PROPOSITION 34.
Baptism Is One of the Conditions of Salvation
Mark 1O:15, 10 And he (Jesus) said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you for the remission of sin.
Acts 10:47, 48 Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized, seeing they have received the Holy Spirit as well as we. And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
All Believers of the Gospel Were Baptized
Acts 2:41 Then they that gladly received his (Peter's) words were baptized.
Acts 18:8 And many of the Corinthians hearing, believed and were baptized.
Acts 8:12 And when they believed Philip * * * they were baptized, both men and women.
Acts 8:38 Phillip baptized the eunuch.
Acts 16:15 Lydia was baptized and her household.
Acts 16:33 The keeper of the prison was baptized, he and all his family straightway.
Acts 19:5 When they (twelve men at Ephesus) heard this, they were immediately baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Baptism Is for the Remission of Sins
Acts 2:38 Be baptized for the re mission of your sins.
Acts 22:16 Be baptized and wash away thy sins.
I Pet. 3:21 Baptism doth also now save us by the answer of a good conscience.
II Pet. 1:9 Purged from his old sins.
Eph. 5:26 The washing of water by the word.
Baptism Into Christ Requires Water
Acts 8:30 See here is water: what doth hinder me to be baptized?
Acts 10. 47 Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized?
John 3:23 John was baptizing in enon near to Salim, because there was much water there.
Baptism in Water Is to Be Buried or Immersed Therein
Rom. 6:3-5 We are buried with him by baptism into death * * * planted together in the likeness of his death.
CoL 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen him.
John 3:5 Born of (Greek, out of) water.
In other cases where the word baptism is used, it is with the idea of complete covering over with the thing or element it is related to.
Proof:
Acts 1:5; 2:2 Baptized with the Holy Spirit * * * it filled all the house where they were sitting.
I Cor. 10:2 Israel baptized in the cloud and in the sea.
Luke 12:50 Christ's baptism of suffering: it overwhelmed him.
What Good Will Water Do Me?
None in the sense of your inquiry. It is a question of conforming to the ordinances and appointments of God. He has appointed and commanded baptism. It is part of His will, and we know what Jesus has said: He that doeth the will of my Father, the same is my brother and sister and mother."
Much has been written on the meanings of the word baptize, while really there is no room for dispute. If religious people were not wedded to hoary tradition and unscriptural practices, the texts that speak of baptism as a burial and a birth would be sufficient to decide the meaning the inspired writers attached to the word. If it were seen that, in stead of going to heaven or hell at death we go to the grave, and that resurrection is necessary to a future life, and that baptism is a symbol of death, burial and resurrection, the idea of sprinkling would be seen in it’s real absurdity and immersion in it’s true and beautiful significance. Since, however, there has been so much play upon the word we will produce the evidence of scholars.
The Word Baptize Means to Immerse
Emphatic Diaglott---"Baptize, bapto, baptizo. Bopto occurs 3 times (Luke 16:24; John 13:26; Rev. 19:13), and is always translated dip in the common version. Baptizo occurs 79 times; of these 77 is not translated at all, but transferred; and twice (Mark 7:4; Luke 11:38) it is translated wash without regard to the manner in which it was done. All lexicographers translate it by the word to immerse, dip or plunge, not one by sprinkle or pour. No translator has ever to render these words by sprinkle or pour in any version. In the Septuagint version we have pour, dip and sprinkle occurring in Lev. 14:15, 16 He shall pour the oil, he shall dip his finger in it, and he shall sprinkle the oil. Here we have cheo, to pour; raino, to sprinkle, and bapto, to dip. Baptisma, baptismos. These words are never translated sprinkling or pouring in any version. Baptisrma occurs 22 times and baptismos 4 times."
Dr. Adam Clarke (Commentary) on Col. 2:12 "Buried with him by baptism, alluding to the immersion practiced in the case of adults, wherein the person appeared to be buried under the water as Christ was buried in the heart of the earth. His rising again the third day, and their emerging from the water was an emblem of the resurrection of the body, and in them of a total change of life."
Now, dear reader, you will see that it is not possible for us to enter the only name given whereby we can be saved in any way except by baptism. Baptism only will introduce a believer into the one name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Christ, having over come sin and gained the victory over death and the grave, became the manifestation of the Father by the Spirit, and therefore the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He is therefore the name of the Lord which is a strong tower, into which the righteous may enter and be saved (Prov. 18:10).
You will remember that we found that the Apostle Paul called the promises made to Abraham the gospel. The promises all centered in Christ; They were confined to Abraham’s seed, which Paul says is Christ and all who form part of His body. We are not the seed by nature. How may we become such? Note the answer: "For ye are all the children of God y faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on, Christ." * * * And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise (Gal. 3:26, 27, 29). If you are led by the Spirit, which we now have expressed in the word, to thus believe and obey, you will then have the one faith, without which it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6); which faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17); and then will you be a child of God and be able to cry, "Abba Father", the Spirit itself as now expressed in the word, bearing witness with our spirit (mind) that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:14-17). Then, dear reader, will your heart be filled with the love of God and your whole being be thrilled with the hope that will at last bloom into the glow of immortality, and in the words of the Apostle John you will exclaim, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we would be called the sons of God (I John 3:1).