Baptism ia a major topic no matter what overarching umbrella you fall under doctrinally. Be it paedobaptism, credobaptism, immersion, sprinking, and so on and so forth. Yet what does scripture teach us and how was it understood when the Apostles did it? Rather than going off of concepts devised hundred if not a thousand years after Yeshua walked this earth let's dig in together to get to the truth of Baptism,
There's many factors to this discussion. We need to know what Baptism means, the techniques with water and the requirements for baptism. Many mistakenly think that baptism is a concept that belongs alone to the New Testament but that simply isn't true. We see ritual cleansing as a common factor in the Old Testament, called a Mikvah or Mikveh.
Hebrew is a wonderful language, full of meanings on multiple level. The word Mikvah is no different. It comes from a core word, qavah, which means 'gathering of the waters'. Showing right from the start that this is requiring a 'gathering' and 'water'. To further the depth the word can be translated as 'hope'. As we find new hope in being spiritually cleansed and renewed. We see it primarily done with priests before going to the Tabernacle. Exodus 40:12 says, Then bring Aharon and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. The word used for washing in this passage is rachats, to wash something. As this was done for consecration the men would have been fully washed in order to proceed. Leviticus 17:15 shows that all people took part in Mikvah for various circumstances in saying, Anyone eating an animal that dies naturally or is torn to death by wild animals, whether he is a citizen or a foreigner, is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening; then he will be clean.n A Passage where washing comes from the Hebrew word kabac, which is a full washing. We see many reasons in which this was done, from a man having unclean seminal emotion, a woman after her niddah, cleansing for the tabernacle and temple, after illness etc. Ultimately showing how we are to be clean in the presence of Elohim, among his assembly, or in our marriages. All of which was done by immersion.
Something to consider with immersion that even shows itself in the Tanakh is that it means to surround to cover all of what is immersed. Not a bit of it is untouched in order to be fully immersed. It was most commonly done in the Tanakh by dunking the person into a pool of water. Yet we do have example of this being done by aspersion as well as affusing, pouring of the water. Numbers 8:7 says, Here is how you are to cleanse them: sprinkle the purification water on them, have them shave their whole body with a razor, and have them wash their clothes and cleanse themselves.
In the case of washing after Niddah it was seen as purifying the wife for marital relations again. So by the time Yeshua came to us it had become a tradition that the first mikvah of a person was before they where married, to purify them for marriage. This was not taught against by Yeshua or his Apostles, and instead will go on to show us wonderful aspects of symbology in One Baptism. Mikvah was also used at the conversion of someone from being a Gentile to being an Israelite. Both where always done in a pool of living water, water which had flow to it. Be it stores rain water, from a spring underground, or in a river. With full immersion through being dunked.
This gives us a basis for baptism when the one baptism was introduced by Yochanan the Immerser, or John the Baptist. The Greek uses the word Baptiso, which directly translates into immersion. Only further showing us how the Jews of the time understood the foundational teaching of baptism, that it was an act done in living water by full immersion - most often by dunking into the water. Meant to purify in preparation for being present with God or for marital purity. Scripture is plain, we can not add nor subtract of Yahweh's Torah. So in this we can plainly see that immersion did exsist, but that it reaches its fullfillment, it is made full, in the one baptism.
Matthew 3:11 gives us a glimpse into this 'new' one baptism, It’s true that I am immersing you in water so that you might turn from sin to God; but the one coming after me is more powerful than I — I’m not worthy even to carry his sandals — and he will immerse you in the Ruach HaKodesh and in fire. In this we see a few things, that immersion was done to coincide with repentance, and that a second spiritual baptism would happen as well with Ruach HaKodesh. This is repeated in Mark 1, So it was that Yochanan the Immerser appeared in the desert, proclaiming an immersion involving turning to God from sin in order to be forgiven. Modeling for us that immersion was cohesive with the act of repentance, turning to God. Reinforcing for us something we already saw through the traditions of the time, that immersion was an act when one converted to be of Israel. It was a sign of coming into the house of Israel, being grafted in, repenting of the ways of the gentiles into the way of Elohim's chosen.
This models for a believer immersion, or credo-baptism, which is only enforced in looking to other verses. 1 Peter 3:21 says, This also prefigures what delivers us now, the water of immersion, which is not the removal of dirt from the body, but one’s pledge to keep a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah. Which shows us that it is the pledge we make to God in partaking of the covenant, a pledge we can do only because of the resurrection of the Messiah. 1 Corinthians 12:13 says, For it was by one Spirit that we were all immersed into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free; and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. That when we receive baptism by water we also receive the baptism of Ruach HaKodesh, the Spirit of which we drink. This was only delayed for those at the time of Yochanan as the Ruach had not been given to us yet as it was not sent to believers until the Shavuot after the resurrection of Yeshua, Pentecost. Acts 2:38 says, Kefa answered them, “Turn from sin, return to God, and each of you be immersed on the authority of Yeshua the Messiah into forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh! A further support that when we are baptized we receive the Holy Spirit. We also see Acts 22:16, which states, So now, what are you waiting for? Get up, immerse yourself and have your sins washed away as you call on his name. Immersion is the act which symbolically shows our sins being washed away. All of which only support further that this is an act given only to a believer, not a child who has not yet made the pledge to follow Yeshua or an infant not yet drinking of the Ruach and who may never do so.
So where then does the idea of paedo-baptism, infant baptism, come from? The idea was introduced many years after the Apostles left this life, based upon a passage of Acts 16. In which a man has his whole household baptised. The concept is that children and infants where likely included in that. Sadly, this one verse hardly acts as a president against the rest of the passages which state one must be a believer and why. The idea was then given further grounds on the idea that baptism replaced circumcision, the idea that circumcision was the sign of the 'old covenant' and baptism is the sign of the 'new covenant'. However when we understand that there is only one covenant, and that baptism was not a new idea, this concept of replacing circumcision with baptism falls apart. Should it be the biblical case however the idea of paedo-baptism would hold some ground as circumcision was solely as a sign of a follower of Yahweh but of anyone born into the covenant. Such an idea for baptism is clearly argued by scripture in the supplied verses as we can see it was given only to those who Stay in the covenant, who have made it personal for themselves. Those which Romans 11 states are a part of Israel proper, be it natural born and not cut off or grafted in.
We can then go even further into the symbolism given to us through the traditions. Recall how I stated that mikvah was used before marriage for marital purity? We see repeatedly in scripture, from the major and minor prophets to eschatology to Yeshua himself stating that our relationship is as the bride of the Messiah. Immersion then is as a part of that process to prepare us as his bride! An act only to be done for those who are preparing for that commitment, an act to be done by those take the pledge as 1 Peter stated. In being immersed we are showing that we are repentant and preparing as the bride of our Messiah.
There is even more to baptism however. We've seen that baptism is the symbolism of having our sins washed away and forgiven, receiving Ruach HaKodesh, and our pledge to Yeshua as his Bride. We then have the entirety of Romans 6 to show the fluidity of these pieces to us. So then, are we to say, “Let’s keep on sinning, so that there can be more grace”? 2 Heaven forbid! How can we, who have died to sin, still live in it? 3 Don’t you know that those of us who have been immersed into the Messiah Yeshua have been immersed into his death? 4 Through immersion into his death we were buried with him; so that just as, through the glory of the Father, the Messiah was raised from the dead, likewise we too might live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was put to death on the execution-stake with him, so that the entire body of our sinful propensities might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For someone who has died has been cleared from sin. 8 Now since we died with the Messiah, we trust that we will also live with him. 9 We know that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, never to die again; death has no authority over him. 10 For his death was a unique event that need not be repeated; but his life, he keeps on living for God. 11 In the same way, consider yourselves to be dead to sin but alive for God, by your union with the Messiah Yeshua.
12 Therefore, do not let sin rule in your mortal bodies, so that it makes you obey its desires; 13 and do not offer any part of yourselves to sin as an instrument for wickedness. On the contrary, offer yourselves to God as people alive from the dead, and your various parts to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will not have authority over you; because you are not under legalism but under grace.
15 Therefore, what conclusion should we reach? “Let’s go on sinning, because we’re not under legalism but under grace”? Heaven forbid! 16 Don’t you know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, then, of the one whom you are obeying, you are slaves — whether of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to being made righteous? 17 By God’s grace, you, who were once slaves to sin, obeyed from your heart the pattern of teaching to which you were exposed; 18 and after you had been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. 19 (I am using popular language because your human nature is so weak.) For just as you used to offer your various parts as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led to more lawlessness; so now offer your various parts as slaves to righteousness, which leads to being made holy, set apart for God. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in relationship to righteousness; 21 but what benefit did you derive from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end result of those things was death. 22 However, now, freed from sin and enslaved to God, you do get the benefit — it consists in being made holy, set apart for God, and its end result is eternal life. 23 For what one earns from sin is death; but eternal life is what one receives as a free gift from God, in union with the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord. That in immersion, we are symbolically going below the water into sheol; dying to our old selves to be born again as followers of the Messiah. That we are resurrected as new people, slaves not to our old selves but to Yeshua - his purified, cleansed and obedient Bride!
In this we see so many parts of the covenant come to play. We see right from the Torah how immersion was given to be cleansed to be in the presence of Elohim, how it was used for marital cleanliness, to show they are leaving their gentile ways to follow the ways of Yah, finding fullfillment in the one baptism of the believer as they show they have left their old ways to follow Yah and prepare to be Yeshua's Bride. The unity within the covenant showing it's full glory! This is why immersion is given to us as a part of the great commission and the first act of obedience a new believer is commanded to take. Matthew 28:19 says, Therefore, go and make people from all nations into talmidim, immersing them into the reality of the Father, the Son and the Ruach HaKodesh. Scripture consistently models for us that immersion went hand in hand with the act of repentance, committing oneself to Elohim.
History then shows us how immersion was understood in the early church. In 'The Ways of the Way' by Raymond Robert Fischer we can see some examples of early churches in the first and second centuries, and how their immersions where done. Many archaeological digs of early churches show us the mikvahs, or baptismal tanks, used in the churches believers built. All relied on the symbology of living water, be it by being built with a spring or using a cistern to catch rain water - just as the Israelites had done for centuries before. We have the textual evidence of the way baptism was performed, with the new believer taking communion, then going down the steps into the mikvah to be immersed in living water three times. The three was done to follow the command of Matthew 28:19, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Ruach. In this the believers conversion was seen as complete. We must remember of course that the record of three times in the water is not found in scripture and instead a one immersion is what is modeled to us, so while three times in the water may hold an additional symbolic factor it is by no means a requirement to a valid immersion.
Then we run into another hurdle, because scripture shows how hand in hand repentance and immersion where many then take the leap to state that immersion itself is salvific; that someone is not saved without being immersed. This idea also gained popular view during the middle ages when the life expectancy of children and infants was so low, comforting the parents then to baptize their children in an effort to save them for eternal life. While the idea may have been comforting it was far from scriptural. The concept largely comes from taking passages like 1 Peter 3:21, already shown, literally beyond simply symbolically. We know that it can only be literal as there are many cases of believers who have died without the benefit of getting immersed, yet Yeshua himself states that they will be in the Kingdom of Heaven when he spoke to the thief on the cross. This can not be seen as a sort of 'one off' as we see the idea of immersion being salvific being disputed in Mark 16:16, which is often used to say that it is! Whoever trusts and is immersed will be saved; whoever does not trust will be condemned. In this we can see by the first half that immersion is indeed an urgent matter, something to be obeyed post haste to repentance, as has been shown in many other verses. Yet the second half shows something as well, and is often left out when this verse is used to make immersion salvific. It only shows that those who do not trust will be condemned, not those those who are not immersed! Showing the importance of immersion in its entirety while also showing that it is not an ultimate requirement, as to make it so makes an act of ourselves required for salvation. Heresy at it's most subtle.
We also need to interject then that along with things such as death bed confessions other instances can lend to why someone is not baptized by the traditional dunking immersion. In such cases of course immersion of other sorts must be done, and pouring of water is also modeled in the Tanakh as an acceptable form. However a method such as sprinkling would be viewed as biblically insufficient as it does not immerse, fully cover, a person. Which then leads us into another form of exception, locales where water scarcity is a major issue. Certainly it could be viewed at such times as sprinkling is the best available option to show the immersion. Such special circumstances in either event, however necessary at the time, can not be the basis for the rule however as scriptures description of immersion must be placed ahead of special circumstances. Yeshua's promise to the thief on the cross was not a 'one off' but it was an example to us of an exception and how immersion is not the salvific factor, what immersion represents is.
There simply is no exception to allow a healthy new believer in an average sense to refuse immersion when they come to the faith. When we repent we are commanded to be immersed at that time and it should be done in an expedient time frame out of obedience and our pledge. To refuse to be immersed then would seem to call into question a believers commitment to Yeshua as he himself states in John 14:24, Someone who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words — and the word you are hearing is not my own but that of the Father who sent me.
We're not done yet! After all we still need to consider that the law was not changed in the fullfillment of immersion, and so the required cleanliness remains as well. Physical reminders that not only serve a hygiene practicality but to show us how we have been made clean in the immersion we took as believers; being washed of our sins and pledging to be the bride of the Messiah. So ladies, still jump in the shower and clean up after your regular niddah.
What then is going on when Yeshua was immersed? After all, here was the Son of Elohim, the perfect sacrifice. His own immersion certainly wasn't about making any commitment to us or being washed clean of a sin that he didn't bear. It certainly did show a level of prophetic meaning, pointing us of course to the cross and the sacrifice he made for us while upon it. Yet I fail to see it as that alone. We can see in the event of his immersion that it was used by Elohim to reveal Yeshua's divinity and purpose to believers. To mark him out as our Messiah. Luke 3:21-22 says, While all the people were being immersed, Yeshua too was immersed. As he was praying, heaven was opened; 22 the Ruach HaKodesh came down on him in physical form like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, whom I love; I am well pleased with you.” Yeshua was also undergoing something else. The preparation of a groom for his bride! Like women the groom also was immersed in preparation for marriage, and here we have Yeshua being prepared for his bride before his death on the cross. A death with shattered the restrictions from the 'first' covenant in which Israel, his bride, whored herself out and was divorced from Elohim, in order to purify his bride again for the covenant to be renewed and made perfect. In essence, that Yeshua was prepared to be a groom again, after his divorce of Israel, to lead into his sacrifice to purify Israel. So when Israel, believers, take part in the immersion themselves we are making this a personal matter, becoming purified as the bride of the Messiah and showing that we are grafted into Israel.
May we all seek to be immersed as Elohim has commanded us through scripture. In his living water, washing our sins from us, dying to our old selves to be ressurected and purified as the bride of the Messiah. I leave you with Ephesians 4:4-6, There is one body and one Spirit, just as when you were called you were called to one hope. 5 And there is one Lord, one trust, one immersion, 6 and one God, the Father of all, who rules over all, works through all and is in all.
