BAPTISM INTO
THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST
4. Burial with the
Lord Jesus Christ
Most Christian
churches practice water baptism as an act of obedience to the commandment of
the Lord Jesus Christ but their ways or modes differ from one another. Some pour water on the head while others
sprinkle it on the body. There are
still others that practice baptism by total immersion. Does it matter how a Christian is
baptized? If it does, then which mode
is correct?
The English
word “baptism” is translated from the Greek “baptizo” that
means to dip or immerse. In the Old
Testament time we can recall how Naaman “went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to
the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a
little child, and he was clean.” (2 Kn. 5:14). Naaman was baptized by immersion. The Jordan river became the favorite
baptismal site of John the Baptist (Mt. 3:5-6). He also baptized in “Aenon, near Salim, because there was much water there,”
(Jn. 3:23). We are told that John the Baptist baptized in
rivers and springs “because there was much water there”. Why would John the Baptist require much
water if his mode of baptism was by pouring or sprinkling? By the description of how the Lord Jesus
Christ was baptized we can deduce that John practiced baptism by
immersion. “Then Jesus, when He had been baptized, came
up immediately from the water;” (Mt. 3:16) The Lord
Jesus could not have come up from the water unless he had first gone down into
the water. The Lord was baptized by immersion. Let us read about another baptism. “So
he commanded the chariot to stand still.
And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he
baptized him. Now when they came up out
of the water, . . .” (Acts 8:38-39) Baptism by immersion requires both the
baptist and the one being baptized to go into the water, but only the person
who is baptized is immersed in the water.
The apostle
Paul described water baptism as the death, burial and resurrection with the
Lord Jesus Christ. “Or do you not know that as many of us as were
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through
baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life.” (Rom. 6:3-4)
“buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him
through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.” (Col. 2:12) Since water
baptism is to be buried with the Lord Jesus Christ the correct mode is total
immersion. A burial can only be
accomplished by placing the object inside the earth and completely covering it
with the earth. Another truth that
needs attention is that baptism means burial with the Lord Jesus Christ. The person who receives water baptism must
believe that he or she is buried with the Lord Jesus.
May God bless you.
