Baptism is the counsel of God in His New Testament economy; it is also a part of His plan. Anyone who would not be baptized nullifies God’s counsel and God’s plan for himself. In those days the Pharisees and the lawyers who rejected and opposed the Lord refused to be baptized with the baptism of John; hence, they rejected, nullified, the counsel of God for themselves (Luke 7:30). What a serious matter this is!
The Lord Jesus not only baptized people through His disciples when He was on the earth, but even after His resurrection, in His ultimate commission to His disciples to go to the whole earth to preach the gospel, He also charged them to baptize people (Matt. 28:19). This charge in His ultimate commission shows that to baptize people is an urgent matter which we must practice when we go to preach the gospel and disciple the nations. To baptize people is as important as to preach the gospel to them. Merely preaching the gospel to people without baptizing them is insufficient; it cannot completely carry out the Lord’s ultimate commission.
On the day of Pentecost, many heard Peter’s word and were pierced in the heart, and they asked him what they should do. Peter told them affirmatively that they should repent and be baptized upon the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins that they might receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:37-38). When they heard his word, they were baptized. This also shows the importance of baptism, since Peter stressed it in his instruction. He considered baptism to be as important as repentance and believing in the Lord’s name. Furthermore, as the conclusion of repentance and believing, baptism causes us to have our sins forgiven and to receive the Holy Spirit.
Baptism was practiced by the first group of believers who were added to the church after the Lord’s ascension and the Spirit’s descension. The first occurrence of any matter in the Scriptures becomes the standard for that matter. Based on this principle, the baptism of that first group of people was also a standard that should be kept by those after them.
In John 3:5 the Lord Jesus said, “Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” “Of water” here refers to baptism. Baptism is a crucial and necessary step for man to be regenerated and enter into the kingdom of God.
In the New Testament, the verb form of the word baptism in Greek is baptizo, meaning to immerse or dip in water, to cover with water, or to put into water. This definition is generally found in all the well-known Greek lexicons and is commonly acknowledged by the reputable Bible scholars throughout the generations, Martin Luther said, “I wish that whoever is to be baptized should be sunken entirely into the water, for this would be right according to the meaning of the word ‘baptism.’” John Calvin, a great Bible expositor of the Reformation, also said, “The word ‘baptize’ means to immerse, and it is clear that the rite of immersion was observed in the ancient church.” Therefore, there is no doubt that the meaning of the word baptism is immersion.
To be baptized is to be baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19), that is, to be baptized into the Triune God to have an organic union with the processed Triune God. The Lord Jesus passed through incarnation, human living, and an all-inclusive death in which He dealt with sin, abolished death, destroyed Satan, and removed all negative things. Then, He uplifted humanity, entered into resurrection, and became the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit. Following this, He came to His disciples in resurrection, charging them to baptize the repentant and believing ones into the name of the Triune God. The name denotes the person, and the person is the reality of the name. The name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is not an empty name but the person, the reality, of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The preposition “into” indicates that the baptized one is brought into an organic union with the Triune God. Hence, baptism is not a ceremony for one to join the church, nor is it a religious ritual. Rather, through baptism a person who was outside of God is put into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, into the very Triune God Himself, that is, into the reality of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that he may have an organic union with the Triune God.