Baptism
From http://2001translation.com/Baptism.htm
Baptism
Found below are all the primary
scriptures that discuss baptism and its purpose, followed by some conclusions
that are clearly indicated by these texts:
John’s Baptism
Matthew
Luke 3:3, ‘So, he (John the
Baptist) went through all the country around the
Mark 1:4, ‘John was in the
desert; and he came baptizing, preaching a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins. And virtually all those in
Acts
Baptism in Jesus
Acts
Acts 19:1-7, ‘When he got to
Who Were Baptized
Acts
Acts
Acts
Acts
When They were Baptized
Acts
Acts
Acts 18:8, ‘And many of the
Corinthians who heard also started believing and got baptized.’
Why They were Baptized
Acts
Acts
Romans 6:3-5, ‘Don’t you realize that all who were
baptized into the Anointed One Jesus were also baptized into his death?
So, we were buried along with him by our baptism into his death.
This is so that, just as the Anointed One was raised from the dead to the glory
of the Father, we should likewise follow a new way of life. If we’ve
been buried with him in the same type of death, then we will be resurrected
also.’
1 Corinthians 12:13, ‘By the one Breath we were all
baptized into one body, regardless of whether we are Jews or Greeks, slaves
or free. And we were all made to drink from that one Breath.’
Galatians 3:27-29, ‘All who
were baptized into the Anointed One have put on the Anointed One. So, there
aren’t any Jews or Greeks, slaves or freemen, males or females, because you’re
all one in the Anointed One, Jesus. And if you are [part] of the Anointed One,
you are really the seed of Abraham and heirs of the promise.’
Colossians
1 Peter 3:21, ‘[What that chest
pictured] is now saving you too. It’s Baptism. [The purpose of this baptism]
isn’t to get rid of fleshly filth; it’s to ask God for a good conscience
through the resurrection of Jesus the Anointed One.’
John 3:5, ‘Jesus replied, I
tell you the truth, unless someone is born from water and [God’s] Breath, he
can’t enter the
Conclusions:
John’s baptism symbolized repentance over past
sins. It was a way of calling people’s sins to their attention and telling them
to repent, to prepare their hearts for the coming of the Promised One.
Jesus’ baptism wasn’t just for repentance for
past sins. After the Promised One came, people were to be baptized in his name.
All those were baptized who recognized the truth
of the words of Jesus and his Apostles. However, they had to be old enough to
recognize the truth.
They were baptized when they started
believing and when God’s Breath was seen in their lives.
They
were baptized:
1.
To show that they
had repented and to allow for their past sins to be forgiven (Acts
2.
To show that they
have agreed to follow a new way of life (Romans 6:3-5)
3.
To ask God for a
good conscience (1 Peter
4.
To receive the
gift of the Holy Breath (Acts
5.
To accept that
they may also have to share in Jesus’ death (Romans 6:3-5, Colossians
6.
To be resurrected
in God’s Kingdom (Romans 6:3-5, John 3:5)
7.
To become part of
the Promised One’s ‘body’ (1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:27-29).
It is noteworthy that baptism
appears to indicate at least one’s desire to be a ‘king and priest.’ in God’s
Kingdom. And being ‘born again’ by God’s Holy Breath, indicates acceptance or
being ‘chosen’ by God and being given the value of a ‘spiritual’ life, which
would provide a person the necessary legal basis for a resurrection to heaven.
It also seems that baptism is
closely linked symbolically to the anointing (with oil) that many of the
ancient kings of
Is receiving God’s Holy Breath
part of the purpose of the baptism of all Christians? Yes, because all
Christians need and can receive this blessing. It isn’t limited to just the
‘chosen.’
So, when one is baptized in
water, he or she is indicating a willingness to make the needed changes in
his/her life in order to qualify for being ‘chosen’ by God. And receiving a
‘baptism in God’s Holy Breath’ then, seems to be an indication of acceptance of
that individual by God. However, as Jesus said, ‘Not all who are called are
chosen.’
Note that there are no
scriptures teaching that baptism is done to symbolize simple ‘dedication’ of
one’s life to serving God. In fact, the Greek word dedication isn’t
found anywhere in the Greek Scriptures. The concept of dedication (but not the
word) may be found in the Greek word paratitherthoran
(eng. put aside for yourselves), which is translated herein as dedicate
at 1 Peter
As you can see, this scripture
isn’t talking about baptism, since Peter was addressing Christians who were
already baptized. His point was that those to whom he was writing needed to
change their way of life (after baptism, not before) and rededicate it to God
by doing good things.
So, the implication of all the
above, is that baptism symbolizes that a person has repented (turned
away from their past life’s course) and that in so doing, he or she has been
forgiven by God. Or, as 1 Peter
Sprinkling or Total Immersion?
‘Baptize’ is a Greek word (which
we have left untranslated) that means ‘dip,’ or even
‘wash.’ We can clearly see the difference dipping and sprinkling in the
scripture found at Mark 7:3, 4, which says:
‘None of the Pharisees or any of
the Judeans eat unless they vigorously wash their hands (gr. nipsontai tas
keiras), because they follow the traditions of
the elders. Nor do they eat anything they bring from the market unless they sprinkle
(gr. rantisitontai) it first. And they
observe many other traditions that have been passed down, such as washing
(gr. baptismous – ‘dipping’)
cups, pitchers, and copper pots in water.’
As you can see, there is no
similarity between the Greek words that are rendered ‘sprinkle’ and ‘baptize
(or dip).’ So, when the Bible instructs us to be ‘baptized,’ it means to be
totally covered with water, which is a proper symbol of dying to a former
course of life.
When you realize that
resurrection to heaven is a gift from God that is given to people who He
selects and who have lived a faithful life and died a sacrificial death, you
recognize that infant baptism is unnecessary and inappropriate. The Bible’s
promise is that all (other than the ‘Seed of the Slanderer’) will be
resurrected, whether they are baptized or not (see Acts 24:15). So, infants
that die prior to being baptized are automatically promised the hope of a
resurrection.
Baptism for the Dead?
One scripture that many Bibles
render in an illogical way is 1 Corinthians 15: 29. It says in Greek, ‘Epei ti poiesousin oi baptizomenoi
hyper ton nekron ei holos nekroi ouk
egeirontai ti kai baptizontai hyper auton?’ Which is literally translated as, ‘Since what will do those being baptized on the dead,
if all the dead not are raised, why also are baptized on them?’
From the wording of the above
scripture, one religious group has concluded that they must be baptized for the
sake of their ancestors (their dead). Yet, this concept contradicts the other
scriptures and makes absolutely no sense. What purpose does the (heavenly)
resurrection serve if it can be given to any type of person (whether righteous
or unrighteous) as a gift from a descendant? Isn’t resurrection to be a ‘king
and priest’ in heaven the reward that is promised for one’s developing a
special and personal relationship with God?
Notice how another translation
renders this verse, ‘Otherwise, what will they do who are being baptized for
the purpose of [being] dead ones? If the dead are not to
be raised up at all, why are they also being baptized for the purpose of
[being] dead ones?’
Although this wording (to make
the point that baptism is for the purpose of dying) is quite convoluted, its
meaning is supported by the text. The reason for this is that the Greek word hyper
(which means on) can also be translated, for the purpose of.
As the result, we have rendered the verse herein as, ‘So,
what good does it do for them to be baptized into (or, for the
purpose of) death? If none of the dead will be raised, then why [are we]
being baptized for that purpose?’
Then what was Paul talking about
at 1 Corinthians 15:29? The answer was provided at Colossians
So, he was saying that such
baptism symbolizes a person’s willingness to share in the suffering and death
of Jesus.
Rebaptism
Many religions require that once
a person ‘learns the truth’ as they currently see it, they must then be rebaptised if they had been baptized before, to become part
of their religion, church, or group. As the result, some who have been baptized
more than once often say that they were baptized into this church and that.
However, what does baptism have to do with a particular dogma, creed, or
joining a religion? Isn’t baptism a personal agreement with God?
Notice from the accounts quoted
above that baptism was performed at the beginning of one’s accepting the hope
and agreeing to make a change in their life. Cornelius and his household, the
Ethiopian Eunuch, and all others were baptized within hours of accepting the
good news, so can we say that they knew the whole truth and could pass the
tests that some religions require today? Surely not, but the Apostles and
disciples baptized them anyhow… on the spot.
It has been argued though that
those who were baptized so quickly didn’t have that much to learn since they
were already familiar with the Bible’s teachings. But if that were true, then
why were the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees so very wrong? And what of
Cornelius who wasn’t a Jew but a gentile army officer? Surely many religions
have come to wrong conclusions on this, because their instructions and
requirements don’t align with what was actually practiced by First-Century
Christians.
Notice that the Bible says
people were to be baptized so their sins could be forgiven, to gain a good
conscience, and to show that they wished to follow a new way of life. So, if
any person has ever been baptized for those reasons, is there any just cause or
need for rebaptism? If such an agreement has already been seriously and
sincerely made with God, then what does changing one’s thoughts about what the
Bible says on some teachings have to do with it, for we should always be
constantly learning and changing our minds as the result of Bible study.
However, many religions require
rebaptism to show that you now agree with them and that you now choose to be
one of them… so it’s baptism into them not into Jesus. However, if you have
already made an agreement to serve God and change your life, we would question
why any action would be required other than fulfilling the vow you’ve already
made.
We recently heard a story of an
old woman who couldn’t join a particular group and ‘be saved’ unless she was
baptized. And because she lived an incredibly long way from the nearest members
of that group, she asked an itinerant preacher to baptize her (in 1923). Then
in her early 90s, when her mind was disabled with Alzheimer’s, she was told
that her baptism had never been valid and that she never had a relationship
with God, so she had to be rebaptised by a member of
the religion that she had been a member of through all those years… think about
that. Were they right?
Baptism into the Name of the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit?
The
words found at Matthew 28:19, ‘in the name of the Father, the Son, and [God’s]
Holy Breath,’ are not found in the ancient Shem Tob
Hebrew manuscript, so they may be spurious (words that were added to the
Bible). So, did Jesus really command that we be baptized in the name of the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
Many
churches use a variation of the baptismal formula found at Matthew 28:19 which
reads, ‘Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy
spirit.’ This has been called the Trinity Formula, since it contains the
three-person Godhead.
At
present we don’t have any complete manuscripts of Matthew prior to the 4th
Century, and all existing manuscripts written thereafter contain this phrase.
However, there is evidence that this reading is a later corruption of the
original text.
The
early Church historian Eusebius appears to quote from a different manuscript
than any we presently have. Eighteen times between the years 300 and 336-C.E.
he cited Matthew 28:19, 20 as: ‘Go ye and make disciples of all the nations in
my name, teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I commanded you.’
It is
interesting that the traditional Trinitarian reading of Matthew 28:19 does not appear in Eusebius’ writings until after the
Council of Nicaea, wherein the Trinity began to formally
held as official doctrine. So, evidence strongly indicates that this is a
spurious scripture inserted by later Trinitarians, in the same vein as 1 John
5:7-8.
This
finding may prove to cut both ways for some, for while it breaks apart the only
mention of the Trinity trio, it does seem to prove what many Trinitarians have
said all along, that baptisms should only be done in the name of Jesus.
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