@Eternally Grateful It means, dip.....
BAPTISM. The application of water as a rite of purification or initiation; a Christian
sacrament. See Sacraments.
The word baptism is the English form of the Gk. baptismos. The verb from which
this noun is derived—baptizo—is held by some scholars to mean “to dip, immerse.”
But this meaning is held by others to be not the most exact or common but rather a
meaning that is secondary or derived. By the latter it is claimed that all the term
necessarily implies is that the element employed in baptism is in close contact with
the person or object baptized. The Gk. prepositions en and eis have played a
prominent part in discussions respecting the mode of baptism.
The scope of this article is limited mainly to Christian baptism, but as preliminary
to this brief mention is made of Jewish baptism, John’s baptism, the baptism of Jesus,
and the baptism of Christ’s disciples:
Jewish Baptism. Baptisms, or ceremonial purifications, were common among the
Jews. Not only priests and other persons but also clothing, utensils, and articles of
furniture were thus ceremonially cleansed (Lev. 8:6; Ex. 19:10–14; Mark 7:3–4; Heb.
9:10).
John’s Baptism. The baptism of John was not Christian, but Jewish. It was,
however, especially a baptism “for repentance.” The only faith that it expressed concerning Christ was that His coming was close at hand. Those who confessed and
repented of their sins and were baptized by John were thus obedient to his call to
“make ready the way of the Lord” (Matt. 3:3).
Because the disciples Paul met at Ephesus (Acts 19:1–7) were “acquainted only
with the baptism of John” (18:25), i.e., were ignorant of the Christian message and the
baptism of the Holy Spirit, save as a prophesied event (19:4), they did not “receive the
Holy Spirit, when [they] believed” (19:2). They had heard only John’s message and
received only John’s baptism, which were introductory and merely preparatory. Faith
in them could not bring the free gift of the Holy Spirit. The moment they heard and
believed the new message of a crucified, risen, and ascended Savior, they received the
blessing of that message—the gift of the Holy Spirit, which included His baptizing
ministry.
Baptism of Jesus. The baptism that Jesus received from John was unique in its
significance and purpose. It could not be like that which John administered to others,
for Jesus did not make confession; He had no occasion to repent. Neither was it
Christian baptism, the significance of which we shall consider later. Jesus Himself
declared the main purpose and meaning of this event in His words “It is fitting for us
to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15). It was an act of ceremonial righteousness
appropriate to His public entrance upon His mission as the Christ, which included His
threefold office of Prophet, Priest, and King, especially the second, for the essence of
His redemptive work lies in His consecration as a Priest, the Great High Priest. In this
office He offered not “the blood of goats and bulls,” but Himself to put away sin
(Heb. 9:13–26). It is this consecration to His redemptive priesthood that comes into
clearest view in His baptism in the Jordan. By “fulfilling all righteousness” our Lord
meant the righteousness of obedience to the Mosaic law. The Levitical law required
all priests to be consecrated when they began to be about thirty years of age (Num.
4:3; Luke 3:23). The consecration was twofold—first the washing (baptism), then the
anointing (Ex. 29:4–7; Lev. 8:6–36). When John on the Jordan’s bank “washed”
(baptized) Jesus, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit came upon Him. This
was the priestly anointing of Him who was not only a Priest by divine appointment
but an eternal Priest (Ps. 110:4) who was thus divinely consecrated for the work of
redemption (Matt. 3:16; Acts 4:27; 10:38).
Baptism of Christ’s Disciples.(John 4:1–2). The office of Christ was
and is to baptize with the Holy Spirit. His disciples administered the symbolical
baptism, He that which is real (Matt. 3:11).
Christian Baptism. This may be considered under two heads: Baptist and non
Baptist views.
Baptist Views. Christian baptism is
the immersion of a believer in water as a sign
of his previous entrance into the communion of Christ’s death, burial, and
resurrection.
In other words, baptism is a token of the (already) regenerated soul’s union with
Christ.
Obligation. Baptism is an ordinance instituted by Christ (Matt. 28:19; Mark
16:16), practiced by the apostles (Acts 2:38), submitted to by members of NT
churches (Rom. 6:3–5; Col. 2:11–12), and subsequently practiced as a rite in Christian
churches. No church hierarchy has the right to modify or dispense with this command
of Christ because only the local church (no other visible church of Christ) is known in
the NT, and it is purely an executive, not a legislative body. Significance. Symbolizing regeneration through union with Christ, baptism
portrays not only Christ’s death and resurrection and their purpose in atoning for sin
in delivering sinners from sin’s penalty and power, but also betokens the
accomplishment of that purpose in the person baptized (Rom. 6:3–5; Gal. 3:27; Col.
3:3). By that external rite the believer professes his death to sin and resurrection to
spiritual life. He also gives witness to the method by which God’s purpose has been
wrought for him, namely, by union with Christ. The rite sets forth the fact that the
believer has received Christ and in faith given himself to Him (Rom. 6:5; Col. 2:12).
Proper Subjects of Baptism. Only those who give credible evidence of
regeneration, and who thus by faith have entered into the communion of Christ’s
death and resurrection, are considered proper candidates for the rite. Biblical authority
for this view is given in the command of Christ that those are to be baptized who have
previously been made disciples (Matt. 28:19; Acts 2:41), or previously repented and
believed (2:37–38; 8:12; 18:8). It is also proved from the nature of the church as a
company of regenerated believers (John 3:5; Rom. 6:13) and the symbolism of the
ordinance itself (Acts 10:47; Rom. 6:2–5; Gal. 3:26–27).
Since it is intended only for
the regenerate, baptism can never be the means of regeneration. It is the appointed
sign, but never the condition, of forgiveness of sins.
Mode. This is immersion only as confirmed from the meaning of the original Gk.
word baptizo in Greek writers and church Fathers, and in the NT.
Immersion was a
doctrine and practice of the Greek church.
Administration. Many Baptists, and others practicing believer’s baptism, require
the rite to be performed properly as a prerequisite to membership in the local church
and participation in the Lord’s Supper.
Non-Baptist Views. The views of other Christian groups on the subject of baptism
vary from those like most Quakers, who deny the present-day validity of the rite at all,
to Roman Catholics and others who attach to it regenerating efficacy.
Obligation. Most Christians believe that the rite, in one form or another, for one
purpose or another, is permanently obligatory and rests upon Christ’s command
(Matt. 28:19) and the practice of the early church.
Significance. The Roman Catholic and the Greek Orthodox churches, most
Lutheran bodies, and many in the Church of England and the Protestant Episcopal
church hold that baptism is the direct instrument of regeneration. Roman Catholics
subscribe so strongly to this view that, accordingly, they also hold that all adults or
infants who die unbaptized are excluded from heaven. Many evangelical churches
believe that baptism is not only the rite of initiation into the church of Christ but a
sign and seal of divine grace symbolizing spiritual cleansing or purification (Acts
22:16; Rom. 6:4–11; Titus 3:5). For example, the Westminster Confession, art. 28,
says: “Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, not
only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible Church, but also
to be unto him a sign and seal of the covenant of grace of his ingrafting into Christ, of
regeneration, of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God through Jesus Christ,
to walk in newness of life; which sacrament is, by Christ’s own appointment, to be
continued in His Church until the end of the world.” As circumcision was the sign and
seal of the Abrahamic covenant and practiced under the Mosaic covenant, so baptism
is construed as the sign and seal of the New Covenant of the gospel. Baptism, under
the new economy, takes the place of circumcision under the old (Col. 2:10–12).
Proper Subjects of Baptism. In contrast to those holding Baptist views that
exclude all except adult believers from the rite, many believe it should be
administered to children who have believing parents or sponsors to care for their Christian nurture. This is contended to be scriptural since Paul expressly teaches that
believers in Christ are under the gracious provisions of the covenant that God made
with Abraham (Gal. 3:15–29). Under the Abrahamic covenant circumcision was
administered to children as a sign of their participation in the relation in which their
parents stood to God. It is contended that children of Christian parentage have a
similar right to the ordinance, which is construed as having replaced circumcision.
Mode. Non-Baptists deny that immersion is the only valid mode of baptism and
admit sprinkling, pouring, and immersion as legitimate. All that is held essential is the
application of water “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost.”