Identifying The New Testament Church, Part 14

A. Last time in our study of Identifying the New Testament Church we saw that man had
made changes in God’s pattern of worshiping Him in Spirit and in Truth. One of those
changes was in the mode of administering baptism. Eph. 4:4-6, “There is one body and one
Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
If there is only one baptism commanded and accepted by God which one is it? I ask that question because, there are at least, four different types, or modes, of baptism practiced in today’s religious world called Christianity. Paul, speaking by inspiration, says, “There is only one.” Question? Which one is it? Is it sprinkling with water, pouring of water, or being immersed in water? Or is it a baptism with the Holy Spirit as some claim? Let’s do what we’ve done before. Look at the original language, History of the Catholic Church and the Protestant Founders and Denominational Leaders and then look at the Scriptures.
a. Testimony of the original language in the New Testament. The New Testament was
written in the Koine Greek language. In that original language there are three verbs that
are used to convey three totally different actions. They were Epicheo, Rhantizo and
Baptisma.
(1) Each had a different meaning. They were never interchangeable. Epicheo was
never used to mean Rhantizo and Rhantizo was never used to mean Epicheo and
neither was ever used to mean Baptisma or visa?versa. These verbs are defined
as follows:
(a) EPICHEO, "To pour upon." It is used in Lk. 10:34, to describe what the
"Good Samaritan" did when he "POURED" oil upon the wounds of the man who fell
among robbers.
RHANTIZO, "To sprinkle," In Heb. 9:13, this word describes the Old Testament practice of SPRINKLING blood and ashes of a temple sacrifice.
BAPTISMA, "To immerse, submersion, to dip." In Matt. 21:25; Eph. 4:5;
1 Pet. 3:21, this word is used of John's baptism and of Christian baptism, both of
which were immersion in water.
Now which of these three verbs did Jesus and His apostles use when they commanded taught believers to be baptized? Did they say, "Repent and be EPICHEO (poured upon)?" Did they say,"Repent and be RHANTIZO (sprinkled)?" The answer to both questions is NO! You cannot obey Christ's command to be RHANTIZO (sprinkled) because He never commanded sprinkling. What He did command was, "Repent and be BAPTISMA (immersed)." If you were sprinkled you received man?made baptism and not the Covenant Baptism ordained by God. If you have not been Immersed you have not received the baptism Jesus commanded in the Bible. Is it possible to receive God's Covenant Seal without receiving it in the way God commanded it to be given?
The Bible’s description of baptism teaches that it is an immersion, burial, covering
with water, Acts 8:37?39. Why did they go down into the water? Why not just dip a
cup of water and pour it over the eunuch?
Where did John the Baptizer go to baptize people and Why did he choose that particular place to baptize them? Jno. 3:23. Why did John need a place with “much water” If he only needed a few barrels full to sprinkle a few drops of water on the people who were being baptized?

The answer is found in Rom 6:3?4, “Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death...” When was the last time you witnessed Campbell Funeral Home lay a coffin on the ground and sprinkle a little dirt on it? That’s not a burial. Baptism is a burial, a complete covering with water and not a sprinkling.
(1) Protestant Denominations and Catholic Error. Why do protestant denominations and the Catholic church teach and practice error instead of Biblical truth? The answer is found in the origin and history of both groups.
(1) Martin Luther was a Catholic priest who studied the Bible and realized the doctrinal departures by Catholicism. He left the Catholic church and started the "reformation." His intent was to reform the Catholic church and return to the Original Doctrines of New Testament Christianity.
(2) Likewise, John Calvin came from a Catholic background. He rejected the departures from New Testament doctrine by the Catholic church, joined the reformation and started the Presbyterian church.
(3) King Henry VIII was a member of the Catholic church when he asked Pope Clement VII for a divorce from Kathryn so he could marry Ann Bolin. The pope refused and Henry left the Catholic Church to start his own church. He created the Church of England (Anglican Church) and appointed the office of Archbishop of Canterbury as it's head. The Archbishop immediately granted Henry a divorce from Kathryn so he could marry Ann.
The Lutheran, Presbyterian and Anglican churches are all hybrid off?shoots of the Catholic church. When they left Catholicism they carried with them the Catholic's practice of baptism by sprinkling.
(1) John Wesley was an Anglican preacher who came to America to establish the Church of England in the colonies. Wesley, also, ended up with a hybrid off?shoot, called Methodism. This new denomination called the Methodist church retained the Church of England's practice of baptism by sprinkling which had been inherited from the Catholic church.
(2) The practice of Sprinkling as Baptism is not a New Testament doctrine. It was never taught by Jesus or His apostles. It was never practiced by Jesus or His apostles. It is a man?made tradition started by the Catholic church and perpetuated by the protestant denominations who broke away from the Catholic church and carried the practice with them.
(2) Why give allegiance to man-made doctrines? Why not just Read the Bible, Believe the Bible, Obey the Bible and be saved?
(3) Acts 20:32.

Spur - 08/04/2002 am