Very Basic Truths Regarding Water Baptism.
- 1. Physical water cannot, itself, affect metaphysical realities: the sins of man cannot be "washed away" by the use of water. [Note Acts 22:16 in respect to what it actually says: "kai nun ti melleis anastas baptisai kai apolousai tas hamartias sou epikalesamenos to onoma autou".]
- A. The imperatives are "baptisai" and "apolousai", and each has an attending participle; the first (anastas) addresses the prerequisite for "baptisai": you cannot be baptized until you have gotten up and the second ("epikalesamenos") addresses the prerequisite for "apolousai": you cannot wash your sins away unless you call upon His name
- B. However, because physical water is universally recognized to be the primary medium of cleansing for the body, it serves well as a metaphor for the non-physical, but far more crucial, issue of the cleansing of the non-physical person in respect to sin.
- 1. The verb used to refer to "washing away" is only used twice in the entire New Testament.
- a. This text, and 1 Corinthians 6:11 , are the only two uses.
- b. Both uses refer to "cleansing from sin" as a function of the Spirit, not of water.
- 2. The underlying verb ("louo") is only used in five places in the New Testament and all of them have to do with washing a physical body.
- a. Jesus is quoted by John in John 13:10 to refer to having a bath so that foot-washing is all that is needed for one whose bath has been compromised by the dirt on the feet.
- b. Acts 9:37 (the washing of a dead body) and 16:33 (the jailer washing the wounds of the apostles in Philippi) are Luke's only uses and his focus upon "cleansing the body by water".
- c. Hebrews 10:22 refers to the washing of the body as a complementary action to the "sprinkling" of the heart to rid it of an evil conscience [this text indicates that it was normal for a priest to bathe before entering into the holy place to commune with God, a concept underlying Jesus' words in John 13:10].
- d. And 2 Peter 2:22 uses it to refer to giving a bath to a pig.
- 2. It is enjoined upon "disciple makers " as an action to be taken: Matthew 28:19-20. But the question is "Why is it commanded?"
- a. Fundamentally, it is commanded because "justification" is not the end goal of "the faith"; "discipleship" is the end goal.
- b. It is the fundamental "first step" in "disciple making" and is directly connected to the issue of justification as the initial removal of "sin" by faith.
- 1) This means that it is not a step one takes when the person is not going to be a disciple, i.e., when death is at the door (the thief on the cross did not "need" to be baptized).
- 2) This means that a person who has no interest in being a disciple should not be baptized simply because such lack of interest indicates some serious lack in the "faith" of the disinterested party.
- c. Its purpose is to identify the one being baptized with the message of the one doing the baptizing in both the heart and the mind of the one being baptized, and in the hearts and minds of those who observe the baptism, though this is not a critical aspect (Acts 16:33 indicates the "baptism" of the jailer was in "that [very] hour of the night" (post midnight) -- excluding "witnesses" except the others who were also candidates for baptism).
- 1) This "message" is focused upon how God has provided for a man's "justification": a Savior Who is to be "believed".
- 1) This "message" is one of a trinitarian theology of God in which the Father is the Originator of Truth, the Son is the Executor of the Truth's details, and the Holy Spirit is the Applicator of those details to the hearts of those who respond to the Truth with faith.
- 2) This "message" is for universal proclamation -- extending to "all of the nations" -- so that there will be "disciples" from "every nation".
- 3) The proclamation of this "message" is attended by the ever-present Jesus "even to the end of the age".
- b. Its purpose of "identification" is accomplished by the Spirit's "fixing of the memory" of one's justification in the one undergoing the physical action.
- 3. It has a fundamental impact upon those whose submission is genuine: 1 Peter 3:21 , NOT the cleansing of the body, but the cleansing of the conscience so that the reality of salvation by the resurrection of Christ is confirmed by God.
- 4. It has a "fatal flaw" in that it cannot guarantee the reality of which it illustrates: Matthew 3:5-12 .
- 5. Its impact is rooted in the message to which it is attached: Acts 19:1-7 .
