Many Christians view water baptism as a requirement for all who believe that Jesus died for their sins. Others don’t. Some churches consider it a sacrament.
Water baptism is apparent throughout the New Testament (NT). But when did this practice originate? Actually, Biblical cleansing and immersion originated before John the Baptizer and NT baptisms. In He.6:1-2 the writer to the Jewish Christians reminded them of the foundational “instructions about washings” they should have known. The Greek term here for “washings” is baptismós (Strongs g909). Greek Bible scholar Spiros Zódiates describes baptismos. “Washings, as constituents of rites of Old Testament law.” Let’s look at some Old Testament (OT) background for the practice of baptism.
The OT priests of Israel were required to wash (racháts h7364, Hebrew) before serving God. Le.8:5-6 Moses washed Aaron & his sons for their initial priestly consecration. Nu.8:5-7 Levite non-priests were also cleansed. Those acts were a type of baptism. At God’s ancient tabernacle, a copper/bronze laver was filled with water for washing, and placed near the altar of burnt offering. Ex.30:17-20 priests must first wash their hands and feet in the copper laver before ministering in the tent (copper kills bacteria).
In the OT, washings and purifications were applied to various unclean conditions (He.9:10), and were for sanitation. Some examples: Le.14:7-9 the procedure for cleansing the leper. Le.15:1-7 the man who had an infectious discharge and whoever came into contact with him. Le.15:16-18 after sexual relations. Le.15:19-22 after a woman’s monthly menstruation and whoever came into contact with her blood. (Menstruation is a state of being, not a sin.) Le.15:25-27 the woman who had an infectious discharge and whoever came into contact with her. Le.15:31-33 uncleanness could be a dangerous condition! And it defiled God’s tabernacle. YHVH didn’t ‘tabernacle’ with those unclean, or in sin!
Also, the person who ate an unslaughtered animal which had died of itself (“strangled”, Ac.15:29) was unclean until his evening shower, so to speak (Le.17:15-16). Nu.9:10-11 relates to the person who was unclean in the first month of the sacred year due to contact with a corpse, and therefore couldn’t take the Passover then (Nu.19:18-19). A corpse was the most virulent kind of pollutant. In Jn.11:55, many were going up to Jerusalem to purify themselves before Passover. Whitewash was customarily applied to grave stones in the Holy Land so pilgrims going to the feast could easily spot them and avoid contact. (Jesus alluded to this in Mt.23:27, calling the scribes & Pharisees “whitewashed tombs”.)
There were many washings in OT scripture. And spiritual realities were portrayed in the OT by outward physical signs & actions. Also we read in scripture of unclean diet (Le.11, De.14:2-20) and unclean demons (Lk.4:33). The apostle Paul tied ‘unclean’ symbolism to unbelieving idol-worshipers (2Co.6:14-18), in whom the Holy Spirit (HS) doesn’t reside.
God doesn’t fellowship with sin, and uncleanness can be a type of sin. Christians desire to stay filled with the HS, but the HS won’t actively dwell with the person who remains in a spiritually unclean state. Cleansing has a spiritual application in Is.1:16. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight.” After committing adultery & murder, David pleaded with God in Ps.51:1-23, 7 to cleanse and purify him from his sins.
To be cleansed/healed from leprosy, Elisha instructed the Syrian general Naamán to wash (rachats) seven times in the Jordan River, 2Ki.5:10-14. Naaman immersed (tabál h2881). That healing relates to Le.14:6-7, the priest “shall then sprinkle seven times the one who is to be cleansed from leprosy”.
Ezekiel prophesied a purification ceremony of spiritual renewal in Ezk.36:25-27. “Then I [YHVH] will sprinkle clean water on you, I will cleanse you from all your filthiness. I will put My Spirit within you.” (Water and the HS in the future!)
A complete bath was required to rectify some impurities & uncleanness. Modern Orthodox Jewish synagogues have a mikváh (Strongs h4724) tank for ritual cleansing, while prayers are spoken for them. It’s customary in much of today’s world for a person to take a routine evening bath or shower.
With that background, let’s trace the baptismal thread in the NT. The concept of purification washings wasn’t unfamiliar to those Jews. The forerunner John the Baptizer’s mission was vital…water baptism for repentance, Mt.3:1, 6, 11! The Greek term here is baptízo (g907); it occurs 80 times in the NT. It meant ‘to immerse, submerge’ (Dr. Zodiates). In a pickle recipe, Greek poet Nicánder (200 BC) said a vegetable should be dipped (bápto g911) in boiling water, then baptized (baptizo) in a vinegar solution.
Mt.3:13-16 John baptized Jesus. The sinless Jesus had no uncleanness, and no sin to repent of. He didn’t need purifying. Jesus’ baptism showed that He was in harmony with John’s teaching & mission, and it symbolized the transfer of priesthood from the OT Levitical order (John) to the order of Melchisedek (Jesus)! Also Jesus’ baptism is our example.
At His water baptism, the dove/Spirit descended. John came to water baptize, Jesus to Spirit baptize. Jesus declared in Jn.3:5, “Unless a person is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God”. Strong words from Jesus…an able-bodied person who willfully refuses water cannot enter His Kingdom! Vincent Word Studies Jn.3:5 “The water points definitely to the rite of baptism.” Cambridge Bible Note “The outward sign and inward grace of Christian baptism are here clearly given, and an unbiased mind can scarcely avoid seeing this plain fact.” ref Ezk.36:25-27 for the water–Spirit association. They both go together as necessary components…there’s water baptism and HS baptism.
In Mt.16:17-19, Peter was given the keys to the (Kingdom) city. Peter will keep reappearing as we continue this thread. Jn.20:21-22 Jesus gave His disciples a pledge or foretaste of their receiving the HS. Then Jesus told them in Ac.1:5, 8, “John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit….you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” Their soon-coming HS baptism would saturate and empower them, including Peter (who’d even denied Jesus, Mk.14:66-72)!
As Jesus promised, they were soon baptized in (and filled with) the HS, Ac.2:1-4. Peter, who was given the keys to the Kingdom, was the one who instructed the hearers at that Pentecost in Ac.2:38. “Repent and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” v.41 that day 3,000 believing Jews were baptized, ‘mikvahed’, perhaps in the 40–50 mikvah pools reportedly located outside the south wall of the Temple mount there in Jerusalem. Repentance precedes baptism. A goal of life for baptized believers is to be/remain filled with the HS! (see the topic “Holy Spirit-Filled”.)
Later in Ac.8:12-17, Samaritans too were baptized in Jesus’ Name. Peter was there. Then when Peter and John laid hands on them, they received the HS.
In Ac.8:32-39, Philip preached Jesus to the Ethiopian Jew/proselyte (a court eunuch) returning from the Temple area. He was literate, able to read Isaiah. Upon hearing of Jesus, the eunuch immediately asked to be water baptized. Philip must have included baptism in his teaching about Jesus to this foreigner. Philip then baptized him by immersion. That eunuch’s name won’t be “cut off” (ref Is.56:3-5)!
In Ac.10:1-ff it was Peter to whom the vision of unclean creatures was given. v.28 “God has shown me that I shouldn’t call any man common or unclean.” Gentiles aren’t to be considered unclean. v.44-48 “Surely none can refuse water for these who received the HS.” Peter ordered that gentiles be water baptized in Jesus’ Name…even after they’d received the HS! This outward act was necessary! God may give the HS before or after water baptism. Peter was there, when the first gentiles were saved.
According to Ac.18:24-28, Apollós knew the OT well and believed Jesus is the Messiah. But apparently in Ephesus he’d only taught them about John’s baptism of repentance (Mt.3:11), and not about HS baptism. Consequently, those Ephesians hadn’t received the HS. Then in Ac.19:1-6, Paul told them more about belief in Jesus, and even re-baptized them…in Jesus’ Name. Water baptism was that important to Paul! He then laid hands on them, they received the HS, and the church at Ephesus had its beginning.
In Ac.22:7-8, 16, Saul/Paul recounted how he too was water baptized and had his sins ‘washed away’, calling on the Name of Jesus (Yeshúa, in Aramaic). Paul’s water baptism happened after the Lord Jesus had identified Himself to him, and after Paul received the HS (Ac.9:16-18). Paul was still obedient to the rite of water baptism!
Water baptism is done in the Name of Jesus, since Jesus died for us (Ro.5:6-8). Paul didn’t die for our sins. (Paul personally baptized only a few in Corinth, so Christians there wouldn’t be tempted to exalt Paul, 1Co.1:12-17.) Peter preached in Ac.4:10-12, “By the Name of Jesus Christ…there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name by which we must be saved.” Not Buddha, not Kríshna, not the Talmud, not Mohammed. Jesus!!
Jn.4:1-2 Jesus had His disciples water baptize even more than John the Baptizer’s did! Cambridge Bible Note Jn.3:22 “It was a continuation of John’s baptism.” Benson Commentary “It wasn’t proper to baptize in His [Jesus’] own name.” (It wasn’t in the name of a denomination, of course.)
The risen Jesus said in Mt.28:19-20, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them….” Jesus commanded baptism…in water! Pulpit Commentary Mt.28:19 “They had seen it employed by John the Baptist (Mt.3:6), and had used it themselves (Jn.4:1-2).” Gill Exposition Mt.28:19 “In water, for with no other baptism could the apostles baptize, not with the Holy Ghost.” Jesus, not the 12 apostles or other men, baptizes with the HS, Lk.3:16. As Jesus’ name is invoked at water baptism, one comes up into new life with the triune God. The NT doesn’t say water baptism is optional for Christians!
There’s more to the significance of baptism. Ro.6:3 Paul wrote, “All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death”. We’re symbolically buried with Jesus. And death precedes burial. Paul in Col.2:12-13, “Having been buried with Him in baptism, when you were dead in your trespasses. He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.” Total forgiveness! The old man/person is dead, and we no longer follow our old sinful ways. Water baptism is as a glorious funeral service! Paul didn’t say it’s optional. Paul even wrote in Ti.3:5, “He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit”. Water baptism and the HS.
Water baptism is part of the salvation process, as the outward public witness of inner cleansing. Peter even wrote in 1Pe.3:21, “Baptism now saves you; not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience”. It’s so much more than a bath to wash off dirt/sweat. Again, in Jn.3:5 Jesus indicated that being born of water and the Spirit is necessary to inherit the Kingdom of God.
So this sacred ceremony is very significant and commanded by Jesus as an act of obedience (for able-bodied believers)! Watchman Nee “Baptism is faith in action.” It is understood that circumstances beyond one’s control: failing health, imprisonment, a “thief on the cross” (Lk.23:42-43) after Jesus rose, e.g….may make one’s water baptism impossible. (Of course, neither the thief on the cross nor anyone else was water baptized in the name of Jesus before Jesus rose!) God knows the intents of the hearts.
Baptism symbolizes a state of spiritual cleanliness to God, and our watery grave is a type of Jesus’ burial. Then we surface to eternal life! The baptism of the HS is the kernel of resurrection life. The HS cannot die. Ro.6:4 “We have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead…we too might walk in newness of life.” Real Life! Regardless of our race, skin color or status, the HS imbues us with eternal Life!
But people whose sins aren’t washed away are still in an unrighteous and unclean state to God. Paul in 1Co.6:9-11, “Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.” Praise God! As Jesus said, Jn.3:5, water & the Spirit are essential to Kingdom entrance.
Now there’s no need to continually perform other OT ritualistic washings based on their typology. (Yet some washings are still beneficial health practices.)
And we don’t have to ‘feel worthy’ to be baptized! None of us are worthy, of ourselves! Ro.5:8 “God demonstrates His love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly.” We were all sinners, Ro.3:23. No need to delay water baptism until we somehow feel more ‘righteous’ or think we’re a ‘better’ person. Just confess your sins to God and desire to have all your sins forgiven and ‘washed away’, and for Jesus to become Lord of your life! Then continually try to do as scripture says and as we feel led to do by the HS…and what we think Jesus would do if He were in our shoes today.
What about infant water baptism? Some churches practice it, but most don’t. In Lk.18:15-16, Jesus laid His hands on infants saying, “Permit the children to come to Me”. The (gentile) Philippian jailer in Ac.16:30-33 asked what he must do to be saved. He believed, and was immediately baptized with all his household. In a sense, infants could ‘come’ to Jesus by being carried to Him, and the jailer’s household possibly included infants who were baptized. Yet the churches who don’t perform infant baptism point to other verses to support their position. Jesus said in Mk.16:16, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved”. As Ac.16:33, baptism is necessary. And belief is a prerequisite for baptism . Ac.2:38 repentance is a prerequisite for baptism. But an infant doesn’t know to believe or repent. Neither does an innocent baby have any sins to repent of or be ‘washed away’ via baptism (Ac.22:16). It appears the weight of scriptural evidence doesn’t support baptizing a person in water until that one is old enough to make the decision to be baptized…a decision of Christian obedience and a public witness.
It’s been said…‘God has no grandchildren’. Not even pastors’ kids are God’s grandkids. Although people should pray for each other, no one can represent someone else in the Kingdom of God by proxy. Everyone must come to know God and have faith first-hand.
Should a person ever be re-baptized? In Ep.4:5 we read there’s “One Lord, one faith, one baptism”. In this verse, “one baptism” indicates that a valid baptism can only relate to Jesus the one true Lord (not to some heathen so-called god/lord). If a person had insufficient understanding of salvation, but yet was water baptized and didn’t receive the HS…then a re-baptism may well be in order. Or perhaps one was baptized into a denomination…rather than baptized in the Name of Jesus or into the Father, Son and HS. Re-baptism may be necessary. I view re-baptism as one’s personal decision…how the individual feels in his/her own heart about the validity of their water baptism.
What about when we sin after being baptized in water and into the HS? One reason the elderly apostle John (not John the Baptizer) was writing his first epistle was, “That you may not sin” (1Jn.2:1). Yet we all still have weakness in the flesh. John went on to write, “If anyone sees his brother committing a sin….” (1Jn.5:16). Yes, Christian brothers/sisters may still commit sin. How is that remedied? 1Jn.1:7-9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us for our sins.” As we confess and repent, the life/blood of Jesus continually cleanses us from sins we commit (v.7)…after baptism too!
The Bible never says one doesn’t have to be water baptized. There’s no scriptural example of a believer refusing water baptism. (There may be circumstances where a person desires water baptism, yet is unable to be baptized before their physical death.) Scripture indicates baptism should be performed. Verses such as Mt.28:19, Jn.3:5 & 4:1-2, Ac.2:38 & 10:47-48, Mk.16:16, Ac.16:30-33, 1Pe.3:21, and the personal examples of Jesus & Paul’s own baptisms make that clear.
The NT is quite clear…under normal circumstances, all Christians are expected to be water baptized! It’s not just for Jews! Samaritans too were water baptized (Ac.8:12). The water baptism of Cornelius’ household (Ac.10:47-48) and the Philippian jailer’s household (Ac.16:33) shows that it’s for gentiles too. Water baptism is for all believers.
True believers aren’t ashamed of this public declaration in the presence of likeminded witnesses. It’s been said, ‘Baptism separates the tire kickers from the car buyers’.
The Biblical sequence: Believe and repent…then water baptism followed by HS baptism (or vice versa).
Water baptism in the Name of Jesus is a wonderful and meaningful ceremony for repentant believers. And having believed, we’re sealed with the HS…given to us as a pledge or guarantee of our eternal inheritance with God, Ep.1:13-14! (see the topic “Saved, Sealed, Preserved”.) Thank You, Lord!!
Bible Topic Exposition 