Why We Baptize in Jesus' Name
Introduction
The subject of water baptism has long been called a great issue and no doubt has been made such by many church leaders of the past and present. In our study of it, let us first consider its importance, or the necessity of being baptized.
The Importance of Water Baptism
Christian water baptism is an ordinance instituted by Jesus Christ. If it is not important in the plan of God, why did Jesus command it in Matthew 28:19? And why did Peter follow up by saying, "Be baptized every one of you," and by commanding the Gentiles to be baptized (Acts 2:38; 10:48)? We must remember two points about the importance of water baptism. First, whatever Christ definitely established and ordained cannot be unimportant, whether we understand its significance or not. Second, Christ and the apostles showed the importance of this ordinance by observing it. Jesus walked many miles to be baptized, though He was without sin, saying, "For thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness" (See Matthew 3:13-16.)
It is true that water itself does not contain any saving virtue, but God has chosen to include it in His plan of salvation. Peter explained, "Baptism doth 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" (I Peter 3:21). According to Luke 7:30, "the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized."
The Mode of Baptism
According to the Scriptures, the proper mode of baptism is immersion. "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water" (Matthew 3:16). "And they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him" (Acts 8:38). "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death" (Romans 6:4). A corpse is not buried by placing it on top of the ground and sprinkling a little soil on it, but by covering it completely.
According to the World Book Encyclopedia, "At first all baptism was by complete immersion" (vol. 1, p.651). And the Catholic Encyclopedia states, "In the early centuries, all were baptized by immersion in streams, pools, and baptisteries" (vol. 2, p.263). Immersion was not convenient after the Catholic church instituted infant baptism; thus the mode was changed to sprinkling. (See Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed.
The power of water, a meek and gracious force, as illustrated in the Bible is the source of life and fruitfulness. The prayer has different sections to articulate the overall purpose of baptism, beginning with gratitude and recognition of God’s omnipresence, the prayer then references from the Old Testament, as the church has seen in Noah’s ark a prefiguring of salvation by Baptism. As the water of baptism gives new life, the crossing of the Red Sea, the liberation of Israel from the slavery of Egypt, proclaims the liberation wrought by baptism. The final reference to the Old Testament is prefigured in the crossing of the Jordan River by which the people of God received the gift of the land promised to Abraham’s descendants, an image of eternal life. All the Old Covenants prefiguration’s find their fulfilment in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ begins his public life after being baptised by St. John the Baptist in the river of Jordan. After his resurrection Christ gives this mission to his apostles: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." To fulfil all righteousness, Jesus’ submissive baptism by John the Baptist, is a gesture of
Whether it is being clean spiritually or physically, water has an enormous impact on being clean. Physically, we, as humans, take showers and/or baths to maintain our cleanliness for our personal hygiene. Ron Rash speaks about being clean when he wrote “a man bathes just to get dirt off him, but it seems more to a woman than that (Rash 116)” and “It was a good, pure feeling to be out in the river on a warm spring day, knowing that come cold weather months later you’d lift quilts up to your chin and smell the washing powders and the damp of the river. But it was more than that. It was knowing something could be clean no matter how soiled and dirty it got (Rash 85).” Analyzing what Ron Rash said in these two parts of the book, he talks about being clean in a more in-depth meaning than just being physically clean. He showed an example of this with the cleaning of the quilts. To Rash, no matter what one’s past has been like or how dirty of a past a person has, you can always become clean. When it comes to being cleaned spiritually, one can say that being saved and attending a baptism would be considered as cleaning someone of one’s sin. “Baptism through immersion into water symbolizes cleansing of hearts and conscience: “Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Hebrews 10:22)”
In conclusion, it is clear that through several of the factors of St. Paul and Baptism, such as the critical Christian framework Paul established, as well as the messages of Salvation he preached, alongside the significance of Baptism both to the individuals and communities of modern Christianity, that it is indeed a religion that is both living and dynamic, validated by the long history it has enjoyed, and the individuals and practices that have shaped it so greatly, important elements that are constantly being redefined and reinterpreted today, a testament to just how living and dynamic Christianity is today, and arguably always has been.
It presupposes our finitude and it opens up a futurist perspective of a situation, which is on the other side of the finite boundaries that now prevail in this world. Therefore the act of baptism points back to a death which happened once for all in the work Jesus Christ, that took place down in the depths of destruction; at the same time it points forward toward the baptized person’s coming death, which we perceive to be a misfortune but which in reality cannot hurt us. Both in the pointing backward and in the pointing forward baptism speaks the same reality – eternal life. “We have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” And even though the baptized have been born anew destructive forces still remain and continue their devastations, even though Jesus as Savior has fulfilled his work. This is why we live in hope. I believe that my vocation as grounded in baptism is to hold fast to the promise of enteral life in Christ that is available here and now. The place where family and friends, many classmates and community members (and even myself) function is in this world, and the boundaries for its activity is death and destruction. I have experienced this in my own life in
The Jordan River is a place desired to visit by Christians and people whom practice their faith. A baptism by water signifies purity and regeneration into the Christian church. There are different styles of undergoing a baptism. Some people are submerged under water, while others might only get sprinkled with water on their forehead. Baptisms are celebrated with the church, immediate family and friends. There is not a required age someone must be to get baptized. Water is also referred to Gods word in the Bible. God refers to water as a cleanser “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols” (The Bible). Water is significant because it provides a sense of deliverance to
Whether it is being clean spiritually or physically, water has an enormous impact in being clean. Physically, we, as humans, take showers and/or baths to maintain our cleanliness for our personal hygiene. Ron Rash speaks about being clean when he wrote “a man bathes just to get dirt off him but it seems more to a woman than that (Rash 116)” and “It was a good, pure feeling to be out in the river on a warm spring day, knowing that come cold weather months later you’d lift quilts up to your chin and smell the washing powders and the damp of the river. But it was more than that. It was knowing something could be clean no matter how soiled and dirty it got (Rash 85).” Analyzing what Ron Rash said in these two parts of the book, he talks about being clean in a more in-depth meaning than just being physically clean. He showed an example of this with the cleaning of the quilts. To Rash, no matter what one’s past has been like or how dirty of a past a person has, you can always become clean. When it comes to being cleaned spiritually, one can say that being saved and attending baptism would be considered as cleaning someone of one’s sin. “Baptism through immersion into water symbolizes cleansing of hearts and conscience: “Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Hebrews 10:22)”
The main debate with the issue of baptism is seen in the way Scripture is translated and interpreted. In regards to who is able to be baptized, the mostly debated age group is whether infants are able to be baptized due to them unable to understand the act or truly have faith. Luther begins this section by attempting to let people know this is not a topic worth the arguments. He states in regards to whether in...
In this paper, I will be using Victor Turner’s concept of liminality to analyze the Christian rite of passage of baptism. Turner built upon Arnold van Gennep’s three-stage model of rites of passage, focusing on liminality rather than reaggregation and introducing the concept of communitas as the unstructured community during the liminal stage in which all members are equal. By using the anthropological lens of Turner to analyze baptism, specifically Jesus’ water baptism in the book of Mark, I hope to apply his concepts of liminality and communitas to the text to gain a deeper understanding of the model for modern Christian baptism rituals and interpretations, including Spirit baptism.
.... "Baptism (in the Bible)." New Catholic Encyclopedia. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 56-60. Gale World History In Context. Web. 30 Dec. 2011.
Baptism is one of the most important and popular rituals in Christianity. It is a simple process that requires an individual to be immersed into the water, blessed and pronounced “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” (Christian
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptiz- ing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” ( Matt. 28:19-20 NIV ). The idea of sharing in the death of Christ connects remission of sins with baptism which the death of Christ effected. ( Act 2:38; 1 Pet. 3:21). Just as physical washing cleanses our bodies from filthiness, so also baptism symbolically cleanses our spirits through participation in the death of Christ. “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink (I Cor. 12:13 NIV). In addition, baptism connects with spiritual birth along with the Spirit’s reception. Hence, participation in Christ’s resurrection indicates that the Holy Spirit is presently in our lives. Baptism is an indication of the relationship we have with Christ and wherever we find ourselves in the world, our deportment, attitude and disposition should be in alignment with our confession of faith. Jesus’ baptism should help us realize how much we are loved by God. Jesus died to pay a debt he did not owe to release from a debt we could not pay. Baptism is a two-fold operation because we are symbolically
The candidate is usually wearing white. The color white represents purity; the candidate’s soul is becoming pure in order to let God in. Oils are a very common thing used in the sacraments. The oil catechumen is placed on the candidates, parents, and godparents heads (jesuschristsavior.net). The candidate is the head is then submerged under water. While this is done the priest or deacon says “I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (jesuschristsavior.net). To conclude the ceremony the candidate is anointed with the sacred chrism (catholic.org).
and a rise to a new life as a Christian. Water is used to cleanse and
Jesus’ mother told the servants to do whatever they were told, and she left it at that. Jesus then gave instruction to the servants to fill six stone, ceremonial water jars to the brim with water. After the jars were filled the servants were instructed to draw some of the water and take it to the master of the banquet. When the master had tasted the water that had now...
It is followed by years of catechesis before being completed late by Confirmation and the Eucharist, the summit of Christian initiation. Baptism is the Church 's way of celebrating and enacting the embrace of God and the promise of salvation. 'Peter replied, "Repent and be baptised..." ' (Acts 2: 38-39) Baptism happens not only to the individual, but also the wider Church. At the time of Christ it signified that the person being baptised became a follower of Christ and acquired a relationship with him. '... I (Paul) also baptised the household of Stephanas... ' (1 Corinthians 1:16) The rite is celebrated with the community present and actively participating. It is the community, who will journey with them throughout their