By Jim Mettenbrink
We continue from last week, that we can know from the New Testament that baptism is immersion, even though the word to baptize is transliterated from baptizo rather than translating it as immersion. Can a person know that baptism is immersion without being familiar with the ancient Greek language?
There are several New Testament passages referring to baptism that beg questions if baptism is not immersion.
(1) People came to John the baptizer “and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins” (Matthew 3:6; Mark 1:5).
(2) Later Jesus came to John the baptizer and “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water….” (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:9).
(3) “Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized.” (John 3:23).
(4) “So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him” (Acts 8:38).
The first two examples reflect that John was baptizing people “in” the Jordan River. If he was sprinkling or pouring water as a mode of baptism, why did the people go into the River? The third passage tells us that John was baptizing at Aenon specifically because there was “much” water there. If he was sprinkling and pouring to baptize people, why did he need a lot of water? The fourth example, states both Philip and the Eunuch went “down into” the water. Again, why do so, if he was merely sprinkling or pouring water as baptism? Reasonably, these verses point to immersion as the mode of baptizing a person into Christ.
Paul wrote that the person being baptized is buried and raised in that obedience (Romans 6:3-4). This points to immersion, not sprinkling or pouring as the God-given mode of accepting His salvation. The immersion in water emulates the burial and resurrection of Jesus. In repentance a person dies to sin, i.e., has the resolve to stop sinning (false beliefs and wrong behavior). In submitting in baptism with true faith in Jesus as the Savior (forgiver) from one’s sins, the person shows he is dead to sin by being buried in the water. And when Jesus rose from the dead, presenting to us that He was alive and that there is life after death, the new Christian rises from the grave of water to “walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:5).
Emulating Jesus’ death burial and resurrection can only be done in an immersion. Even without knowing the original Greek language we can know baptism is immersion. God has not left the genuine searcher of His word in a lurch.