What About Baptism

There are two types of baptism, physical and spiritual.

Water baptism is a Jewish practice based upon the Torah teaching that requires one to be ritually pure prior to entering the Tabernacle or Temple.

In his book, the Jewish New Testament Commentary, David Stern writes;

"Ritual purity could be lost in many ways; the preeminent means of restoring it was through washing. A quick review of Leviticus shows how frequently the matter is mentioned…"

To become ritually pure, one must immerse the entire body in water. The Greek word for immersion (to immerse) is "baptizo" and is generally transliterated as "baptized."

"The root meaning of the word 'baptizo' is 'dip, soak, immerse' into a liquid so that what is dipped takes on the qualities of what it has been dipped in - for example, cloth in dye or leather in tanning solution. A person who immerses himself participates in an obvious yet living metaphor of purification, with water, as it were, washing away the impurity."

In the beginning of Matthew, chapter 3 John the Baptist proclaims a new context for the old practice of immersion, cleansing from a lifestyle of sin, not ritual purity. Ritual purity, while commanded of God, is an external, religious practice, which - as noted in Colossian 2:17 and Hebrews 10:1 - were a shadow of things to come. They could never bring into perfection, the person who practiced them. Thus, the rituals were repeated endlessly.

As was pointed out above, ritual purity could be lost in many ways. Moreover, as the above passages in Colossians and Hebrews clearly state,

"The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming-not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." Hebrews 10:1-4 (NIV)

"These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." Colossians 2:17 (NIV)

Thus, place was given for the fulfillment of God's plan of salvation in the New Covenant, established through the life, death and resurrection of the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua; or in the Greek, Iesou (Jesus) Xristos (Christ).

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, 'Here I am-it is written about me in the scroll - I have come to do your will, O God.'" Psalm 40:6-8 (See Septuagint)

"First he said, 'Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them' (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, 'Here I am, I have come to do your will.' He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Hebrews 10:5-10 (NIV)

Why then, did Jesus come to John to be baptized in the Jordan? According to Scripture, Jesus led a sinless life (cf. Hebrews 4:15) and had no need to be baptized "for the remission of sins" or to become ritually clean. Why then, did he seek to be baptized?

Remember that Jesus was brought up in the Jewish faith (Judaism), and he observed all the rites and traditions faithfully. His baptism served both a physical and a spiritual purpose. Physically, it honored a Jewish tradition based on Torah. Then, as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), Christ had to be baptized, just as he had to be crucified. The baptism of Jesus is the first 'public' display of Christ's purpose on earth as the Lamb of God.

What else happened when Jesus was baptized (immersed) in the Jordan? Look at Mark 1:9-11, Matthew 3:13-17 and Luke 3:21-23 and you will see that,

"Immediately upon coming up out of the water, he saw heaven torn open and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove" (Mark 1:10, Jewish New Testament).

Jesus was baptized (immersed) into the Spirit of Holiness (spiritual baptism). This new spiritual baptism is immersion into the Spirit of God. This new spiritual baptism marks us forever as "property of God." Note that Jesus had already immersed himself in the teachings of God (the Torah) many years prior (cf. Luke 2:41-50).

Jesus was baptized (immersed) in both water and Spirit. So is water baptism what Jesus was referring to when he told Nicodemus,

"The truth is, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit." John3:5(NLT)

If that were the only reference Christ made to water, then it would be reasonable to conclude that he was talking about water baptism. Such would not seem to be the case, however, when considering the following passages;

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." Matthew 5:6 (RSV)

There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, `Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?” Jesus said to her, “Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:7-14 (RSV)

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst." John 6:35 (RSV)

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, `Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'” Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:37-39 (RSV)

"Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, 'Who are these, clothed in white robes, and whence have they come?' I said to him, 'Sir, you know.' And he said to me, 'These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night within his temple; and he who sits upon the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'" Revelation 7:13-17 (RSV)

From these and many other passages, we begin to understand that we are to be baptized (immersed) into God.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing [immersing]them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." Matthew 28:19-20 (RSV)

Christ commanded his disciples to baptize and to teach others to do the same. Christ never rebuked his disciples for baptizing with water and Christ never rescinded his command to baptize and teach others to do likewise. So while water baptism is of no eternal value, Christ set the example for us to follow, by being baptized, denying himself, taking up his cross and sacrificing himself to the glory of God the Father. Disciples of Christ do not chart their own course, they walk as Jesus walked (see 1 John 2:6, 2 John 6).

For the Holman Bible Dictionary, Johnnie Godwin writes;

BAPTISM -- The immersion or dipping of a believer in water symbolizing the complete renewal and change in the believer's life and testifying to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the way of salvation.

Jewish Background As with most Christian practices and beliefs, the background of baptism lies in practices of the Jewish community. The Greek word baptizo, “immerse, dip, submerge” is used metaphorically in Isaiah 21:4 to mean, “go down, perish” and in 2 Kings 5:14 for Naaman's dipping in the Jordan River seven times for cleansing from his skin disease. The radical Qumran sect which produced the Dead Sea Scrolls attempted to cleanse Judaism. The sect laid great emphasis on purity and purifying rites. These rites normally involved immersion, though the term baptizo does not seem to appear in their writings. It is quite possible that such a rite was used to initiate members into the community. Along with the rite, the Essenes at Qumran emphasized repentance and submission to God's will.

At some point close to the time of Jesus, Judaism began a heavy emphasis on ritual washings to cleanse from impurity. This goes back to priestly baths prior to offering sacrifices (Lev. 16:4, 24). Probably shortly prior to the time of Jesus or contemporary with Him, Jews began baptizing Gentile converts, though circumcision still remained the primary entrance rite into Judaism.

John's Baptism John the Baptist immersed repentant sinners: those who had a change of mind and heart (John 1:6, 11). John's baptism-for Jews and Gentiles-involved the same elements later interpreted in Christian baptism: repentance, confession, evidence of changed lives, coming judgment, and the coming of the kingdom of God through the Messiah, who would baptize with the Spirit and with fire (Matt. 3:11). John thus formed a purified community waiting for God's great salvation.

Jesus' Baptism John also baptized Jesus, who never sinned (Matt. 3:13-17; John 1:13-16). Jesus said that His own baptism was to fulfill all righteousness (Matt. 3:15). Thus Jesus acknowledged that the standard of life John demanded was correct for Himself and for His followers. In this way He was able to identify with sinful mankind and to be a model for others to follow. In this way Jesus affirmed John and his message. The coming of the Spirit and the voice from heaven showed that Jesus represented another point in God's revelation of Himself and formed the connection between baptism and Christ's act of redemption.

Christian Baptism John's baptism prepared repentant sinners to receive Jesus' baptism of the Holy Spirit and of fire. (Note that Jesus did not do the water baptizing; His disciples did-John 4:1-2.) Jesus' baptism and the baptizing by His disciples thus connected baptism closely with the Holy Spirit. When Jesus comes into a life, the Holy Spirit comes with His saturating presence and purifies. He empowers and cleanses the believer in a spiritual baptism. The main differences between John's baptism and Jesus' baptism lie in the personal commitment to Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit in Jesus' baptism (John 1:33).

A thorough study of the Holy Spirit is helpful to understand what “baptism with the Holy Spirit” means (John 1:33). The sequence of baptism and the coming of the Spirit into individual lives will show some differences (Acts 8:12-17). The usual sequence of events is: the Spirit comes into a person's life at conversion, and then the believer is baptized. The Holy Spirit is the gift who comes with salvation (Acts 2:38) and is its seal (Eph. 4:30). The Holy Spirit saturates the new Christian's life. Or we might say that Jesus baptizes the new Christian by plunging the person into the Holy Spirit's presence and power (John 14:16-17; Acts 11:15-16).

To be baptized is to clothe oneself with Christ (Gal. 3:27 NRSV, NIV). Baptism refers to the suffering and death of Christ (Mark 10:38-39; Luke 12:50). Christian baptism is in a sense a sharing of this death and resurrection and all that brought Christ to those events (Rom. 6:1-7; Col. 2:12). Baptism shows that a person has died to the old way of life and has been raised to a new kind of life-eternal life in Christ (Matt. 28:19-20; Col. 3:1; 2 Tim. 2:11). The resurrection from the water points to the Christian's resurrection also (Rom. 6:1-6).

Believers' Baptism In the New Testament baptism is for believers (Acts 2:38; 8:12-13, 36-38; Eph. 4:5). Water apart from personal commitment to Christ makes no difference in the life of anyone. In the New Testament baptism occurs when a person trusts Christ as Lord and Savior and obeys the command to be submerged in water and raised from it as a picture of the salvation experience that has occurred. Baptism comes after conviction of sin, repentance of sin, confession of Christ as Lord and Savior. To be baptized is to preach a personal testimony through the symbol of baptism. Baptism testifies that “ye are washed ... ye are sanctified ... ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11).

Church Practice The church has attempted to build its practice upon that of the New Testament but has not found agreement always as to what the practice was. Several church groups practice the baptism of infants. This necessarily moves away from immersion to sprinkling as the mode.

The setting of baptism is often restricted to a church setting with an ordained person. In the New Testament baptism takes place in varied settings wherever there is another person to do the baptizing (Acts 8:36-39; 9:18; 10:47-48). Both Jesus and Paul let others do the baptizing, so that the restriction of baptism to a leading professional minister does not seem to be the New Testament practice.

Rebaptism Scriptural baptism (baptism because of belief in Christ) occurs once. Sometimes people are baptized again because they feel they were not saved when they were first baptized. If that was the case, the first baptism simply wasn't scriptural baptism. Others are baptized because something changes in their beliefs-other than their salvation experience-and they either want to be or are urged by someone else to be rebaptized. The purpose of baptism was never to affirm each change in beliefs. For example, Apollos got his understanding corrected, but no mention is made of his rebaptism (Acts 18:24-28). The disciples grew spiritually and changed in understandings, but no mention is made of their rebaptism. Christians are to become learners along with their baptism, but no mention is made of any need to rebaptize them if they were scripturally baptized the first time.

Rebaptism in the New Testament seemingly occurred only when a group of people never had received the Holy Spirit, who is the seal of salvation (Eph. 4:30; see also Acts 1:4-5; 2:38, 41; 8:12-13, 36-39). Although the dozen people focused on in Acts 19:1-7 had John's baptism, they were then properly scripturally baptized as they trusted in Jesus and received the promised Holy Spirit.

Baptism and Salvation Baptism is not a requirement of salvation, but it is a requirement of obedience. Baptism is a first step of discipleship. Although all meanings of baptism are significant, the one that most often comes to mind is water baptism as a picture of having come to know Christ as Lord and Savior. Baptism is never the event but, rather, the picture of the event. So the pattern of obedience is to come to Christ in trust and then to picture that through the symbol of baptism.

Baptism of Fire and Spirit

Regarding Baptism of Fire, Phil Logan writes;

The phrase, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire,” occurs twice in the New Testament (Matt. 3:11; Luke 3:16). To be baptized with fire is certainly not to be taken literally (as some in the history of the church have taken it).

Fire is one of the physical manifestations of God's presence. This is illustrated several times in the Bible: the making of the covenant with Abraham (Gen. 15:17), the appearance in the burning bush (Ex. 3:2), God leading the Israelites by a pillar of fire by night (Ex. 13:21-22; 14:24; Num. 9:15-16; 14:14; etc.), His appearance on Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:18; 24:17; Deut. 4:11-36; 5:4-26; etc.), and others (1 Kings 18:24, 38; 1 Chron. 21:26; 2 Chron. 7:1, 3).

Fire was used symbolically in Israel's worship to represent God's constant presence with Israel (Lev. 6:12-13). God's presence as fire represented both judgment and purification (the words purify and purge come from the Greek word for fire). To be in God's presence is to be in the presence of absolute holiness where no sin or unrighteousness can stand. To be in the presence of God is to have the overwhelming sense of one's uncleanness and the overwhelming desire to be clean (see Isa. 6:1-6). God is able to judge and destroy the sin and purify the repentant sinner.

The Holy Spirit is the gift Jesus gave His disciples (John 20:22) and is the presence of God at work in the life of the believer and in the world. Because the Holy Spirit is God's presence in the life of the believer and in the world, the believer and “the world” are made aware of sin and God's judgment on sin and of the necessity of being righteous in God's presence (John 16:8). The presence of God's Spirit brings the overwhelming sense of one's uncleanness and the overwhelming desire to be clean.

The statement “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire,” means that Jesus had and has the ability to immerse (baptize) people in the presence of God so that they are aware of their sin and the need they have to be cleansed of that sin. To be baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire is to be convicted concerning sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:8).

To be baptized with the Holy Spirit has a wider application than this; but when the Holy Spirit is coupled with fire (as in the phrase in Matt. 3:11; Luke 3:16), the particular aspect of the Holy Spirit's work as described here is in view.

Regarding Baptism of the Holy Spirit, Phil Logan writes;

Ever since the days of Joel, God's people have looked for the pouring out of God's Spirit (Joel 2:28-32). The Gospels and Acts speak of a baptism of the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8; John 1:33; 7:37-39; Acts 1:5; see Matt. 3:11; Luke 3:16. See Baptism of Fire for one specific aspect of being baptized with the Spirit). The Book of Acts shows the fulfillment of this promise (Acts 2:3-4, 16-21; compare 10:44 with 11:16). But what does it mean to be “baptized with the Holy Spirit”?

Being baptized in the Holy Spirit means being immersed (baptized) in the presence and being of God. One immersed in the presence of God is made aware of his or her sinfulness and desires cleansing and purification (John 16:8; see Baptism of Fire). The result of this cleansing is life in the true sense of the word.

One baptized with the Holy Spirit is also empowered to do works of ministry (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8). The ministry for which empowerment comes included witnessing (Acts 1:8; see John 15:26-27) and working miracles (John 14:12; Acts 3:4-10; 5:12). As part of the empowerment for ministry, believers are given the necessary spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 12:1-14:40; Eph. 4:1-16; 1 Tim. 4:16; 1 Pet. 4:10-11) and knowledge and guidance (John 14:26; 16:13).