Water baptism in the Bible.
Think about it. You have been toiling in the sun several hours tending your garden. It has been a hot day. You are sweaty, tired, and soiled. Then you get into your warm bathtub for a relaxing bath. You come out clean and rejuvenated.
Water has the ability to clean and make us feel better. No wonder that God chose water baptism as a symbol of a greater cleansing and rejuvenation. Water baptism symbolizes the cleansing of our sins and the beginning of a new life with Jesus.
“Baptize” comes from the Greek baptizō which means “to immerse.” To “baptize” someone means to immerse that person in water.
“When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water” (Matthew 3:16).
Jesus came “up” from the water. He first went into the water and then came up out of the water. He was not sprinkled with water.
Notice another clear text about John’s method of baptism.
“John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized” (John 3:23).
He chose Aenon because there was much water there. If he were baptizing by sprinkling, there would have been no need for “much water.”
“So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away” (Acts 8:38-39).
Both Philip who was baptizing, and the Ethiopian, who was to be baptized, “went down into the water” and then “came up out of the water.” Just like John and Jesus had done several years earlier.
Water baptism in the Bible is therefore only by immersion.
Jesus was baptized when He was 30.
“When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened… Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age” (Luke 3:21, 23).
This does not mean that we too should be baptized at 30. But it does mean that a person needs to be of an age to understand.
“He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).
This text indicates that a prerequisite for baptism is faith, intelligent faith. For a person to have faith, they need to be able to understand what the gospel is about. Infants cannot understand the gospel.
In Hebrew tradition, a child became of age at 12 (Luke 2:42) if he was a boy, or at 13 if a girl. This is not a Biblical injunction, but it was customary in Biblical times.
Water baptism in the Bible is always of people old enough to understand and have faith.
No!
It is a tradition the first clear references to which are from the third century AD.
“There is also an antitype which now saves us -- baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21).
“We were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin” (Romans 6:4–6).
Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead a Victor. Through baptism we symbolically partake of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Going into the water symbolizes the death of our old, sinful nature. Rising out of the water symbolizes the new birth into a new life with Christ.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God… Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5).
Here Jesus describes the new birth as consisting of two parts. First, a person must be “born of… the Spirit.” What does this mean?
We humans are born with a sinful nature which has an ongoing tendency to sin. We are sinners by birth.
But when the Holy Spirit moves upon the heart, often imperceptibly, we become aware of our sinfulness and seek the forgiveness Jesus offers. Our sins are forgiven, and we begin a new life in Christ guided by the Spirit. This is the spiritual dimension of the new birth.
Second, Jesus also mentions the physical part. Baptism symbolizes the death of the old self with its sinful, carnal nature, and the beginning of the new life.
It is an outward testimony of an inner change. The spiritual new birth and baptism make a person a child of God in the fullest sense.
Two. The first is to believe that Jesus died for my sins, repent of them, and accept Jesus as Savior.
“He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).
“Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 2:38).
Second, understand and follow God's requirements.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them ... teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19, 20).
“Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea… But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness” (1 Corinthians 10:1-2, 5).
Paul here refers to Israel leaving Egypt and passing through the Red Sea as a type of baptism. But God was not pleased with them because though they made a covenant to be obedient to God and follow the Ten Commandments, they repeatedly broke them. As a result, many died in the wilderness.
By baptism we enter the family of God. The family of God operates under the principles outlined in the Ten Commandments and beyond.
“He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).
This text mentions two but assumes three categories of persons.
First, persons who believe (i.e., experience the new birth) and are baptized (the physical symbol of this new birth) will be saved.
Second, persons who disbelieve will be condemned.
But there is an assumed, third category. What about persons who believe but are not baptised? The text is silent. It offers them neither assurance of salvation nor condemnation.
Do you really want to live a life of uncertainty as a Christian? No! If you have believed in Jesus, hesitate no more. Today, make the decision to be baptized.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).
How could the Bible say it any more plainly?
Once a leper named Naaman was told by the prophet Elisha that to be healed of his leprosy he should immerse seven times into the River Jordan. He did not like the idea and decided not to do it. But his trusted servants implored him, “if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” (2 Kings 5:13). Naaman understood his foolishness, did as he had been instructed, and was healed.
Sin is like leprosy. If untreated, it too will kill you. The remedy for sin is beautifully simple. Accept the death of Jesus on your behalf, decide to live a life pleasing to Him and be baptized.
If God were asking something difficult, we could be excused in hesitating. But He is not. He is asking something very simple. Do not hesitate, commit to Him in baptism now!
Yes, I believe that Jesus died for my sins. I choose to follow Him and to belong to Him through baptism.
Home: Adventist Beliefs: Water baptism in the Bible: