[The querist of the preceding question posed it to both the Editor and the Associate Editor. As it turned out, we both answered it, and since both responses provide complementary information with minimal overlap, we are pleased to print both replies.]
It is good that you “agree totally” about baptism for, “baptism doth also now save us” (1 Peter 3:21), and “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). The word “baptism” has been anglicized, or simply brought into our English language from the Greek word, baptizo. This word means to submerge. The Greek poet Homer wrote about ships being sunken in his epics the Iliad and the Odyssey, and the word he used to describe that was a form of baptizo. There is no doubt that this word means different things today to many people. Indeed one dictionary I have defines baptism as the “application of water in a religious rite.” Yet, even if words may change their meaning, and they do over time, we still must understand what the word meant to the people of New Testament times. If you read over Acts 8:36-39, (the account of the Ethiopian Nobleman), you will see that both Phillip, (the baptizer), AND the Eunuch, (the baptized) went down into the water. Such would hardly have been necessary had Phillip seen fit to simply apply some water to the Ethiopian’s forehead. Read also Romans 6:1-11 and you will also see words like “buried” and “planted” in reference to baptism. Baptism is also a picture of Jesus’ death burial and resurrection, which cannot be pictured in sprinkling, pouring or anointing a person. The very motion is re-enacted in baptism. Jesus was buried in a tomb, meaning he was completely covered, not just laid on the ground and some dirt sprinkled over him. As you read and study the Scriptures, it becomes evident that baptism is both a burial in water, and it is necessary for one to be baptized to become a member of the body of Christ. I hope you will consider these words carefully, and study the New Testament for yourself. If you contact the church of Christ in your area, I am sure someone there will be willing to study with you, and if you are willing, someone will surely baptize you into Christ (Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:27).
