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Bible Question: Do you believe that baptism is a part of salvation? Mark 16:16,
Acts 2:38, 1 Peter 3:21, Romans 6:3-4, Matt. 28:19?
Bible Answer: Several questions about this subject have already been asked.
You may want to read them. They are located in the section entitled
Doctrine. Here is the link to the first, second and last question. Since you have added some new passages (Matt. 28:19)
not previously discussed, this answer will address these passages.
The Mark 16:16 passage was previously covered but will be included
again.
Matthew 28:19. The Matthew passage,
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Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am
with you always, even to the end of the age." (NASB) Matthew 28:19-20 |
The key to understanding this passage is four Greek words: "go,"
"make disciples", "baptizing," and "teaching." It is important
to notice which words come first. The Greek verbs for "to go"
and "to make disciples" are aorists while both "baptizing" and
and "teaching" are present active participles. The aorist tense
refers to things that have happened, while present participles
refer to continuing action. Simply put, Jesus told His disciples
to first go and make disciples, then baptize and teach them. Jesus'
instructions are about discipleship - not about conversion.
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| What is baptism? |
| The Greek word for "to baptize" is BAPTIZO. The ancients used
this Greek word in a variety of ways. For example, the word had
the meaning "to dip," "to immerse" and " to drown." One example
of its usage was to refer to a ship "sinking." John 3:23 tell
us that John the Baptist baptized where there was a lot of water.
Why? So he could dip people down into the water. Now let us ask the question, "What was the meaning of John's baptism?"
The answer comes in Matthew 3:1-6 where we find John the Baptist
baptizing people who are confessing their sins. Matt 3:6 says
the people who were being baptized were constantly confessing
their sins. The Greek verb for confess is a present participle
which indicates they were confessing again and again. I can understand
this because I have done the same thing. Have you ever sinned
and felt so badly about what you did that you confessed, confessed
and confessed and kept on going? That is the picture of the seriousness
of these people. The baptism of John the Baptist was a baptism
of repentance (Matt. 3:11) - a regret and turning away from sin.
Mark 1:5 gives us the same idea, "all the land of Judea, and those
from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in
the Jordan River, confessing their sins." |
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