The Truth About Baptism
Is Baptism a Necessary Part of the Salvation Process?
It is amazing that given how many references are made to baptism in the bible and the fact that Jesus not only did it himself but told his disciples to go into all the world and baptise all nations (Matt 28:19), that some still say that baptism is not necessary.
Jesus even said if you are not born of the water and the Spirit you will NOT “Enter the kingdom of God” (Joh 3:5), in other words, if you are not baptised in water or “born again” you’re not going to Heaven, could it be any clearer?
Still depending on what type of Christian you talk to you can get very different viewpoints on the subject.
- Some will say there is no need to get baptised at all and point you to scriptures that say “if you believe then you are saved” (Rom 10:9, John 3:16 etc.)
- Some will say that it’s just for you to demonstrate your new found faith to others so it is optional.
- Others will tell you that they were baptised as a baby so they are covered.
- And some will tell you point blank if you’re not baptised then you’re not going to heaven. (Acts 2:37-38, John 3:5).
Then there are those that believe the method of baptism makes a big difference, for example:
- do you just sprinkle or pour water on someone’s head,
- Or do you fully submerge someone in water?
It can get pretty confusing right!
So the following is my attempt to cast light on this most important subject and prove by using scripture and historical facts that baptism is absolutely an essential part of the salvation plan of God.
We’ll also look at the methods that were used and the words that were spoken at the point of baptism as this is an extremely controversial subject and one that has caused much debate and arguments.
This long running debate about baptism in “the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost vs baptism in “the name of the Lord Jesus” has divided Christendom for many, many years.
Firstly where does the word “baptism” come from and what is the original meaning of the word itself?
For the answer to this question we have to look back to the Greek language which was the predominant language of the New Testament times, and examine the Greek word “Baptizo”, this is the word that translated into English gives us the word “Baptised” (Acts 2:38, Strong’s ref: G907)
The Greek word “baptizo” is derived from the word “bapto” (Strong’s Ref; G911) which the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible states the meaning as “to make whelmed, (that is fully wet) cover wholly with fluid” and is only used in the New Testament referring to ceremonial ablutions or washings, especially (technically) of the ordinance of Christian baptism.
So from this I think we can agree that when the word “baptised” is being used (apart from the references made to Old Testament ablutions) in the New Testament the reference is to full immersion in water.
Secondly where in the bible is the first mention of baptism?
I think that a lot of Christians today if asked “where was the first examples of baptism in the bible, most would point you to the stories of John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus.
But way back in Genesis we see the salvation of Noah and his family through water and many Christians regard this as a type of baptism, this is also compared to baptism which the apostle Peter says “saves us” in 1 Peter 3: 20-21
1Pe 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
1Pe 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
King JamesVersion
But the fact is that baptism started from the beginning of Judaism although the word baptism wasn’t used at that time.
To understand the importance of baptism we must look back to Judaism and the importance that God placed on these ceremonial purification acts.
As far back in the bible as the book of Leviticus you can read about the priest being commanded by God to purify themselves with water before performing their duties (Lev 16:4, 23-24), and the children of Israel having to sanctify themselves (purification rites)and wash their clothes before the Lord came before them (Exo 19:10)
New converts to Judaism (known as proselytes) would have to undergo a purification process in order to become a Jew, this was done in a “Mikvah” which is described as a body of water and could be a sea, river or lake but also there were handmade Mikvah’s or baptismal pools where they would perform full immersions or “Tevilah” as they were called.
The Mikvah’s made by hand had to be made to specific specifications and supervised by a Rabbi; they had to be large and deep enough that a fully grown man could be submerged in it.
The person being immersed had to remove anything that would obstruct the cleansing of the water, which would mean that they would be naked and any jewellery or make up etc. would have to be removed. There would have to be at least three witnesses who had to be from the Jewish leadership.
If the water didn’t come in contact with every part of your body then you weren’t considered to be cleansed.
In the Jewish religion the Mikvah played such an important role that its construction was placed above that of a synagogue, in other words the Mikvah would have to be constructed first.
The Jews were very accustomed to full immersions as you can see and other than the requirement of the initial immersion to become a Jew there were many other reasons for the use of the Mikvah’s after that event, such as if a Jew had come into contact with a dead body, before marriage or for women after their menstruation cycle or after having a baby. For the priests it was a continuous thing as each time before entering the temple to perform their duties they had to be cleansed.
There are many instances in the Old Testament where we read about God instructing His people to cleanse themselves before they were allowed in His presence. God required purity and to become a Jew the process involved repentance, purification in a Mikvah and for men circumcision as well as offering a sacrifice. For women it is the same except for circumcision.
So for the Jews the immersion was extremely important and something that should be undertaken knowing why you are doing it, it’s not just to join a Synagogue.
Which is exactly the same for Christians today, you are not getting baptised to join a church; this is the outward manifestation of the inward change that has happened in your life.
You won’t find the word “baptism” in the Old Testament because it is written in Hebrew but as I have outlined the meaning of the word baptism is demonstrated there.
Do I Have To Be Baptised To Go To Heaven?
This is an extremely important question and one that you cannot afford to get wrong if your aim is to get into heaven.
You only have to type this question into google and you will see that there are a lot of people aiming to convince readers that you don’t need baptism.
I have did just that and seen an article that used the story of “the rich man and the beggar” from the book of Luke chapter sixteen verse twenty two, to prove that baptism is not necessary; the problem that I have with this article is that firstly the writer is assuming that the beggar was not baptised before going to Abraham’s bosom, even though pointing out that baptism was practiced by the Jews long before Jesus’ was born.
So my question would be how do we know that he wasn’t baptized? Not that I’m saying he would have needed to be baptized to go to Abraham’s bosom because Abraham’s Bosom was not heaven.
This parable told by Jesus in the book of Luke does not teach us anything about baptism in fact when a person died in Old Testament days they were said to “be with their father” this can be read in a number of scriptures; Gen 15:15, Gen 47:30, Deu 31:16 and Judges 2:10.
Abraham was seen as the father of the nation and quite rightly referred to as “father Abraham” by the rich man in this story, but getting back to the article the writer states that “if it was necessary to get baptized to get to heaven then Jesus would have mentioned it in the story” well that of cause is the writers opinion but what I would say is what about the scripture where Jesus says if you are not born of water you will not enter into the Kingdom of God? Here read it for yourself.
Joh 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.
Pretty self-explanatory right? But yet you will still find people who will read this and say “no Jesus wasn’t talking about literally being baptized, he meant something else” but there are other scriptures where Jesus says it and the fact that he himself got baptised and baptized others proves how important He thought it was, but more on that later.
Getting back to the article, the writer also writes about the thief on the cross and the fact that Jesus says to him “today you will be with me in paradise” making the point that Jesus didn’t tell him to get himself off the cross, find some water and get someone to baptize him and then come back.
This shows that anyone can and does write articles without researching first what they are going to write, or maybe the point is to mislead readers into believing a lie, who knows?
So firstly Jesus is God manifested in the flesh (John 1:14) and as such will grant grace unto whoever He chooses (Romans 9:15) so the fact that the thief acquired such a special privilege because of his show of faith just before his death does not teach us that we should not be baptised.
Someone please help me to understand why that tells us to ignore what Jesus said we should do, what he told his Disciples to do and the fact that He said if we do not do it we won’t get into heaven?
Ok so I can hear you naysayers screaming at me at this point saying well what about Pauls letter to the Romans, he says that we are saved by faith alone and not by works, so if you have to be baptised then you’re applying works?
Hmmm, so what was the works that Paul was referring to? What did he actually mean?
Let’s have a closer look at Romans Chapter three. Firstly let’s make it clear that Paul is talking about the Law of Moses and the thing is, if the Law was to remain as an essential part of salvation it would only be the Jews who practiced it that could be saved, and as we have already been told that salvation wasn’t only for the Jews in (Romans 1:16), that wouldn’t make any sense.
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
So for those then that say if you are going have to be baptised to obtain salvation, you would be applying works so it goes against what Paul was saying. I would say that if I stood in a pool of water and allowed someone to dip me in and raise me back up again; I’m not sure how hard I would have to work to achieve this.
I suppose it could be said that if a large person is being baptised then the person whom is performing the baptism may have to work a little bit and if the baptismal candidate was really big they may need an extra hand or two.
But still, I see this as an act of obedience, as the instruction from the Lord Jesus Christ said that is what we should do. In fact, it could be said if you say you are a Christian and you don’t do it then you are being disobedient to the instruction that Jesus left us with.
The other thing that I would say about the book of Romans is that you must remember that it is a letter and I’m sure that when you get a letter from someone you don’t just read one line or paragraph and think that you’ve understood the whole letter. You would read the whole thing and have an understanding in what context it was written. Many people read the bible like this, picking little bits from here and there and then give a picture that resembles nothing like what was intended.
So for those that say Paul, who was the author of Romans, is telling us not to be baptised I would say read chapter six of Romans and keep in mind that he wrote a letter to a predominately Gentile church, and he didn’t write this letter in chapters and verses as you have it displayed in your bible today.
But in chapter six Paul describes for us what baptism is all about and this is not the only time we read about Paul teaching churches about baptism in the bible, a large part of the New Testament was written by Paul whom himself was baptised and taught about baptism.
What Did Jesus Say, Do and Teach About Baptism
The Baptism of Jesus
Jesus himself thought it was necessary for Him to be baptised even though John thought that Jesus should baptise him, He walked over sixty miles from Galilee to the river Jordan which indicates how important and necessary Jesus thought His baptism was. When John saw Him and realised who He was and the fact that he had no need for repentance John told Jesus that he should be the one getting baptised by Jesus. Jesus didn’t deny this fact but said that to fulfil all righteousness John had to baptise Him. (Matt 3:13-17).
Jesus’ Teaching on Baptism
Jesus taught Nicodemus about the New Birth and told him that without water baptism a person will not “enter the kingdom of God” (Joh 3:5)
I’ve just read a commentary on this very subject that claims when Jesus said “born of water” He didn’t actually mean water? The writer has said that Jesus couldn’t have meant you need to be baptised in order to enter heaven because the bible teaches that salvation is by faith alone.
Here we go again with the saved by faith alone subject, you see if you misunderstand this subject it can mean you miss out on heaven. I’m not going to go back over this but let’s examine what the writer says Jesus meant when He said “water”.
So what the writer has done is looked through the bible to where water was used as a symbol for something else and said “it could mean this or that”, how confusing!
Ok so water could mean “word” and a scripture from the book of Ephesians (5:25-26) “…cleansing her by the washing of water by the word” is used, where I agree that the “word” of God has the ability to cleanse us if we meditate on it and apply it to our lives, I refute and reject that this is what Jesus meant when he was speaking to Nicodemus in the book of John. Firstly the word water was translated from the Greek word “hudor” which means actual water, this Greek word was derived from another Greek word “huetos” which means to rain or shower.
And Jesus and His disciples deemed it necessary to baptise sinners themselves as you can read in the book of John. (Joh 3:22,26)
Joh 3:22 After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.
Joh 3:23 And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.
Joh 3:24 For John was not yet cast into prison.
Joh 3:25 Then there arose a question between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purifying.
Joh 3:26 And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.
One other thing to note here is that this has happened just after Jesus had finished teaching Nicodemus about the need to be born of the water, Jesus had just finished talking in verse twenty one then in verse twenty two it says “After this, Jesus and His disciples went to the Judean countryside, where He spent time with them and baptised”.
(Although from chapter four verse two it would appear that Jesus oversaw the baptism and didn’t do them himself)
Note verse twenty three says John was also baptising there because there was plenty of water there and people were coming to be baptised.
I wonder how the writer would explain this portion of the verse (because he only talks about the fact that Jesus didn’t do the baptising himself and doesn’t relate it to his point about the word “water” meaning “word”), are we talking about real water here or does this mean there was plenty of words there and both Jesus and John stood in a river full of words?
Alright, so I’m just being facetious but I’m sure you can see my point, why some people insist on trying to deny the obvious because it doesn’t fit in with what they originally believed and then end up spreading false doctrine is beyond me.
The fact is that for some people the truth will be right before their eyes but they can’t see it, the bible tells us in 2 Timothy 3:7 that “in the last days there will be people who are ever learning but unable to come to the knowledge of the truth” so some will come so close to the truth but still end up believing a lie. Anyway I am straying from my point.
When Jesus was preparing to ascend to heaven He told his disciples that all power (authority) was given to Him and that they should go to all nations teaching and baptising. (Matt 28:19) This is a clear instruction given to Jesus’ trainees, now for those that would argue that Jesus wasn’t telling them to baptise everyone they could in water I would remind them about John 3:22 and 4:2 as we’ve just discussed where the disciples were baptising people under the instruction of Jesus.
I would also urge you to read the book of Acts which describes what the apostles actually did, here you will read about them going into all nations preaching, teaching and baptising as they were instructed to do in Matthew 28:19.
Mark’s account of Jesus’ last address to His disciples sounds very much the same but he goes on to record the words of Jesus as saying “he that believes and is baptised shall be saved” (This echoes the words that Jesus said to Nicodemus when He taught him about the New Birth.) (Mark 16:16)
What words need to be spoken at my baptism and does it make a difference?
This is a most contentious subject and one that has caused arguments and divisions for years but for me it’s really quite simple.
So on one hand we have the belief that when you are baptised it should be done in the “name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” which is quite understandable because it’s what Jesus said to His disciples.
But on the other hand you have those that believe that a person needs to be baptised in “the name of Jesus”, so the question is where did they get this notion from because that’s not what Jesus said, or is it?
This needs closer examination I think as it sounds like it could be a quite crucial part of the salvation plan of God.
The statement made by Jesus was people should be baptised in the “name” singular, not names plural, so that tells me that there is one name that is common to the three titles that He mentioned.
Now before you start going off on a tangent saying “I knew it he’s one of them Jesus only freaks”, let me just make it clear that I believe there’s three aspects to the one and only true God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
That being said, the one name that is common to all three titles is obviously Jesus, so let’s just prove that using scripture before we move on.
The book of John starts off by telling us that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It then goes on to say that everything was created by the Word. So the Word then was and is the creator, so He must be the Father right? The God that created the heavens and the earth, yeah?
Hold on let’s just remind ourselves of what Genesis say in the first verse?
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Right so the Word then is the same God from Genesis, but if we look further down in John chapter one, verse fourteen what does it say?
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
So is this saying that God (the Word) became a human being like us? I think so. Well what is the name of that Son, of course it’s Jesus, so we could then say it would make sense to apply the name Jesus to the term “in the name of the Father”.
There are other verses that leave us with no doubt, like John 10:30 where Jesus says “me and my Father are one”. Jesus makes it plain that there is no distinction between Him and the Father.
On this evidence alone I’m prepared to declare that Jesus is not only the Son but He is also the Father!
But what about the Holy Spirit I hear you ask, yes indeed what about the Holy Spirit?
Well let’s get one thing clear from the outset, the Holy Spirit is not an “it”, the Holy Spirit is a He, a person and an equal part of the Godhead. This can be seen in many scriptures that refer to the Holy Spirit, for example John 14:17.
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Here Jesus addresses His disciples and literally tells them that they are looking at the Holy Spirit who lives with them and is soon to be living in them, or what about John 14:26?
Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
“The father will send the Holy Spirit in my name”, I don’t know about you but for me it couldn’t be much plainer. The last scripture I will draw your attention to is found in 1 John 5:7
1Jn 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
Well I rest my case they are all one and so the name that is common to all three is most definitely Jesus, but then if you talk to those that are convinced that three titles must be repeated at the point of baptism, they will tell you that Jesus said that we should do it that way in Matt 28:19 so that’s how they’re going to do it.
My problem with this school of thought is why is there no evidence of anyone doing it that way in the bible? In fact I challenge anyone to show me a verse where this happened.
Not even the disciples whom Jesus spoke to did it that way, why was this? Were they just disobedient? Or was it that they just didn’t have the intellect that we have nowadays, is that what it is, we are cleverer than they were?
When I think about the thousands of people that the disciples alone baptised in the name of Jesus I struggled to believe that they got it wrong, in fact on the day of Pentecost just after the disciple experienced the magnificent infilling of the Holy Spirit as was promised to them by Jesus.
Peter full of the Holy Ghost preached Jesus to a crowd of over 3000 people and when they were pricked in their hearts and they believed they asked what do we have to do to be saved?
Now for all those that think after believing and having faith there’s nothing else that is needed, pay attention to what Peter says in Acts 2:38 to all these new believers.
Act 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.
Peter who was given the commission by Jesus to go into all the world teaching and baptising told them they needed to (1) Repent, (2) Be Baptised for forgiveness of Sins and (3) Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit(Acts 2:38).
Over 3000 people took Peter at his word and were baptised right there and then in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peter obviously didn’t think that it was enough for these 3000 people to just believe so he and the other disciples must have spent many hours baptising all these people.
Peter didn’t say “it’s ok I can see that you all believe so just say this prayer and you’re saved” or “be baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” as Jesus had said to him.
Some will still say “well I prefer to do what Jesus said not what Peter did” and that’s ok if that’s what they think but I would say one last thing on the subject and that’s when Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit on that day, it was the Holy Spirit that led him to answer in the way that he did and as we have already ascertained the Holy Spirit is Jesus. Also think on this verse from Colossians;
Col 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Luke quotes the words of Jesus as saying “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem (Luke 24:47) There we go with the name thing again!
Paul thought it Necessary to baptise certain Disciples Again.
Paul went to Ephesus and saw certain disciples there and asked them if they had received the Holy Ghost, but they had not even heard of Him. So Paul asked them how they had been baptised to which they said by John’s baptism. Because John only baptised into repentance Paul re-baptised them in the name of Jesus then laid hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost.(Acts 19:1-6)
Hold on a minute! isn’t this the same guy that wrote the letter to the Romans? Why aint he telling them that it’s ok because it’s obvious that they already believe, I mean they‘ve gone as far as to be baptised by John. Don’t they just need to say the sinners prayer then?
Paul obviously thought that baptism was necessary and what they were baptised into made a big difference, so what is it about the name of Jesus that made it so essential Paul and Peter?
The name Jesus means “The Lord is Salvation” and was derived from the name for God in the Hebrew language “Yeshua”, Yeshua actually means Salvation in Hebrew and is the word that the name Yaweh came from.
The name Jesus is the English pronunciation of the Greek name “Yesous” or the Latin version “Iesus”, in any case whichever way you look at it the name Jesus means Salvation, and the book of Acts in chapter four says it like this;
Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
How long should I wait to be baptised once I’ve believed?
There are many verses that talk about sinners who when they heard the Gospel and believed were baptised immediately. The idea of people waiting or churches having baptisms once a year is not in line with biblical practices. Read the following verses: Acts 8:36 (the Eunuch), Paul is baptised (Acts 9:18), Gentiles baptised after receiving the Holy Ghost (Acts 10:45-48), Lydia is baptised (Acts 16:14-15), The Jailor and his. Household baptised (Acts 16:33), believed and was baptised (Acts 18:8), why wait to be baptised (Acts 22:16).
What am I actually doing when I get baptised?
When a person is baptised they are putting off the old sinful man (Repentance) and by being fully immersed in water they’re burying the old nature (baptism) then they rise from the water as a new creation. This is symbolic of the death, burial and Resurrection of Christ. (Col 2:11-12)
Does my baptism when I was a baby count?
The easy answer to that question is no, as a baby you didn’t believe or make a decision to serve the Lord. There are no baby baptism in the bible although some people will like to point you to scripture where it talks about whole households being baptised but none of these mention babies so at best they can only say there may have been babies in the household but as well there may not. My advice is that if you are of an age where you can now make a decision for Christ based on your own belief then you should be baptised again.
So for my final word on the subject I’ll quote from 1 Peter 3:21 “And that water is like baptism, which now saves you. Baptism is not the washing of dirt from the body. It is asking God for a clean conscience. It saves you because Jesus Christ was raised from death.
Written By
Donovan Benjamin
October 7th 2016