Sprinkling, Pouring, or Immersion

TEXT:  Romans 6:4

INTRODUCTION:

A.      BAPTISM IS ESSENTIAL TO SALVATION( Mark 16:16;  Acts 2:38;  22:16 ).

B.      WHAT IS BAPTISM?  IMMERSION, SPRINKLING, OR POURING?

I.      FIGURES OF SPEECH USED TO DESCRIBE BAPTISM.

A.      Romans 6:3-5.  "buried with Him...into death."  "likeness of his death."

B.      Colossians 2:12.  "buried with Him."  "also raised with Him."

C.      ONLY IMMERSION IS A "BURIAL,"  "THE LIKENESS OF HIS DEATH,"

          OR THE "LIKENESS OF HIS RESURRECTION.

II.     THE GREEK WORDS FOR "BAPTIZE" AND "BAPTISM."

A.      BAPTIZE, baptizo-dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge(used of vessels sunk).

          BAPTISM, baptisma-1) immersion, submersion.  ( Thayer's for both ).

B.      NOT ONE STANDARD GREEK LEXICON DEFINES "BAPTIZO" AS

          "SPRINKLE" OR "POUR."

          1.       Different Greek words:  "pouring" (CHENO) and "sprinkling" (RHAINO).

          2.       It is important remember "baptize" and "baptism" mean only "to immerse!"

C.      WHAT ABOUT MODERN ENGLISH DICTIONARIES?

          1.       Their definitions reflect common usage of words by people TODAY.

          2.       To know exactly what was meant by Jesus and His apostles, we must consult

                   authorities who define how words were used in BIBLICAL TIMES!

III.    CONSIDER WHAT VARIOUS SCHOLARS SAY.

THESE SCHOLARS WERE MEMBERS OF DENOMINATIONS

WHICH PRACTICE POURING OR SPRINKLING.

A.      EPISCOPALIAN.

          1.       "This passage ( Rom. 6:4 ) cannot be understood unless it be borne in mind

                   that the primitive baptism was by immersion" - CONYBEARE & HOWSON

                   (Life And Epistles Of St. Paul).

          2.       "Baptism means immersion; and it was immersion...Unless it had been so,

                   Paul's analogical argument about our being buried with Christ in baptism

                   would have had no meaning.  Nothing could have been simpler than baptism in

                   its first form.  When a convert declared his faith in Christ, he was taken at

                   once to the nearest pool or stream of water and plunged into it, and

                   henceforward he was recognized as one of the Christian community." –

                   CUNNINGHAM (The Growth Of The Church).

          3.       "Baptism is the grave of the old man and the birth of the new.  As he sinks

                   beneath the baptismal waters, the believer buries there all his corrupt

                   affections and past sins; as he emerges thence he rises regenerate, quickened

                   to new hopes and a new life.  This baptism is an image of his participation

                   both in the death and resurrection of Christ." - BISHOP LIGHTFOOT

                   (Commentary)

B.      METHODIST.

          1.       "Alluding to the 'immersion' practiced in the case of 'adults,' wherein the

                   person appeared to be buried under the water, as Christ was buried in the

                    heart of the earth; His rising again the third day, and their emerging from the

                   water, was an emblem of the resurrection of the body." - ADAM CLARKE

                   (Commentary on Colossians 2:12).

          2.       "'We are buried with him.' Alluding to the ancient manner of baptizing by

                   immersion." - JOHN WESLEY (Notes).

C.      LUTHERAN.

          1.       "The sacrament of baptism was administered in this century (the first) without

                   the public assemblies, in places appointed and prepared for that purpose, and

                   was performed by an immersion of the whole body in the baptismal font."

                   MOSHEIM (Mosheim's Church History).

          2.       "For the explanation of this figurative description of the baptismal rite, it is

                   necessary to call attention to the well-known circumstance that in the early

                   days of the church, persons, when baptized, were first plunged below and then

                   raised above the water." - THOLUCK (Commentary on Romans).

D.      CATHOLIC - "For thirteen hundred years was baptism an immersion of the person

          under water." - BRENNER.

E.      CAN WE RECONCILE THESE SCHOLARS WITH THEIR CHURCH'S PRACTICE?

          1.       Since these scholars admit that immersion is the only "form" of baptism in the

                   Bible, are they dishonest because they practiced "sprinkling" or "pouring"?

          2.       Not necessarily, rather they fell into the fallacy of assuming:

                   a.       Apostolic commands and examples are not binding.

                   b.       Human wisdom may alter specific Bible teaching in "rites" or "customs."

          3.       But what did Jesus say about such?( Matt. 15:1-9;  Mark 7:1-13 ).

          4.       Sincerety doesn't necessarily make us right.( Matt. 7:21-23 ).

CONCLUSION:

A.      WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?

          1.       "Sprinkling" or "pouring" inconsistent with the Biblical figures of Speech.

          2.       That the Greek words can only mean "immersion."

          3.       No question immersion was the mode of baptism in the Bible and the church.

B.      PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH( Acts 8:35-39 ). Went down and came up out of...

C.      WAS YOUR BAPTISM LIKE HIS?( Acts 8:38-39 )

D.      IF YOU WERE SPRINKLED YOU WERE KEEPING MAN'S TRADITION,

          NOT THE COMMANDMENT OF GOD.

E.      IF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN IMMERSED

          1.       You are still in your sins!( Acts 2:38;  22:16 ).

          2.       You have not yet put on Christ and become His disciple!

                   ( Gal. 3:27;  Matt. 28:18-20 ).