I get confused about baptism.\u00a0 I believe a person should be baptized by immersion.\u00a0 Some feel the mode does not matter – just as long as you get baptized.\u00a0 I have attended a Baptist church that says baptism does not save you – that the thief on the cross next to Jesus was saved and he was not baptized.\u00a0 They also believe in the sinner’s prayer.\u00a0 I’m thinking they feel that this <\/b>saves you.<\/p>\n\tAnswer:<\/h2>\n
The word “baptized” in English is a transliteration of a Greek word. English letters were substituted for the Greek letters, but the meaning of the word remains the same. Baptizo\u00a0<\/em>means to immerse or to submerge. It is the word the Greeks used when saying a ship sunk at sea, or when you were dying cloth. Thus, in the Bible, there is only one mode of baptism — immersion. Sprinkling and pouring of water were innovations that came many years after the Bible was completed. Knowing this, take a look at Paul’s illustration of the purpose of baptism:<\/p>\n “Or 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, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin<\/em>” (Romans 6:3-7).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Since baptism represents the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, as well as the believer’s death to sin and resurrection to a new life, which mode of modern-day baptism carries out this symbolism? Do we bury a person by sprinkling a little dirt on top or is the body completely covered over? Only immersion demonstrates the symbolism.<\/p>\n In regards to the thief on the cross, I get asked this so often, I’m just going to point you to the answer. See: “What about the thief on the cross?<\/a>“<\/p>\n In regards to the sinner’s prayer, the question you should ask is where is such found in the Bible? See: “Praying a Sinner’s Prayer<\/a>” and “The Sinner’s Prayer.<\/a>“<\/p>\n Rather than going by what people claim, wouldn’t it be better to do what God tells you to do?<\/p>\n\t Thank you so much for getting back to me on this subject.\u00a0 Such complete help to me!\u00a0 I appreciate this so very much.\u00a0 I feel I’m “back on track” now.\u00a0 I need to find a good Church of Christ or one that adheres to these teachings.<\/p>\n\t Let me know what city you are in and I’ll see if I can find a nearby congregation for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I get confused about baptism.\u00a0 I believe a person should be baptized by immersion.\u00a0 Some feel the mode does not matter – just as long as you get baptized.\u00a0 I have attended a Baptist church that says baptism does not save you – that the thief on the cross next to Jesus was saved…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[52,47],"class_list":["post-24308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism","tag-salvation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54957,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-action-of-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":24308,"position":0},"title":"The Action of Baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steve Wolfgang via\u00a0Truth Magazine\u00a0XIX: 27, pp. 421-422, May 15, 1975 The subject of the \"action\" of baptism quite evidently concerns itself with the nature of the act. It raises the question, \"Exactly what is 'baptism'?\" This is a question that should be of obvious importance to every professed believer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Baptism4-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":38992,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/an-inquiry-into-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":24308,"position":1},"title":"An Inquiry into Baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Sprinkling, Pouring, or Immersion, Which Shall It Be? by Jefferson David Tant Introduction Since the Bible teaches that baptism is an essential part of my relationship with Christ (Mark 16:16; Galatians 3:27; Romans 6:3-5, etc.), then it behooves me to make sure that my baptism is pleasing to the one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26647,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-person-who-was-sprinkled-be-baptized-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":24308,"position":2},"title":"Should a person who was sprinkled be baptized again?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've been reading\u00a0your answers regarding questions on baptism. Since you believe you have to be immersed in water to be properly baptized, would a person need to be baptized again if they were not immersed in water? I ask this because so many people are baptized with just the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38362,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-baptism-add-you-to-the-lords-church-no-matter-who-does-the-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":24308,"position":3},"title":"Does baptism add you to the Lord’s church no matter who does the baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've read some of your stuff on baptism. \u00a0I believe you said if a person is baptized in a denomination, and they understand the true meaning of baptism, they are okay. \u00a0So are you saying they are added to the Lord's church regardless of the church they were baptized\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34443,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/immersion-pouring-and-sprinkling-a-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":24308,"position":4},"title":"Immersion, Pouring, and Sprinkling: A History","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce Edwards, Jr. Truth Magazine XIX:27 (May 15, 1975), pp. 422-424 This writer can remember witnessing at the age of five the \"baptism\" of his infant cousin; the denominational \"pastor\" sprinkled drops of water upon his forehead. I wondered at the significance of that action then, but now, with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47151,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-are-the-them-in-acts-241\/","url_meta":{"origin":24308,"position":5},"title":"Who are the “them” in Acts 2:41?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Since John's baptism did not give people the gift of the Holy Spirit and the promise that we read about in Acts 2:38-39, did the ones who received his baptism receive the gift and the promise if they lived into the New Testament? Some in the church believe the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24308\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Question:<\/h2>\n
Answer:<\/h2>\n