Acts Study #5: Water Baptism: its Biblical mode and subjects

Hechos Estudio #5: El Bautismo en Agua: su modo y sujetos según la Biblia

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“This is the work of Jehovah! It is marvelous in our eyes.” Psalm 118:23

Acts, Chapter 1.1: Many Jews of the Diaspora believed the Gospel of Jesus Christ (1:1 - 2:47)

§Complement Introduction: Jesus gave his Great Commission and the apostles chose a replacement for Judas Iscariot (1:1 - 26)

¶Opposite The Lord gave his Great Commission to his first church (and all future churches) to take the Gospel to the entire Earth (1:1 - 8)

¶Opposite The apostles cast lots to choose an apostle to replace Judas Iscariot (1:9 - 26)

§Complement Peter preached the Gospel to foreign-born Jews and about 5,000 confessed Jesus as their Messiah (2:1 - 40)

¶Unique God poured out his Holy Spirit upon the apostles; and this miracle brought many foreign-born Jews around them (2:1 - 13)

¶Complement Peter preached that the miracle of speaking in foreign languages came from Jehovah, the God of Israel (2:14 - 21)

¶Complement Peter preached that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus was also from Jehovah, the God of Israel (2:22 - 28)

¶Opposite Peter pointed to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit from Jehovah as proof of the resurrection of Jesus (2:29 - 36)

¶Opposite Peter called the Jews to repent and turn to their Messiah; and be baptized as a sign of the forgiveness of their sins (2:37 - 40)

§Unique The Assembly in Jerusalem began to expand rapidly with many new believers (2:41 - 47)

¶Complement After baptism, the new converts continued in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles (2:41 - 43)

¶Complement The spiritual growth of the new converts resulted in more souls being saved, which were added to the Assembly (2:44 - 47)

§Complement Introduction: Jesus gave the apostles a promise to give them power, and the apostles chose a replacement for Judas Iscariot

¶Opposite Jesus gave the apostles a promise to give them power to carry out his Great Commission

Unique The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Spirit had given Commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen. 1:3To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen by them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

Complement And, being assembled together with the apostles, he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem; but “wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard from me:

Complement “for John truly baptized in water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Opposite Therefore, when they came together, they asked him, saying, “Lord, will you at this time restore the Kingdom of Zion again to Israel?” And he said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in his own authority.

Opposite “But you shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria; and unto the uttermost part of the Earth.”

Comments: Before I get further into the Book of Acts, I want to lay the theological groundwork so that we are prepared to understand what we are reading.

The Book of Acts has many instances of the word “Baptism”. The problem that we have is that there are many definitions of “Baptism” being taught by a number of groups, so we must look at this term carefully to ensure that we are using the Biblical definition for “Baptism”. Otherwise, you will be using definitions for Baptism that you have heard, and this will prevent correct Biblical understanding and interpretation, if your definitions were not Biblical.

There are entire Books that have been written on this subject, but this study will only provide a brief overview. Some of you are unfamilar with theological terms, so I will make this as brief and easy to understand as possible. For a much deeper examination of this subject, I highly recommend the book “Baptism: its mode and subjects” by Alexander Carson, 1844. He was a Protestant who became a Baptist after doing a thorough study of the subject in the Bible. You can find it on Amazon.com and also on Google Books. Simply go to Google Books and enter the name of the book and the author. It is free to read there.

First, the Greek word for “Baptism” is “βάπτισμα”: it has only one meaning in both the Greek part of the Holy Bible, and in classical Greek literature: to dip, to dunk, or to plunge into. It NEVER means “to sprinkle”, or “to pour”.

So if you want to be a Bible-believing Christian, you must follow the Biblical teaching on this subject: the proper Biblical mode of Baptism is exactly what the original word means: to dip, to dunk, or to plunge into.

This will be very important as we talk about the Day of Pentecost and the meaning of what happened on that day.

It is also important for you to consider if your church practices and teaches sprinkling or pouring as a mode of baptism. If that is the case, then your church is not following the Word of God; and that is disobedience to God; and God will never bless it.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it: for only then shall you make your way prosperous, and only then shall you have good success.” Joshua 1:8

“Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the Law of Jehovah; and in his Law does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season. Also his leaf shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so; but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the Judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For Jehovah knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” Psalm 1:1-7

Secondly, the proper subject for baptism is a born-again Believer in Jesus Christ; that is to say, a person who has heard the Gospel, believed the Gospel, and repented of his/her sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior through prayer.

Matthew 28:18-20a: “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority was given to me in Heaven and upon earth. Therefore go, and train disciples out of all nations; baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”

Notice what Jesus said: “Go and train DISCIPLES..., baptizing THEM..” A disciple is a learner or a student. An infant baby cannot learn the Gospel or be a student, so by the command of Jesus, an infant baby is not a proper subject for Baptism. When a child is able to learn the Gospel, and trust Christ as their Savior, then they may be baptized, but not before.

Mark 16:15-16: “And [Jesus] said to them, “Go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature; he that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned.”

Again, according to the command of Jesus, the only person who may be baptized is “he that believes”, because believing comes before baptism, according to Christ. To reverse that order would be wrong.

There is not a single example of an infant or an unbeliever in Christ being baptized, anywhere in the Bible.

“And they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; and you shall be saved, and your household.” And they spoke to him the Word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and he was immediately baptized, he and all his family. And when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them, and rejoiced, believing in God WITH ALL HIS HOUSEHOLD.” Acts 16:31-34

This passage is often misunderstood and twisted to support the idea of infant baptism. But the Greek construction of 16:31 clearly shows that the English translation is misleading and does not completely communicate the true meaning. It literally says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; and you shall be saved, and your household [believing on the Lord Jesus Christ shall also be saved]”. In other words, the full Greek meaning is difficult to translate, and this can lead to misunderstanding about the meaning of Baptism. The end of this passage clearly shows that his entire household believed in God, so none of them were infants; hence, infant baptism is not supported by this passage.

“But to the rest I speak (not the Lord): if any brother has a wife that does not believe, and she is pleased to dwell with him, let him not divorce her. And the woman who has an husband that does not believe, and if he is pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him: for the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children were unclean; but now they are holy.” I Corinthians 7:12 - 14

Finally, this passage from I Corinthians is often cited by Protestant churches as support for the idea of infant baptism, but if you look at the context, Paul is clearly talking about marriage and divorce, not Baptism of any kind! This is a perfect example of false teachers who are using a text out of its context to teach false doctrine. But sadly, to those Christians who do not read the Bible very much (or at all), when a pastor teaches them that this text supports infant baptism, they go along with it, not realizing that it is a complete lie.

In order to use I Corinthians 7:12-14 as support for infant baptism, you then have to ignore the very clear words of Jesus in Matthew 28 and Mark 16 which teaches the opposite. The entire Bible must be consulted to determine the meaning of any Bible doctrine, or you will inevitably depart from the Bible and go into heresy.

The history of infant baptism began not long after the apostles died, when some person or persons were on their deathbed, and wanted to be baptized, but could not be moved. So the local Christians compromised and thought that, in this instance, it would be all right to sprinkle them with water instead of dunking them in deep water.

You’ve heard the saying “Give them an inch, and they will take a mile”? This is exactly what Satan did! The Christians of the second century gave Satan an inch, and later, the error grew to include infants as the subjects of baptism. But even then, dipping the entire body into deep water was still the mode for most professing Christian groups until the Protestant Reformation, when the Protestant reformers allowed sprinkling and/or pouring as acceptable modes of baptism, never mind what the Bible said.

Baptists and Anabaptist groups were the only ones to practice baptism of only Believers, and not infant baptism; and so it is until this day. Modern-day Pentecostal groups normally practice believer’s-only baptism as well.

For more information about the history of the Baptists, “A History of the Baptists, traced by their vital principles and practices, from the time of our Lord Jesus Christ to the year 1886” by Thomas Armitage is a very good source of information. You can find it on Google books for free.

Why is water baptism important for Christians? It is important for OBEDIENCE to Christ! It is your first step of obedience to Jesus Christ AFTER you have repented of your sins and asked Jesus Christ to become your Lord and Savior from sin. It is a picture of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus: the subject proclaims before the church or assembly of Believers that he/she has accepted Christ; the pastor usually says, “Therefore, I baptize you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen” (according to Matthew 28:19), and then dunks the new Believer under the water (like the burial of Jesus), and raised the new Believer out of the water (like the resurrection of Jesus from the dead). The pastor may also say, “Buried with Him in baptism; raised to walk in newness of Life” (Romans 6:4-5).

But water baptism does NOT wash away your sins in any way whatsoever. After all, it is only water! Think about it. How can mere water wash away sin? Only the blood of Jesus can wash away our sins.

If water could truly wash away sins, then we should force everyone to be baptized, so that everyone could go to Heaven when they die. Unfortunately, that is not God’s Way, it is not the Bible Way. Water baptism is not for infants or unbelievers. A person must first repent and trust Christ as their Savior, THEN and only then are they a proper subject for water baptism, as a testimony to others that they have become born-again Christians.

If you have repented of your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, but you have not been baptized in deep water according to the command of Christ, you are not right with God! You will be troubled by sin in your mind and heart every day and every hour until you submit yourself to Believer’s Baptism, according to the command of Jesus Christ.

But sprinkling or pouring water on the head is not Scriptural Baptism!

Also, the number of times that a person is baptized is irrelevant, and more than one time is not supported by the Scripture. If you want to do so, feel free, but it is not commanded or expected by Scripture. It is always good to take a bath. :-)

Also, remember that Matthew 28:19-20 is the primary text used for who should be baptized and how. It is supported and expanded upon by Romans 6:1-5. However, Acts 2:38 and other passages in Acts do not override Matthew 28:19-20. The Book of Acts is a historical record of what occurred, not necessarily a record of doctrines that that must be believed and followed. The letters of the apostles are the primary sources for Christian doctrines, not the transitional history of the Gospels and the Acts.

In conclusion, we will examine the doctrine of Baptism extensively as we study our way through the Book of Acts. It is not the only important doctrine in this Book, but it is a major one; and in order to obtain the Scriptural understanding, I had to start with the basic Biblical teaching on this subject, because many of you have probably never heard it before. Your pastor may be teaching and practicing infant baptism, and/or sprinkling or pouring, which are errors.

If your pastor and church are not following the Scriptures on the doctrine of Baptism, then you need to find one that does! Independent, Fundamental Baptist churches (or “baptistic” churches like Bible Churches) are the only ones that are following the Scriptures in this matter. Any church that is afraid to use the term “Baptist” in their name is probably a church that will not follow Believer’s Baptism according to the Scriptures. Some do, and some do not. Investigate the teachings of your church carefully to see if they are following the Scriptures. If not, move to one that does. Ask the Lord to guide you to a good, solid Bible-believing church; and He will!

How to be saved

The Bible clearly states that salvation can only be obtained if we repent and believe in Jesus Christ in order to be saved.

Luke 13:3: “I say to you, no; but, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Romans 3:21-24: “But now, the righteousness of God apart from the Law is revealed (being testified by the Law and the Prophets), even the righteousness of God as it is through the faith of Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and have fallen short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

It is impossible to keep the Law of Moses! The sole purpose of the Law of Moses (the Ten Commandments) is to make you understand that you are a sinner who has sinned against God. It cannot make you righteous in God’s eyes:

Romans 3:19-20: “And we know that whatever the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be shut, and everyone may become guilty before God; therefore by the works of the Law no flesh shall be justified in His sight: for by the Law is the knowledge of sin.”

Sins can only be paid for by the finished atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross! We cannot pay for our own sins with our suffering, neither in this life nor in the fictitious place called “Purgatory”!

Romans 3:23-26: “For all have sinned, and have fallen short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God has publicly exhibited, to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of past sins, through the patience of God; to declare, I say, at this time his justice; that God may be just, and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus.”

Here is how you can be truly saved TODAY, and know that you have Eternal Life, right now!

The Bible says,

“that if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved: for with the heart, man believes into righteousness; and with the mouth, confession is made into salvation: for the Scripture says, “Whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed.” For there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him: for it is written, “whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:9-13

Are you ready to do that? If so, then find a place to pray privately, and pray this prayer with all of your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ:

“Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned against YOU. I am no good, and you are righteous! You are my only hope for salvation! I believe that you died on the cross for my sins, you were buried, and you rose again from the dead on the third day. I want you to come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. Please come into my heart right now. Forgive me for all my sins, and save my soul. In the mighty Name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!”

If you have turned from your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and only Savior from sin, please message me through Facebook and let me know that you have done that, so that I can pray for you and rejoice with you in what God has done in your life. Amen.

Hechos Estudio #5: El Bautismo en Agua: su modo y sujetos según la Biblia

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“¡Esta es la obra de Jehová! Es maravilloso a nuestros ojos”. Salmo 118:23

Hechos, Capítulo 1.1: Muchos judíos de la Diáspora creído al evangelio de Jesús Cristo (1:1 - 2:47)

§El complemento Introducción: Jesús dio su Gran Comisión y los apóstoles eligieron un reemplazo para Judas Iscariote (1:1 - 26)

¶Lo opuesto El Señor dio su Gran Comisión a su primera iglesia (y todas las iglesias futuras) para llevar el evangelio a toda la tierra (1:1 - 8))

¶Lo opuesto Los apóstoles echan suertes para elegir un apóstol para reemplazar a Judas Iscariote (1:9 - 26)

§El complemento Cuerpo: Pedro predicó el evangelio a judíos nacidos en el extranjero y unos 5,000 confesaron a Jesús como su Mesías (2:1 - 40)

¶Único Dios derramó su Espíritu Santo sobre los apóstoles; y este milagro atrajo a muchos judíos nacidos en el extranjero (2:1 - 13)

¶El complemento Pedro predicó que el milagro de hablar en idiomas extranjeros provenía de Jehová, el Dios de Israel (2:14 - 21)

¶El complemento Pedro predicó que la crucifixión y resurrección de Jesús también provenían de Jehová, el Dios de Israel (2:22 - 28)

¶Lo opuesto Pedro señaló el derramamiento del Espíritu Santo desde Jehová como prueba de la resurrección de Jesús (2:29 - 36)

¶Lo opuesto Pedro llamó a los judíos a arrepentirse y volverse al cristo, y ser bautizados como señal del perdón de sus pecados (2:37 - 40)

§Único Conclusión: La asamblea en Jerusalén comenzó a expandirse rápidamente con muchos creyentes nuevos (2:41 - 47)

¶El complemento Después del bautismo, los nuevos conversos continuaron en la enseñanza y la comunión de los apóstoles (2:41 - 43)

¶El complemento El crecimiento espiritual de los nuevos conversos resultó en la salvación de más almas (2:44 - 47)

§Unique Introduction: Jesus gave the apostles a promise to give them power, and the apostles chose a replacement for Judas Iscariot

¶Opposite Jesus gave the apostles a promise to give them power to carry out his Great Commission

Complement And, being assembled together with the apostles, he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem; but “wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard from me:

Complement “for John truly baptized in water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Introducción

La traducción al español de este estudio está pendiente.

Como Ser Salvado

¿Exactamente cómo y cuándo naciste de nuevo?

He aprendido por experiencia que aquellos que se niegan a responder lo hacen porque nunca han nacido de nuevo; no tienen idea de lo que significa, y por eso no pueden responder.

Si ese es tu caso, entonces tu destino eterno en este momento es el Infierno; y más tarde, el Lago de Fuego.

Afortunadamente, podemos cambiar nuestro destino eterno del Infierno al Cielo, si nos arrepentimos de nuestros pecados y recibimos a Jesucristo como nuestro Salvador personal.

Primero, debemos creer que Jesús es el Hijo de Dios; que fue crucificado por nuestros pecados, que fue sepultado y que resucitó de entre los muertos al tercer día.

Romanos 10:8-11: “Pero ¿qué dice? “La Palabra está cerca de ti, incluso en tu boca y en tu corazón”, es decir, la Palabra de fe (que predicamos), que si confesarás con tu boca al Señor Jesús, y creerás en tu corazón que Dios le levantó de los muertos, tú serás salvado: porque con el corazón, el hombre cree para justicia, y con la boca, la confesión se hace para la salvación: porque la Escritura dice, “cualquiera que en él creyere, no será avergonzado”.

Entonces, debemos arrepentirnos de nuestros pecados e invocar el Nombre del Señor Jesús para salvarnos.

Romanos 10:12-13: “Porque no hay diferencia entre el judio y el gentil: porque el mismo Señor sobre todo es rico a todos los que le invocan: porque está escrito, “Cualquiera que llamará sobre el Nombre del Señor será salvado”.

Juan 1:12: “Pero cuantos le recibieron, él les dio autoridad para convertirse los niños de Dios: incluso a aquellos quien creen sobre su Nombre”.

Cuando hacemos eso, entonces nacemos de nuevo instantáneamente en el Reino de Dios.

Estas listo para hacer eso? Si es así, entonces busca un lugar para orar en privado y haz esta oración con todo tu corazón al Señor Jesucristo:

“Señor Jesús, sé que he pecado contra TI. ¡No soy bueno y usted eres justo! Creo que moriste en la cruz por mis pecados, fuiste enterrado y resucitaste de entre los muertos al tercer día. Quiero que vengas a mi vida y seas mi Señor y Salvador. Por favor entra en mi corazón ahora mismo. Perdóname por todos mis pecados y salva mi alma. En el poderoso Nombre de Jesús, oro, ¡Amén!”

Si se apartó de sus pecados y aceptó a Jesucristo como su Señor y único Salvador desde el pecado, por favor envíeme un mensaje a través de Facebook y hágame saber que lo ha hecho, para que pueda orar por usted y alegrarme con usted en lo que Dios tiene hecho en tu vida. Amén.