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The following program is a production of
Truth For The World.
♪ "Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
oh what words I hear Him say." ♪
How many times have we had
different discussions on baptism.
In this episode we will look at the "how" of baptism.
That is, how we are to be baptized.
First, as we study through this, we must first define our terms.
And so, I affirm this today, that baptism
in the New Testament was by immersion only
and must be so practiced today.
By "baptism" I mean that ordinance of the
Christian religion which was and is required of every
disciple of Christ by the Savior himself. Matthew 28:19
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the
"name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
It is that very baptism which secures for the believer
the remission of all of his past repented sins,
as we are told in Acts 2:38.
That very baptism stands for the very date,
as our admission into the body of Christ.
Galatians 3:27
The element of this baptism is water.
By "baptism" in the New Testament,"
I, of course, refer to the new covenant which was given by
the authority of Jesus Christ through the
inspired apostles and prophets of the first century.
By the total phrase, "baptism in the New Testament,"
I refer to the teaching and administration of water baptism
in the first century AD, by Spirit-led inspired people.
By the term "immersion." I mean the dipping, or plunging,
or submersion, or an overwhelming of an
individual in water.
By "immersion only" I mean dipping, plunging,
submersion, overwhelming to the exclusion of any other method
of supposed baptism such as sprinkling or pouring.
And when I say that such baptism "must be so practiced today,"
I am affirming that the doctrine and practice
of the church of Christ was revealed once and for all time
in the first century of this Christian era as we are told
in Jude 3, and that men of our generation must conform
to that doctrine and practice in order to be
pleasing to God.
Now concerning baptism there are three basic questions:
How? Why? and Who?
The first point we will discuss today is HOW.
How are we to be baptized?
In Acts chapter 8 we follow a man, a preacher who was
"full of the Spirit and of wisdom,"according to Acts 6:3,
and of course he did his work just as it should be done.
Indeed, God was so well pleased with him and with his
way of leading men to Christ, that a little later in Acts 8
he sent an angel from heaven to him,
to direct him to a man of Ethiopia,
a eunuch of great authority under Candace,
queen of the Ethiopians, to bring about his conversion.
In Acts 8:26 we see that Philip quickly arose and journeyed,
as the angel told him to do,
until he came to the place appointed; and, lo,
the great man came riding by in a chariot.
Then the Holy Spirit said to Philip,
"Go near, and join thyself to this chariot."
And, he did so, and, he preached Christ to the eunuch.
As he drew near to the conclusion of his sermon
they came to a certain water, and the eunuch said,
"Behold, here is water: What doth hinder me to be baptized?"
"And he commanded the chariot to stand still;
"and, they both went down into the water,
"both Philip and the eunuch and he baptized him.
"And when they came up out of the water,
"the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip;
"and the eunuch saw him no more,
"for he went on his way rejoicing."
And so, we see how a man full of the Holy Spirit,
sent on a special mission by God through an angel,
converted a sinner.
Observe that the Spirit led him to the chariot,
and immediately after the baptism
the Spirit caught him away.
The Spirit did not catch him away until the work was done.
That was the kind of preacher the Spirit approved of in those
days, and that is the kind of preacher he approves of now.
In another city called Philippi, some days later,
Paul and Silas preached to the jailer at midnight;
and the Lord also opened his heart to give heed to
the things spoken by them; and they baptized him the same hour
of the night and his household.
These converts truly believed, and were ready to do at once
what the word of the Lord required.
Not a great while after Paul preached at Corinth,
the Holy Spirit says of his work there:
"And Crispus the ruler of the synagogue believed in the Lord
with all his house; and many of the Corinthians
hearing believed, and were baptized."
And so we see that Heaven-sent preachers conducted meetings
in those days, and thus the Spirit reported the results.
Let us not forget that he had these records made
for our guidance.
When Paul himself turned to the Lord,
God sent a special messenger to him
that he might receive his sight and be filled
with the Holy Ghost. And when the messenger
whose name was Ananias came, he put his hands on him and said,
"Brother Saul, receive thy sight."
And then, after telling him that he was to be a minister
and a witness for Christ, he added,
"And now why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized and
"wash away thy sins, calling on his name."
You can read about that in Acts 9 and 22.
It is certain that in the light of these scriptures,
no human being who has a proper regard for the wisdom
and goodness and power of Father, Son, and Spirit
can be indifferent to the subject of baptism.
No one can see the importance of these passages,
and then say, well, baptism does not matter.
See, God sent certain ones to preach and baptize.
We know that Christ was baptized because it was right,
and that his Father expressed his approval
in the most wonderful way; that Christ then began to preach,
and,through his disciples, to baptize;
We even saw that in his great commission,
in the last words that he spoke on earth,
he commanded his disciples to teach the nations
and to baptize them; and that on the day of Pentecost,
under his ministry, about three thousand were added
to the disciples; all that received the word
were baptized that day.
We have seen that again and again:
When God set it up for the preacher and the people to be
together, the preacher commanded the people to be baptized,
and they were.
We have seen that again and again:
When the Holy Spirit led the preacher to the people
to be converted,as in the cases of Lydia,
the Philippian jailer, or the eunuch,
they were always at once baptized
when they received the word.
We have seen that when God from heaven sent Ananias to Paul,
he at once commanded him to be baptized,
and Paul at once obeyed.
I ask again, Can any man who honors God,
who loves Christ,
who trusts in the wisdom and goodness of the Holy Spirit,
in the light of these passages,
think that baptism is "nothing"?
So then, HOW is a person to be baptized today?
Does it matter?
Can one be sprinkled, and be pleasing to God?
Can one be poured upon and be pleasing to God?
I hope to prove some things today.
Number one, that Christ, the apostles,
and early Christians taught that one had to be completely
immersed, that is, submerged or overwhelmed in water.
Second, that immersion was the sole and exclusive method
of administering baptism in the earliest days of the Christian
era, that it was in fact the "one baptism" of Ephesians 4:5.
And, third, that immersion is the sole and exclusive method
of administering baptism which God approves today.
Now, we might be tempted to start defining the word baptism
by going to a dictionary, and that is a good thought,
however, in the case of baptism, we are not talking about
defining a word but rather we are deriving
a form of doctrine.
Let us look at some definitions.
The words translated "baptize"
(that is any verbal form of the word)
"baptism" (any noun form of the word)
in the New Testament specifically refer to
the act of immersion.
God has given his will to us in scripture,
and he used ordinary human language.
God used the words "baptize" and "baptism"
in their commonly accepted way when Scripture was written
and that those words were understood to
refer to immersion, submersion, or the overwhelming of an
individual in some element,in this case, water.
Really though, our word "baptize"
is not even an English word.
What happened is when those translators
came to the word Bapto, or baptize,
which clearly meant to immerse,
these men, all understanding that the KING had been
sprinkled or poured upon, had to make a choice.
And rather than compromising their integrity
in the Greek language,
and still not upsetting the king,
these men came up with an idea.
The idea was called a "transliteration."
That is, simply pull that word baptizo from the Greek,
right over into the English, as the word BAPTIZE,
and we can just let the king do with it what he wants.
The word bapto, in the Greek language,
which is the language that the Bible was written in,
simply meant to "DIP."
This definition is taken from Liddell and Scott's lexicon
on the Greek Language.
The different customs demanded "DIPPING" objects into water,
for instance an IRON was dipped into the water to cool it.
Clothing was "Bapto'd," DIPPED into water to DYE it.
It was submerged or dipped into it.
This word, occurs a total of sixteen times in the Greek
translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint.
In most of these instances it is used to
translate the Hebrew word "tabal,"
which means to immerse or to dip.
As to the word baptizo, the specific word in question,
Liddell and Scott on pages 305-306 say that it means
to dip or to plunge.
The word is used in classical Greek literature of persons
being drowned or ships being sunk.
Now there is no way that the term sprinkle or pour would be
adequate to render any of these.
A ship certainly is "sprinkled" when it rains on it
out on the high sea; but it is not "baptized,"
until it is completely sunk under the water.
A ship is "baptized" only if it is totally submerged in water.
What is the point?
We are showing that since God
wrote Scripture "in ordinary human languages
with words having their commonly accepted meanings,"
that the word "baptize" only has one meaning.
It means to overwhelm an object in an element,
to submerge it, to immerse it, to cover it over it completely.
THAYER says: To dip repeatedly, to immerse, submerge.
To cleanse by dipping or submerging.
When he came to the word Baptisma,
he defined it this way, "a word peculiar to
"the New Testament and to ecclesiastical writ."
What does he say it means? Immersion. Submersion.
Then he goes on to say, "of calamities and afflictions,
"with which one is quite overwhelmed."
Then Mr. Thayer says of Baptisma,
"of John's baptism, that purificatory rite by which men,
"on confessing their sins,
"were bound to a spiritual reformation,
"obtained the pardon of their past sins,
"and became qualified for the benefits of the Messiah's
kingdom, soon to be set up."
Then he says of Christian baptism,
"This, according to the view of the apostles,
"is a rite of sacred immersion, commanded by Christ."
Now you might be saying, why are we going into
all these words anyway?
I will tell you why:
Because these words actually meant something then.
And what they meant then,
is what they should mean to us today.
The word Bapto, simply meant to DIP.
Baptizo: to dip in or under water;
of ships, to sink that is according to Liddell and Scott.
And we will not take the time at the moment,
but if we cared to we could bring 25 Lexicons.
We could use them all and all of them
would tell us the same thing.
In fact in debate through the years,
the Lord's church has been quite emphatic
that there is not a lexicon that has any credibility
that would ever say that the words Baptizo, Bapto,
or Baptismas ever meant anything else during
the New Testament times, than to submerge, or immerse.
Oh, and if you think I am just poisoning the well,
I assure you I am not.
Let us ask Denominational Church historians.
Phillip Schaff, the great Presbyterian historian says,
"The usual form of baptism was immersion.
"This is inferred from the original meaning of the Greek
"baptizein and baptismos,"
James Smith, another Presbyterian historian says,
"The initiatory rite of baptism was performed by immersing
"the whole body in the baptismal font."
Heinrich Ferdinand Guericke, a Lutheran, says,
"Baptism was originally performed by immersion
"in the name of the Trinity, (by Marcion,
"in the name of Jesus simply)."
Now we will not find it necessary at this moment,
but if we needed we have a list of nearly 30 denominational
historians all claiming that baptism was immersion.
Friend, This is the only kind of Baptism
that God ever intended for Christians to adhere to.
We could list 18-20 church fathers who would agree,
although we know that they have no authority at all.
People like: Ireneaus, Hermas, Justin Martyr,
Bunson, I Hippolytus, Cyprian, Barnabus, Chrysistom,
the list goes on and on.
We could turn to over 60 different Bible Theologians,
Anyone from Campbell, to Paine, Luther, Halley,
even John Calvin.
He got many things wrong, but one thing he knew was,
that Baptism in the New Testament was to be given
by fully submerging the body in water.
We point this out, friends, so that there is no question
from the authorities that have to do with the Greek language
as to what baptism is.
It cannot possibly refer to a sprinkling
or pouring of water over a person.
It can refer only to the total covering over or immersion
or submersion of an object or person in an element,
in this case a human being in water.
The New Testament practice of baptism was by immersion,
immersion only, and if we are faithful to the Word of God,
we must so practice it today.
Also today friend, as we study God's Word,
we accumulate various pieces of New Testament evidence
about baptism and certain facts come to light that are
consistent with baptism being by immersion and
which are altogether inconsistent with the idea that
baptism was by sprinkling or pouring.
For instance, according to John 3:23,
baptism requires "much water."
"John was baptizing in Enon near to Salim
"because there was much water there."
Folks, "much water" is not required for sprinkling;
but it is for immersion.
Then also, in Acts 8:36,
we see that Baptism requires a going "to the water."
In Acts 8:36 in the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch,
after Philip had preached Christ to the man,
the Bible says that they passed by a certain water
and the eunuch said, "See, here is water:
"What doth hinder me to be baptized?"
And without hesitation, the two of them came down
from the chariot and went down to the water.
Now a man did not travel in any country
without a water container in his chariot.
If sprinkling were all that was required as baptism,
it would not have been necessary to stop the chariot,
much less to get out and go down to the body of water.
But that is not all the text says in this case.
Baptism requires not only a going to the water,
but a going down "into the water," according to Acts 8:38.
Here the preposition is the Greek word EIS,
meaning going into the water.
Sprinkling does not require that.
Beyond that, baptism requires a "coming up out of the water."
EK is the Greek term "out of the water." Acts 8:39.
Notice: Going to the water, going into the water,
and then coming out of the water.
Friend, sprinkling and pouring do not require those actions;
only immersion requires those actions.
Furthermore, baptism requires a burial in water
according to Romans 6:3-4 and Colossians 2:12.
If a person takes water or sand or any other substance
and sprinkles it over the top of a book or a person,
he is not "buried" by anyone's definition of the term.
Please open your Bibles
as we read from Romans 6 beginning in verse 1.
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin,
"that grace may abound? God forbid.
"How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
"Know you not, that as many of us as were baptized
"into Jesus 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 also should walk in 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 henceforth we should not serve sin."
Friend, does sprinkling constitute a burial?
After your dog dies, take him in your backyard,
and sprinkle a little dirt on the top of him.
See how buried he is.
Or even pour a cup of dirt on the top of him,
see if that is a burial.
Friend, when a person is laid beneath the waters
of baptism in immersion he is buried,
submerged in the water. Baptism requires that,
and sprinkling and pouring will not satisfy.
Baptism requires a planting.
That is what Romans 6:5-7 says,
consistent with the idea of taking an object
and plunging it beneath the surface of an element.
Beyond that, baptism requires not only a burial in,
and planting in the water, but a resurrection from the water.
Again, that is what Romans 6:3-4 and Colossians 2:12 tell us.
The requirements and actions of baptism
are associated only with immersion.
The Bible makes it clear
that baptism requires a going down into the water,
the performing of the burial action,
and then the coming up out of the water.
Therefore baptism is not sprinkling or by pouring.
Baptism is by immersion and by immersion only.
SO then someone asks, "Well, when did
"'sprinkling' first enter the scene?"
Or, "Why do people sprinkle today?"
By the way,
the word is completely different from baptism.
The Greek word for Sprinkle is Rantizo.
It means to sprinkle.
BAPTIZO means to immerse.
So, when did it start?
In the year 251 a man by the name of Novation
was the first recorded case.
Now someone says, "Why sprinkle?"
It started out simple enough.
That is, that for the people who were sick,
those whose doctors said it would be unwise
to immerse them in water.
Some one thought, well then it will be okay,
to just sprinkle them with water.
What was the exception, however, soon enough became the rule,
and though immersion was never out of the
picture, "sprinkling" was adapted as Baptism.
But folks, we need to remember Something:
Just because MAN says something is okay for us to practice,
does not mean that it is okay.
Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 15:8-9:
"This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth
"and honoreth me with lips:
"but their heart is far from me.
"But in vain they do worship me.
"Teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
Jesus said these people think they are doing what is right,
but the things they are doing, they do them in vain.
Why? Because they take the teachings of man
and discard what Jesus said.
And folks that is what the denominational world
has done with Baptism.
They put their own spin on It,
rather than just taking what God has said about it,
and they practice any old thing they want to practice,
and pretend everything is okay.
Friends, we need to get back to doing WHAT Jesus said,
HOW Jesus said it,
FOR THE REASON JESUS SAID TO DO IT.
So that is a brief look at the word BAPTISM,
what it meant, and what it still means today.
SPRINKLING or POURING have
absolutely nothing to do with baptism.
So I suggest to you today, that if you were sprinkled,
or if you had water poured upon you,
then you were never baptized.
Why do I say that?
To be mean? NO!
I say that, because you were not baptized,
the word that means IMMERSED.
You may have been RANTIZO, sprinkled,
But Jesus said to be BAPTIZO.
Suppose your mother said, go in and wash your face
and you can go to the Zoo.
Now look what she said:
Your mother said wash your Face: F-A-C-E.
And you went and washed your Hands: H-A-N-D-S.
Then you have not done what she told you to do.
No, and you cannot go to the Zoo.
Now, if Jesus said REPENT and be BAPTIZED,
that is IMMERSED-BAPTIZO,
and you repented and were RANTIZO, you were sprinkled,
did you do what he said?
And further if he said BAPTISM DOES SAVE, that is IMMERSION,
and you were only RANTIZO,
then how dare any man say we are saved when we are sprinkled?
I think I will take God's Word for it over any man on earth.
What is the point today?
Are we saying these things to be mean?
Are we saying these things to cause trouble?
Oh no, God who searches the hearts of men,
KNOWS that it is not the case.
Friend, we love you, we love your soul.
And if your soul is in danger,
we want you to be able to correct that.
And if someone in your past
has told you it was okay to be sprinkled,
then as we have learned today, he has told you incorrectly.
He that believeth and is IMMERSED shall be saved.
That is what the Bible says.
Friend, I hope you will study hard
on what we have discussed here today.
And I pray that if you need to make your life right with God
you will study this and that you will be immersed.
just as God has said in his word.
♪ "Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
oh what words I hear Him say.
Happy place so near, so precious,
may it find me there each day." ♪
If you would like to learn more about God's word with
a free Bible Correspondence Course,
then write us at Truth For The World
P.O. Box 5048, Duluth, GA 30096
the United States of America.
Or visit us online at truthfortheworld.org
The preceding program was a production of
Truth For The World, a work of the Duluth Church of Christ