Church Identity and Perpetuity Part 11

 The second mark of the apostolic church was the baptism, the immersion, of believers in water, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. –Hassell

The second way we characterize the church established by the Lord is the baptism itself. When believer presents himself to the church desiring to identify with Christ and serve in his body, they receive him on his credible confession of faith. A minister—one recognized by the church as called of God and given this authority by the laying on of hands by the presbytery—takes the candidate into the water, declaring the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, buries the candidate under the watery surface and raises him up again. This is the initiatory rite that permits the new member to all the privileges and fellowship in the church.

As far as I know, there is no debate that Christ was fully immersed and that this is the mode that was used by the apostles. However, this is a characteristic that sets the true church apart from the Roman Catholic Church because they decided that immersion wasn’t necessary. Most protestant denominations to this day follow the example of their mother and do not portray the burial and resurrection in the practice of baptism. We hold to this because of the word chosen to describe the rite in scripture and based on the symbolism that the New Testament text draws from the rite.

If you look up baptism in an English dictionary, you will see that refers to the Christian ceremony by applying water. But that is not the meaning of the word chosen by the apostles when establishing churches. The Greek word, baptizo, according to Strongs: from a derivative of bapto; to immerse, submerge; to make whelmed (i.e. fully wet). It means to cover fully with water or to dip something under. It is very disappointing that they failed to translate baptizo when they translated the Bible. It would make the practice of the official churches obviously out of step with scripture if people could read that we are commanded to be immersed or submerged. So, they transliterated the Greek word, thus inventing the English word baptize and defined it into something compatible with their ideas of expediency and decency. If the apostles had desired to convey the idea of applying water there were other Greek words that they knew about meaning to sprinkle, to pour, to wash, etc. but they used the word to dip purposefully.

The elements of the mode of baptism teach:

• The purifying power of the Spirit in regeneration (Col 2:12-14)
• The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ in redemption (Rom 6:4-5)
• All three persons in the Godhead identified saving us (Ti 3:5-7)
• That faith in the word makes the bride of Christ clean and holy before him (Eph 5:25-27)

Seeing that the mode of baptism given to us by the apostles demonstrates such a vast survey of the gospel, it is clear to me that it was intended by him that his church keep demonstrating this truth by this ceremony throughout the ages. If it was good enough for Christ and his disciples, I don’t want anything less.