Sunday Services
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Water Baptism - what are the origins?
We offer a service of water baptism to
those who believe and trust in Jesus Christ, following
the instructions laid down in the Holy Bible.
In Acts 2:38, Peter said "Repent
and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins." Here,
we see that baptism goes with belief, faith and repentance.
The phrase "every one of you" means baptism for every
Christian.
John the Baptist 'immersed' people in water,
in the River
Jordan, a baptism for the forgiveness of sins. He submerged
them into the water and raised them up again, symbolising the act of dying
to our sins and being raised to eternal life; of being washed
clean. Baptism was a very thorough ceremonial cleansing,
more so
than the ceremonial washing that people had to comply with
before they were allowed to enter the Temple.
The Last Instructions of Jesus
Before Jesus left this earth to return to His Father
in heaven, He said to His disciples, "Go
and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the
age."
Baptism is the command of Jesus Himself.
If we look up the meaning of baptism in the Greek, W.E. Vine's book,
"Expository Dictionary of Bible Words",
tells us that the root of the word Baptízo,
is Bapto, meaning to
dip, immerse, 'submerge and emerge'. Baptism is
immersion.
The word was used at that time by the Greeks, when signifying
the dying of a garment: it is submerged, soaked in the dye.
It is also used to mean the washing of articles to make
them 'ceremonially clean', which would have been a cleansing
in water before use for a holy purpose.
Washing in water for purifying goes way back into the
Old Testament. Water baptism of people is Biblical, and
it is the pattern set by Jesus Himself. Baptism is for
all believers.
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