the words “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Peter told them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ because the name of Jesus fulfills or carries out that commission. Any one of them could have jumped right in there and said, “Now hold on there just a minute Peter, Jesus told us to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost?” Instead, they all knew that Peter was stating the truth concerning the name of Jesus Christ. For those who teach that the baptism of the Holy Ghost is in addition to or something more than the truth in the scripture we have just read, let's visit with the apostle Paul in Acts 19:1-5…And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were you baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him that should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. We would like to point out here that the apostle Paul was called to be an apostle long after Peters’ first message, yet he still baptized the disciples in the name of Jesus Christ. Also, after learning these disciples had not even so much as heard about the Holy Ghost, he questions as to how they were baptized. Paul did not tell them they needed to be baptized with the Holy Ghost in addition to being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. They needed only to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. In Acts 8:16…they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Acts 10:48…he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Since the Lord Jesus gave the commission and was raised up into glory, Peter (and the rest of the apostles), and later, Paul, baptized the Jews, Samaritans, and the Gentiles in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In every account of water baptism in the Acts of the Apostles, the words “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”, are not found. Baptism was always in the name of Jesus. Ultimately, Trinitarian disciples have to produce a name for the Father, a name for the Son, and another for the Holy Ghost; three different names for the three different persons in their godhead. Again, referring back to Matthew 28:19 Jesus said to baptize in the name (singular) not names (plural) of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one (see Deut. 6:4) and His name is Jesus.
Paul wrote in Romans 6:3…Know ye not, that so many of us were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? When one is baptized according to the truth of the scripture, he or she is baptized into Jesus Christ and into His death. On the flip side of that coin, when one is baptized outside the truth of the scripture, he or she is baptized into apostasy and into apostasy’s death. The fact of the matter is, those that teach baptism outside of the truth of the scripture, claim that baptism is simply an ordinance and actually has no significance to one’s relationship with God. From the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ let us read in Mark 16:16 …He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. When Jesus told Nicodemas (see John 3:3) ye must be born again, we have no problem believing that we must be born again. When Jesus said (see Luke 13:3,5) repent or perish, we have no problem believing that we must repent. But, when Jesus says (see Mark 16:16 ) he that believes and is baptized shall be saved, all of a sudden there is a problem with the baptismal part. Let us ask ourselves a question: As we are standing in judgement before our Lord Jesus Christ and He asks us why we did not think baptism was necessary, and He quotes Mark 16:16 out of His book, how are we going to respond to that? All of a sudden we are really going to have a huge problem as we stand in judgement all because we have a little problem with it now.
What significance is baptism to a believer? In Genesis 17:9-11…And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin: and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. While Paul wrote in Colossians 2:10-13…And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein ye are also risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickenedtogether with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. Baptism is the New Testament “token covenant”. It is the circumcision made without hands that Christ performs in our lives that now identifies us a seed of Abraham. Baptism buries our sin, and quickens us (makes us alive) together with Him. It is here that the Spirit of God raises us from the dead. The prophet wrote in Ezekiel 36:25-27…Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stoney heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye will keep my judgements, and do them. Peter instructed the Jews, in Acts 2:38 …Repent, and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Paul goes into a little more in depth as he addresses baptism to the saints at Rome in Romans 6:3-6…Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into 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 should walk in the newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henchforth we should not serve sin. Paul said it short and simple in II Corinthians 5:17…Therefore if any man be in Christ (baptized into Jesus), he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. It is evident that baptism cleanses, buries our old sin nature, removes our heart of stone, gives us a heart of flesh, gives us a new spirit, raises us to a newness of life and seals our new covenant with the circumcision made without hands by the operation of God. Why then is baptism seemingly so unimportant in this era of the New Testament Church when the fact of the matter is…it ought to be.
Let us look at some instances that reveal the importance of baptism. Acts8:34-38…And the Eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself, or some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went 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. It is obvious in the passage the eunuch came to an understanding after talking with Philip concerning Jesus Christ, baptism was very important and this matter was not going to wait. Let us look into the conversion of Saul (known as the apostle Paul) as we read in Acts 9:6, 17&18…And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, The Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales; and he received sight forthwith, and arose and was baptized. Paul was told of two things he must do by Ananias; one was to receive his sight and the other was to be filled with the Holy Ghost. Ananias laid his hands on Paul to bring sight to his eyes and baptized Paul to be filled with the Holy Ghost. Another account during Paul’s travels puts him in jail with Silas and at midnight they prayed and sang praises unto God, who in turn set them free. We will pick up on this in Acts 16:27-33…And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. Why in the world did Paul and Silas baptize in the wee hour of the morning if baptism was not important. In actuality, jail guards are put to death if prisoners escape on their watch. This is why the guard was going to kill himself. Also this is why Paul and Silas were baptizing in the early morning hours. Mark 16:16 keeps ringing in our ears…he that believes and is baptized shall be saved…he that believes and is baptized shall be saved…he that believes and is baptized shall be saved. These are not our words, these are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again in Acts 19:1-3 Paul asks the disciples if they had received the Holy Ghost since they had believed. They answered, no we have not, we haven’t even heard of a Holy Ghost. Paul questions them…how then were you baptized? Knowing that if they had been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, they would have received the Holy Ghost.
Baptism…it is really not that complicated once truth is brought to light. Now, if the apostles baptized all the disciples in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost as the promise of God has been set forth, when did it all change? You will have to do a little church history, but, we can direct you to research the Council of Nicea in the year 325 AD. One would first need to have the revelation of Jesus Christ before one could ever understand baptism in Jesus name. Paul said it was as if scales came off his eyes so he could see clearly the revelation of Christ and Jesus Name baptism. It breaks our hearts and sends chills down our spine when we hear from the pulpits throughout America , that baptism is not important and not necessary in salvation. Do those who preach in this manner know more than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ claims baptism is essential for salvation, modern theology claims it is not. Who are you going to believe?
Jesus Christ gave us a great commission in Matthew 28: 19-20… Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. We have to ask ourselves a question: Did Jesus merely want us to repeat His words here or did He actually want us to carry out this mission by baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost? If a candidate for baptism has not received the revelation of Jesus Christ, he or she (in most cases), will not be baptized in His name. The fact of the matter is found in the Acts of the Apostles where the commission was carried out exactly as Jesus Christ intended it to be.
We will find in the second chapter of Acts, the apostle Peter preaching his first message concerning the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Immediately after the message, we’ll pick up on this in Acts 2:37-39…Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. First of all, notice the question was posed to Peter and all the rest of the apostles. This is significant because it puts all in one accord, of the same mind, on the same page. Also notice that they were moved to the point of asking what they needed to do. Peter responded…Repent (see Luke 13:3&5), and be baptized in the name (see Matthew 28:19) of Jesus Christ, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Our part is two-fold; repent and be baptized for remission of sin, then Jesus Christ is bound by His word to fill us with His Spirit for this is His promise to us. A promise from God who cannot lie, for this would be contrary to His nature. Peter did not proclaim to the people to be baptized by simply repeating the words “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Peter told them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ because the name of Jesus fulfills or carries out that commission. Any one of them could have jumped right in there and said, “Now hold on there just a minute Peter, Jesus told us to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost?” Instead, they all knew that Peter was stating the truth concerning the name of Jesus Christ. For those who teach that the baptism of the Holy Ghost is in addition to or something more than the truth in the scripture we have just read, let's visit with the apostle Paul in Acts 19:1-5…And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were you baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him that should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. We would like to point out here that the apostle Paul was called to be an apostle long after Peters’ first message, yet he still baptized the disciples in the name of Jesus Christ. Also, after learning these disciples had not even so much as heard about the Holy Ghost, he questions as to how they were baptized. Paul did not tell them they needed to be baptized with the Holy Ghost in addition to being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. They needed only to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. In Acts 8:16…they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Acts 10:48…he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Since the Lord Jesus gave the commission and was raised up into glory, Peter (and the rest of the apostles), and later, Paul, baptized the Jews, Samaritans, and the Gentiles in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In every account of water baptism in the Acts of the Apostles, the words “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”, are not found. Baptism was always in the name of Jesus. Ultimately, Trinitarian disciples have to produce a name for the Father, a name for the Son, and another for the Holy Ghost; three different names for the three different persons in their godhead. Again, referring back to Matthew 28:19 Jesus said to baptize in the name (singular) not names (plural) of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one (see Deut. 6:4) and His name is Jesus.
Paul wrote in Romans 6:3…Know ye not, that so many of us were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? When one is baptized according to the truth of the scripture, he or she is baptized into Jesus Christ and into His death. On the flip side of that coin, when one is baptized outside the truth of the scripture, he or she is baptized into apostasy and into apostasy’s death. The fact of the matter is, those that teach baptism outside of the truth of the scripture, claim that baptism is simply an ordinance and actually has no significance to one’s relationship with God. From the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ let us read in Mark 16:16 …He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. When Jesus told Nicodemas (see John 3:3) ye must be born again, we have no problem believing that we must be born again. When Jesus said (see Luke 13:3,5) repent or perish, we have no problem believing that we must repent. But, when Jesus says (see Mark 16:16 ) he that believes and is baptized shall be saved, all of a sudden there is a problem with the baptismal part. Let us ask ourselves a question: As we are standing in judgement before our Lord Jesus Christ and He asks us why we did not think baptism was necessary, and He quotes Mark 16:16 out of His book, how are we going to respond to that? All of a sudden we are really going to have a huge problem as we stand in judgement all because we have a little problem with it now.
What significance is baptism to a believer? In Genesis 17:9-11…And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin: and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. While Paul wrote in Colossians 2:10-13…And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein ye are also risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickenedtogether with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. Baptism is the New Testament “token covenant”. It is the circumcision made without hands that Christ performs in our lives that now identifies us a seed of Abraham. Baptism buries our sin, and quickens us (makes us alive) together with Him. It is here that the Spirit of God raises us from the dead. The prophet wrote in Ezekiel 36:25-27…Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stoney heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye will keep my judgements, and do them. Peter instructed the Jews, in Acts 2:38 …Repent, and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Paul goes into a little more in depth as he addresses baptism to the saints at Rome in Romans 6:3-6…Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into 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 should walk in the newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henchforth we should not serve sin. Paul said it short and simple in II Corinthians 5:17…Therefore if any man be in Christ (baptized into Jesus), he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. It is evident that baptism cleanses, buries our old sin nature, removes our heart of stone, gives us a heart of flesh, gives us a new spirit, raises us to a newness of life and seals our new covenant with the circumcision made without hands by the operation of God. Why then is baptism seemingly so unimportant in this era of the New Testament Church when the fact of the matter is…it ought to be.
Let us look at some instances that reveal the importance of baptism. Acts8:34-38…And the Eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself, or some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went 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. It is obvious in the passage the eunuch came to an understanding after talking with Philip concerning Jesus Christ, baptism was very important and this matter was not going to wait. Let us look into the conversion of Saul (known as the apostle Paul) as we read in Acts 9:6, 17&18…And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, The Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales; and he received sight forthwith, and arose and was baptized. Paul was told of two things he must do by Ananias; one was to receive his sight and the other was to be filled with the Holy Ghost. Ananias laid his hands on Paul to bring sight to his eyes and baptized Paul to be filled with the Holy Ghost. Another account during Paul’s travels puts him in jail with Silas and at midnight they prayed and sang praises unto God, who in turn set them free. We will pick up on this in Acts 16:27-33…And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. Why in the world did Paul and Silas baptize in the wee hour of the morning if baptism was not important. In actuality, jail guards are put to death if prisoners escape on their watch. This is why the guard was going to kill himself. Also this is why Paul and Silas were baptizing in the early morning hours. Mark 16:16 keeps ringing in our ears…he that believes and is baptized shall be saved…he that believes and is baptized shall be saved…he that believes and is baptized shall be saved. These are not our words, these are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again in Acts 19:1-3 Paul asks the disciples if they had received the Holy Ghost since they had believed. They answered, no we have not, we haven’t even heard of a Holy Ghost. Paul questions them…how then were you baptized? Knowing that if they had been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, they would have received the Holy Ghost.
Baptism…it is really not that complicated once truth is brought to light. Now, if the apostles baptized all the disciples in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost as the promise of God has been set forth, when did it all change? You will have to do a little church history, but, we can direct you to research the Council of Nicea in the year 325 AD. One would first need to have the revelation of Jesus Christ before one could ever understand baptism in Jesus name. Paul said it was as if scales came off his eyes so he could see clearly the revelation of Christ and Jesus Name baptism. It breaks our hearts and sends chills down our spine when we hear from the pulpits throughout America , that baptism is not important and not necessary in salvation. Do those who preach in this manner know more than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ claims baptism is essential for salvation, modern theology claims it is not. Who are you going to believe?
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