The Apostolic Doctrine of Water Baptism
Part 2
Let’s look at some scriptures concerning water baptism for the remission of sins in the New Covenant.
Remission of sin can also be described as:
• the removal of sin,
• the freedom of sin,
• the pardon of sin,
• the deliverance of sin,
• the forgiveness of sin,
• to be set at liberty from sin.
In the New Covenant, the remission of sins only comes by the blood of Jesus Christ. Romans 3:25-26
The apostles received commandment from Jesus to preach, teach, and to baptize. The scripture also records how the apostles interpreted. Matthew 28:19-20
If you want to see how they interpreted Matthew 28:19-20 simply look at the Book of Acts. Acts 2:38, Mark 16:15-16, Luke 24:44-48, Acts 2:38 & 41, Acts 8:5, 12, 14-16, Acts 9:17-18, Acts 10:45-48, Acts 16:14-15, Acts 16:31 -33, Acts 18:8, Acts 19:1-7, Acts 22:12-16.
Notice that not once in any of the scriptures, is there recorded a single example of anyone being baptized in any other name than the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.
No where is it recorded in the Bible of anyone being baptized in the titles the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
The word name, in Matthew 28:19 is in the singular sense, meaning there is one name for believers to be baptized in.
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one, and have one name.
Speaking of Jesus Christ, the Bible has this to say in Acts 4:12.
The one name is Yahusha/Jesus = Yahuah or Yahweh (Some know the Name as Jehovah) is salvation. Isaiah 43:11, Isaiah 44:6
Jesus speaking in Revelation 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
John 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
What did it mean for Thomas, an instructed Jew, to call Jesus his God? .
Did Thomas think Jesus was another god beside Yahuah/Yahweh/Jehovah?
The Jews religion was monotheistic meaning they believed in only one God and their worship was exclusive to Yahuah/Yahweh/Jehovah.Exodus 34:14
Jesus, rebuking Satan said in Matthew 4:10
Why didn’t Jesus correct Thomas for calling Him God?
Because Thomas spoke the truth calling Jesus his God.
Thomas knew that he was speaking with Yahuah/Yahweh/Jehovah, manifested in the flesh, when he called Jesus his God. Romans 6:1-5
Are you dead to sin?
When did you die to sin?
If you haven’t been planted together in the likeness of His death, then you won’t be raised in the likeness of His resurrection either. 1 Corinthians 1:13-17
Verse 17 is unfortunately used by some to say that baptism is not necessary for salvation because Paul said, “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel.”
The scripture records Paul himself being baptized in the name of the Lord. Acts 22:16
Paul also baptized others in the name of Jesus Christ. Acts 19:4-5
Even there at Corinth, Paul says he baptized some. To say that Paul did not preach baptism as a condition of salvation is not accurate. Paul’s own conversion and his actions as recorded in the Book of Acts discredit that view.
Paul was sent to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, and he established churches as he went, and in every church, he set in order and instructed the local ministries to be accountable to God, and to faithfully preach the gospel, make disciples, and baptize the believers of the gospel message in the name of Jesus.
Just as Jesus prepared and equipped His apostles to continue preaching the gospel after His physical absence, Paul established churches that would continue ministering the apostolic gospel message and make disciples of believers in his own physical absence. They had the whole message, and they had the apostles there for oversight.
They were all speaking the same things. 1 Corinthians 1:10, 1 Corinthians 10:1-4
Knowing that Egypt symbolically represents sin in the exodus story, and if all that came out of Egypt (sin) were baptized unto Moses (who was a type and shadow of Christ) in the Old Covenant; is it strange if all that come out from sin in the New Covenant, are to be baptized unto Jesus Christ (the antitype of Moses)? Galatians 3:27
Why doesn’t it say baptized into the Father and into the Son and into the Holy Ghost, but instead says baptized into Christ? Ephesians 4:4-6
There is one baptism. Colossians 2:9-13, Philippians 3:3, Romans 2:28-29
Here we read about the circumcision made without hands, the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, and the apostle connects it with baptism. Ask yourself the question, when were my sins put off?
When was my heart circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by God? Do you have book, chapter, and verse to support your answer? It’s only when all the scriptures have been examined on any subject, that true Bible doctrine can be established.
If physical circumcision was required under the Old Covenant, is it hard to believe that spiritual circumcision is a requirement in the New Covenant? Genesis 17:13-14
The circumcision of the New Covenant is the circumcision that God has always desired for His people, the circumcision of the heart. Deuteronomy 10:16, Deuteronomy 30:6, Jeremiah 4:4, Ezekiel 36:26-27, Romans 2:28-29, 2 Corinthians 3:3, Colossians 2:11-12
Colossians chapter two verse eleven to twelve above says that it is in baptism, that God performs this operation of circumcision made without hands; it is in baptism that God washes away our sins and takes away our stony, callused heart and gives us a heart to love and obey Him.
We have looked at many of the Scriptures that speak about water baptism in the New Covenant. We covered some of the differences between the baptism of repentance and the baptism of remission of sins. We read about baptism described in the gospels and in the epistles
No where in the Scriptures is it recorded that baptism is not necessary for salvation, but on the contrary, the Bible records the Apostles preaching baptism, and commanding all that believed the gospel to be baptized, and the works of the apostles recorded in the book of Acts, only strengthen the necessity of water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.
The purpose of this study is to bring people to the reality, that if you have not been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, according to the scriptures, then your sins have not been washed away by the blood of the lamb. You are still in your sins.
The Bible has a lot to say about water baptism and you must have a good understanding of the word of God to answer the greatest question, “What must I do to be saved?”.
We hope to encourage believers to seriously study the word of God, to read out of it what God has said from the beginning, and to stop reading into it the traditions of men.
