It occurs to me that I got so caught up in trying to explain elementary concepts of Christianity that I forgot to cover Baptism. I apologize! Baptism is truly important and I don't mean to minimize it by leaving it out of our 'Baby Steps'.
Let's start with, "Where did the idea of baptism come from? Is it some New Testament practice with no roots in the Old Testament?"
No way! If you have read with me for any length of time, you will know that I believe that everything in the New Testament is foreshadowed in the Old.
The baptism of Jesus is recounted in all four gospels: Matthew 3, Mark 3, Luke 3, and John 1 (sort of). Now, consider the Jews. They were very strict in their doctrine. They would have rejected baptism if it was some kind of new fad. On the contrary, they lined up to be baptized. Even the Scribes and Pharisees came to get in on John's new tevilah action.
That's right. Baptism is just another way to look at the tevilah or Jewish ritual bath.
Almost all Jewish communities have at least one mikvah (ritual bath tub for lack of a better term), even these days. Submersion in water is part of the process for anyone who wants to convert to Judaism and always has been.
A mikvah is also used by women after menstruation and before their weddings. Men use it for a number of things. The tevilah, or submersion in a mikvah, is ritual cleansing.
The Book of Leviticus has many instances of a ritual bath. Most of the time, it not only involved washing your body, but washing your clothes as well. Here are some scripture you can read: Leviticus 11:25; 14:8-9,47; 16:26, 28; 17:15; and Numbers 19:10.
The whole 15th chapter of Leviticus prescribes ritual bathing for certain things that would mark you as unclean. The 16th chapter is the priestly ritual bath for service. This chapter prescribes how Aaron was to bathe on the Day of Atonement before entering the Holy Place. Since Jesus was sinless, this was His baptism; ours for the ritually unclean, His for the priestly service. He is our high priest, Hebrews 4:14.
How did we get from tevilah to baptism? Baptismos is the Greek word used in Jewish texts for ritual washing. Remember, the Septuagint is the Old Testament translated to Greek. That goes to Latin, which was the language of the Bible for centuries. When the Bible was translated to English, the translators just kept the word, much like we just kept the Hebrew word 'hallelujah'.
Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist even though John said the he should be baptized by Jesus, Matthew 3:14. Jesus said that He needed to be baptized to, "fulfill all righteousness;" or in my mind, to fulfill all the types and shadows of baptism found in the Old Testament.
Jesus then tells us in Matthew 28:19 that we should go into all the world and make disciples and baptize them. This is why baptism is a sacrament of the Church. Jesus tells us to do it and it is symbolic of the death of the old man and rebirth into newness of life.
Another picture of baptism was Naaman. He had leprosy and went to Elisha, the prophet, for healing. Naaman, the heathen, dipped seven times in the River Jordan and was made clean from leprosy,
2 Kings 5.
I'm of the belief that only those old enough to make a decision should be baptized, though some denominations baptize babies. I think this is what makes 'cultural Christians'. These are people who will tell you they are Christians just because their parent's had them baptized as an infant. They have never made a decision for Christ and therefore really aren't saved at all.
So I repeat here what I said in the post, "Advise to New Believers."
Baptism doesn't save you. Only a decision for Christ saves you. However, we are commanded to be baptized by Jesus himself, both by example and word.
The times are such here in America, that we soon may find ourselves in the situation that in which our brethren around the world find themselves. That situation is that there is no church in which to be baptized. We still should follow our Lord's command and be baptized.
The baptism of Jesus is recounted in all four gospels: Matthew 3, Mark 3, Luke 3, and John 1 (sort of). Now, consider the Jews. They were very strict in their doctrine. They would have rejected baptism if it was some kind of new fad. On the contrary, they lined up to be baptized. Even the Scribes and Pharisees came to get in on John's new tevilah action.
Almost all Jewish communities have at least one mikvah (ritual bath tub for lack of a better term), even these days. Submersion in water is part of the process for anyone who wants to convert to Judaism and always has been.
The Book of Leviticus has many instances of a ritual bath. Most of the time, it not only involved washing your body, but washing your clothes as well. Here are some scripture you can read: Leviticus 11:25; 14:8-9,47; 16:26, 28; 17:15; and Numbers 19:10.
The whole 15th chapter of Leviticus prescribes ritual bathing for certain things that would mark you as unclean. The 16th chapter is the priestly ritual bath for service. This chapter prescribes how Aaron was to bathe on the Day of Atonement before entering the Holy Place. Since Jesus was sinless, this was His baptism; ours for the ritually unclean, His for the priestly service. He is our high priest, Hebrews 4:14.
How did we get from tevilah to baptism? Baptismos is the Greek word used in Jewish texts for ritual washing. Remember, the Septuagint is the Old Testament translated to Greek. That goes to Latin, which was the language of the Bible for centuries. When the Bible was translated to English, the translators just kept the word, much like we just kept the Hebrew word 'hallelujah'.
Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist even though John said the he should be baptized by Jesus, Matthew 3:14. Jesus said that He needed to be baptized to, "fulfill all righteousness;" or in my mind, to fulfill all the types and shadows of baptism found in the Old Testament.
Jesus then tells us in Matthew 28:19 that we should go into all the world and make disciples and baptize them. This is why baptism is a sacrament of the Church. Jesus tells us to do it and it is symbolic of the death of the old man and rebirth into newness of life.
Paul recognized the foreshadowing of baptism by the Israelites crossing the Red Sea:"Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." Romans 6:4
"For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea," 1 Corinthians 10:1-2Think about that picture in Exodus 14. God told Moses to 'turn back' and camp with the sea at their back. They had no where to go when Pharaoh's army pursued but through the water. In other words, they were saved through the water and found salvation on the other side. Pharaoh's army perished in the waters of the sea. What a picture of our salvation and baptism!
Another picture of baptism was Naaman. He had leprosy and went to Elisha, the prophet, for healing. Naaman, the heathen, dipped seven times in the River Jordan and was made clean from leprosy,
2 Kings 5.
I'm of the belief that only those old enough to make a decision should be baptized, though some denominations baptize babies. I think this is what makes 'cultural Christians'. These are people who will tell you they are Christians just because their parent's had them baptized as an infant. They have never made a decision for Christ and therefore really aren't saved at all.
So I repeat here what I said in the post, "Advise to New Believers."
Baptism doesn't save you. Only a decision for Christ saves you. However, we are commanded to be baptized by Jesus himself, both by example and word.
The times are such here in America, that we soon may find ourselves in the situation that in which our brethren around the world find themselves. That situation is that there is no church in which to be baptized. We still should follow our Lord's command and be baptized.
There is a story in the book of Acts where an angel instructs Philip to go south and then to approach an Ethiopian eunuch who is reading from the book of Isaiah. Phillip shares the gospel with him and the eunuch said, "Here is water. What is preventing me from being baptized?"
Many have put baptism in the same category as marriage. They consider it unnecessary. I don't think so. I think that, if at all possible, a Christian should be baptized even if it is in a bathtub or cattle trough. Just as I believe that, even if a church wedding isn't possible, a man and woman should still be married in the eyes of God. It is a commandment, a sacrament, and shouldn't be discounted.
Many have put baptism in the same category as marriage. They consider it unnecessary. I don't think so. I think that, if at all possible, a Christian should be baptized even if it is in a bathtub or cattle trough. Just as I believe that, even if a church wedding isn't possible, a man and woman should still be married in the eyes of God. It is a commandment, a sacrament, and shouldn't be discounted.
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