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The Biblical Doctrine Of Believers’ Baptism by Rickard Leavitt Sawyer ywlnb yra ThM, ThD, DMin, MBA, CNHP |
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Lesson One:
The Types or Kinds of Baptism in Scripture
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
“Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.”[1]
“Theologically, baptism may be defined as an act of association or identification with someone, some group, some message, or some event. … Christian baptism means identification with the message of the Gospel, the person of the Savior, and the group of believers.”[2]
The Mention of Baptism
Biblical doctrine makes a distinction between five kinds of baptisms that are addressed in the Sacred Text. These are:
1. the ceremonial washings of objects under the tradition of the Pharisees;
2. the self-baptism (mikvah or tevilah) of proselytes (converts) to Judaism;
3. the baptism of Yochanan[3] the Baptizer;
4. the baptism of Ruach HaKodesh[4] (the Holy Spirit); or “real” baptism, and
5. the ceremonial immersion (mikvah or tevilah) of Believers, or “ritual” baptism.
Only the last of these is the subject of this paper, though the others will be mentioned briefly as point of identification or as they relate to Believers’ ritual baptism.
Ceremonial Washings
According to the tradition of the Pharisees, objects used for worship, pots and dishes used around the home, and, of course, the hands of the faithful Jew were required to be put through frequent and complex ceremonies of washings in order for them to be considered kasher (or kosher), or ceremonially clean and acceptable for use. Religious items could be used only for their designated purpose, and household pots could only be used for certain kinds of foods. For example, a pot that was used to contain any type of dairy product could not be also used for meat. And before the faithful could eat any food, their hands must first be washed in the prescribed manner following a rather complex ceremony. During this ceremony, if any water came into contact with any [ceremonially] “unclean” portion of the arms or body and then ran down into the [ceremonially] “clean” portion of the hands, the hands were now “unclean” and the ceremony had to be started from the beginning. It was this ceremonial cleansing that the Pharisees were referring to when they rebuked the Lord and His talmidim (disciples) for eating with unclean hands (Mark 7:1-5; Luke 11:37-39).
Proselyte Immersion (Mikvah)
When a Gentile (a non-Jew) became a convert to Judaism it was necessary for a man to be circumcised as a sign of the covenant, and for both men and women to be ceremonially immersed in “living water.” This tradition, called mikvah after the pool of water in which it performed, continues to the present in both the Orthodox and Conservative Jewish traditions.[5]
“During the period of the Second Temple [c. 537-63 B.C.] the regulations regarding conversion became fully formalized. … The Rabbis fashioned the laws of conversion after the regulations of Torah [the Law given to Moses by YHWH at Sinai] relating to purification after occurrences that render a person ritually unclean. These are outlined in Leviticus 15. An offering had to be brought. A male wishing to bring such an offering had to be circumcised. Both male and female had to undergo immersion as an act of cleansing. …
“Orthodoxy demands circumcision for males, by a Mohel [a person who has been specifically trained in the laws and technique of Milah, or circumcision] and in the presence of a rabbinical court of three. … Both males and females have to undergo submersion in a mikvah [a special pool filled with “living water,” which must be in contact with the groundwater of a stream or rainwater caught in a cistern; immersion in a stream or ocean is also acceptable], also in the presence of a rabbinical court. If it is a woman, the rabbis wait until she is full submerged. Her companion then indicates the fact and the rabbis quickly verify it. Some hold that it is sufficient for the rabbis to be in an anteroom and listen to the ripple of the water.
“On emerging from the water, the convert speaks the blessing: Barukh atta Adonai Elohenu Melekh ha-Olam vetzuvanu al ha-Tevilah. Blessed are You, Lord our
G-d , Ruler of the universe, He who has commanded us concerning immersion.”[6]
Yochanan’s Mikvah
While proselyte mikvah provided
a ritual cleansing for those who had been born “unclean” (i.e., not
Jews), the mikvah of Yochanan the Baptizer was specifically a mikvah of
“repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3;
Acts 13:24; 19:4) and an identification with his message that “the Kingdom
of
“A direct link is established through Jesus’ own baptism by John; some of Jesus’ disciples had almost certainly been baptized by John (John 1:35-42); Jesus, or some of his disciples, seems to have continued John’s practice at the beginning of Jesus’ own ministry (John 3:22-26; but 4:1-2); and in the cases of the disciples at Pentecost and of Apollos, it was evidently not thought necessary to supplement their Johannine baptism by baptism in the name of Jesus (Acts 2; 18:24-28).”[7]
That immersion was the form of Yochanan’s baptism is further supported by the Revelator’s statement that Yochanan was baptizing “in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there” (John 3:23), the “much water” being necessary both to effect full immersion that was required by Torah and also to fulfill the requirements of “living water” for the mikvah.
Yeshua’s Mikvah by Yochanan
A brief note on Yeshua’s[8]
(Jesus’) mikvah by Yochanan is in order. Since Yeshua was (and eternally is)
Yeshua said that He had not come to do away with Torah (the Law), but rather that Torah might be fulfilled (Matt. 5:17). Torah required that before a man could enter the priestly service (which occurred at age 30) he must first be ceremonially washed by immersion (undergo mikvah) in “living” water, representing cleansing for service, and anointed with oil, representative of the presence of Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit) (Exod. 29:4, 7; Lev. 8:6, 12). When Yochanan performed Yeshua’s mikvah, Torah concerning the mikvah for priestly service was fulfilled (Matt. 3:15); when Ruach HaKodesh descended at that mikvah (Matt. 3:16-17), the anointing was fulfilled not in type, as with earthly priests, but in the reality which that type represented.
It is of significant interest
that when the priesthood was first established Aharon (Aaron), the first
High Priest, and his sons were washed, or “baptized,” for their priesthood
by the only prophet of
It is also of interest, further supporting the mode of Yochanan’s baptism, that at the time of Mashiach[9] the “washing” for the priesthood was that of ha-Tevilah in a Mikvah, which, as we have seen immediately above, is identified by Judaism as immersion.
Ruach HaKodesh Baptism
An adequate discussion of “Ruach Ha Kodesh Baptism” (or “Holy Spirit Baptism”) is far beyond the scope of this brief paper. In summary, however, there are two simultaneous events which occur at the moment of salvation which may be understood as the baptism of Ruach HaKodesh (“Holy Spirit baptism” or “the baptism of the Holy Spirit”), neither one of which has anything whatsoever to do with any of the so-called “sign gifts” or other supernatural manifestations, as claimed by those in the Charismatic movement of Christianity.
The Mikvah of (or by) Ruach HaKodesh
In the first event (first in terms of discussion, not in terms of occurrence, since both occur simultaneously) the baptizing Agent (the Person who performs the mikvah) is Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit) and the medium of baptism (that into which the baptism occurs) is Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ). Most Christians are familiar with the term “in Christ” (Rom. 8:1; 2 Cor. 5:17; Col. 1:2; 1 Thess. 2:14; 4:16; 1 Pet. 5:14 et al.), but the author has met very few who have been able to effectively articulate what it means for a believer to be “in Christ.”
The baptism of Ruach HaKodesh (i.e., the Holy Spirit’s baptism) is to be rightly understood as “that operation by which the individual believer is brought into organic union with Christ.”[10]
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This operation
is itself the very process of salvation, which occurs when,
immediately upon coming to a saving faith in Yeshua HaMashiach as the Unique
Son of
“To be baptized into Christ’s Body is to come under the power and Headship of Christ; it is to be joined unto the Lord, to be identified with Him, to partake of what He is and what He has done-not for a moment, but unalterably.”[13] This is the real and true baptism, of which the ritual mikvah (water baptism) is only a symbol or testimony.
The Mikvah with (or in) Ruach HaKodesh
In the second event (which occurs simultaneously with the first), the Mikvah (Baptism) in or with Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit), the baptizing Agent is Yeshua HaMashiach and the medium of baptism is Ruach HaKodesh. There are six passages of Scripture which speak to this experience (Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 1:5; 11:6) in which, also simultaneous with the moment of salvation, by the authority of Yeshua HaMashiach, Ruach HaKodesh is given fully, completely, and irrevocably to all those who believe, “and to come under the Spirit’s power and influence, as every Christian does when he believes, is to have been baptized by that influence. … This gift is the new birthright and, being possessed by all, indicates that all who are saved are under the power of the Holy spirit, which fact is, according to the strict meaning of the word baptizw [baptizo], a baptism”[14] (explained in Lesson 2).
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Notes: (Click on the note number to return to the text.)
[1] The Baptist Faith and Message, Article VII. The Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, Nashville, 1963.
[2] Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology, p. 422, Victor Books, Wheaton, IL, 1986.
[3] “Yochanan” is the Hebrew form of the
Baptizer’s name, and it is the name that Gabriel instructed his father to
give him. It is therefore the name by which this author will refer to him.
As nearly all of the individuals in the Bible are Jewish, the author strives
to use the Hebraic rather than the Hellenistic (Greek) form of Biblical
names, just has he would hope that others would use his own name correctly
rather than using some foreign version of his name. It is the author’s
conviction that
[4] Ruach HaKodesh the Hebrew Name for the
Second Person of the
[5] It is also currently (August 2000) being given serious consideration for adoption by the Messianic Jewish Movement.
[6] Rabbi Leo Trepp. The Complete Book of Jewish Observance. New York: Behrman House, 1980, pp. 248-252.
[7] J.D.G. Dunn. “Baptism,” The Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Wheaton: Tyndale, 1980, pp. 172-174.
[8] Yeshua is the Hebrew word for “salvation” — it is the name that Gabriel instructed His mother Miriam to name Him, and it is the name by which He was addressed by all His friends and family. It is therefore proper that those who would call Him “Friend” should use His given Name both when speaking to Him and when referring to Him.
[9] Mashiach is the Hebrew word for “anointed,” and is commonly translated into English as Messiah. The Greek translation is “Christos,” which has been Anglicized as “Christ.” As Biblical Hebrew does not use vowels, there are many variations in the phonetic spelling.
[10] Lewis Sperry Chafer. Systematic Theology. Dallas: Dallas Seminary Press, 1975, v. 3, p. 337.
[11] The word “church” is a very unfortunate
and totally false translation of the Greek work ecclesia, which is in
turn a valid translation of the Hebrew word miqra, both of which
literally mean “called out” or “called out ones.” There is absolutely no
linguistic reason for either the word ecclesia or the word miqra
to be translated into English as “church.” If an appropriate “shorthand”
word were to be used, probably the most appropriate term would be “the
Elect” — which is precisely the term used both in the Hebrew Scriptures (the
so-called “Old Testament”) and in the Greek Scriptures (the so-called “New
Testament”) for those individuals to whom the traditional Christian Church
refers as “Old Testament Saints” as well as for those individuals to whom
the traditional Christian Church refers as “New Testament Saints.” A careful
search of the Bible will reveal that
[12] Chafer, op. cit., v. 6, p. 142.
[13] Ibid., v. 6, p. 140.
Copyright ©1987-2001
http://familybible.org/Teaching/Theology/Baptism/Baptism1.htm
Last Revised
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
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