The Cleansing Act of
Baptism
This can be seen in the following verses: Romans 6 :1-5 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein? Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection Baptism is an "act of purification and initiation"? Is this a principle found in the Old Testament Scriptures? If we look for examples of purification, we may find the origins of the ordinance of baptism. John the Baptist was a son of a Levite Priest, Zacharias, who had a Levite wife, Elizabeth. John would no doubt have been familiar with the practice long before he began his ministry. John 1:33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize in water, he said unto me, Upon whomsoever thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and abiding upon him, the same is he that baptizeth in the Holy Spirit. Let’s see two examples where baptism is anti-typed in the Old Testament.
There are many references to baptism in the New Testament. But what about the Old Testament? You can search by way of a Concordance and you won’t see any references to baptism. Many think of the rite of baptism as a New Testament phenomenon only. Where did the ordinance originate? Why isn't there a mention of it in the Old Testament? Did God think of the idea after His Son came into the world? The ordinance of BAPTISM follows the pattern: 1. Repentance 2. Burial 3. Resurrection
Noah We're all familiar with the story of Noah being saved with his family in an ark. Gen 7:16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in. And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. Gen 8:1 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark…..
2Pe 2:5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; So Noah was saved by the hand of God. But how is that anything to do with the ordinance of baptism? The Apostle gives the answer: 1 Peter 3:18 – 21 GNB For Christ died for sins once and for all, a good man on behalf of sinners, in order to lead you to God. He was put to death physically, but made alive spiritually, and in his spiritual existence he went and preached to the imprisoned spirits. These were the spirits of those who had not obeyed God when he waited patiently during the days that Noah was building his boat. The few people in the boat---eight in all--were saved by the water, which was a symbol pointing to baptism, which now saves you. It is not the washing off of bodily dirt, but the promise made to God from a good conscience. It saves you through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Peter is saying here that the saving of Noah and his family in the flood points to the ordinance of baptism, and is the means of our salvation, not in the physical sense, but in the spiritual, through the resurrection of Jesus. At baptism, we promise to give our life over to Christ, and He promises to save us by a resurrection into his Kingdom. The Apostle Paul alludes to this event as a baptism. Another Old Testament example of the principle of baptism is shown in the story of Moses and the Israelites. Moses When Moses led the children of Israel across the Red Sea, with the waters rising up on either side, they were experiencing a type of baptism or immersion.
Exo 14:13; 21 -22 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the
LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. The Apostle Paul alludes to this event as a baptism: 1Co 10:1,2 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;and were all baptized unto Moses in then cloud and in the sea. So we see two examples of how the principle of baptism can be seen throughout the O.T and in fact is extant throughout the whole Bible. The principle is that of being spiritually cleansed. That’s what God has always wanted ever since Adam. He wants us to be free of, to be washed of sin. David said in his repentant Psalm 51: Psalm 51: 3 – 12 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Note the progression:
Repentance Baptism: Holy Spirit:
verses 3 -6; verse 7; verses 10 - 12
So we see there are many examples of “cleansing to atone for sins” in the Old Testament. Atonement Rituals On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies to make an atonement for the people. Lev 16: 30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. The Levites needed to be cleansed before doing the service for the Lord. Moses’ sprinkling of the water of purification upon them is an act of cleansing, signifying the application by faith in the shed blood of Christ upon us for our service to Him.
John the Baptist spoke about the Judgment to come, by an analogy: Luke 3: 16-17. John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
Cleansing of the Church Ephesians 5: 25 -27 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Another type of Baptism But let’s see that other type of baptism John the Baptist referred to: a baptism of the Holy Spirit to be performed by Christ Himself, referring no doubt to the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit was sent to the disciples as a promise of the Father:
Throughout the Bible God has given instructions for that cleansing. We saw it in the Old Testament examples: • Noah and Moses in symbolic enactments; • Atonement rituals;
Acts 1: 4 - 7 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
• Consecration of the Levites for the Temple service;
We see it in the New Testament with all the many familiar examples of baptism. The principle is clear. God wants a clean people, not cleansed by having a bath in water to wash the physical grime, but a spiritual cleansing of the soul.
God wants a clean world, a clean society, a clean church; He always did! And He will have it!! All of us who have been baptized would have come to a state of seeing ourselves as God sees us. We counted the cost of what we were getting in to, and said OK. It was so easy to say OK in the office of the minister; there was no immediate demand to put our life on the line, no gun being held at our head. That may come later, but at the time, we thought: let’s get this baptism done.
In the meantime, we have to continually ask Him to wash us of sin as we miss the mark throughout our daily walk in this present evil world. By H. Robertson
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At the very least we repented of our wrong ways of living and determined to follow the ways God has outlined. But what should we be doing now on a daily basis? We should be in a constant state of repentance!! As we ask for our daily bread…. As we ask for forgiveness of our sins, we should define them a little more. Rev 8 : 3, ..talks about another angel who offered up “much incense” with the prayers of all the saints, Like incense cut up very fine, instead of asking God to “forgive our many sins”, we should be more definitive, detailing some specific sins and striving to be spiritually cleansed. In other words, throughout the day, when we see we have missed the mark of God’s perfect standards, we should acknowledge that in our prayers and ask for forgiveness. We already have the Holy Spirit within us to help us. Our baptism started the process; Passover renewed the covenant we made at our baptism; In between times, on a daily basis, let’s strive to be spiritually cleansed. That is what God is what God is looking for in his people. But that will only be fully accomplished in us when we are changed from our fleshly form into a perfect spiritual form at Christ’s return.
Mustard Seed Evangelistic Work Raul de Asis Hipe For Inquiries, email:
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