In Matthew 28:18-20, Christ made it clear that He has all authority (power) in Heaven and in Earth. In that same passage, He commanded baptism as well as obedience to all of the things which He had previously commanded. With these things in mind, pay attention to John 12:48 where Christ says that His word will be that which judges man in the last day. What does this mean? It means that if one is not familiar with the Bible, then they need to be! People are accountable for all of the laws of the land, even if they do not know all of them by heart, and it is no different in spiritual matters! Moreover, “more earnest heed” must be given to God’s laws because they have eternal consequences (Hebrews 2:1)!

Below, a list of verses is inserted, and a coordinating explanation of each follows. This is a topical survey of baptism, and the verses are to be considered contextually, so the reader is encouraged to study the context of each of them completely.

           John 3:3,5 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

           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 you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

           Mark 16:16 He that belies and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned.

           1Peter 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism does 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:

           Ephesians 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

           Gal 3:26 For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

           Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection:

Explanations:

           John 3:3,5 A great emphasis should be placed upon the word ‘except’ in these verses. The subject is “born again”. The phrase “born of water and of the spirit” is indicative of being born again. Christ is not talking about natural birth when He says ‘born of water’, for what man is alive that has not already been born of a woman? Such an argument that purports that this verse teaches natural birth as being ‘born of water’ is all but comical! Contextually, Jesus is discussing the second birth, which is that which comes of “water and the spirit”.

           Acts 2:38 Baptism is commanded, and it is for the remission of sins, and nine verses later, it is written that it is the Lord that adds the obedient to His church. One does not get baptized for the purpose of placing membership at a “church”. It is done it to obtain remission of sins, and then once a person is sanctified (cleansed and set apart), the Lord adds them to His church (verse 47).

           Mark 16:16 Verb tenses are very specific in the Greek language. “Believes” indicates a continual belief. “Is baptized” indicates an ongoing state of being—a past action that has present and continuing results. ‘Shall be saved’ clearly shows that the ‘Day of Salvation’ is in the end. It is purely future tense. Consider Paul’s discussion in Philippians 3:7-14 (and be sure to take notice of all of the conditional terms).

           1st Peter 3:21 Baptism does NOW save, like unto how eight souls were saved in Noah’s day by water. No, it is not the physical water that saves, but the answer of a good conscience, that is, spiritual obedience (Hebrews 5:8-9, Matthew 28:18-20)!

           Ephesians 4:5 There is only ONE baptism. Is it by water or by the Spirit? Is it done by sprinkling, pouring or immersion? The one baptism has to be water baptism. Why? Because if it isn’t, then the 3,000 baptized on the day of Pentecost are lost because they were not baptized by the Spirit; the Eunuch in Acts 8 is lost for the same reason. Everyone else in the pages of the New Testament is lost except for the few people who were baptized by the Spirit, namely the apostles and Cornelius’ household. The pouring out of the Spirit in the 1^st century was confirmation that the New Covenant had arrived. Read Acts 2:16-21. It explains that these occurrences were the fulfillment of the prophecy contained in Joel chapter two, and that they were not a way of obtaining salvation! The falling of the Spirit upon Cornelius’ household was only confirmation that God had accepted the Gentiles into the church. Peter’s vision just before this incident confirms the same truth!

           Galatians 3:26-27 This is the ONLY New Testament passage that explicitly says how one can get in Christ. Many times in the Bible phrases like “in Christ”, “in Christ Jesus”, “in the body of Christ”, “in the kingdom of Christ”, “in the Lord”, “in Him” occur. Again, this is the only method of getting into Christ. Words are important. Many times people look at the verses that say “unto” salvation and treat them as if the mean “into”, but there is a significant difference between these two words. If one goes “unto” a house, then they will be standing at the door; but if they go “into” the house, then they are inside and have access to all of the comforts and protection that are provided therein.

           Romans 6:5 Read Romans 6:1-5. In this passage, Paul is clearly discussing baptism. He explains that it is a “burial” (submerged under water—depicting the ‘likeness of His death’, which “Spirit baptism” did not do). The most fearful part is verse five, for if one is NOT in the likeness of His death (baptism), they will NOT be in the likeness of His resurrection! In the last day everyone will be raised, but those that go into the air to meet Christ will be those that are in the likeness of His death—(baptized into His death). Consider John 5:29. One certainly needs to ask themselves which resurrection they will be a part of! God never issues a commandment that man cannot fulfill; therefore to make “Spirit baptism” binding is to bind a commandment upon man that he cannot accomplish in and of himself. In Matthew 28:18-20, the apostles were sent forth to baptize! They could not, and did not, (even once) cause the Spirit to fall upon people! God would not need apostles or a Bible if there was no need to hear and obey the Gospel, as He could have just sent out the Spirit to do His bidding (instead of the apostles), having baptized the entire world in a single pass! It should be so easy to see that water baptism is the only baptism which man could administer to other people! Again, the apostles did not make the Spirit fall in Acts two, Peter did not command the Spirit to fall in Acts ten (in all actuality the former Jews that came with Peter were quite surprised—Acts 10:45), nor did Jesus cause the Spirit to fall upon Himself at His own baptism. In each case, God used the Spirit to confirm that which had been prophesied earlier, whether it was to John the baptizer (John 1:33), or that which was written in Joel and the other prophets! Lastly, there is no way that Spirit baptism depicts the “likeness of His death” because Jesus Christ was alive and well when the Spirit came upon Him at His water baptism (which is the only baptism that depicts the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ)! Therefore, it is certain that water baptism is the one baptism!

Regardless of which faith you belong to, it must be compared with the true pattern of the New Testament church. It is a fact that traditions and doctrines of men will condemn those who follow them (Matthew 15:9). Furthermore, if an individual chooses to follow another person, then they had better be more than certain that their leader is following Christ (1^st Corinthians 11:1)! Above all, “we must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29)!

The Best Definition of Baptism That I Have Ever Seen:

Baptize is a transliterated word, which means that it was pulled straight over into English from the Greek word Baptizo, which is in the same family as bapto, however, the meanings are unmistakably different--

"The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be ‘dipped’ (bapto) into boiling water and then ‘baptized’ (baptizo) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptising the vegetable, produces a permanent change. When used in the New Testament, e.g. #Mr 16:16. ‘He that believes and is baptised shall be saved’. Christ is saying that mere intellectual assent is not enough. There must be a union with him, a real change, like the vegetable to the pickle! " - (Bible Study Magazine, James Montgomery Boice, May 1989).

Any Questions?