The Gospel Truth

This article on Baptism builds upon our article on Salvation.

Water and The Spirit

Genesis 1  †  Genesis 2:6-7

In the beginning, the world had no form, for the entire surface of the earth was covered by water. The Spirit of God moved upon the water and from it emerged dry land, whereupon God created man from the very dust and breathed life into him. All life, on land, in the air, and under the sea, was good in God’s sight.

Cleansing Water

Genesis 6:9-7:5  †  Genesis 8:13-22
Exodus 1:22-2:10  †  Exodus 12:31-36  †  Exodus 13:17-14:31
Joshua 1, 3 & 4  †  2 Kings 2:1-14

The cleansing power of water is an integral part of life for God’s chosen people, not simply in a profane and worldly sense, but in a sacred and supernatural one. God uses water to cleanse. To be washed by God with water is to return to a previous state of being, clean and new again.

The first and most powerful demonstration of this sort of cleansing is found in the story of Noah and the Flood. Man had become obsessed with wickedness and evil, so much that God was compelled to destroy all life on earth. It is significant that God chose to purge the earth of evil using the water of the deluge, returning the world to the way it was before evil became rampant amongst men. Only one man had pleased God, and by his faithful obedience he saved himself and his family from the cleansing power of the flood. The entire surface of the earth was covered once again, and when the waters receded and dry land was exposed, all of God’s creatures that had been saved by the man repopulated the earth. Creation was started anew, and in his mercy, God promised to never again destroy it for the evil of man.

Just as Noah rode safely upon the cleansing waters of the deluge, delivered from this purge by the grace of God, so too did the infant Moses ride adrift in a basket upon the Nile, delivered from a death by drowning in that very same river as decreed by the Egyptian Pharaoh. God delivered his chosen people from slavery in Egypt into the hands of Moses, and they fled to the sea where they passed safely through the water. The hard-hearted Egyptians pursued them and were crushed by the waves and drowned. Again we see dry land emerging from beneath the surface of the water over which the living pass. And, as with the Flood, the waters destroyed those who acted against the will of God, thereby cleansing the earth of evil disobedience.

In parting the sea through Moses to expose dry land, God reenacted the parting of the waters at the time of creation. This occurs twice more in Sacred Scripture. Joshua, the successor of Moses, led God’s chosen people into the land promised to them through inheritance, passing through the halted waters of the Jordan river. The people were strengthened and conquered the inhabitants of the land who did not obey God. Later, the prophet Elijah passed through the parted Jordan before being taken up by God, and his successor Elisha returned to the promised land in the same way.

Whenever God cleansed the world with water, they who passed through the waters in obedience were given the strength to make manifest God’s will, to cooperate with him, and to enjoy a special relationship with him. But for those who resisted the will of God, the cleansing waters meant death.

Ritual Cleansing & The Law

Numbers 19  †  Exodus 30:17-21
Leviticus 14:1-9  †  2 Kings 5:1-19

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Elijah struck the Jordan river with his cloak, but it was God who tamed the waters. These were miraculous signs, but God ordinarily uses man as an agent to make his power manifest in this world. In his Law, he instructed man to purify objects and people through ritual cleansing with water, particularly those reserved for exclusive use in the service of God. The priests, for example, were to purify themselves by washing their hands and feet before performing their priestly duties. Ritual cleansing was also required for those who were ill, and especially those suffering from diseases of the skin. Through obedience to the Law, the chosen people could express their love and devotion to God, and by his grace be prepared to welcome the promised redeemer.

Prophecy

Ezekiel 36:16-32  †  Zechariah 12:10-13:1  †  Malachi 4  †  Jeremiah 31:27-34

As in the days of Noah, the chosen people of God eventually set their hearts and minds on evil things. The Law was obeyed well enough, not out of love for God, but only out of fear of his wrath. The chosen people did not see the Law as a gift, but as a burden and an obstacle in the way of their own goals and agendas. Thus, its practice became an offense and a mockery of God. It is no wonder that God sought to cleanse his people once more and to renew his covenant with them. This new covenant would not be like the one God made with his people when he gave them the Law. Under the old covenant, man was condemned for his sin, but under the new covenant, man’s sins are forgiven. Should a man lose his salvation, it would be for his own trespasses, and not for the sins of another — not even for the disobedience of the first man.

The Baptism of John

Malachi 3:1-5  †  Malachi 3:16-18  †  Isaiah 40:3-5
Luke 1:5-17  †  Matthew 3:1-12  †  Matthew 17:10-13

The prophets of God foretold of a messenger that would prepare a path for him in this world. He was to preach with the spirit and power of the prophet Elijah, and turn the hearts of men toward God.

That messenger was John, known as “The Baptizer” for he called out to all to examine their lives, acknowledge the ways in which they had offended God through disobedience, and in sorrow pledge to offend God no more, and then, having confessed their sins, be ritually washed in the flowing waters of the river Jordan, the very waters parted by Elijah long before.

The Baptism of Jesus

Psalm 51  †  Matthew 3:13-17  †  John 1:29-34
Romans 6:1-10  †  John 3  †  Galatians 3:23-29  †  1 John 3:1-10

Have mercy on me! Wash away my acts of disobedience! Create in me a new, pure heart! Restore unto me your joy! This was the prayer of the chosen people: to be regenerated, restored, made clean once more.

John preached repentance for the particular sins committed by men, but the cleansing waters of his baptism could not wash clean the stain of man’s first offense, that great debt that man owed to God for his original act of disobedience. But Jesus, who was sent by God as promised in the beginning to redeem man and restore harmony and friendship between them, and who himself had no need for cleansing from sin, sanctified the waters through his own baptism in the Jordan. As always, God’s cleansing waters bring death to the unrighteous. Through this new baptism, man is united with Jesus in death — on the cross and in the tomb — so that he may rise with him and live again. Thus, those baptized by his authority are fully cleansed, and restored to God as though man had never fallen from his grace, the great debt erased. Man is born again, created anew. Entering into the new covenant, the baptized man is rightfully called a child of God, and with this new beginning, strengthened by God’s graces, man can choose to live according to God’s will and remain in his friendship. This fulfills the prophecy of Jeremiah that man will not die for sins other than his own.

The Great Commission

Mark 16:9-20  †  Matthew 28:16-20
Acts 2:14-41  †  Acts 19:1-7  †  Acts 10:44-48  †  Acts 8:26-40

After Jesus had made his sacrifice and was about to return to God the Father, he sent chosen men into the world to preach the Good News of Redemption and Salvation, that all may be washed clean by his authority. And so they did, and the baptized received the love of God in his Spirit. Even to this day, people are baptized into the new covenant — into the family of God — becoming heirs to the promise made to Abraham.

Living Water

Mark 7:1-4  †  Luke 11:37-41
John 4:4-15  †  John 7:37-39

The word ‘baptize’ is derived from the Greek βάπτισμα (baptisma), which specifically means to wash clean by immersion into water. βαπτισμός (baptismos) was the Greek word used by Jews for ritual cleansing starting in the period between the construction of the second temple in Jerusalem and the time of Jesus. However, as the exchanges between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders indicate, the word does not necessarily connote full immersion of the body into water (tevilah), for the practice of the ritual hand washing most often requires that they be surrounded by water that is poured over them (netilat yadayim). It is clear, however, that an act of washing must occur, that water flow across the surface of that which is being washed. For this reason, the mere presence of water, sprinkled or otherwise, is not adequate.

Moreover, sources outside of Sacred Scripture reveal that both the Jews (in classical rabbinical literature) and early Christians (e.g. in the Didache) required that the water be “living” water, meaning from a natural water source. This is the undefiled water used by God in creation. As in the beginning, the Spirit of God moves upon that living water.

Suffer Not The Little Children

Genesis 17:1-14  †  Numbers 6:1-21  †  Judges 13  †  1 Samuel 1  †  Luke 1:11-17
Matthew 18:1-10  †  Matthew 19:13-15  †  Mark 10:13-16  †  Luke 18:15-17
Revelation 21:22-27  †  Philippians 4:4-7

God made clear his desire for children to participate in his plan from the very earliest days of their lives. The chosen people of God were marked by an outward sign, the cutting of flesh, to signify the covenantal relationship they had with God. In accordance with God’s Law, male children were to be circumcised only eight days after birth, thereby entering into the old covenant as newborn infants. The Law also provided a way for men and women to dedicate their lives to the service of God, requiring them to take certain vows. Parents could dedicate the life of a child — even one yet unborn — to the service of God as a Nazarite.

Jesus taught that man must live as a little child does, putting his full trust in God as a parent and loving others without reservation. It is as though the maturity of adulthood is a sort of roadblock to true repentance and charity. He did not want anyone to prevent children from coming to him.

So complete was man’s first rebellion that he and all his descendants were justly cut off from God’s graces. Every newborn child bears this mark of that sin, a mark that must not be allowed to remain, for it has been revealed that nothing unclean will enter the presence of God. God’s gifts — especially the gift of Salvation — are given freely to all of mankind and cannot be hindered by the limitations of human intellect. The peace that God’s gifts provide transcend all understanding.

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