Baptism is a very important part of the Christian life. Through Spirit baptism, we are placed into the Body of Christ. In the Body of Christ, we receive certain benefits that directly affect how we live. In this chapter, we are going to look at baptism and the Body of Christ.
What does baptism mean?
The word baptism is not translated in most translations, rather, it is transliterated. Transliteration is the practice of taking a word from one language and substituting its letters with the letters of another language. The Greek word is "baptizo" and the English word baptism is a transliteration not a translation of this Greek word. Baptism is taken from the original word and altered for our language. (Because we do not use ending on our words to express the different cases – in, to, at, etc. – the words are not identical, rather, baptism is altered to a noun form (baptisma) that fits into the English language.) All this is to say that the word baptism in most translations is not actually translated. Therefore, to understand what baptism is, we need to translate it.
Through investigating how the word is used, we can determine the true meaning. The word baptism was used for the dipping of a garment into dyed, or the tip of a sword into a bowl before battle. The word Baptism carries the idea of immersion, not of sprinkling. When John the Baptist was baptizing people in the Jordon River, he was submersing them into the water.
When you were saved, you were immersed (baptized) into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12:13 “For by one Spirit we all were baptized into one Body, whether Jew or Greek, whether slave or free man, we were all made to drink by one Spirit.” The Holy Spirit places us into the Body of Christ, which is Spirit baptism.
The Body of Christ is a new creation that was made by God on the day of Pentecost – the day the Holy Spirit came to reside upon the earth in believers, Acts 2. Within this new creation, some changes have happened that are important to understand. 2 Corinthian 5:17 “Since someone is in Christ; a new creation, the old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.” Many translations have “a new creature”, however, the word here is creation and is translated by many of these same translations as “creation” in all other sections were it is found. We are not a new creature, we are in a new creation. This creation is referred to in Scripture as The Christ. In The Christ, Christ is the Head and we are the Body, Ephesians 1:22, 23.(I am using "The Christ" because in Scripture an article is often before the word Christ, which helps identify a reference to the body of Christ, Christ as the head and the church as the body.)
Water Baptism
Water baptism is a representation of your death, burial, and resurrection with Christ. The immersion into water represents your immersion into the Body of Christ. In Christ, God counts you to have died with Christ and to have risen with Christ. You are alive unto God to live a life that is no longer bound by the sin nature but rather is a slave to righteousness, Romans 6:4-11.
What is the purpose of water baptism? Water baptism does not clean away our sin, the blood of Christ does that. Water baptism is for our conscience before God. 1 Peter 3:12 “which now an antitype (a figure) even baptism saves us, not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but an appeal of a good conscience into God, through the resurrection of Christ.” Water baptism saves us from a bad conscience before God.
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