Analysis of the New Testament on Baptism

Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 2007, 16 Jan 2011, & 12 Mar 2023 Omitting greyed-out text should bring presentation time down to about 40 minutes.

Introduction

• This is going to be an overview of every occurrence of the word “baptize” or ‘baptism.’ I’ve used the Greek New Testament as well as the Septuagint Greek Old Testament, which provides historical context for the use of Greek in Scripture in the New Testament times.

• I came up with 140 occurrences of those words throughout the whole Bible. I want to provide an overview of those 140 occurrences of the words for “baptize” and “baptism” in the Bible, and I hope we can observe some patterns.

• The Greek words related to Baptism:

  • two of them are nouns: Baptisma and Baptismos, both translated “baptism,”

  • And there are two verbs, both translated “Baptize.”

    • One of those verbs, bapto, is exclusively used of Jewish ceremonies. 84% of its usages are in the Septuagint O.T. The rest are in the New Testament, but only describing Jewish ceremonies.

    • Baptizo is the other verb, and its the only one used to describe Christian Baptism in the N.T. It also occurs twice in the OT, once when Isaiah describes being overwhelmed by sin, and once describing Naaman washing in the Jordan River from his leprosy.

  • Finally, there is a participle which is only used of John the Baptist – literally “the Baptizer.” So, that’s all the Greek words for “baptize” and “baptism.”

• As we look through the whole Bible, what kind of progression do we see regarding baptism?

Progression of the idea of baptism in the Bible

• In the Greek Old Testament, baptisms referred to various ceremonial washings, whether in water or blood.

• And then in the NT, the first occasion that we see these words related to baptism are with John’s ministry, where he is baptizing people for repentance, and he makes this prophecy: “I baptize with water for repentance, but One is coming after me who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” That is mentioned in all four gospels and the book of Acts. It’s the most-repeated phrase in the Bible regarding Baptism: I baptize with water for repentance, Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. This points to a progression.

• Then John and Jesus meet, and Jesus is baptized by John to identify Himself with sinful humanity in order to be their savior, and the Holy Spirit descends upon Him. This event is listed in all four gospels, so seems to be of especial importance.

• Later on, another significant baptism passage occurs when the disciples tell Jesus that they want to sit at Jesus’ left and right hand, and Jesus asks them if they can handle the baptism that He is about to undergo. They say, “Sure, no sweat!” And Jesus responds that they will indeed undergo that baptism that He is going to get, and that’s where He says, “I have a baptism to undergo, and how I am straitened/stressed until it is accomplished.” This baptism seems to be speaking of His suffering on the cross.

• Then at the end of the gospels and the book of Acts, there is the Great Commission with the command to preach the Gospel, make disciples, baptize, and teach (in that order).

• And this is followed with the baptism of the Holy Spirit spoken of as a Christian experience in Acts and the Epistles.

Who/what is baptized in the NT?

• At first in the O.T., we see a lot of objects like sticks and pieces of yarn and birds were dipped in blood or water. There were also a lot of hands, fingers, and feet dipped in blood or water, some dipped entirely, and some dipped only partially.

• Out of the 140 total, the words for baptism only occur about a dozen times in the context of the baptism of an individual adult. In half of those instances that individual was baptized apart from his family, and in the other half, the adult had no other family.

• In the majority of instances where the words for baptism occur, however, it is groups of people who are being baptized together: houses, churches, even political bodies.

• The most striking thing to me was the regional baptisms and how many there were, for instance:

  • Acts 13:24 “John had first preached before his coming the baptism* of repentance to all the people of Israel.”

  • Mark 1:4 “John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism* of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.” (KJV¹)
    The picture is a crowd – the whole city of Jerusalem being baptized, and “All the country of Judea.”

  • 1 Cor. 10:2 “And were all baptized* unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;”
    An entire nation was baptized into Moses when they walked in front of the cloud across the dry bed of the Red Sea.
    The word “people” is not the plural of person. It’s not saying that there were a bunch of individual persons that were baptized, rather that the people group called the Jews was being baptized together as a community.

  • John 3:26 And they came unto John, and said unto him, “Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth,* and all men come to Him.”
    Who did Jesus baptize according to this report? “All men/Everyone” – I don’t think the word “men” is exclusive of women here.

  • Matt. 28:19 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing* them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”
    Baptizing who? “All nations” How do you baptize a nation?

  • Luke 3:21a Now when all the people (panta ho laos) was baptized,* it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized…”
    Again, an entire people group baptized.

  • In these accounts from scripture, the emphasis is not so much on individuals and what they personally did to be baptized, but upon whole regions or ethnic groups coming into the status of baptism.

  • This is not to say that we shouldn’t pay attention to individuals separately in matters of faith, but just an observation that the Bible often does not present baptism in terms of an individual, personal decision.

What were they baptized into?

• There is variety in the Bible. Over 30% of the time people were baptized, they were baptized into something other than water. People in the Bible were baptized into the Spirit, into the Name of Christ, or into suffering/death.

• If you isolate the instances when the Greek preposition eis (which explicitly means “into”) is used in a phrase with baptism in the Bible, the percentage of instances where the Greek explicitly says that someone was baptized “into water” is vanishingly small, but the 69.5% figure includes all the instances of baptism, including those where water is merely implied.

• Moving beyond the actual prepositional phrases that tell us what people were baptized into, we can pick up more data from the context of the instances of the words for Baptism.

• Looking at the “Baptisma” noun – what does it refer to?

  • A few of them were baptisms into suffering or death,

  • A few of the references were to regenerating action which actually united them to God,

  • And the majority context was water. However, this word is not in any of the historical accounts of a Christian baptism.

• Baptismos – is also never used of Christian baptism, but water is the only context that appears for it.

• Baptw was only used in N.T. of Jewish ceremonies or of mechanical action (Like when Jonathan dipped the end of his staff into a honeycomb to eat some honey), and there is a range of other things besides honey that they were partially dipped into.

• Baptistais – only refers to John the Baptist, who, of course, used water.

• Baptizo – is used of Christian water baptism, but it’s also used of the baptism of the Spirit, and baptisms of suffering, and a couple other things.

As we look at the range of baptisms in the Bible, we can categorize them into about seven kinds of baptism:

• 39% of the occurrences of the word were related to John’s Baptism

• 4% was the baptism by Jesus and His disciples

• 6% are speaking of baptism in the Holy Spirit – not speaking of Water baptism at all.

• 16% are clearly Christian water baptism

• 10% are speaking of a baptism into death.

• 5% talk of a baptism which causes eternal life, and

• 14% of the instances of the words for baptize in the Bible have to do with Jewish ceremonies.

• Some of these categories could be combined,

  • for instance, some Christians group John’s baptism, and the baptism into death, and the baptism of regeneration together with Christian baptism,

  • others only the baptism of regeneration,

  • and others only the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

  • But while the statistics may be debateable, my point is that there still remain distinct categories of baptisms. When the Bible uses the word “baptism,” we need to discern which kind of baptism it is talking about rather than assume it all means the same thing.

What is the baptism that saves?

• I want to look in particular at the category of the regenerative baptisms, because I think they are unique. None of them are talking about history. They are not saying, “So and so was baptized.” These five passages seem to be theological treatises:

• Rom. 6:3-4 “…as many of us as were baptized* into Jesus Christ were baptized* into his death! Therefore we are buried with him by baptism* into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
  What is the result of this particular baptism into Christ? It is a union with Christ’s death and walking in new life. Does application of water mechanically unify us with Christ and give us new life? I don’t believe so. I believe this is talking about a spiritual regenerative action done by God.

• Gal. 3:25-27 NASB “now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
  Again this baptism spoken of here seems to be speaking of something that really unites us to Christ. I don’t believe that the application of water makes us children of God or clothes us with Christ.

• Eph. 4:4-6 NASB “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism,* one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”
  We’ve got a problem here too. The disciples of John got baptized a second time by the disciples of Jesus. That’s two baptisms, so we’ve got a contradiction in the Bible here if we think this refers to water baptism. Instead, I think this is speaking of a spiritual action where God cleanses our hearts though the work of the Holy Spirit – and that only happens once.

• Col. 2:12 “Buried with Him in baptism,* wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who raised Him from the dead.”
  This is the passage that calls baptism “the circumcision of Christ... done without hands.” What does this baptism do? It is the means by which we are buried and resurrected with Christ. Again, I don’t think this is talking about water baptism; it’s talking about something which imparts spiritual life.

• 1 Pet. 3:20-21 “… in the days of Noah… eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you--not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but a request to God for a good conscience--through the resurrection of Jesus Christ”
  This baptism actually saves! But Peter explicitly says he is not talking about physical washing of water.

• I think these are describing a spiritual action which a lot of theologians call “regeneration” – an action of God’s Holy Spirit to change us, give spiritual life and faith to those of us who were dead in our sins and trespasses, actually cleanse us from sin, actually unite us to Christ, and actually make us God’s children. Christian water baptism symbolizes this in some respects, but isn’t what causes this regeneration.

What did people have to do in the NT before being baptized?

• If you look at all 140 uses of the word for “baptize” – not just the Christian water baptisms, but all of them:

• In the vast majority of NT passages, there is no statement as to what they had to do before they got baptized.

• But about 19% of them are in the context of Uncleanness or sin, or some kind of problem. If you’re unclean, you need baptism. That shows up both in the Jewish context of uncleanness as well as in the Christian concept of sinful uncleanliness. Sinners need to be cleansed, and this is symbolized by baptism.

• In a few cases the only prerequisite mentioned is that Jesus or the Holy Spirit had to come first, and then they would do the baptising.

• In about 9% of the cases, there is a statement that the recipient believed first before being baptized, but that is a surprisingly small percentage.

• About a quarter of them mention “repenting” – especially with the baptisms of John.

• It was interesting to me to see that in some cases, discipleship was stated as the prerequisite. If you wanted to be mentored by a prophet or teacher, you would be baptized by them, then you would follow them around and they would disciple you. You see that especially in the context of the baptisms of John and of Jesus.

• Calling is another fascinating prerequisite which I see in a few of them. For instance, Ananias apparently did not hear Paul make a profession of faith. God just told Ananias that He had called Paul and so Ananias needed to baptize him, so Ananias marched over and baptized him. Paul’s baptism was not predicated on his choice of following Jesus, it was predicated on Jesus’ choice of Paul, which was then recognized in baptism.

• If we break down the prerequisites for baptism according to the different categories of bap­tisms (mentioned previously), we can see that, in a lot of cases, no prerequisite is mentioned.

• Being Unclean before and Believing afterward are are clearly associated with the baptism of Regeneration,

• Jesus’ baptism isn’t really explained except that they became followers of Him.

• The advent and ascension of Christ are clear prerequisites for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which aren’t really about what we do, although repentance is also mentioned in connection with the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

• Jewish baptism, of course, centered on uncleanliness, but was for God’s called people who repented of sin.

• And John’s baptism has a similar profile to Jewish baptism, with the notable exception of the additional prerequisite of the coming of Jesus.

• In the Christian water baptism category, a number of prerequisites seem to come to play: notably, becoming a follower of Christ, repenting of sin, believing the Gospel, and being called by God.

• Now, I want to look more in-depth at the Bible verses in the New Testament that actually describe a Christian water baptism.

The 10 accounts of Christian Baptisms in the NT

• As important as Baptism is to us as Christians, it is kind of surprising that there are not more accounts of Christian baptisms in the NT, but here they all are – all 10 of them.

1. John the Baptizer’s Disciples in Ephesus

Acts 19:1-8 NASB “It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" And they said, "Into John's baptism." Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus." When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. There were in all about twelve men. And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.”

• John’s baptism was incomplete and required another baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus. You may also recall that Jesus’ disciples re-baptized John’s disciples when they came to Jesus. I conclude that John’s baptism was not Christian baptism, and therefore John’s baptism does not provide the template to be followed in Christian baptism.

• 12 men are mentioned, but then again only men were counted in the feedings of the 5000 and 3000, even though those accounts explicitly state that there were also women and children. We therefore can’t assume that women and children were not present and were not baptized in Ephesus, because the Jews worshiped as families, but we also can’t assume that women and children were there, since this account doesn’t say.

• 3 months of continued discipleship after the baptism, where Paul taught the Ephesians, just like Jesus said to do in the Great Commission: “make disciples, baptizing... and teaching them...”

2. Jesus & Great Commission:

John 3:22 “…Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judaea; and there he stayed with them, and baptized. John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized… 26 And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, He who was with you beyond Jordan, to whom You barest witness, behold, He is baptizing,* and everyone is going to him... 4:1 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized* more disciples than John, (Though Jesus himself didn’t baptize*, just His disciples,) He left Judea and withdrew into Galilee.”

• Basically no information about how Jesus did these baptisms, except that followers of John were going over to become followers of Jesus, and that meant getting baptized to formally enter the role of a follower to a great teacher. That was at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and then at the end of His ministry, He gave the Great Commission:

Matt 28:18ff “Going into all the world, make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that I commanded you.”

Mar 16:15-6 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He that believes and is baptized* shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

• Once again we see baptism as something that a student/disciple undergoes in order to become a follower of a spiritual teacher.

• In Mark’s quote, it doesn’t say, “He who is not baptized will be condemned,” but merely, “He who does not believe.” That’s one of the reasons why we don’t believe that Christian water baptism saves anybody. In other words, if belief + baptism = saved, and unbelief = unsaved, baptism is not a factor in salvation, even though it is a matter of obedience and faith which should be done, but that is part of a different equation. And, of course, that is why Jesus could tell the thief on the cross who repented and believed that He would meet Him in paradise even though there was no opportunity for the thief to be baptized between his conversion and his death.

• Interestingly, Paul quotes Mark’s version of the Great Commission to the Philippian jailer and applies the salvation and baptism not just to the individual jailer but to his entire household.

3. Pentecost:
Acts 2:36-41 NASB Peter preached in Jerusalem, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ--this Jesus whom you crucified."
Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?"
Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For ‘the promise is for you and your children’ and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!"
So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about 3,000 souls.”

• Addressed to “all the household of Israel” in presence of men from “every nation”

• Follows a call to repentance and trust in Jesus to forgive sins, and those who “receive” the “words” are baptized – indicating belief in those words.

• He also quotes an O.T. promise for “you, your children, and the foreign [slaves in your household].” (Deuteronomy 29:10-13) “All of you stand today before the LORD your God: your leaders and your tribes and your elders and your officers, all the men of Israel, your little ones and your wives - also the stranger who is in your camp, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water - that you may enter into covenant with the LORD your God, and into His oath, which the LORD your God makes with you today, that He may establish you today as a people for Himself, and that He may be God to you, just as He has spoken to you, and just as He has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

• Here the Jews are again at Pentecost in the year 30 A.D., standing before the Lord by tribes and families, like Deut. 29 says to do.

• Peter quotes Deuteronomy saying that the promise of the gospel is for: “you men of Israel, your children, and the stranger in your gates” (the foreign servant serving as a domestic in your house). Now, when the Jews went to these feasts like Pentecost, they brought their whole household with them, so the possibility cannot be ruled out that Peter is talking to men who had children standing with them listening, and Peter says, “Here’s the fulfillment of the promise - it’s for you, and for your children [note, he does not say, “it WILL BE for your children later on when they get old enough,” but “It IS for your children…], and even for your household servants!” When he proceeds to baptize them, only the male heads of household are recorded, as was traditional, but the implication is that the women and children and servants were also baptized.

4. Phillip in Samaria:
Acts 8:5-17 NASB “Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them. The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed… 12 And when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike. Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.”

• This is the only place where women are explicitly mentioned as being baptized, but that points to inclusivity. Were children also included? The passage doesn’t say one way or the other, but, think about it; can you imagine this scenario where Dad comes bursting into the house saying, “Hey Honey, you’ve gotta come see this!” What are the kids naturally going to do? “What Papa? What did you see? We want to see too!” How likely were all the dads to say, “Wait, no, honey, first, call a babysitter; we definitely don’t want the kids watching lame people walking around!” Of course there were children present to hear Philip’s preaching.

• The baptism here does follow an expression of belief, but it is a belief in Phillip’s preaching. They said, in effect, “We believe Phillip is telling the truth about Jesus.” They probably weren’t ready to pass a theological exam on Christology yet, but they knew they wanted to follow Phillip.

• And Phillip’s baptism included discipleship, as guys like Simon, whom he baptized, follow him around afterward, learning more about the ways of Jesus from Phillip.

• We also see that a manifestation of the Holy Spirit is not necessarily part of Christian baptism. Phillip had baptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus, and there was no manifestation of the Holy Spirit to go with those baptisms, but that was enough. When Peter and John came on the scene later, they accepted Phillip’s converts as Christians and did not re-baptize them.

5. Ethiopian Eunuch:
Acts 8:35-39 NASB “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?’ ² 38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.”

• Rejoicing seems to be something that goes along with baptism.

• People debate back and forth over whether there was enough water in the desert to immerse. I don’t know that we can resolve that debate conclusively. Surely they had drinking-water in the chariot, but sprinkling the eunuch with a water bottle apparently wasn’t considered.

• All we know is that they went down into the water, then there was a baptism, then they came up out of the water. The going down into the water and the com­ing out of the water are separate verbs from the word for “baptized.” Once again we are left with almost no information as to how the apostle did the ceremony.

• Here, baptism was of an adult who had heard and understood Phillip’s preaching, but being a eunuch, he couldn’t have had a wife or children, so there was no household to consider with this baptism.

6. Paul’s Baptism:
Acts 9:17-19 NASB “So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus,
In addition to Luke’s account early in the book of Acts, Paul recounts his baptism toward the end of the book: Acts 22:12-16 NASB "A certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing near said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very time I looked up at him. "And he said, 'The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth. For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard. Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.'”

• It is not recorded that Paul gave any expression of faith before being baptized, but an argument from silence is not a strong argument, and he had just been impacted by an encounter with the glorified Christ.

• Ananias baptized Paul on the strength of a revelation from God as to Paul’s Christian calling, and Ananias apparently considered baptism to be an occasion of cleansing from sin and of trust in Jesus.

• Paul “got up” to be baptized and then ate, so I think that he was baptized in a standing position inside the house before going to the dining room.

• There also was discipleship under Ananias as Paul stayed on with the believers in that town.

7. Cornelius in Caesarea
Acts 10:24-48 NASB “On the following day he [Peter & Jewish traveling companions] entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. When Peter entered, Cornelius met him… 33 ‘So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.’ Opening his mouth, Peter said: ‘I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him…. 38 You know of Jesus of Nazareth… 43 Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.’ 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message… [they were] speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter remarked 47 ‘Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?’ And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.”

• Here was a group of Gentiles, including family and friends, who believed in the teachings of the O.T., and who had heard about Jesus but hadn’t put it all together. As soon as Peter makes the Gospel explicit to them, the Holy Spirit falls, and they praise God.

• Whether this praise is a confession of faith or not, we are not told, and how old all the friends and family were, we are not told. Peter seems to be baptizing on the strength of the testimony of the Holy Spirit rather than on their individual confessions of faith, and it appears that everyone in the room was baptized.

• Once again, the baptism is followed up with discipleship instruction as Peter stays on for a few days with the new Christians.

8. Lydia in Philippi
Acts 16:12-15 NASB “[Paul and Silas went] to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days. And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled. A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us.

• Lydia was already an O.T. believer attending synagogue who “responded” in an unspecified way to Paul’s words, making her “faithful to the Lord.” On the strength of that she and her household are baptized. No husband is mentioned, and no mention is made of Lydia’s household expressing their own independent faith. (although this doesn’t necessarily prove that they didn’t express their own faith).

• The normal use of the Greek word for “house/household” included children, parents, grandparents, slaves, and guests who happened to be living under one’s roof. Asian households in general are not just a husband and wife and two kids like we think of in America. If you’ve read Augustine’s Confession from close to this timeperiod and close to this location, his “house” included his mom, his adult son from a previous marriage, his wife, servants, and several friends. At any rate, this account neither affirms nor denies that children were baptized when her household was baptized.

• Whatever the case, once again, the baptizers have made disciples, and they stay on to provide further teaching.

9. Philippian Jailer
Acts 16:27-34 “When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!’ And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They said, ‘Believe (singular) in the Lord Jesus, and you (singular) will be saved, you and your household.’ And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and he, having believed (singular) in God, jumped (singular) for joy household-wide (adverb “pan-oikos”).

• Are you noticing that about half of these Christian baptisms explicitly described in the Bible included the whole household?

• I believe the ESV has made a superior translation of verse 34. Other translations make it sound like the whole household believed together with the jailer, but the verbs for “believed” and “rejoiced” are singular, indicating only the jailer. The last word (πανοικεὶ³) translated by many versions as “with all his house/family,” is actually an adverb. Adverbs describe verbs, and the verb here is “he (the jailer) was rejoicing.” So I believe this adverb describes HOW the jailer rejoiced – he was jumping up and down for joy all around his house!

• This indicates a second household after Lydia for which we have no record of a profession of faith by the other members of the household before they are baptized, although they had gotten an opportunity to hear Paul preach. (They may have all expressed individual faith in Jesus, but that isn’t emphasized in the Bible. All we could infer with sound logic is that they didn’t resist being baptized.) And once again we have to deal with the likelihood that there were children in the household. (The account does not say that all except the children were baptized, but rather that everyone related to the jailer was baptized⁴, and the phrase “the all/everyone of his” is emphasized.)

• As for the circumstances of the baptism, all we know is that they were not in the jail cell and they were not in the house, and it was immediately after the jailer had washed Paul and Silas’ wounds, so it would be reasonable to suppose that the same water used to wash the apostles’ wounds was probably what was used for the baptism.

10. Paul’s Household baptisms in Corinth

Acts 18:1-8 NASB “After these things he [Paul] left Athens and went to Corinth... And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks… But when they resisted and blasphemed… he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household⁵, and many of the Corinthians, when they heard, were believing and being baptized.”
1 Cor 1:14-17 “I thank God that I baptized* none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; Lest any should say that I had baptized* in mine own name. And I baptized* the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. For Christ sent me not to baptize,* but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.”

• Paul apparently could have fulfilled his calling by just preaching to gentiles and not baptizing. His apostolic and evangelistic work was on the frontlines rather than in church development. Thus “many” Corinthians were baptized, but only a few of them by Paul.

• According to 1 Corinthians, Christian baptism is into the name of Christ and has nothing to do with who baptized you. Christians can’t split up based on who baptized them.

• This principle from Paul’s teaching was picked up in the teaching of the early church fathers who maintained that even if the person who baptized you fell into great sin and even renounced the faith, your baptism was still valid because it was in the name of Christ, not the one doing the baptism.

• And here are more households being baptized: those of Crispus and of Stephanas. There is not a single instance in the Bible of only part of a household being counted as believers, or only part of a household being baptized. In the case of Crispus, the president of the synagogue in Corinth, it is his “whole” house that believes with him.

• Hearing and believing the gospel seems to be the main focus of the grounds of baptism in the accounts of the Corinthian baptisms.

Applications

• As we see the breadth of what the Bible says about baptism and the range of practices of baptism throughout the Bible, I think we need to be careful to allow a range of practice which is as wide as the Bible allows, without narrowing it down to a particular tradition which focuses on only part of what the Bible says. The New Testament doesn’t say explicitly how Christians applied the water in baptism, and it doesn’t explicitly say that Christians baptised their children – by the same token, doesn’t say that they didn’t baptize children. That leaves all of us having to make inferences about what we will do for our own children. Now, I think it’s valid to infer things from what believers in the O.T. did, and to infer things from what we read in the N.T. baptism accounts, but that’s about all we can do, and inferences shouldn’t bear the weight of foundational dogma.

• It should be very humbling to us that we have to get baptized at all. We have to get baptized because, in our natural state, we are unclean, soiled by sin and unable make ourselves clean. Marvel with me that God calls offending sinners to Himself at all. Marvel with me that God would put Himself out there to enter into the filth and mire of our unregenerate hearts and do anything to make us clean! We weren’t doing God a favor by joining His team and getting baptized. It is only by the kindness of God’s grace that we are accepted into fellowship with Him. When we see a sinner baptized, let us humble ourselves and thank God that He loves us so much that He made a way for us to be cleansed from our sin by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

• Like John the Baptizer, we need to distinguish between water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit and see the baptism of the Holy Spirit as the more important one. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is regeneration, when Jesus sends His Holy Spirit to give spiritual life and faith to an individual, and that is the inauguration of our relationship with God, and it only happens once. John’s baptism looked forward to that future work of the Holy Spirit, and the Apostles’ baptisms came after the sending of the Holy Spirit, to mark with an outward, physical ceremony the invisible, inner work of the Holy Spirit in people’s lives. Let’s care more that there is spiritual life than that there are water baptisms.

• Cultivate aspects of baptism that are in the Bible, but which you may not have developed yet.

  • For instance, if your focus was on a profession of faith when you were baptized, you could work on developing the “repentance from sin” aspect of the Christian life to build on that.

  • Or, if your baptism was based on your parent’s belief and request, you could build on that by looking for ways to express your own faith as a disciple being instructed in the ways of Christ...

  • Or if conversion and repentance from sin was your initial focus, there may be ways to develop now in your union with Christ, and in the fruit of the Spirit.

  • Look for ways to express the fullness of the meaning of baptism in your life.

• We need to baptize lots of people and lots of different kinds of people, and even lots of people at once. That’s what they did in the New Testament. How do we do that?

  • I would like to see more adults come to faith in Christ and be baptized; I’d like to baptize whole households, if possible!

  • Let us not think too small here in terms of conversions. The apostles saw whole cities and regions and people groups converted and baptized. And that phenomenon didn’t die out in the early church; it continues today. I have read account after account in missionary biographies of whole people groups coming to faith and being baptized. Let’s hope and pray for such movements to Christ in our context too!

• Baptism is for disciples. Baptism isn’t the goal; it’s just the beginning of the process of discipleship. So set newly-baptized folks up for Christian teaching! Take them through a process of learning the Bible, pointing them to their continued need of a savior, pointing them to trust in Jesus, pointing them to the horror or sin and the need for continuing repentance, and pointing them to God’s word as the only source of absolute truth! Make disciples and teach them everything Jesus taught!