{"id":3676,"date":"2025-06-12T19:00:53","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T23:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/slentz.org\/blog\/?p=3676"},"modified":"2025-06-12T19:13:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T23:13:12","slug":"water-baptism-5-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/slentz.org\/blog\/teachings\/7-foundations\/baptism-in-water\/water-baptism-5-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Water Baptism \u2013 5 Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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On the Day of Pentecost, 3,000 people are born again and baptized in water.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Water Baptism \u2013 5 Questions<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 What is “Baptism”?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Baptism comes from the Greek word “baptizo” \u2013 to submerge, to dip, to immerse completely in a liquid<\/em>. The Greeks used this word to refer to the act of dyeing a garment, in the sense that the cloth must be completely submerged in the dye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John the Baptist received a revelation from God concerning Water Baptism (John 1:31-33; Mat. 3:1-6)<\/em>. Christ confirmed this fact (Mat. 21:23-27)<\/em> and therefore those who rejected John’s baptism “rejected the counsel of God against themselves”<\/em> (Luke 7:29-30)<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John baptized people in a place where there was sufficient water to fully immerse the people (John 3:23). The Bible also notes that when Jesus was baptized by John, He was completely immersed under the water (Mark 1:10)<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the procedure is the same, John’s baptism and the baptism ordained by Christ differ in their purpose<\/strong>. John’s baptism was for repentant Jews to prepare for the coming of Christ the Messiah (Mat. 3:6-11)<\/em>. The baptism Christ ordained is a part of God’s progressive plan of salvation (Mat. 28:19; Acts 18:24-25; 19:3-6)<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2022 Who is Eligible for Baptism?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Only those who sincerely believe and have repented from their sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 8:12,36,38)<\/em>. Babies and small children who have not reached sufficient maturity in order to experience salvation can not be considered eligible for Water Baptism (Acts 8:12, 36-38)<\/em>. Jesus blessed the small children, but the Bible does not say anything about Jesus baptizing children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2022 Is Baptism Necessary?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

If we want to be true followers and disciples of Jesus Christ, Water Baptism should not be an option. Water Baptism is an essential part of the Gospel. It is a necessity for the new-born child of God who wants to experience the fullness of God’s grace and grow stronger as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16)<\/em>. The disciples always taught new believers about the importance of Water Baptism (Acts 2:38; 10:47-48; 22:16)<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2022 What Occurs in Baptism?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Word of God indicates that Water Baptism is a part of the progressive salvation that begins when a sinner first repents and believes in Christ (Mark 16:16; 1 Peter 3:21).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At new birth, one receives forgiveness and is saved from sin’s eternal punishment in hell; but in Water Baptism, the new-born child of God receives a victory over the \u201cnature of sin\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The “nature of sin” (or “old man”) refers to the inherited nature of rebellion and disobedience that resulted from Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden (Rom. 5:19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since Adam first sinned, everyone is born with this “nature of sin” (Psa. 51:5; Jer. 13:23). Death, therefore, is the only way to be completely free from its power over one’s life. This is exactly what Water Baptism is \u2013 a death and burial!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death…” (Rom. 6:4)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him…” (Col. 2:12)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He that is “dead” is freed from sin (Rom. 6:7,11).<\/em> In Water Baptism, the believer is buried<\/em> with Christ. He then comes up out of the water to walk in “newness of life”<\/em> \u2013 a life of victory and authority over the nature of sin that previously dominated his life (Rom.\u30006:1-6).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2022 How Can Water Baptism be Lived Out as a Daily Experience<\/strong>?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Jesus Christ was determined to be baptized by John in order to “fulfill all righteousness”<\/em> (Mat. 3:15)<\/em>. The immediate response from God the Father was: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”<\/em> (Mat. 3:17)<\/em>. If it was necessary for Christ, how much more for those who would choose to follow Him! And what a joy to know that God the Father is well pleased with such an act!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water Baptism is an essential step of obedience for the child of God who wants to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Referring to their obedience in Water Baptism, Paul told the Roman believers: “…ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed<\/strong> from the heart that form of doctrine…” (Rom. 6:17).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Water Baptism, the believer obeys<\/strong> God and the nature of disobedience is supernaturally exchanged<\/em> for a nature of obedience \u2013 a nature which the believer must choose daily to walk in. The body that served sin is buried, and now those same body members are given to God as a “living sacrifice” to do His will, which is good, acceptable, and perfect in every way (Rom 6:11-13; 12:1-2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water Baptism is the believer’s first<\/em> step in obedience \u2013 but not the last! As the believer considers himself dead to sin, and daily<\/em><\/strong> chooses to walk in obedience to God, this work of God’s grace in Water Baptism will continue to lead him onward in victory and spiritual maturity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Water Baptism \u2013 5 Questions \u2022 What is “Baptism”? Baptism comes from the Greek word “baptizo” \u2013 to submerge, to dip, to immerse completely in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[266],"tags":[234],"class_list":["post-3676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baptism-in-water","tag-water-baptism"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/slentz.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/3000-being-baptized-on-the-day-of-pentecost-scaled.png?fit=2560%2C1096&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8ofw-Xi","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/slentz.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/slentz.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/slentz.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slentz.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slentz.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3676"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/slentz.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3686,"href":"https:\/\/slentz.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676\/revisions\/3686"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slentz.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/slentz.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slentz.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slentz.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}