Immersion Alone

Whenever you start talking about baptism, you very quickly find that there are a wide range of strongly held opinions as to who and how baptism should be done, as these are in many ways the more visible things that most people have likely personally experienced. Behind that first glance, there are a variety of opinions related things like

whether it is a sacrament or and ordinance,

whether it is something that brings grace to the person being baptized or not,

whether it is salvific, whether it is a sign and seal, or whether it is a picture alone.

And so rather than starting with the obvious elements, the outward and observable, I have instead been laboring to bring us through our present study on baptism by way of understanding it’s place and purpose in the Christian life. So rather than immediately jumping in to questions like “do you sprinkle, or do you submerge”, I think that understanding the basis and purpose of the thing will help us to more rightly answer such questions.

And of course, in doing so, we have had to rather quickly answer some basic questions that cause divisions – for example, the question of infant baptism is likely the most prominent of such questions, but is itself far from the only cause of divisions between theological camps related to baptism.

So when we dealt with that question early on in this study, the purpose was not to deal first with the visible result, but rather that from the outset we would focus on what causes that visible result. And I think it is sound reasoning to do so, for if you are accustomed only to knowing that when you flip that little lever on the wall the light comes on without understanding something of the principles of electricity, you may be shocked and dismayed when you find the power to your neighborhood is out. Principles matter, and in our spiritual doctrine they matter far more than the electricity in our homes.

So, for example, it was far more important that we understand that New Testament baptism is for those who have professed faith in Jesus Christ, than to first focus on whether or not to baptize babies. For in the teaching of the principal involved, we discover that the baptizing of babies is not at all appropriate, and indeed makes a mockery of the baptism described in the New Testament.

And in the course of answering who is to be baptized, we discover then that it is none other than everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ, so now I also surely understand that I have not been baptized as a believer, whether due to thinking I was baptized as a child, or because I for some reason I have delayed such a step, I must go straightaway to the nearest Elder or Deacon and ask to be baptized forthwith.

Why the hurry, you ask? Aren’t you rushing things? Why not wait until the next of the “Big 2”, easter and Christmas? The answer lies in what we have already discovered in the course of our study, we now by our investigation of these principles understand the Biblical model – in Acts 16 we discovered that both the Philippian jailer was baptized that very night he was saved, and prior to that Lydia had also baptized then and there by the riverside before even returning to her home. Indeed, last time in Acts 10 we saw the same attitude in the household of Cornelius. And so to unduly delay baptism is to sinfully refuse the command of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

Now that’s not to say we simply take someone saying “I’d like to be baptized, I did this thing and now I need to be baptized, can you do that this afternoon” and rush off to do so. No, again the answer is in what we have already studied!

Acts 10:47 LSB

“Can anyone refuse water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?”

The household of Cornelius marked a transition, and when they arrived at his house the circumcised fellows there with Peter didn’t yet fully comprehend that Gentile God-fearers would be part of the church, so not only did they explain the gospel, but they saw the immediate effect of a transitional outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the gentile God-fearers, ones who were a little farther off than the Jews but not yet those who were to the ends of the earth. And back at Jerusalem it caused no small excitement to see that full-on gentiles were now also being saved. But it was on account of Peter and the 6 with him that Cornelius and all there with him had been saved through the gospel of Jesus Christ that they couldn’t withhold water for baptism.

Acts 16:14 LSB

And a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening, whose heart the Lord opened to pay attention to the things spoken by Paul.

Likewise Lydia, starting in Acts 16:14, had her heart opened by the Lord to “pay attention to the things spoken by Paul. This was no mere passing acquaintance, or some quick acknowledgement, rather again there was a true response on the part of Lydia and her household prior to their being baptized.

Acts 16:32–33 LSB

And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his household. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.

And again, the Philippian jailer, too, had already heard Paul and Silas singing and glorifying God long into the night before the earthquake, and asked them “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” in verse 30, and it was again only after he had listened and received the word of the Lord, the gospel, that he repented to the point astonishingly and shockingly of washing their wounds, something he would have never before contemplated, and then was immediately baptized.

Matthew 28:19 LSB

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

So then, it’s not on a simplistic claim of salvation such as one given by a young child without understanding, or even on account of a mere request to be baptized. No, baptism is tied directly to discipleship, meaning it is only appropriate for someone who has purposefully set their own self aside, and recognized and agreed in the whole of their being that their own proper place is under the tutelage and authority of Jesus Christ. That’s what Jesus meant by being a true disciple!

But understanding the why of baptism, primarily in that it provides us a vivid and memorable outward picture of our inward union with Christ Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection which occurs at salvation, that helps us consider the remaining questions of where and how, sometimes referred to as the mode of baptism.

Because when we look at the picture of the true union which water baptism represents, the answer to our questions becomes much more obvious.

Romans 6:3–4 LSB

Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

The inner truth that baptism represents is this immersion into Christ Jesus, that’s why Paul used the word βαπτίζω to describe our union with Christ Jesus in the first place. This βαπτίζω is an intensification of the root-word βάπτω, meaning to dip, which is seldom used in the New Testament, and speaks of dipping in the manner that you would dip a cloth into dye in order to give it color. But βάπτω is not the word used in our Lord’s command in Matthew 28, nor is it used by Paul to describe the true immersion and union with Christ Jesus.

The word we overwhelmingly see, and especially in these cases, is βαπτίζω, 6 times versus over 100 times if you count each form of the words. Βαπτίζω is used in one sense, and one sense only - to completely submerge in the manner of a ship that sinks to the bottom of the sea, or in a person who drowns due to going under the water and being completely engulfed by it. We get the word immerse from the Latin word immergo, which was identical in meaning to βαπτίζω, but due to the predominance of Greek throughout the civilized world and the technical clarity of βαπτίζω, it became transliterated rather than translated into other languages over time.

What we don’t see used, is to sprinkle, ῥαντίζω in Greek, really used just a couple of times in the NT and never in relation to this thing which Jesus commanded in Matthew 28, in which he used the verb βαπτίζω, “baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

And, given the union that this water baptism is meant to be a picture of, it makes enormous sense! You don’t get the sensation of being immersed into something when someone simply pours a little water over you.

I think that turning to Acts 8 will help bring this idea into focus for us. Let’s join Philip, who has been sent by God along a desert road descending from Jerusalem to Gaza and meets an Ethiopian eunuch riding in a chariot. And this isn’t some small chariot holding one or 2 people - no, chariots as far back as the bronze age could carry large groups of dignitaries pulled by teams of 3 to 4 horses. From this account itself it’s clear that this chariot was larger, able to hold at least 3 people, and was likely well-stocked, having just left Jerusalem to return to Ethiopia according to verses 27 and 28. And Philip, hearing him read aloud from the prophet Isaiah, had approached and asked him if he understood what was being prophesied. The eunuch says, “no”, and Philip having already been prepared for such an encounter, was invited to explain it.

Acts 8:32–33 LSB

Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: “AS A SHEEP IS LED TO SLAUGHTER; AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH. “IN HUMILIATION HIS JUDGMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY; WHO WILL RECOUNT HIS GENERATION? FOR HIS LIFE IS REMOVED FROM THE EARTH.”

So as he was traveling along the road reading his Septuagint in Isaiah 53:7-8, this eunuch who would have been explicitly excluded from the Jewish nation in accordance with the Law (Deut 23:1) already had a leg up on the Jewish rabbis, who to this day interpret the prophecy of the Suffering Servant as being the Jewish people, rather than the Davidic Messiah of Isaiah 11 or “one like a Son of Man” in Daniel 7. We see this in the question he asked,

Acts 8:34 LSB

And the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you earnestly, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?”

He understood Isaiah referred to an actual person. And he was pouring over it wondering just who that person was!

And Philip was just the person to help him in this. After all, Philip had the benefit of Christ having now revealed its meaning, so that everything fit into place!

Acts 8:35–36 LSB

Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him. And as they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

Philip was willing to be the guide the eunuch needed, showing him that although justice had been denied God’s Servant (Jesus of Nazareth) on earth, the historical fact of Jesus’ undeserved suffering and death, he could go on in this same scripture the Ethiopian was reading from already, Isaiah 53, probably without changing the page or unrolling the scroll, continuing on through to the end of that chapter in 12, explaining to him that Jesus was the Servant, and as the Servant was a guilt offering for the many, providing for forgiveness and redemption that it would satisfy God, and that by this He would justify the many, being vindicated by God when He exalted Him!

The Ethiopian was already searching the right place, he already had the right heart to understand, he already knew he needed a guide, and God provided him that guide in Philip, who was himself willing to be used by God! And now, Philip was able from the very scripture the eunuch was already looking at to proclaim the gospel, the good news about Jesus to him! How exciting this must have been!

Acts 8:37 LSB

[And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”]

Now, if you look carefully, some of you may have verse 37 as you would have any other verse. Others may have verse 37 similar to how it appears here on the slide, and still others may have it placed into a footnote at the bottom of the page. We’re not going to rely on this verse, because although it is in some Greek manuscripts, and made its way into some by way of a note in the margin, we have come to know with certainty that it was not present in the original autograph written by Luke, so we will simply skip over it for now rather than give it prominence in our study. If it nags at you sufficiently, I can explain it further in our question and answer time at the end.

At any rate, it’s not particularly beneficial for our question at hand, for at the end of verse 36, the eunuch says “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” and then ordering the chariot to stop to go down to the water in verse 38.

Acts 8:38–39 LSB

And he ordered the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.

So now the word of God had been read by the eunuch, the message of the gospel had been explained to the eunuch, and since he was so eager to be baptized it is clear that not only had repentance occurred, but now he was anxious to be obedient to the command of Jesus Christ.

So both the eunuch and Philip went down into the water (v38), and then came up out of the water in v39. They didn’t use the water the well-to-do eunuch would have surely had with him in the chariot for his journey – that would have been sufficient if the goal was simply to dip or sprinkle water on him, but it is clear that thought never crossed their minds.

No, as soon as they saw water sufficient to the task of baptism, the eunuch got excited!

Going down into the water is a completely different matter, the Greek word here is very much the same as the English one, it is the idea of arriving in the midst of the water, within its bounds, meaning that there was sufficient water there for a person to go into rather than to stoop down and splash a little onto himself.

We see the same thing in the accounts of Jesus’ own baptism as recorded in Matthew 3, Mark 1, and Luke 3, which occurred in the Jordan river specifically, not with water from the Jordan river; where there was more than enough water to swim in, let alone for baptizing.

If you recall the picture of the baptismal pools, they had several steps down into them, and you only need to dig as much as is necessary – the depth of the steps for the pools alone indicates that even for the ceremonial purposes of the Law, more water than simply getting your feet wet was necessary, let alone the Levitical law it was based upon.

What’s the point we’re making? That, despite many very godly, learned men’s thinking on the subject, we must reject the notion of “sprinkling” as a biblical form of baptism; it is not, it is a tradition of men rather than a practice founded within Scripture.

Biblical baptism occurred by immersion, the whole body of the new believer was put into the water, and then taken back up out of the water. The language supports it. The accounts in scripture support it. The geography supports it. But most of all, the spiritual reality being pictured in baptism demands it.

So for those keeping the scorecards, I think we’ve now well and appropriately answered the significant questions related to baptism:

Who is to be biblically baptised? Those who have professed faith in Christ on account of the gospel.

What is biblical baptism? It is a ordinance or perhaps better understood a command given to disciples of Jesus Christ.

When is the believer to be biblically baptized? As soon as is practical following salvation.

Where are we to be biblically baptized? In a body of water sufficient to the task of submersion.

Why are we biblically baptized? Out of obedience to Jesus’ clear command, as a picture of our union with Jesus Christ, all done in the name of and for the purpose of honoring the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

How are we biblically baptized? By submersion into and then raising up out of the water as a symbolic outward reenactment of our union with Jesus in his death, burial, and resurrection which has already occured within our hearts.

And again, as I’ve said before, to not be Biblically baptized is to be disobedient to what Christ commanded us plainly in Scripture, which demands repentance – the admitting that you have disobeyed God, have asked forgiveness, and to seek to remedy your disobedience with all due haste!

Let us pray!