BIBLE VERSES on BAPTISM
WHAT DO THE FOLLOWING PASSAGES HAVE TO SAY ABOUT BAPTISM?
MATT. 28:18-20
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, ''All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 And teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you and surely I am with you always to the very end of the
age."
ACTS 8:36-39
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the
eunuch said, ''Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" 38 And
he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went
down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they
came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip
ACTS 2:40-41
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them,
''Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." 41Those who accepted
his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their
number that day.
What is Baptism for the church today?
3 types of Baptism in the New Testament:
1. The baptism (anointing, filling) to do a specific thing for God
● The word “baptism” does not always imply “water” in the New Testament.
Two examples are:
1) Mark 10:37-38, James and John come to Jesus and say, “’Permit one of
us to sit at your right hand and the other on your left in your glory.’
But Jesus said to them, ‘You don’t know what you are asking. Are you
able to drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I
experience?’” Jesus is talking about his own destruction, his own death.
A ministry He was called to fulfill.
2) Luke 12:50: Jesus says, “’I have a baptism to undergo, and how
distressed I am until it is finished!’” Again, water baptism is not in
view here. Something else is in view and the context would demand that
he is talking about ( His ministry on the cross) his death.
2) Spirit Baptism
●We believe in Spirit baptism.
● Mark 1:8, John the Baptist says, “’I baptize you with water, but He
will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’”
●Acts 1:5, right before the Spirit of God comes on Pentecost and the
saints there, the community of believers, are baptized by the Spirit.
●1 Corinthians 12:13 draws the doctrine for Spirit baptism. “For in one
Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether Jews or Greeks or
slaves or free, we were all made to drink of the one Spirit.” God does
this to us, without our asking or understanding. All means all, not
some.
●We believe that at conversion a person is baptized by the Holy Spirit
at the exact point of salvation. According to Ephesians 1:13 The Spirit
of God comes to dwell in the believer when they believe The Holy Spirit
is “the seal, … the down payment of our inheritance.”
●There is no relationship between being baptized in water and being
baptized by the Holy Spirit.
3) Water Baptism
● Matthew 3:16 says, “After Jesus was baptized, just as he was coming up
out of the water….”
● Acts 8:36: “And the eunuch said to Philip, ‘Look, there is water! What
is to stop me from being baptized?’ So, he ordered the chariot to stop,
and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip
baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water.”
● The proper mode of baptism in the New Testament that is modeled for us
to follow today is that of immersion
● John 3:23 is an interesting passage about John the Baptist. “John was
also baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was plentiful there ….”
Why would he need plenty of water? If he were sprinkling or pouring, why
would he need plenty of water? If a river is flowing and it is only six
inches deep, that is plenty of water to baptize thousands of people by
pouring it on them or by sprinkling. Probably, what is in view here is
deep water. There was plenty of water for the person to be immersed.
Immersion is the only thing that would require plentiful water.
●Romans 6:3. Paul writes this: “Or do you not know that as many as were
baptized into Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore, we have
been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that just as
Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we,
too, may live a new life.” Some of your translations may say, “…so, we,
too, may walk in newness of life.” Do you get the picture here? The
imagery? There are a couple of images that baptism tries to evoke for
us. One of them is the cleansing of sins, but another of them is that we
are united with Christ in his death. We were buried with Him and raised
again. It is a good symbol if you immerse someone, but if you pour or
sprinkle onto someone, the symbolism breaks down.
●Colossians 2:12: “Having been buried with him in baptism, you also have
been raised with him through your faith in the power of God who raised
him from the dead.” Again we see the symbolism of being buried with
Christ and raised with Him.
●Galatians 3:27: “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have
clothed yourselves with Christ.” Again, there is immersion imagery
there. You are completely clothed with Christ.
●But we cannot be entirely dogmatic about that. It is never completely
spelled out for us, so the words we like to use are that we encourage
immersion baptism as a church. We encourage immersion baptism, but we
also understand that there are extenuating circumstances where a person
might have to be baptized in a different way (pouring, sprinkling).
●We would probably frown upon someone who wants to be baptized by
another mode, just for novelty, just to make it interesting, just to be
unique, but we understand extenuating circumstances exist when it comes
to baptism.
● The earliest church teachings outside the New Testament were the
Didache and Tertullian. Both of them were written within one hundred
years after the close of the New Testament. They both talk about
immersion. The Didache says that it is also permissible to pour on the
new believer. Both of them, incidentally, talk about immersing three
times -- in the name of Father, the name of the Son, the name of the
Holy Spirit. We encourage immersion baptism, and baptism should always
involve water.
When Should a person get baptized?
● Baptism is not part of salvation. Baptism is an act of obedience to
Christ's commands by someone who is saved by faith
●Acts 18:8: “Crispus, the president of the synagogue, believed in the
Lord together with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians who
heard about it believed and were baptized.” After a person believes and
is saved through that belief , they were baptized
● A person must be old enough to understand the gospel and to exercise
will through belief to be saved. Then to qualify for baptism that person
must be able to understand the meaning and symbolism of baptism
● In 1 Corinthians 1:17 we read: “For Christ did not send me to baptize,
but to preach the gospel ….” Isn’t that an awesome passage, the way he
divorces those two? If baptism were necessary for salvation, that would
be part of the gospel. Paul says, “… Christ did not send me to baptize,
but to preach the gospel ….” Wait a second, Paul. Don’t you have to be
baptized to be saved? He’s saying no; they are different animals
entirely. The gospel stands alone. It’s by faith alone, by grace alone,
that we are saved. That is why I’ve been sent; not to baptize.
●Matthew 28:19: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit.” Did you see it? Go and make disciples -- believers, converts,
followers of Jesus Christ. And then do what? Baptize them.
●John 1:12: “As many received him, to them he gave the right to become
children of God, to those who believe in his name.
●Romans 10:9: “… If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved.”
● Believers baptism is a public display of someone's faith in Christ
● Baptism therefore it is a powerful witness to the unsaved who view it
●We should baptize new Christians in a way that the most non-believers
will see it as possible
● Public swimming pools are the most common source of getting water and
non-believers together