Matthew 3:1-6 recorded the first reference to baptism in the New Testament. Baptism is perhaps the most contentious doctrine within Christianity. There are some who baptize infants and some who only baptize believers. Some practice baptism by sprinkling and others do baptism by immersion. One denomination believes baptism is necessary for salvation and another treats baptism as merely a public display of faith.
There are in fact passages that speak of baptism for repentance and forgiveness. Mark 1:4 spoke of John the Baptist’s baptism in these terms. Peter affirmed John’s baptism in Acts 2:38. In both cases, baptism was necessary for forgiveness of sins. Therefore, churches that teach this doctrine have a Scriptural basis for their position.
If baptism is spoken of in such plain terms, why is there a debate amongst Bible believers? Why do we not teach baptism being necessary for forgiveness? This all goes back to passages concerning salvation. Ephesians 2:8, Romans 3:22, and Romans 5:1 are just a few verses that teach salvation by faith and not by works. It would appear that both camps have their challenges.
Churches that reject baptism for salvation will sometimes argue that John and Peter referred to a spiritual baptism. This sounds nice, but is indefensible from the text. It is clear from the context that both John and Pete spoke of a water baptism. At first, it may seem possible to argue that Peter’s baptism was of the Holy Ghost. However, in Acts chapter 8, it was clear the Jewish people were practicing water baptism.
Therefore, in order to solve this issue, we need to take a close look at the origins of baptism. Contrary to popular belief, John the Baptist did not invent baptism. Rather, it was a common practice among the Jewish people to wash themselves in order to present themselves clean before God. There were specific pools throughout Jerusalem, called mikvahs, for this exact purpose.
Although the specific term “baptism” wasn’t seen in the Old Testament, this practice did not start with Christianity. Therefore, the baptism that John and Peter spoke of had a Jewish kingdom context. This is evident within Matthew 3 and Acts 2. Through rightly dividing the kingdom offer and our gospel of grace, we can see the distinctions.
Still, Paul did mention a baptism that was relevant even within our gospel. In Ephesians 4:1-6, Paul described a single baptism that unites all believers. The word “baptism” is translated from the Greek word βάπτισμα. The meaning of the word is immersion. In previous contexts, it referred to water and the receiving of the Holy Ghost. Now, in our gospel of grace through faith and not of works, it refers to an immersion into the Body of Christ, as explained in Galatians 3:28. Still yet, we can see that some early believers observed baptism, such as in Acts 16:33.
