Matthew 3:5, 6 (quoted); Mark 1:4, 5; Luke 3:3- "Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins."
"The baptism of John was not Christian, but Jewish. It was a baptism for (because of) repentance. "Eis" in Greek can mean "because of" and should be used here as the context of Bible teaching so indicates. - Wuest's Word Studies, Vol 1, p. 18. The only faith that it expressed concerning Christ was that His coming was close at hand. They who confessed and repented of their sins and were baptized by John were thus obedient to his call to "prepare the way of the Lord"- John 1:25-31; Mark 1:3. Because the disciples whom Paul met at Ephesus (Acts 19:1-7) knew no baptism but John's, they were ignorant of the Christian message and the baptism of the Holy Spirit, except as a prophesied event (Acts 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 blessings of that message- the gift of the Holy Spirit, which included His baptizing ministry."1
"The baptism which 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 shall be discussed later. Jesus Himself declared the main purpose and meaning of this event in His words, "This way it is fitting to fulfill all righteousness." 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. The essence of His redemptive work is in His consecration as a Priest (Hebrews 9:24-26). It is this consecration to His redemptive priesthood that comes into clearest view in His baptism by John. 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 30 years old (Numbers 4:3; Luke 3:23). The consecration was two-fold: washing (baptism) and anointing (Exodus 29:4-7; Leviticus 8:6-36). Both were fulfilled in Christ- Matthew 3:16, Acts 4:27."1
The Great Commission was the command that Jesus gave to His disciples to make disciples of all nations. One command was to baptize "them". The "them" in this command refers back to disciples which indicates that those being baptized must have received some degree of instruction in the faith previously, since the disciples being commissioned would have already "made" disciples.
Often, metaphors are used throughout the Bible to add a degree of clarity or imagery to convey a message. In this instance, the baptism is referring to that which Jesus is set apart for. Combined with the mention of the cup he drinks, this implies His coming suffering (see Mark 14:36)
This verse is one of the major ones used in support of baptism being necessary for salvation. However, the emphasis is on the second part. Note that it does not say that whoever disbelieved and is not baptized shall be condemned. In this sense, it is true that whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved. Whoever believes and keeps any of the other laws mentioned shall be saved too. But according to the second part of this verse, keeping laws or commands is not reflective of a person's salvation. The emphasis is on the verb "believe" as it is the only one repeated in both parts of this verse. Also, it is highly debatable whether verses 9-20 are authentic and truly belong in the Bible.
This is so because Jesus was talking about John and his baptism, how he and his baptism were to prepare the way for the messiah, and through His words and miracles, Jesus proclaimed Himself the messiah that John had prepared the way for.
"A metaphor is the use of a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea in place of another by way of suggesting a likeness or analogy between them. In the passage above, our Lord is speaking of His sufferings in connection with the Cross. He speaks of them as a baptism. The words were uttered while He was on His way to Jerusalem to be crucified. John the Baptist had announced His coming and had baptized the multitudes. Our Lord's disciples had been baptizing during the 3 years of His ministry. The words "baptizo" and "baptisma" which are used by Mark and Luke, had by that time become the technical and common Greek words used to describe the rite administered by John and our Lord's disciples. Or Lord used the rite of baptism as a metaphor to speak of His coming sufferings. Just as a convert was plunged into the baptismal waters, He was about to be plunged into His sufferings. Just as the person would come up out of the waters, so He would be freed from His sufferings and arise from the dead."1
This is a passage that does not have anything to do with baptism. The womb is filled with water (thus the phrase "break water" at the time of pregnancy), and such is what is meant by born of water. To become born of the Spirit is to receive the Holy Spirit at the point of conversion (Ephesians 1:13, 14; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
Given the context of this passage with mention of John the Baptist baptizing as well as Jesus, this is another illustration of a preparatory baptism to make way for the Savior.
Jesus's disciples often went ahead of Him do announce His coming. In this particular instance, the disciples baptized certain repentant individuals to prepare the coming of Jesus from place to place.
In this passage, Jesus alludes to the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit will enter into them. This baptism that Jesus describes is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. "This momentous spiritual operation is set forth in the New Testament as the basis of all the believer's positions and possessions "in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3; Colossians 2:10; 3:1-4). The operation is prophetic in the Gospels (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8); historic in the Acts (1:5); and doctrinal in the Epistles (1 Corinthians 12:13; Romans 6:3,4; Galatians 3:26,27; Colossians 2:9-12; Ephesians 4:5). The Spirit's baptizing work, placing the believer "in Christ" occurring initially at Pentecost, when He baptized believing Jews "into Christ". In Acts 8, Samaritans were so baptized for their first time. In Acts 10, Gentiles likewise were so baptized. Now according to the clear teachings of the Epistles, every believer is baptized by the Spirit into Christ, the moment he/she is regenerated."1
The only significance of baptism in this passage is that it is used as a reference point- a starting point since John baptized before the coming of Christ.
As in previous verses, it is important to read this verse with a clear understanding of the context. The men who heard Peter's message were the men of Israel who witnessed the Pentecost and still didn't believe. After Peter's sermon, they did believe and so the next steps would be to repent and to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Again the word "for" here is the Greek word "eis" which is literally translated "because of". They accepted Peter's message and now it was time for them to repent and be baptized because of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. Now, can baptism be essential for repentance? Since repentance is simply a changing of the mind, logically baptism would have nothing to do with repentance, except as a response to repentance as seen in Matthew 3:11 which uses the same english word "for" for the same Greek word "eis" (the KJV uses "unto"). If baptism was essential to obtain repentance, then we'd have a contradiction here with Acts 2:38 and elsewhere. A helpful Bible study entitled "Is Water Baptism Essential for Salvation?" goes into greater detail about this verse and can be found here at www.geocities.com/campuschristians_tx/studies/baptismessen.doc.
These men were baptized after they heard and accepted Peter's words and thus they were being identified as being with Peter and the other disciples as followers of Christ.
In verses 12 and 13, men who were believing the gospel were being baptized after accepting it, as seen in 2:40, 41. In verses 15 and 16, the Samaritans were receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit for the first time.
This passage tells us two things about Christian water baptism. First it tells us that it is done after a person believes in Christ and the message of the gospel. Second it says "down into the water" and "up out of the water" which seems to indicate immersion as the proper method for water baptism.
Again, Saul had been baptized after believing and being filled with the Holy Spirit.
First, click here and then click here to learn more about speaking with tongues. Here, a clear distinction is made between baptism of the Holy Spirit and Christian water baptism. The people described here had already received the Holy Spirit and were just now being baptized with water.
Lydia was already worshipping God when she was baptized, so she obviously had already heard the gospel message. As for her family, it is logical to assume that her family must have had some exposure to the gospel of Lydia was worshipping God.
There are a few good points from this passage. First, Paul and Silas made it clear that salvation comes from belief in Jesus and not from baptism. Also, when it mentions the household, from the context in verse 32 that they meant that the whole household must believe in the Lord Jesus for all of them to be saved. They were baptized after accepting the message spoken.
Again, they were being baptized after believing.
This verse makes a strong distinction between John's baptism and Christian water baptism, that John's was a baptism to prepare for the coming of Christ and that Christian baptism is baptism in the name of Jesus."
At first glance, this verse might mistakenly be interpreted to mean that baptism itself washes away sins. However, note the last phrase of this verse. It is attached to the prior phrase "and wash away your sins." A person washes away their sins by calling on the name of Christ and not through baptism.
The baptism mentioned here is symbolic of our placement with Christ Jesus. Those of us who associate with Him are also associated with His death. This also shows the symbolism of Christian water baptism. We walk in the newness of life because Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father.
Here, Paul is expressing his frustration that the whole idea of baptism was being misunderstood. People were claiming to be baptized in the name of whoever was baptizing them rather than in the name of Jesus Christ. Keep in mind that the Corinthian church was the most carnal, worldly church at this time and so ignorance was bound to follow. Also, Paul makes it very clear that preaching the gospel was far more important than baptizing. See also Ephesians 4:4-6. Also note the clear distinction between the gospel and baptism, indicating that baptism is not a part of the gospel (see also 15:3-5).
"'The cloud' shading and guiding the Israelites from above and 'the sea' making a path for them through the midst and drowning their enemies behind them were glorious signs to 'our fathers' of God's salvation; together they formed a washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5), inaugurating the national life; is it trod the miraculous path between upper and neter waters, Israel was born into its Divine estate. Thus, 'they all received their baptism into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,' since in this act they committed themselves to the guidance of Moses, entering through him into the acknowledged fellowship with God."1
Though all who believe in Christ are different in character and ability, we are nonetheless one single body of believers in Christ (as seen in Ephesians 4:11-13). As such, we were all baptized into this one body of believers through the name of Jesus Christ. It doesn't matter our race or background.
"Not enough information is given here for us to really know what is meant, but to which the Corinthians obviously understood/knew3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11. Possibly, some believers who hadn't been baptized yet were motivated to boldness and got baptized because they saw or heard about other believers being martyred. This is possibly inferred in vss. 30-32 and 7:26, 29)"2.
So long as we all believe in the same gospel and have been baptized into the same Christ, we are all Christians regardless of race, color, gender, or nationality.
This passage tells us that there is only one way and that is through the one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father. This continues along the idea started in 1 Corinthians 1:13-17. We are to be baptized into one Lord and God, our Lord Jesus Christ, and into one hope, the gospel of our salvation.
Those who claim this passage proves that salvation comes through baptism often miss the first and very last part. It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ that cleanses and saves us. Knowing that in the past, the word "baptism" could be a symbolic word, symbolizing our placement with whom we are baptized into, the verse tells us that our association with Jesus Christ is what saves us, since Christ's sacrifice saves us.
Bibliography
1. "Eight Different Baptisms in the Bible" by the Campus Christians
2. "1 Corinthians" by D. Dosedlo
3. The Bible Knowledge Commentary, NT, by Drs. J. Walvoord and
R. Zuck
4. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, by Drs. C. Pheiffer and E.
Harrison
5. Commentary on the Whole Bible, by Drs. R. Jamieson, A. Fausset,
and D. Brown
6. Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, vol. 3, by
M. Henry
7. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries- The First Epistle of Paul
to the Corinthians, by Dr. L. Morris
7. 1 & 2 Corinthians & Ephesians, By Dr. C. Hodge
9. Word Pictures in the New Testament, vol. 4, by Dr. A. T.
Robertson
10. Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 2, by Dr. M. R.
Vincent
11. Called to be Saints- An Exposition of 1 Corinthians, by
Dr. R. Gromacki
For more information on this issue, I reccommend the following Bible studies:
Is Water Baptism Essential for Salvation?
Eight Different Baptisms in the Bible