What Does The Bible Teach About Baptism
What Does The Bible Teach About Baptism?
Matthew 28:19
I want to say from the beginning, I do not want to talk about Baptist doctrine. What we need is Bible doctrine. The thing that makes us Baptist is that we believe the Bible. It's Bible doctrine that Baptists believe, not Baptist doctrine. I am going to share from the Bible, what the Bible has to say about baptism. I am not going to share Baptist doctrine. Let's take a look and see what the Bible has to say about baptism.
FIRST -- THE EMPHASIS THAT JESUS PUT ON BAPTISM.
A. JESUS STARTED HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY WITH BAPTISM.
Jesus believed that baptism was so important that He initiated and commenced his public ministry by being baptized (Matthew 3:13-17). Do you remember that before Jesus began to minister He was baptized by John the Baptist? But, why was Jesus baptized? John the Baptist tells us why Jesus was baptized. Look at John 1:32-34 and notice what happened when Jesus was baptized.
John 1:32-34
32 Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, `The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' 34 I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God." (NIV)
The reason Jesus was baptized was so that John the Baptist would recognize that Jesus is the Messiah. As Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove. And John the Baptist was told, "The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.'' Jesus was baptized to John the Baptist would know who the Messiah was. Jesus commences His ministry with baptism and:
B. JESUS CONCLUDED HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY BY COMMANDING BAPTISM.
Not only did Jesus commence His public ministry with baptism, He also concluded His public ministry by commanding baptism. Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, He called His disciples to His side and He said something very important about baptism. There He gave them a command. Look at:
Matthew 28:19
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, (NIV)
These are the last words of Jesus to His disciples. When someone is about to depart from this life, their last words are very important. If someone was to fall down with a major heart attack, and began to speak. You would expect them to say something very important.
What I am saying is this, it is foolish to say that baptism is not important. When someone refuses to get baptized, they're actually saying Jesus is not important to them. Jesus made it very clear that baptism is important by commencing His ministry with baptism and He concluded His ministry by commanding baptism.
SECOND -- THE METHOD OF BAPTISM.
A. IT REQUIRES WATER.
I want to take a look at John 1:26 and see that water is needed to be baptized.
John 1:26
26 "I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know. (NIV)
If you're going to be baptized, your going to have to have some water. But there is something else that is needed.
B. IT REQUIRES A LOT OF WATER.
John 3:23
23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized.
John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon. Was he baptizing there because it was such a beautiful place? No, John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon because there was a lot of water there. Not only does it take water to be baptized, it takes a lot of water. If baptism was just sprinkling, all John the Baptist had to do was to carry a thermos and pour some water on someone's head. But John the Baptist went clear out of his way, where "there was plenty of water" to baptize others. And Jesus even went from Nazareth to the Jordan River, a 30 mile one way trip to be baptized.
Not only do you need water to baptize, and not only do you need a lot of water to baptize, there is something else that is needed to be baptized.
C. IT REQUIRES GOING DOWN INTO THE WATER.
In Acts chapter 8, we meet the first biblical hitch hiker. He is an evangelist named Philip who hitches a ride on a chariot and meets a man reading the Bible. Philip, being an evangelist shares the
Gospel with the man. The man trusts Jesus Christ as his Savior and he asks if he can be baptized. Look at Acts 8:38 and see what happens.
Acts 8:38
38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. (NIV)
They went down into the water. Again, notice that if baptism was sprinkling, all Philip needed to do was to gather a cup full of water and pour it upon the head of the eunuch. You see, the Bible teaches baptism is by immersion.
THIRD -- THE MEANING OF THE WORD BAPTISM.
Do you know how we got our word "baptize?" In 1611, King James commissioned some scholars to translate the Bible from Greek into English. The translators were doing a fine job until they came to the Greek word baptizo (baptize). King James was an Anglican. What is the counter part in the united States? The Episcopal church. How do the Anglican and the Episcopal Church baptize? By sprinkling. Now, here are the scholars, they are about to translate the Greek word baptize with the English word immersion. But what would that do to the King of England who believes in sprinkling? If they translated the Greek word baptize by sprinkling, they would not be faithful Bible translators. So what were they going to do? They came up with what they thought was a great idea. They transliterated it. That is, instead of translating the Greek word baptizo they transliterated it by placing the English letters for the Greek words.
baptizo Baptize
So a new English word "baptize" was created. You will never find anywhere in the Bible where someone is being baptized by sprinkling. Well, how did they start sprinkling? Sprinkling started years ago, when someone was dying. Maybe they fell, maybe they were run over by a run-away horse. The injured person may have been a recent believer, but was not baptized. Someone said, "It is a shame that they can't be baptized." Someone else said, "Well, it is not the amount of water that matters. In fact, it is the thought that counts., Why don't we just pour a little water on them. After all, who cares how much water is needed." So, the person had water poured on them and before long they were sprinkling. However, as simple and easy as sprinkling is, it does not show the meaning of baptism.
The word baptize means to immerse or to identify. As a matter of fact, in Luke 16:24 the Greek word baptize is translated by the word "dip." Outside the Bible the Greek word baptize was used of dying a garment. They would fill a tub full of water and put some blue dye into it. Then they would take a white garment and dip the white cloth into the blue dye. Once the white cloth was dipped into the blue dye, it was now identified with the blue dye. Meaning this: the word "baptize" means to identify. Meaning this, Baptism is God's way for the believer to identify or picture the death, burial and resurrection. Baptism is a picture of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you change the method of baptism, you destroy the picture. Suppose I were to ask a man to show me a picture of his wife. And he shows me a picture of a mule. He say's, "It's the thought that counts." Don't you think that the picture ought to look like the gal? In the same way, baptism ought to symbolize the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Look at
Romans 6:3-4
3 don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 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. (NIV)
Notice from Romans 6:3 & 4 that baptism is a picture of the of the death, burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You see, when we lower someone into the water, it is a picture of Jesus being laid into a tomb. But we do not leave the person under the water, we raise them up out of the water. That is a picture of Jesus being raised from the dead.
When a person gets baptized, they are preaching a sermon and they are saying, "I want you to know that when I go under the water and come up, I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died and was buried and raised again on the 3rd day. I am picturing the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ."
A little boy after a baptismal service ran up to men and pulled on my pant leg and said, "Pastor Tom, Pastor Tom, can I be advertised too?" Folks, he had it right. When you get baptized, your advertising to everyone that you believe that Jesus Christ died, was buried and was raised from the dead on the 3rd day. I want to tell you something, the devil hates that. I can think of only one person who wants to change the method of baptism, and that is the devil himself. Because immersion is a picture of the gospel. And if there is anyone who wants to get rid of the gospel, it is the devil himself.
Since baptism is a picture of Jesus Christ's death, burial and resurrection it is not a means to salvation. If I were to take someone's wedding ring and put it on a child, would it make the child married? Of course not. Just because someone is wearing a wedding ring that doesn't make them married. You see, the wedding ring is a picture that you're married. If baptism washed away your sins, then it would be better to be baptized at death. Because you're going to sin after baptism.
FOURTH -- THE REASON FOR BEING BAPTIZED.
Why do we get baptized? Why would someone, in front of a group of people, go through the entire procedure and get baptized? May I say it clearly and distinctly, you do not get baptized to get salvation. Someone does not get baptized to get saved. They get baptized because they want to obey Jesus Christ. The reason you get baptized is to obey the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Matthew 28:19-20 where Jesus is speaking to His disciples and notice what He commands.
Matthew 28:19
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, (NIV)
The marching orders of the church are to make disciples and to baptize. Notice from Matthew 28:19, that Jesus is not giving a suggestion, baptism is a command. Look at Acts 10:47-48 and notice that Peter believed the command of Jesus that he ordered a group of people to be baptized.
Acts 10:47-48
47 "Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have." 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days. (NIV)
Do you know why some Christians do not have any joy? They're not obedient. Someone will go home and read the Bible and they will say, "Lord, here is a verse of Scripture. I don't understand it. Tell me what it means. And the Lord will say, "No, I'm not going to tell you what that verse means." They will say back to the Lord, "What do you mean you're not going to show me what this verse means? I thought you wanted everybody to understand the Bible." The Lord says, "You hypocrite, you already know what the bible teaches about baptism, and you won't do that. Why should I teach you any more of my Word? I'm not going show you anymore of the bible that you don't understand, until you obey that part you do understand." The way to understand more of the Bible is to obey the part you do understand.
Who should be baptized? Only those who believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. As you look through the Bible, you will find that only those who believed in Jesus were baptized. Look at:
Acts 2:41
41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. (NIV)
Acts 8:12
12 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. (NIV)
Notice that not everybody was baptized. Only those who accepted the message and believed the message about Jesus were baptized. Not infants, not the whole town, only those who had faith in Jesus were baptized. God makes it very clear in His Word that all those who head the Gospel and believed it, were baptized. What is your decision about being baptized? Are you going to be baptized as the Lord Jesus Christ commands? Have you been baptized after you have come to know about Jesus Christ as Savior? Did your baptism picture the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ? If not it most certainly should. I can think of only one person who wants to change the method of baptism, and that is the devil. He hates the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Shouldn't you love the baptism that shows the great victory the Jesus had over the devil? Make a positive decision today to be baptized declaring Jesus as the Lord of your life.
Tom Myers