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HOUSMAIL HM144
October
2015 BAPTISM – HOW
MUCH WATER? There is very great danger
that this topic could become a side track that detracts from other important
issues. Some of these issues are:
And of course, unless you get those things right, it won’t
matter how much water you use! For the sake of this article we are going to assume that
you already have all these other issues properly understood. And we are going to assume that if your conscience towards
God is as “GOOD" as it should be, you will want to make sure that you do
it the way God says. And that will include how much water you use. DOES
THE BIBLE ACTUALLY TELL US HOW MUCH WATER TO USE? It is often claimed that from the Bible's perspective, the
amount of water used in baptism is never discussed as an issue. It is the
individual’s response to the Gospel of Jesus Christ – God's Word – that is
always the central focus. However this is faulty logic. When we look at the Greek
word used in the New Testament, it soon becomes obvious that the question is
resolved by the meaning of the Greek word used. The amount of water required
is IMPLICIT in that Greek word. Baptizo means
IMMERSE. You can’t immerse anyone in the few drops of water used by the
mainstream Churches to “sprinkle”! Let’s look at that a bit closer. The Greek word is “baptizo”. (baptizo) *
According
to the lexicon attached to the Online Bible, Baptizo
means *
907 baptizo baptizo bap-tid’-zo *
AV-baptize
(76), wash 2, baptist 1, immersed *
to dip
repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge (of vessels sunk) *
to
cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash
one’s self, bathe *
to
overwhelm Let us emphasise that ……………… baptizo means
“immerse”, “dip”, or “submerge”. And “immersed” requires that you go fully
under the water. That is what you must do to obey the command implicit in
the word God uses! IT DOES NOT MEAN “SPRINKLE”! If you get “sprinkled”, instead of “immersed”, you have
done something different to what God commanded! There is no biblical authority for this change. A
LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY From Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptism
accessed October 2015 The
usual form of baptism among the earliest Christians was for the candidate to
be immersed, either totally (submerged completely under the water) or
partially (standing or kneeling in water while water was poured on him or
her).[a] While John the Baptist's use of a deep river for his baptism
suggests immersion, pictorial and archaeological evidence of Christian
baptism from the 3rd century onward indicates that a normal form was to have
the candidate stand in water while water was poured over the upper body.
Other common forms of baptism now in use include pouring water three times on
the forehead, a method called affusion, (pouring water onto the head), and
sprinkling. (splashing a few drops of water on the face) By
the third and fourth centuries, baptism involved catechetical instruction as
well as chrismation, exorcisms, laying on of hands, and recitation of a
creed. In
the early middle ages infant baptism became common and the rite was
significantly simplified. Affusion became the normal mode of baptism between
the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, though immersion was still practiced
into the sixteenth. In the sixteenth century, Martin Luther retained baptism
as a sacrament, but Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli considered baptism and
the Lord's supper to be symbolic. Anabaptists denied the validity of baptisms
conducted outside their group and rebaptized converts. They also rejected the
practice of infant baptism, as did several other Protestant groups. In the 21st century, some denominations even go so far as
to deny the necessity of Water Baptism altogether. Etymology The English word baptism is derived indirectly from the
Latin word, which was transliterated from the Greek nouns baptisma
(baptisma), and baptismos (baptismos). Both of these nouns are derived from the
verb baptizo (baptizo),
"wash", or “dip” or “immerse”, which is used in Jewish texts for
ritual washing, and in the New Testament both for ritual washing and also for
the rite of baptisma. The corresponding Greek verb
is bapto (bapto). Early Latin translations transliterated it as baptizatus. Of course that could only have been a
deceptive attempt to HIDE the REAL meaning of the Greek word. The Church had
CHANGED what the Bible actually said, from “immersing” to the man made
practice of “sprinkling”, and instead of admitting that they had got it
wrong, they simply hid the meaning behind a Latin transliteration to avoid
the implications of their disobedience. It is not surprising at all, then, is it, that the English
mainstream Church which practises “sprinkling”, should also choose to
perpetuate that same centuries old deception, by hiding the real meaning of
the word to conceal the fact that they had changed from the real Biblical
method commanded by God. The mainstream churches went even further. They now use it
to mean the “naming ceremony” they use for infants who can neither believe
nor repent. And this results in further DECEPTION! People are made to believe
they have been “baptized”, when in fact they have NOT. And in our time, there are actually some churches which go
so far as to say that the practice of “immersion”, instead of sprinkling, is
a SACRILEGE! A
SELECTION OF NEW TESTAMENT VERSES PROPERLY TRANSLATED Below is a selection of verses, in which baptizo has been translated properly instead of merely
anglicised or transposed. Matthew 3:16 And Jesus, when
he was immersed, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens
were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove,
and lighting upon him: Mark 16:16 He that
believeth and is immersed shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be
damned. Luke 3:21 Now when all the
people were immersed, it came to pass, that Jesus also being immersed, and
praying, the heaven was opened, Acts 2:38 Then Peter said
unto them, Repent, and be immersed 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. Acts 2:41 Then they that
gladly received his word were immersed: and the same day there were added
unto them about three thousand souls. Acts 8:12 But when they
believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the
name of Jesus Christ, they were immersed, both men and women. Acts 10:47 Can any man
forbid water, that these should not be immersed, which have received the Holy
Ghost as well as we? Acts 10:48 And he commanded
them to be immersed in the name of the Lord. Acts 19:5 When they heard
this, they were immersed in the name of the Lord Jesus. Romans 6:3 Know ye not,
that so many of us as were immersed into Jesus Christ were immersed into his
death? Galatians 3:27-29 For as many of you
as have been immersed into Christ have put on Christ………And if ye be Christ’s,
then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. OTHER
DECEPTIONS It should not be surprising that churches which practice
this fundamental deception, also teach other disobedience to Jesus! Check out what they teach about the Sermon on the Mount, on
such fundamentally important issues as:
Check out what they teach about: *
The promises to
Abraham as a non-negotiable element of the Hope of the Gospel *
The Trinity *
The Conditional
Immortality of Man *
Going to Heaven *
The Resurrection Even if you do know how much water to use for baptism,
these are things which, if you get them wrong, can adversely affect your
inheritance of the Kingdom of God! “If any man come
to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, Luke 14:26-33 Allon |