1. “Baptized” (Mark 16:16).
Baptizo is the Greek word used here and in other places in the New Testament; it means “to dip in or under, to immerse, or to sink.” This meaning is found in all the well-known Greek lexicons and is agreed upon by all the famous Bible scholars throughout the ages. Martin Luther, the leader of the Reformation, said that he hoped everyone who is baptized would have his whole body put into the water because that is the meaning of the word baptism. John Calvin was a great Bible expositor of the Reformation; he said that the meaning of the word baptism is to immerse and that this was the practice of the primitive church. Dean Stanley said that the practice of the first thirteen centuries was according to the New Testament and that the people went into the water according to the original meaning of the word baptizo.
1. “Having been baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water” (Matt. 3:16).
God used a clear word baptism to tell us that baptism is to be put into water; He also used a pattern or example to show that baptism means to be put into water. People can explain the clear meaning of the word differently, but the pattern of the example eliminates differing human views. There are two patterns of baptism according to God’s record in the Bible. The first is the baptism of the Lord Jesus. After our Lord was baptized, He went up from the water. This means that He first had to go into water. Going into water and coming up from water is the clear pattern established by our Lord Jesus. Should not all those who wish to follow in the footsteps of the Lord follow His pattern? If we want to be like the Lord and “fulfill all righteousness” before God (v. 15), how could we not follow His pattern or example by being baptized in a different way?
2. “They both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water” (Acts 8:38-39).
God not only provided the example of the baptism of the Lord Jesus in the Gospels; He also showed that the apostles followed the footsteps of the Lord in the book of Acts. Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch by going down into water and coming up out of water. By this we know how the early disciples baptized people. The record that they both went down into water and came up out of water is clear and accurate; how could people in later centuries have so much dissension and so many questions concerning the way to baptize people? Should we not go back to the beginning and follow these examples?
1. “Entering into which [the ark], a few, that is, eight souls, were brought safely through by water. Which water, as the antitype, also now saves you, that is, baptism...through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 3:20-21).
In the Bible we have not only the pattern of baptism but also the type of baptism. In the Old Testament God used two events to paint a clear picture of the baptism which was to come in the New Testament; these two events prefigure baptism. The first event involved Noah’s household passing through the flood in the ark. Through Peter the Holy Spirit said that this typifies baptism. This type not only clearly explains baptism, but it also shows the effect of baptism. The eight people of Noah’s household who were in the ark were covered with water, showing that we should be covered with water in our baptism in Christ. The flood caused the people in the ark to be separated from the old world in which they had lived, freeing them from their corrupt generation. This shows that the water of baptism causes us, who are in Christ, to be separated from the world in which we live, freeing us from this crooked and perverted generation. Thus, just as they were saved by water and freed from their corrupted generation, we also are saved through the water of baptism and are freed from our crooked and perverted generation. On the one hand, they entered into the ark by faith and were saved by the ark from the flood waters of God’s judgment; on the other hand, in the ark they passed through the flood and were saved by the flood waters from that old world and were given entrance into a new world. In the same way, we enter into Christ by faith and are saved in Christ from the judgment of God’s wrath; we also pass through baptism in Christ and are saved through the water of baptism from the old world and are given entrance into the new realm of resurrection. They were saved through the ark from God’s judgment, and they were saved in the ark by means of the flood waters from the old world; in the same way, we are saved through Christ from God’s judgment, and we are saved in Christ by means of the water of baptism from the world to which we originally belonged. Just as the waters of the flood caused them to be separated from the world to which they originally belonged, the water baptism separates us from our old world. The waters of the flood through which they passed in the ark gave them entrance into a new world; in the same way, the water of baptism through Christ’s death and resurrection gives us entrance into a new realm. Thus, the relationship of the floodwaters to the eight people of Noah’s household typifies how baptism causes us to be saved by water from the world and into the realm of resurrection.
2. “All our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1 Cor. 10:1-2).
The second event in the Old Testament that God used to typify baptism is the Israelites’ crossing of the Red Sea. The apostle Paul said that when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, they were baptized. They crossed the Red Sea in the cloud and in the sea, signifying that our baptism should be in the Holy Spirit and in water. In the negative aspect, the Israelites’ crossing of the Red Sea freed them from Pharaoh and Egypt, and in its positive aspect, it brought them to Moses. This signifies that our baptism frees us from Satan and the world under his hand and also brings us to Christ. Pharaoh and his army pursued the Israelites into the waters but could not cross the Red Sea to continue their pursuit; moreover, when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, they were freed from Egypt and could not return to it or its living. This signifies that Satan and his authority can pursue us into the water of baptism but cannot cross this water. When we are baptized, we are freed from the world and cannot return to the worldly living. The water of the Red Sea buried Pharaoh and his army for the children of Israel, and it also saved the Israelites from Egypt and caused them to follow Moses to serve God. In the same way, on our behalf baptism destroys Satan and his power, and baptism also saves us from the world and causes us to follow Christ to serve God. Although the Israelites were saved by faith when they put the blood of the lamb on their doorposts, causing God’s wrath to pass over them, they still needed to cross the Red Sea so that the power of Pharaoh over them could be destroyed. Although they were spared from God’s judgment by keeping the passover, they would not have been able to escape from their slavery to Pharaoh and Egypt if they had not crossed the Red Sea. This tells us that even after receiving by faith the redemption of the Lord’s shed blood and even with the removal of God’s wrath, we must still cross the water of baptism so that Satan’s power over us can be destroyed. Although we have believed in the Lord and are no longer condemned by God, we must be baptized in order to escape our slavery to Satan and the world. Therefore, baptism frees us from Satan and the world just as crossing the Red Sea freed the Israelites from Pharaoh and Egypt. Just as Pharaoh and his army followed the Israelites into the waters of the Red Sea and were drowned, the power of Satan and the world follows us into the waters of baptism and are destroyed there. We should bring all the things of the world that control and bind us into the water of baptism, such as fame, entertainment, money, fashion, movies, tobacco, and alcohol, and bury them. After Pharaoh and his army were drowned in the Red Sea, the Israelites were able to follow Moses to serve God. Similarly, Satan and the things of the world are buried in the water of baptism, but we come up in resurrection together with Christ and follow Him to serve God. The Red Sea is a type of our being saved through water and escaping the world and its power to enter into a new realm.