One of the most destructive things we can be tricked into doing is to say things that have import that we know not of.
In a religious sense, one of those words is baptism. As such, the original usage - in Jewish religious ceremonies, will likely always color the meaning of the word - to include immersion, being set apart, and in fact some of the feasts were associated with the word. Likewise, if you come from a Christian background, you will likely assume it relates to either some degree of immersion (between a personal dunking to an impersonal sprinkling by a member of the clergy) to a physical representation of a spiritual event - the personal acceptance of the Holy Spirit.
If you research the word without a preconceived notion of what the word means - it paints a rather interesting picture.
So the question is - what does the word baptism mean to you?
2 comments:
Hi Jason, I finally got to your blog!
You got me to haul out my Greek-English lexicon for this one...
baptizo - verb:
1. of Jewish ritual washings (Mark 7:4; Lk 11:38
2. baptize (a) of John the Baptizer or (b) of Christian baptism (1) performed by Jesus' disciples; and as the Christian sacrament of initiation after Jesus' death. (2) in or with respect to the name of someone (Jesus). To be baptized into Christ is for Paul a sharing in Christ's death. The effect of baptism is to bring all those baptized into the body (1 Cor 12:13). (3) with the purpose given into the forgiveness/remission of sins (Acts 2:38).
3. figurative sense, though related to the idea of Christian baptism
a. typologically of Israel's passage through the Red Sea ( 1 Cor 10:2
b. baptism in the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8)
c. of martyrdom (Mark 10:38)
baptisma (noun - neuter gender)
1. of John's baptism (Matt 3:7, etc) of repentance for forgiveness of sins
2. of Christian baptism (Rom 6:4) the person baptized is, as it were, buried with Christ (Col 2:12; 1 Peter 3:21 as antitype)
3. baptism figurative of martyrdom (Mark 10:38)
baptismos (noun - masculine gender)
1. dipping, washing of dishes (Mark 7:4, 8). Of ritual washings (Heb 9:10). Teaching about baptisms (Heb 6:2)
bapto (verb)
1. dip (Ruth 2:14; Matt 26:23; Luke 16:24; Rev 19:13) [Just to be a troublemaker, note none of these likely means "immerse."]
2. dip into dye; dye
So, my take is that there were Jewish ritual origins, but Jesus' institution, and Paul's elaboration of it, is the authoritative definition of baptism. The relevant texts are
1. Matt 28:18-19, where Jesus commands His disciples to baptize and disciple the nations. There is a direct connection here to the covenant God makes with Abraham, when He promises to bless the nations through Abraham and His Seed, Christ (Gal 3:16). Baptism is NOT a brand new thing unrelated to the Old Testament.
2. 1 Peter 3:21 - as Noah was saved through water, and the world was judged through water, so we are metaphorically saved through water. See also John 3:5; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38.
3. Colossians 2:11-12 - Gentiles who believe in Jesus don't have to become Jews to be saved, or fully in, or anything. Paul assumes they are baptized when they believe, and says that baptism WAS their circumcision. "Putting off the body of sins" makes the point that baptism symbolizes the same thing OT circumcision did. Verse 12 explains the additional meaning baptism has beyond circ. The point to take away is NOT that God is doing something brand new in baptism, something different than he did in the Old Testament. No, the point is that He is repeating the same Abrahamic promise and beginning to fulfill it in new ways, which results in a new and different sign of the same Abrahamic promise (see Rom 4:13-16).
This belief leads covenant theologians to look to Genesis 17 to inform their view of baptism, where God has Abraham circumcise himself as an adult believer, and his 12 year old son Ishmael, who God knew did not possess faith. God also sets the pattern of circumcision at 8 days old (Gen 17:12) for all children of believers in these salvation promises.
So, circumcision was the OT sign of inclusion with the people to whom God makes covenant promises to father Abraham. Baptism is the NT sign of the same thing (1 Cor 12:13), though it is now clearer that that people is the body of Christ, the Seed of Abraham.
If this is true, we want to retain God's OT pattern for how/when to apply the sign, unless He tells us to change it in the NT. And God does NOT tell us to change. Some think He does b/c we see no instances of infant baptisms, but Acts deals exclusively with 1st generation believers; we see no mention of the situation of a believer with a child, so that is inconclusive. There are households baptized, but it's unclear if there are infants there and if they are baptized. We assume they would be, as Abraham was to circumcise every male in his household as an expression of his faith (Gen 17:10). Since there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, the believing NT father would also baptize his female children and servants.
Acts 2:38 - when baptism is first done on a large scale, Peter links it again to the promise to Abraham, pointing out the promise to the Jews present, and to their children, and to those far off (the nations who would be blessed by Abraham).
Romans 6:1-4 - read this in conjunction with 1 Cor 10:1-4, and we see that the point is the body you are identified with. Israel died with Moses in the Red Sea, and was raised to new life out of the water. They then went into the wildnerness and then to the mountain to receive the Law (note the same pattern in Jesus' life in Matt 3:13-5:1). Rom 6 may draw on immersion imagery, but not necessarily. The point is that baptism pictures our union with Christ (Gal 3:27) - that we die in His death.
As far as mode, the water represents the Spirit, Who was poured out upon the disciples from heaven above at Pentecost. According to this, we should have water come upon us from above, rather than to be dipped into a body of water under us. But Rom 6:3-4; Col 2:12 also gives possible immersion imagery.
Post a Comment