LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

BAPTISM IN THE LIGHT OF THE MIKVAH

SUBMITTED TO DR. BONG CHOI AS PARTIAL REQUIREMENT OF

“INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT” - NBST522_B04_200920

LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

BY

ELKE B. SPELIOPOULOS

(STUDENT ID: 22542317)

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2009

DOWNINGTOWN, PA

i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THESIS ---------------------------------------------------------- 1

INTRODUCTION ---------------------------------------------------- 1

BAPTISM AS ADMINISTERED BY JOHN -------------------------------------- 2

WATER AS THE OUTWARD SIGN OF BAPTISM --------------------------------- 4

THE REMISSION OF SIN SIGNIFIED BY BAPTISM -------------------------------- 7

THE NEED FOR REPENTANCE IN ASSOCIATION WITH BAPTISM ---------------------- 9

FAITH AS THE BASIS OF BAPTISM ---------------------------------------- 10

RECIPIENTS OF BAPTISM – ADULTS, CHILDREN, WHO? -------------------------- 11

SPRINKLING OR IMMERSION? ------------------------------------------- 13

BAPTISM IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ---------------- 15

CONCLUSION ----------------------------------------------------- 16

BIBLIOGRAPHY --------------------------------------------------- 18

1

THESIS

Baptism is one of the very symbols of Christianity, practiced through the ages as a

sign of a believer having entrusted his life in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ. However, is this

alone true? Is baptism only associated with the Christian faith? Why then did the Jewish

converts so quickly understand their need to be baptized?

This paper will argue that the baptism described by Luke in the book of Acts had close

ties to the Jewish concept of mikvah, the ritual cleansing in practice before and during the

time of Jesus and to this day. It will also take a look at the relationship of baptism in the

Spirit as described by Luke and its tie to the physical act of water baptism.

INTRODUCTION

With the arrival of John the Baptizer on the scene of history and the capture of his

activities in the pages of the New Testament, baptism came into the collective consciousness

of adherents of the Christian faith. As will be discussed, John’s baptism was one calling for

repentance in order to prepare for the coming kingdom. In his words: "“I baptize you with

water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am

not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." (Matthew 3:11, ESV)1.

While John clearly knew the mission he had to fulfill, he could not have understood

the entire message of the gospel, but soon Jesus would appear, not just to be baptized by John,

but to begin His public ministry. John never got to see the fulfillment of God’s plan for

salvation of mankind, as he died on the order of King Herod Antipas. Jesus’ apostles came to

realize a new understanding of baptism as a profession of faith, a faith that was coupled with

1 The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001, Mat 3:11

2

the indwelling of the Holy Spirit rather than simply a baptism for repentance. The church

fathers quickly surrounded the act of baptism with traditions of many kinds, from modes of

baptism – sprinkling vs. immersion – to categories of those being eligible for baptism – adult

believers only or children and infants also – to baptismal formulas. Before we can understand

what we know today as baptism, we need to take a look at the background of baptism in

Jewish tradition. Only with this understanding internalized can we truly appreciate the

meaning of baptism and its continuity not just from the ritual bath, or mikvah, of the Jews, but

its continuity as a part of God’s plan for restored fellowship.

BAPTISM AS ADMINISTERED BY JOHN

The prophets had spoken about the coming of a forerunner of our Lord, a man who

would be the one that precedes and indicates the approach of another: Jesus Christ. Isaiah had

prophesied about John: "A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make

straight in the desert a highway for our God." 2

(Isaiah 40:3, ESV), and Malachi spoke of

John’s coming, "“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me."3

(Malachi 3:1, ESV).

John, as described in all four of the canonical gospels, entered the scene as a rather

unusual individual, described by Matthew in Matthew 3:4: "Now John wore a garment of

camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey."4

Despite his strange appearance, John very clearly understood that he was called to prepare the

way for the Lord, and his preaching drew repentant Israelites whom he baptized in preparation

2 Ibid., Isa 40:3

3 Ibid., Mal 3:1

4 Ibid., Mat 3:4

3

for the coming kingdom in a manner that very closely resembles the concept in the Hebrew

Scriptures of clean and unclean.

In their Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Kittel, Friedrich and Bromiley

offer that John’s baptism

is a powerful messianic awakening from which Christianity springs. As presented in

the Gospels it does not seem to be a child of Near Eastern syncretism. The nearest

analogies are in Judaism, especially proselyte baptism. Like this, John’s baptism

makes great demands on the elect people. Unlike it, it has a more urgent ethical and

eschatological thrust. John is preparing the people for God’s imminent coming. His

baptism is an initiatory rite for the gathering of the messianic community. He himself

actively baptizes, so that the passive use of baptízein now becomes more common

than the middle found elsewhere. Cleansing, connected with repentance, is the main

point, with a suggestion of purification for the coming aeon.5

M. G. Easton adds that John’s baptism,

was not Christian baptism, nor was that which was practised by the disciples previous

to our Lord’s crucifixion. Till then the New Testament economy did not exist. John’s

baptism bound its subjects to repentance, and not to the faith of Christ. It was not

administered in the name of the Trinity, and those whom John baptized were

rebaptized by Paul.6

As the apostle Paul later stated, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling

the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.”" (Acts 19:4,

ESV)7. As such, John’s concept of baptism was undeveloped, yet it served its purpose of

preparing Jewish hearts and minds for the coming of the Messiah King.

5 Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich and Geoffrey William Bromiley, Theological Dictionary of the New

Testament, Translation of: Theologisches Worterbuch Zum Neuen Testament. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B.

Eerdmans, 1995, c1985), 93.

6 M.G. Easton, Easton's Bible Dictionary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996, c1897).

7

The Holy Bible : English Standard Version, Act 19:4

4

Josephus also attests to the historicity of John the Baptizer and his type of baptism in

his Antiquities of the Jews. However, Josephus gives us a slightly different perspective of

John’s perceived purpose in history in the minds of some of the Jews, focusing more on John

being seen as a rebel by Herod:

(118) Now, some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod’s army came from

God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called

the Baptist; (117) for Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the Jews

to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety towards

God, and so to come to baptism; for that the washing [with water] would be acceptable

to him, if they made use of it, not in order to the putting away [or the remission] of

some sins [only], but for the purification of the body; supposing still that the soul was

thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness. (118) Now, when [many] others

came in crowds about him, for they were greatly moved [or pleased] by hearing his

words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put

it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion (for they seemed ready to do

anything he should advise), thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent any

mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties, by sparing a man who

might make him repent of it when it should be too late. (119) Accordingly he was sent

a prisoner, out of Herod’s suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I before

mentioned, and was there put to death. Now the Jews had an opinion that the

destruction of this army was sent as a punishment upon Herod, and a mark of God’s

displeasure against him.8

It is interesting to note that Josephus understood John’s baptism as a cleansing of the

body, albeit in relationship to an already occurred purification of the soul. Josephus, similar to

John, did not fully understand what we can understand today as post-Pentecost believers, but

it is clear from this passage that the images of forgiven sin and immersion were parallel ideas.

WATER AS THE OUTWARD SIGN OF BAPTISM

The concept of immersion in a mikvah, or ritual bath, is well known in Judaism as a

form of cleansing, separating the unclean from the clean. God described many states of

uncleanness to the Israelites and most, if not all, required an immersion to return to a clean

8 Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus : Complete and Unabridged, Includes Index.

(Peabody: Hendrickson, 1996, c1987), Ant 18.116-119.

5

state. The Mishnah describes the connection between water and cleansing, and more

importantly, it relates the physical cleaning by water to the spiritual cleaning from God:

Said R. Aqiba, “Happy are you, O Israel. Before whom are you made clean, and who

makes you clean? It is your Father who is in heaven,

H “as it says, And I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean (Ez.

36:25).

I “And it says, O Lord, the hope [miqweh = immersion pool] of Israel (Jer.

17:13)—Just as the immersion pool cleans the unclean, so the Holy One, blessed be

he, clean Israel.”9

Apart from the ritual immersion baths of the Jews, which were described in the pages

of the Hebrew Scriptures, then further refined and tightly governed in the Talmud, converts to

Judaism likewise were required to immerse themselves into the waters of the mikvah, and this

holds true to this day:

People who have converted to Judaism also come to the mikvah, an immersion which

is the origin of baptism. . . .

. . . Physical purity is inextricably linked to spiritual purity and so the mikvah is

indispensible.10

The Jews of John’s day were already familiar with a connection between water and the

Spirit of God (or Ruach HaKodesh). Scripture passages such as Zechariah 12:10: “And I will

pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and

pleas for mercy”11

and Isaiah 44:3: “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and

streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my

blessing on your descendants.”12

, conveyed this connection.

9 Jacob Neusner, The Mishnah : A New Translation (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988), 279.

10

Marc-Alain Ouaknin,. Symbols of Judaism (New York, NY: Assouline Publishing, 2000), 104.

11

Chip McDaniel and C. John Collins, The ESV English-Hebrew Reverse Interlinear Old Testament (Logos

Research Systems, Inc., 2006; 2006), Zec 12:10.

12

Ibid., Is 44:3.

6

In addition, the Scriptures had told the Jewish people about the concept of a national

purification of Israel, which Ezekiel describes in Ezekiel 36:25-36. Charles A. Briggs

summarizes this understanding:

Ezekiel here represents that the restoration is to be connected with a great purification.

The purification in the previous section was accomplished by a great national

discipline and through suffering. Here it is by the application of pure water. The

prophet uses the ceremonial purification of Israel as a great symbol to set forth the

great purification that is to transform the nation by transforming its heart and spirit.

This is to be accomplished not by any human priests through the use of rites and

ceremonies, but by God Himself, who makes a great national baptism. This baptism

cleanses the entire nation within and without. It removes all the external uncleanness

due to the worship of idols and the indulgence in corrupt practices. But it also removes

the deeper impurity of a hard, stubborn and rebellious heart, a reluctant disposition and

unruly temper. A new heart takes the place of the old heart, and it is a heart of flesh

responsive to the touch of the divine hand.13

With water playing such an important symbolical role in the Jewish mind, the

passages describing the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch by Philipp,

"And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said,

“See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”" (Acts 8:36, ESV) 14

,

and the expression by Peter when discussing the baptism of the first Gentiles,

"“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy

Spirit just as we have?”" (Acts 10:47, ESV) 15

,

can be clearly understood as being based on the Jewish understanding by both Philipp

and Peter of ritual immersion. As such, they immediately discussed baptism as part of the

conversion experience of both the Ethiopian God-fearer and the Roman Gentile.

13

Charles A. Briggs, Messianic Prophecy (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1886. Reprint, Peabody, MA:

Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.: 1988), 274-275. 14

The Holy Bible : English Standard Version, Act 8:36.

15

Ibid., Act 10:47

7

THE REMISSION OF SIN SIGNIFIED BY BAPTISM

Controversies have arisen in theological circles around Peter’s statement in Acts 2:38,

“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of

your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38, ESV) 16

, but as John B.

Polhill points out:

The connection of baptism with the forgiveness of sins in v. 38 has often been a matter

of controversy. A literal rendering of the verse runs: “Repent, and let each of you be

baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for/on the basis of the forgiveness of your sins.”

The disputed word is the preposition eis, which could indicate purpose and thus be

taken to mean that baptism is the prerequisite for the forgiveness of sins. There is

ample evidence in the New Testament, however, that eis can also mean on the ground

of, on the basis of, which would indicate the opposite relationship—that the

forgiveness of sins is the basis, the grounds for being baptized17

A second verse in Acts seems to point in the same direction, indicating that sins are

washed away by baptism, but again this can be seen in the light of already forgiven sins being

symbolically washed away: "And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away

your sins, calling on his name.’" (Acts 22:16, ESV) 18

. Interestingly, Howard H. Stern sees a

connection in this verse to the mikvah:

Immerse yourself, Greek baptisai; the verb is in the middle voice, which means that it

has reflexive force. If the word were in the passive voice here, “be immersed” would

be appropriate. Jewish practice in the mikveh, for proselyte baptism as well as for

other ritual purifications, is self-immersion, in contrast with the common present-day

Christian baptismal practice of being immersed by someone else.19

16

Ibid., Act 2:38

17

John B. Polhill, vol. 26, Acts, electronic ed., Logos Library System; The New American Commentary

(Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001, c1992), 117.

18 The Holy Bible : English Standard Version, Act 22:16.

19

David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary (Clarksville, MD: Jewish New Testament Publications,

Inc., 1989), 307.

8

Regardless of any apparent linkage to Jewish tradition, much discussion among the

various Christian denominations centers on whether or not baptism actually imparts grace and

therefore the remission of sins. In one of the views on this topic, the Roman Catholic tradition

states:

Baptism should be administered to infants. The reason for this is that the Catholic

Church believes that baptism is necessary for salvation, and that the act of baptism

itself causes regeneration. Therefore, in this view, baptism is a means whereby the

church bestows saving grace on people.20

The Protestant Paedobaptist view does not attach a saving grace to the child’s baptism,

but rather states that it is based on three key understandings from Scripture: 1) infants were

circumcised in the Old Covenant, 2) baptism is parallel to circumcision, and 3) household

baptisms are described in Scripture.21

The final view, which is that of believer’s baptism administered to those of an age at

which it is evident that they are cognizant of the grace imparted on them with the remission of

their sins through their faith in the sacrificial and redeeming death and resurrection of Jesus

Christ, seems to satisfy the Scriptures by far the most. It also most clearly depicts baptism as

an outward symbol of the remission of sins. R. C. Sproul states the following about baptism:

It’s a sign of our participation in Jesus, of being partakers in his death and

resurrection, which are at the heart of the gospel. It’s also a sign of our cleansing from

sin and guilt by the work of Jesus and the washing of regeneration. What we do

outwardly with water, the Spirit does inwardly with his grace. So it’s a sign of our

cleansing. It’s also a sign of our sanctification. It’s a sign of our baptism of the Holy

Spirit. It’s a sign of our being set apart from the world and given the holy task to fulfill

the commission that Christ gives to his church.22

20

Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology : An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, England; Grand

Rapids, Mich.: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 1994), 971.

21

Grudem, 975.

22

R.C. Sproul, Now, That’s a Good Question (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1996), 340.

9

Baptism as a sign for the remission of sins is probably best summarized with Norman

L. Geisler’s words who expresses a summary view of baptism in one concise sentence:

“Repent and be baptized with a view to the forgiveness of sins.”23

THE NEED FOR REPENTANCE IN ASSOCIATION WITH BAPTISM

The call for repentance at the end of Peter’s sermon on Pentecost is coupling

repentance and baptism for the first time. Typically, repentance in the New Testament links to

faith. However, in this Pentecost message Peter reached back and quoted Joel, forming a

strong appeal to the Hebrew Scriptures his audience would have been familiar with, an appeal

that involved the element of repentance. John B. Polhill writes:

The dominant idea in 2:38 thus seems to be repentance, with the other elements

following. Repentance leads to baptism, the forgiveness of sins, and the gift of the

Spirit. The essential response Peter called from the Jewish crowd is the complete

turnabout that comprises true repentance, to turn away from their rejection of the

Messiah and to call upon his name, receive baptism into his community, and share the

gift of the Spirit they had just witnessed so powerfully at work in the Christians at

Pentecost.24

A Jewish audience would have easily understood the call to repentance. Had not their

Scriptures told them in many places to repent and turn from their evil ways? The words of the

prophet Ezekiel were well known to them:

"“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,

declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be

your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and

make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel?

23

Norman, L Geisler, A Popular Survey of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2007), 132.

24

John B. Polhill, vol. 26, Acts, electronic ed., Logos Library System; The New American Commentary

(Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001, c1992), 117.

10

For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and

live.”" (Ezekiel 18:30-32, ESV OT Rev. Int.)25

Again, the elements of Peter’s speech regarding repentance in the light of baptism can

thus only be understood in the cultural background of his Pentecost listeners. To them, the

connection to turn and be made clean after becoming spiritually unclean, was a clear one. As

Robert L. Webb states regarding practices of immersion described in the Qumran

community’s texts, “the candidate’s prior state of uncleanness caused by sin can be cleansed

only by an immersion accompanied by the proper spiritual virtues”.26

FAITH AS THE BASIS OF BAPTISM

Two key passages in the book of Acts indicate that Luke’s understanding as depicted

in his writing connected faith very clearly to baptism. It should be added that the first passage

is not part of many of our translations, but rather delivers what “appears to be the oldest

extant instance of profession of faith in connection with baptism is provided by the so-called

Western text of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles”.27

In Acts 8:37, Philip says “If you

believe with all your heart, you may”, to which the Ethiopian eunuch replies “I believe that

Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”28

In Acts 18:8, we are told that Crispus, the ruler of the

25 Chip McDaniel and C. John Collins. The ESV English-Hebrew Reverse Interlinear Old Testament, Logos

Research Systems, Inc., 2006; 2006.

26

R.L. Webb, "John's Baptizing Activity in the Context of First-Century Judaism." Forum 2, no. 1 (/ 1999): 99-

123. New Testament Abstracts, EBSCOhost (accessed February 12, 2009), 107.

27

P. F. Bradshaw, "The Profession of Faith in Early Christian Baptism." Ecclesia Orans 23, no. 3 (/ 2006): 337-

355. New Testament Abstracts, EBSCOhost (accessed February 12, 2009), 102.

28

The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982, Acts 8:37.

11

synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household and was then baptized

with many other Corinthians who had believed upon hearing Paul.29

John Bligh states that “the rite does not simply complete the process of justification by

faith; it becomes in turn a part of the content of faith”.30

Of course, this profession of faith

created problems for the neophyte from a Jewish background, as their newfound faith may

have had social implications, much similar to the experience of proselytes from Muslim

backgrounds who take their faith underground in order to avoid severe ramifications, even

ending in death for some who are found out. Regarding the Jewish converts, Bligh adds:

Jewish Christians in Paul’s day may have thought it sufficient to keep their Baptism

as a secret in their own hearts and to continue attendance at the synagogue as a social

obligation.31

RECIPIENTS OF BAPTISM – ADULTS, CHILDREN, WHO?

Baptism, much like the mikvah for the Jews, was not limited to one gender or one

group of people. The mikvah requirement was placed on those in the community who had

reached the Bar Mitzvah age. However, upon examination of the text in Acts and in some

other passages of the New Testament, theologians arrive at one of two opinions on the topic

of infants and children who have not yet reached a level of spiritual consciousness and

understanding. Some of the various views have already been discussed above in the section

The Remission of Sin Signified by Baptism. However a look at some of the key verses of Acts

sheds additional lights on who the recipients of baptism were in the early church.

29

The Holy Bible : English Standard Version, Acts 18:8.

30

John Bligh, “Baptismal Transformation of the Gentile World.” The Heythrop Journal 37, no. 3 (/ 1996): 371-

381. University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2265.1996.tb00838.x (accessed

February 12, 2009), 374.

31

Ibid., 380.

12

In Acts 2:38, Peter addresses the men of Israel as the initial target of the gospel

message. Acts 8:38 finds Philip witnessing to an Ethiopian eunuch, certainly a God-fearer on

his way back from a pilgrimage. Interestingly, the eunuch would have fallen into two

categories of “unacceptable” in Jewish thinking. For one he was not a Jew but someone who

worshipped the God of Israel, and thus tolerated but not allowed beyond the Court of the

Gentiles at the temple in Jerusalem, but even more so because he was a castrated male, which

would have precluded him from temple service based on Deuteronomy 23:1. Yet, the fact that

Philip not only declares Jesus to be the Messiah based on the eunuch’s reading and

understanding of the book of Isaiah, but then baptizes him when he states his faith, shows that

God’s acceptance through Christ extends beyond the boundaries of being a Jew or, for that

matter, less than whole.

Acts 8:12 takes us into Samaria, home of a group of people who were despicable to

the Jews based on the intermarriage with Assyrian settlers after Shalmaneser laid siege against

the city of Samaria and conquered it. Yet also here the gospel is heard when Philip preaches

in Samaria, and both Samarian men and women are baptized.

In Acts 9:18, Saul’s change to Paul through the revelation of the risen Jesus Christ on

the road to Damascus culminates in Paul’s baptism. Again, the verse shows that God is

accepting even those that were deemed sinners before they put their faith in the God of Israel

and in the completed work of grace through Jesus.

Acts 10:47-48 points us to the conversion and baptism of Cornelius, a Roman

centurion who sought the Lord and in a vision was told to search for Peter. Peter’s testimony

of the gospel is literally interrupted by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the listening

Gentiles, who are then immediately baptized.

13

Acts 16:15 describes the baptism of Lydia of Thyatira, a woman and a God-fearer,

who hears Paul’s testimony and believes. She is baptized with her household, which could

indicate children as part of her household.

With regards to the question of infants being included in such household baptisms,

Wayne A. Grudem states:

The examples of household baptisms in the New Testament are really not decisive for

one position or another. When we look at the actual examples more closely, we see

that in a number of them there are indications of saving faith on the part of all of those

baptized. For example, it is true that the family of the Philippian jailer was baptized

(Acts 16:33), but it is also true that Paul and Silas “spoke the word of the Lord to him

and to all that were in his house” (Acts 16:32). If the Word of the Lord was spoken to

all in the house, there is an assumption that all were old enough to understand the

word and believe it. Moreover, after the family had been baptized, we read that the

Philippian jailer “rejoiced with all his household that he had believed in God” (Acts

16:34). So we have not only a household baptism but also a household reception of the

Word of God and a household rejoicing in faith in God. These facts suggest quite

strongly that the entire household had individually come to faith in Christ.32

While a definitive consensus and position will not be achievable between the Christian

denominations, evidence seems to point to believer’s baptism, meaning a person has reached

an age at which he or she is able to express faith. More importantly, the texts referenced make

it clear that God has not excluded any member of the human family from coming to Him and

being baptized upon their profession of faith.

SPRINKLING OR IMMERSION?

In the example of the Ethiopian eunuch, baptism clearly involved immersion in a body

of water:

"And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water,

Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water,

32

Grudem, 978.

14

the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went

on his way rejoicing." (Acts 8:38-39, ESV) 33

Wayne A. Grudem again delivers key insights to us when he writes:

The practice of baptism in the New Testament was carried out in one way: the person

being baptized was immersed or put completely under the water and then brought back

up again. Baptism by immersion is therefore the “mode” of baptism or the way in

which baptism was carried out in the New Testament.34

He continues to list several key reasons, for one, the Greek word used means in its

translation “to plunge, dip, immerse” an object in water. In addition, the language of several

key passages indicates that the baptism activities were in the water, not near the water.

Finally, the image of the believer’s union with Christ in death, burial and resurrection is best

understood in the symbolism of an immersion under water.35

A look at ancient baptism practices also sheds light on the impact of immersion of the

believers to be baptized:

In the East, the baptized, having disrobed (that is, having put off the old human) was,

it seems, entirely immersed three times, while in the West candidates descended into

the basin to their knees and received a triple aspersion. . . .

. . . After emerging from the water naked and without shame, like Adam or Eve before

the Fall, and having been declared innocent, the newly-baptized put on a white-robe

that was worn until the following Sunday.36

It is clear to see from this example how close this practice is to the Jewish practice of

mikvah immersions involving the various aspects of transitioning from an unclean to a clean

state. The similarities continue when comparing Jesus’ baptism as described in Mark 1:10,

where Jesus is described as “coming up out of the water” after his baptism.

33

The Holy Bible : English Standard Version, Act 8:38-39.

34

Grudem, 967.

35

Ibid..

36

Francois Bovon, "Baptism in the ancient church." Sewanee Theological Review

42, no. 4 (January 1, 1999): 429. http://www.proquest.com/ (accessed February 12, 2009), 433.

15

BAPTISM IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

The final view of baptism as depicted in the book of Acts is the aspect of baptism in

the Holy Spirit. This is where indeed the strongest departure to the Old Testament practice of

mikvah is to be found. Jewish believers prior to Christ did not automatically receive the Holy

Spirit, but now all believers moving into the church age would receive the indwelling of the

Holy Spirit as they came to faith. Walter A. Elwell and Philip Wesley Comfort explain:

In the book of Acts the metaphor retains the initiatory significance given it by John the

Baptist. Acts 2:4 fulfills the promise of Acts 1:5. Since the outpouring of the Spirit

was seen as the mark of “the last days” (Is 44:3; Ez 39:29; Jl 2:28–29), it was by being

thus baptized in Spirit that the disciples began to experience the last days for

themselves (Acts 2:1–7, 18). Acts 11:17 speaks of Pentecost as the occasion when

they came to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord. Similarly the apostle Paul sees the gift of

the Spirit as the beginning of Christian experience (2 Cor 1:22; Gal 3:3), so that

“having the Spirit of Christ” is the defining mark of the Christian (Rom 8:9). By being

baptized in the Spirit, Cornelius and his friends received the forgiveness and salvation

that Peter promised them (Acts 10:43–45; 11:13–18).37

The sequence of the disciples receiving the Holy Spirit begins with the promise of the

Holy Spirit by Jesus before his ascension in Acts 1:4-5:

"And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to

wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John

baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from

now.”" (Acts 1:4-5, ESV) 38

This experience is described in Acts 2:1-4, when the disciples experienced tongues of

fire falling on them and giving them a supernatural ability to speak languages they were not

capable of speaking prior to Pentecost.

37

Walter A. Elwell and Philip Wesley Comfort, Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Tyndale reference library (Wheaton,

Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), 147.

38

The Holy Bible : English Standard Version, Act 1:4-5.

16

On his travels to Ephesus, depicted in Acts 19:2-6, Paul met what he believed to be

fellow believers in Christ, but when he asked them about their conversion experience, he

quickly realized that they had been baptized by John and had not even heard about the Holy

Spirit yet. He re-baptized them in the name of Jesus, and as he was laying hands on them the

Holy Spirit indwelled them with a similar outcome as for the believers in Jerusalem.

As mentioned prior, in Acts 10: 44-48, Peter was still speaking to Cornelius and his

Gentile family and friends when the Holy Spirit came upon them. He then baptized them.

This indwelling of the Holy Spirit in all believers after Pentecost is what is truly new

in the church age. As R. C. Sproul states, referring to the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit

at Pentecost:

He has not just poured out his Spirit upon the clergy, the priests, the prophets, or the

kings, but he has given his Spirit and gifted all one hundred and twenty. All of the

people of God now receive the Holy Spirit not only in regeneration, in rebirth, and in

indwelling but also in the gift of the ability to participate and function in the body of

Christ in Christ’s ministry.39

CONCLUSION

Baptism, as depicted in the book of Acts, allowed the early believers, most of which

were Jews, to make a natural progression from the practices they knew from their ritualistic

mikvah immersions. The concept of clean and unclean was clearly established in the pages of

the Hebrew Scriptures and could easily be transferred to an understanding of sin and

forgiveness, especially since the Hebrew prophets had already spoken of these themes

centuries before this first century of the church age.

For 21st century believers, especially those who might seek to minister to Jewish

people, it is therefore critical to understand the background of Jewish traditions. As with most

39

Sproul, 64.

17

other Christian practices, baptism has its forerunner in a Jewish practice, the mikvah

observance.

It is equally important, however, to know the critical differences we now experience as

believers in the church age, in particular the Holy Spirit’s indwelling of every believer. We

need to be able to also convey this meaning clearly to those we seek to minister to.

To say it with Paul: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God

for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”

18

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19

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