Baptism

Acts 2:38:  “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”  The second thing that Peter mentioned was baptism. We know this is required for salvation because Jesus Himself told us in John 3: 5:  “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”  Let us first look at born of the water. There are many people that say born of the water refers to our original birth. I find this hard to believe. Jesus was talking to someone that had already been born. All persons are born. It would not be relevant for Jesus to mention a natural birth, remember in the scripture above, Jesus is talking about salvation, not a natural birth process. In John 3:3, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Notice here Jesus said born again not referring to a natural birth. As a mater of fact, Nicodemus made the same mistake, and Jesus had to correct him. John 3:4:  “Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?” Here Nicodemus is confused and believes Jesus is speaking about a natural birth. In John 3:5-6 Jesus explains the difference: “5.  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7.  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” He explains the process of born again is water and spirit...not natural birth.

So let us look closer at this requirement.
 

The word itself, according to Vine’s Greek Dictionary, means  “consisting of the processes of immersion, submersion and emergence.”
Some denominations still insist on sprinkling or putting a small amount of water on the head. To find out which is correct, let us look at our Bibles.

In Acts 8: 38, when Philip baptized the eunuch the Bible says, “ And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.” Notice that they went down into the water. This would not be necessary if Philip was only going to sprinkle him.

John 3: 23: “And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and  were baptized.” Here John was baptizing in a certain place because there was much water there.” The fact that there was a lot of water would not be important if they were sprinkling.

Matthew 3: 16: “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:” Again here we see Jesus coming up out of the water. Why? Well it was not because he was sprinkled.
    
Is there any thing else about the method of baptism we should know?

Let us see. 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:” Notice the word name is singular baptizing in the Name of the Father, and of the Son , and of the Holy Ghost. So what is the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. To see what that name is, let us not go to man's teaching, but to the Word of God.

Acts 8:16:  “ (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”  Acts 10: 48:  “And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.  Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.” Acts19:5:  “ When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”  Now we know, without a doubt, that the Name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, is Jesus. Nowhere in the Bible will you find that anybody was baptized any other way. As a matter of fact, in Acts 19:3, we find that Paul rebaptized some people who were baptized by John. “ And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.  4.  Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” This is how important being baptized in the name of Jesus is.  If you were baptized any other way we must redo it the Bible way.

In fact you will not find anywhere in the Bible that anyone was baptized in the titles Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. To explain the difference: I am a Father because my wife has born a son. I am a son, because I have a father. I am a Minister. All of these are titles that describe me and my position in life. But they are not my name. I can not transact business in any of these titles. Contracts require a name. People call me by my name. The telephone book does not list any of these titles, only my name. And if I ever write you a check you would make sure I signed it with my name, not one of these titles. If you are going to be baptized, it must be in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Not the titles.

What does baptism do? Peter, in Acts, says to be baptized “for the remission of sins,” What does remission of sins mean? Hebrews 10: 16:  “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17.  And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 18. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.” Here the Bible says that after remission, the Lord will not even remember our sin. It is a complete renewing. That is why some people after repentance or feeling the conviction of God, don’t feel different. They can not live different. Their sins are not washed away in baptism.

Paul, after he had repented of the terrible things he had done to the Church, was told in Acts 22:16, “ And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Again the Bible speaks of the washing away of sins, referring to water baptism.

Mark 16: 16: “ He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” You cannot even call yourself a believer if you are not willing to be baptized. There are people that say baptism is not necessary for salvation. This scripture should clear it up for them, if they are willing to except the word of God.

Acts 8:12:  “But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13. Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.” Again belief in Jesus and baptism went hand in hand.

Romans 6: 4:  “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.” After we are baptized and our sins are remitted, we must be very careful what we do and where we go. Regular church attendance is a major part of this newness of life.