Baptism

Baptism is an important rite of Christianity around the world, and people still instinctively seek baptism as a response to conversion, even as did the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:36. The story of the first great baptizer, John, is well-known, and many evangelists today could trace their heritage to him. But did baptism seem as natural back then as it does now? Why was the cleansing action of baptism the default recourse for John the Baptizer in his efforts to teach repentance? And why did the Jews receive his baptism as a natural mode of response? My reading of John's gospel has raised these and other questions.

First, in John 3:25-26 we see that baptism was related (in the minds of the disciples and of the Jews) to the Jewish custom of purification. "There arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification. And they came to John and said to him, 'Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.'" Ceremonial purification was a form instituted by God and expanded by the Pharisees into an intricate series of rules. Thus the Jews would have had a specific process in mind when they spoke of purification. Is it possible that they thought of the baptisms of John simply as purifications?

Well, as uncleanliness was a incessant problem for the Jews, they would have been used to purifications occurring at all times and in all places. There would have been no difficulty in the fact that the purifications were performed by untutored men in the wilderness, since the only qualification in the Law seems to have been a state of cleanness on the part of the purifier (Numbers 19:18). And although no particular sins needed to be acknowledged before baptism (Matthew 3:14), this would not have been unusual for a people constantly in transition between cleanness and uncleanness (Job 1:5). In fact, it is likely that by Jesus' day the common people routinely failed to keep up with the washings required, leading to the need for a prophetical call to repentance such as John's.

What is the significance of this? If the Jews thought of baptism simply as a form of purification en masse, how does this influence our view of baptism? It certainly does not preclude its meaning something more to us. For one thing, baptism is once-for-all, while purification had to be performed every time a person became unclean (Numbers 19:20), which is indicative of a significant change in our relationship with God. Nonetheless, the connection between baptism and purification does suggest that we can look to the Old Testament for details on the outward ceremony of baptism. I would go so far as to say that the word 'baptism' likely meant simply 'the washing of purification' to the Jews before the New Testament authors took it and gave it a specific sacramental meaning.

What then did the baptism of the old covenant involve and express? In Numbers 8:7, 19:17-18, and Ezekiel 36:25 water is sprinkled as a means or sign of cleansing and recommitment to God. But the best case study is John 2:1-11, an occasion at the very end of the old covenant. There we see that "the Jewish custom of purification" required water, conveniently stored in 30 gallon drums, and filled from a nearby well. Too small for bathing and too large for sprinkling, these drums were probably used for ritual washings, where a jug would be dipped in and poured out over the hands or feet (Exodus 30:19). But at the wedding in John 2, the water-pots were empty! Symbolically, this suggests that the old traditions were replaced or fulfilled in Jesus. Practically, it means that either the laws of purification were not being observed, or that the many wedding guests had used up the available water. Either way, we see need for a new method, one that cleanses our insides, permanently, and not our outsides merely temporarily.

Does this correspond to the description of baptism under the new covenant? There are ten examples of water baptism in Acts: of Jews in Acts 2:1-41; Samaritans in Acts 8:5-12; Simon in Acts 8:13; an Ethiopian in Acts 8:26-40; Saul in Acts 9:1-18/22:1-16; Cornelius in Acts 10:1-11:18; Lydia in Acts 16:14-15; the jailer in Acts 16:25-34; the Corinthians in Acts 18:8; and the Ephesians in Acts 19:1-7. In each case, baptism is a convert's response in faith to the preaching of the gospel. Water is not always mentioned explicitly, but this is always clearly a physical baptism. The mode is never described, although we can say that in some cases immersion is less probable (the 3,000 Jews, Acts 2:41; the jailer and his family at midnight, Acts 16:33) than in others (the Ethiopian eunuch, Acts 8:36). Sometimes individuals were baptized, and sometimes entire households when the head was converted. These examples leave open the possibility of a lot of variability in the mode of baptism.

To complicate the matter further, the word 'baptism' is used in about fourteen different ways in the Bible: Noahaic baptism (Gen 6:13; 1 Pet 3:20-21); baptism unto Moses (Ex 14:29; 1 Cor 10:2); Israel’s ceremonial cleansings (Num 19:13; Lev 11:25; Ex 19:14; Ex 30:17-21; Heb 9:10); Levitical priesthood baptisms (Ex 29:4; Lev 8:6; Num 8:7); traditional Jewish cleansings (Matt 15:12; Mark 7:19; Luke 11:38); John’s baptism (Matt 3:56; Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3; John 1:31; Luke 7:29; Acts 10:37); Jesus’ baptism by John (Matt 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-10); baptism with fire (Isa 4:4; Mal 3:2-3; Matt 3:11; Luke 3:16); Jesus’ baptism unto death (Matt 20:22-23; Mark 10:38-39; Luke 12:50); water baptism (Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16; Matt 28:19; Acts 22:16; Ez 36:25); Spirit baptism (Isa 44:3; Matt 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 24:49; Acts 2:17-18; Acts 8:15-17; Acts 11:16; Titus 3:5); Gentile baptism (Acts 10:45-48); baptism for the dead (1 Cor 15:29); and baptism into Christ (John 13:8; 1 Cor 12:13; Eph 4:5; Col 2:12; Gal 3:27; Rom 6:3-4). Obviously all of these cannot be treated as the same physical action. How then can we distinguish them?

The primary distinction should be between the instances when baptism is commanded, and the instances when baptism is described as part of salvation. The baptism that saves us can never be an outward work, but only an appeal to God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21). On the other hand, there certainly is a baptism which is commanded in the New Testament. But in those cases it is varyingly coupled with evangelism (Matthew 28:19), repentance (Acts 2:38), and belief (Mark 16:16). Together, these passages definitely teach Christians to be baptized, but they do not clearly teach at what time. On the other hand, the baptism into Christ (1 Cor 12:13; Col 2:12) seems to be a necessary and certain part of salvation, but it is never commanded, but promised to the saved. Finally, there is a baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is neither required of nor guaranteed to Christians, but which is a gift of God as a response to prayer (Acts 2:17-18; Acts 8:15-17).

Most of the fourteen possible usages of 'baptism' above can be fit into one of these three categories. (I say most because I don't know what 'baptism for the dead' even means). Particularly, the physical baptisms described above seem to be a natural part of or response to conversion, as opposed to a necessary step in conversion. In summary, there seems to be a lot we are not told about water baptism. We do not know what it looks like (sprinkling, pouring, or immersion?). We do not know when it is to occur (with hearing, with repentance, or with belief?). We do not know exactly who it is to be performed on (individuals or households?). We do not even know which baptism is that which is commanded by God (although process of elimination suggests it is water baptism). We can make deductions and persuasive arguments for each of these, but we must not miss the main point:

We are to be baptized in Jesus' name because Jesus was baptized for us. He did not require cleansing from sin; he did not deserve the punishment of death. But he underwent it because we did require it, and we faced inevitable death as a consequence. He did it all for us ahead of time. Each of our sins was washed away in his blood, and in his death our deadliness died. ³"Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? ⁴Therefore we have been 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 ... and no longer be slaves to sin (Romans 6:3-4, 6)."