Bedrock Ordinances Being Questions/Changed ~ Baptism

Baptism - Several changes were made in the ordinance of baptism.  A key to the ordinance can be found in the word itself.  Baptism comes from the Greek baptizo, which means to immerse or submerge.  John was baptizing people in Ǣnon[1] because there was much water there (John 3:2). Jesus was baptized in the Jordon River because there was much water there.  Paul wrote to the Romans that in baptism we are buried in the water as if in death and come forth out of the water reborn with new life (see Romans 6:3-4).  That baptism by complete immersion was practiced in the early Church is evidenced by the scriptures, the writings of the early Church leaders[2], and the existence in Rome today of church buildings dating to the first through third centuries which house large baptismal fonts for immersion baptism.

 

By the mid-third century, sprinkling had begun to take the place of immersion baptism in cases of physical infirmity.  (That decision was made by a single bishop in Carthage.) By the end of that century, sprinkling had become the preferred mode until immersion baptism finally all but disappeared for over a thousand years.  The simplicity of the baptismal ordinance was also buried under layers of added pomp and ceremony.  In some sects, it took three years to prepare for baptism and in others, one could only be baptized on Easter morning.  Even before Nicea, baptism became “an elaborate and mystical service” [3] unrecognizable from the ordinance described in the New Testament.

Today, many churches have completely eliminated the ordinance of baptism, despite New Testament documentation of its necessity: Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3:5)  These churches have replaced baptism as a necessity for entering into God' Church and Kingdom with an altar call and a verbal acceptance of Jesus as Savior.  While done sincerely and often life-changing, the mere acknowledgement of Christ is not a substitute for the baptism by water and spirit necessary for ultimate salvation.

I will talk more about baptism tomorrow on the Couch.

 [1] A spring near the Jordon River

[2] Justin Martyr, mid-second century is the earliest; Justin, First Apology, in Ancient Writers pp. 58, 65, 70; quoted in Peterson pp. 186-187.
[3] Peterson, p. 188

Text copyright January 2014, Gebara Education

Pictures:

Jesus being baptized from www.lds.org

Sprinkling baptism from www.vamortgagecenter.com

Altar call from www.flickr.com