To Sprinkle or Immerse? What Is the Proper Mode of Baptism?

Is infant baptism biblical, or should baptism only be by immersion? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Hi, this is Bill Meyer along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us right now with your question at 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673.

You can also post your question on our Facebook or Instagram account, and you can email us with your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to Pat, who's calling in from Wichita. Hi, Pat. Welcome to CORE Christianity. Hi there. Pat, good to hear from you.

What's your question? Well, I'm puzzled. I know the word baptism in the Latin was translated in the King James Version as baptized. It was actually not translated but transliterated because the word baptizo meant dip and immerse. So instead of using the dip and immerse, they just left it so people could figure it out themselves. I know the background, but anyway, my question is, do people actually baptize babies?

Do they dip or immerse them? They can't be believers. They don't know enough. How can they baptize babies? Pat, thank you so much for that question.

A couple of things. So the word baptizo, it's not the Latin word that you're thinking of. You're thinking of the Greek word, the Greek word baptizo, which can refer to immersion.

It can refer to different things. Actually, it was used in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament for some of the ceremonial washings. It's used in Acts chapters 1 and 2 when Jesus talked about baptizing in the Holy Spirit.

And what did that end up looking like? It looked like Acts chapter 2. Verse 33, the Holy Spirit being poured out. You think of someone pouring water on someone else.

Jesus poured out the Spirit of God from heaven upon his church. And so that word baptizo has sort of a broader, we might say, semantic range. It doesn't necessarily just need to mean to immerse in water. You can also have it used in the context of pouring out or even sprinkling. We see it used in that way to describe some of the Old Testament rites.

And so that's just in terms of understanding the word baptizo. But the broader question here, Pat, seems like thinking through baptism in general and why might some Christian traditions choose to baptize babies. Now I know that this is a very controversial question that there are some Christians who say, no way, you can't be baptized until you've expressed faith in Jesus Christ and you've made a public profession, that kind of a thing. And there are others who say, no, the children of believers can't be baptized. And they'll point to a number of passages, I think of Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, where he talks about the children of believers being holy.

That is a part of the worshiping community. Now let me just say, I think part of it, and the answer to your question, has to do with what is baptism first and foremost? Is it first and foremost something that I do or that you do as an individual, or is it a sign of something that God has done and is doing? Baptism, I would say, is not first and foremost something that you do, Pat, or that I do. Now in one sense, I mean, there's an element there of proclaiming our faith and whatnot. But first and foremost, what baptism is, is a sign of the gospel, a sign of the washing away of sins. We come before the Lord helpless, in need of His grace and in need of His mercy. This sign, this visible pledge, this promise of His grace and of His mercy. And throughout the Bible, in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, God had this promise for His people that He wanted to be a God to them and to their children. Now under the Old Covenant, the way in which that ended up playing out was with the sign or the sacrament of circumcision, which was given to the children of believers, in particular, the male children of believers. And so the question is, does the sign of God's covenant now under the New Covenant belong to believers and their children as well?

Well, like I said, Pat, there's a lot of controversy around this question. My position, which I submit to you with all humility, is that yeah, the children of believers can be baptized, not because they're undoubtedly saved or regenerated or however you want to put it, but because of God's promise and pledge to His people that He says, I want to be a God to you and to your children. It's to you and to your children and to all who are far off.

And so those are some of the reasons why some believers baptize their children, the children of believers, why some Christian traditions do that. And so I appreciate your question, Pat, and hopefully that unraveled this a little bit for you. Thank you.

Thank you, Pat. And a saving faith is when simply you turn around, you believe the gospel and the Holy Spirit has to be a part of that. And He was, of course, convicting me of my sin. And in my pride, I didn't want to accept the gospel because it bothered me that anything that I did to try to be good didn't matter. And that's the reason I really do not want you to think or tell other people that having anything to do with what we do is going to help us be right with God. Our faith and our prayers are more important than some act. And I think it's muddying the waters.

One, let me just say thank you so much for giving us a call and for your question. And the last thing we would ever want to do on this broadcast is muddy the waters of the gospel. We say it over and over and over again. The gospel is what God has accomplished for us in Jesus Christ. It's not what we do. You can't do the gospel. You can't live the gospel. You can't be the gospel.

Jesus can and did. And we receive that by giving the gospel. By grace through faith alone. And like you, Winnie, I was brought up in the Roman Catholic Church, maybe a little bit more nominally. We weren't very good Catholics.

I wasn't as good of a Catholic as it sounds like you were. And I didn't come to a saving understanding of the gospel until later in my life. But it sounds to me like the question here is, well, what about these ordinances, these signs that Jesus gave us? I mean, Jesus is the one who commanded us to baptize. Matthew chapter 28, go into all the world and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you. Or you think of the other ordinance that Jesus gave in Matthew 26, the Lord's Supper, this sort of perpetual ordinance for the life of the church for all time. I mean, these are things that Jesus commanded us to do as believers. And so that's not muddying the waters or taking away from the gospel actually.

And this is what's so beautiful about it. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are both visible pictures of the gospel, the washing away of our sins, the body and the blood of Jesus that was given for us. And so these things that he calls us to do to participate in what they ultimately do is they fix our eyes on the grace of Christ. Now, I recognize that in a lot of churches, they haven't explained that well.

And when I was in the Catholic Church, I didn't have that explained that well to me, and it sounds like you didn't either. But these rituals, these signs that Jesus gave to the church, that's why we do them, they fix our eyes on his grace. And so they don't take away from the grace of Christ. And like I said, God forbid, God forbid, the last thing I ever want to do as a minister of the gospel, we ever want to do on this program is take away from the grace and the glory of Jesus Christ.

You're absolutely right. It's only by faith in Jesus Christ that we have salvation, that we embrace the gospel. But these other things are signs, pictures that visibly exhibit to us the grace of Jesus in powerful ways.

And so that's why we participate in them and talk about them and ought to because it's in the word of God, when he and so does that make sense in terms of not trying to muddy the waters, but saying, look, these are things that we do because Jesus gave them to us and ultimately, they fix our eyes on the gospel. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. And today we have something very special to offer you, especially if you are a new listener to Core Christianity.

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That's 833 the Core. Let's go to Kim, who is calling in from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Kim, welcome to Core Christianity. Thank you, Pastor Adriel.

I'm grateful to be on the show. I have a question. Does God forgive repeated sin, the same repeated sin that's done more than once and you've repented more than once? And then you just feel like you don't want to pray anymore because you feel like you slap God in the face and you just are at a very low point spiritually, and then you come back and you rise up and you say, I'm not going to do it no more. Repent. You just keep repenting over and over and doing the same thing over and over.

And I know that Jesus died for our sins, but I just sometimes feel like I'm not being heard and feel very alone because of that. Well, Kim, first let me just say to you, yes, yes, God forgives us even when we fall. The tenth time in the same day when we go to Him, when you go to Him, Kim, and you confess your sins to Him, He does forgive you. Now that doesn't mean it's okay for us to continue in a pattern of unrepentant sin, but sometimes that's what repentance looks like. It looks like falling and getting up again, falling and getting up again and saying, Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner, and He does have mercy on us. He does have mercy on you. I think of what Jesus Himself said.

There's that parable in Matthew chapter 18. Peter came up to Jesus and said to Him, verse 21, Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times.

And you know, Peter thought right there, Kim, that he was being really generous. God, how many times, Jesus, should I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times, right?

I mean, that seems over-the-top generous. And listen to what Jesus said to him. I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Now just think about that. If God calls us as His children to forgive each other seventy times seven, that is continually, right? I don't think He means, you know, just forty-nine times or that kind of a thing or four hundred and ninety times, no.

He means over and over again. If God calls us to that, well, Kim, the Lord is so much more gracious than we are. Boy, when we go to Him, even after you've fallen, you know, like I said, for the tenth time in the same day, the Lord is merciful. He forgives you when you come to Him in faith. And sometimes this really is the battle that we face as Christians. Kim, Paul talked about this in Romans chapter seven. You know, the things that I want to do, I don't do.

The things that I don't want to do, those are the things that I find myself doing. Wretched man that I am, he said, who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ. And so, Kim, I just want you to know that you're not beyond the grace of God, that even if you struggle with the same sin over and over again, that you aren't going to be abandoned by the Lord. The fact of the matter is, the Christian life is a fight, and there are certain sins that we're daily fighting against, and it seems like we don't have a lot of victory at times. But at the end of the day, our confidence is not, your confidence is not in your own righteousness, it's in what Jesus has done, and in knowing that you are accepted as a child of God through His work, not your faithful obedience, Kim. Kim, I'm guessing that you have a Bible. Can I just encourage you, one passage of scripture that I think you should meditate on is Romans chapter six, Romans really six through eight. And that right there, I think, is really key.

And let me tell you why. Because Paul in Romans six through eight is talking essentially about what it looks like to live as those who have been justified. And I already referenced to you Romans chapter seven, where Paul talks about that battle with the flesh, the battle that it sounds to me like you're very well aware of, right? But there he also emphasizes, Kim, and this is what you need to understand, the new identity that you have in Jesus Christ, right? Resting in the fact that by faith, your sins are forgiven. You say, but I still struggle.

I still do the things that I don't want to do at times. So that's exactly what Paul said in the very next chapter, in chapter seven. But that shouldn't cause you to question your new identity in Jesus. And I think it's really important that you rest in that, that you recognize that, because if you're questioning whether or not you're even a daughter of God, you even belong to him, it's going to be really hard to pursue him.

The devil wants to convince us, he wants to convince you that you're beyond the grace of God, that you've sinned one too many times and that the Lord is through with you. Well, the Lord is not through with you, Kim. Continue to press in, to fix your eyes on Jesus, and when you fall, when you sin, to look to him, to put your confidence, your trust in his blood, not in your perfection, and to receive his grace. And one more verse that I'll give you, so meditate on Romans six through eight, but just that promise that we have in first John chapter one, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That is a promise, Kim, from the word of God.

When you confess your sins, God is faithful and just to forgive you. Kim, are you a part of a Bible-believing church? I'm in between churches, but I did go last week.

Okay. Well, let me just encourage you there, too. It really is important for you to be a part of a worshiping community where you're hearing the word of God and where other believers are going to be able to come alongside of you and encourage you in your walk with the Lord.

I think a lot of times, especially when we're struggling with sin, it's so easy to be isolated, and it's there, isolated in the darkness alone with our sin, that we can feel just really depressed, and it could really have a negative effect on our walk with the Lord, simply because we don't have the encouragement that we're supposed to be getting from the body of Christ. I think that needs to be a priority for you, Kim. You need to prioritize getting plugged into a solid Bible-teaching church where you're going to get fellowship and encouragement and where others are going to point you to this grace of Jesus through His word. I want to encourage you in that way. Before you get off, let me just pray for you, because I know the battle just like you know it, and we need those prayers. Let me pray for you, okay? Father, thank You for Kim, and thank You, Lord, that she wants to walk with You. Lord, thank You that she is in the fight against her sin, Lord, and we know that it is a real battle, God, that Your word says that we are called to put to death the sinful deeds of the body, but that we don't do it in our own strength but by the grace of Your Holy Spirit. And so I pray that You would fill Kim with Your Holy Spirit, Lord, so that she, by Your Spirit, would walk with You. Father, would You please give her a sense of Your great love for her, no matter how many times she's failed, Lord, of the blood of Jesus, which cleanses all of her sin, and, Lord, that she would be confident in the fact that she is one, forgiven, and two, Your daughter. God, would You be with her, would You bless her, would You encourage her today, and would You help her to get plugged in to a good church, Lord, where she can be encouraged, and where others are going to be able to invest in her, and she can use the gifts that You've given to her as well, Lord, for the good of the body of Christ. Be with Kim, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. And I'm so glad you encouraged Kim to find a fellowship where she can find that encouragement, because, boy, that is such a big part of our Christian life, not to try to be a Lone Ranger Christian, but to really be plugged into a local body where we can receive that kind of encouragement and accountability as well. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and here's an email question that came in.

By the way, if you want to email us, our address is questions at corechristianity.com. Donna says, I read an article where a minister said Christians have no need to fear the things of this world. I know I do not have a strong heart, and that I believe that is due to my abusive upbringing and the traumatic events that I suffered that damaged me to the point where I do worry when bad news comes. But it seems automatic and uncontrollable, and where I worry and I pray for help to be stronger and my faith to be healed. So am I being deceived into thinking that I'm a believer when I'm not, because I do fear things in this world? No, you're not being deceived because you have fear.

What a difficult situation to be in. You think that because you're afraid of the things that are happening around us or suffering in the world that maybe you're not really a Christian. Well, let me just tell you, fear is totally natural, even the fear of death. We know that death is that great and terrible enemy that Jesus came to conquer and that he has conquered it and that in him we have eternal life. And yet I think it's true that even we as believers can struggle with fear, and that doesn't mean that we aren't Christians. Christianity is not for the strong, it's for the weak, we might say, and Paul actually made this absolutely clear. He talked about a struggle that he had in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. He said, I must go on boasting, though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ, Paul said, who 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven.

Whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows, and I know that this man was caught up into paradise, whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows, and he heard what cannot be told, what man cannot utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast except of my weakness, though if I should wish to boast I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it so that no one may think of me more than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me, but he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness. See, even the apostle Paul felt overwhelmed at points in his life with weakness. And again, that weakness that we all feel deep down in our bones, that struggle that we have, at times fear, doesn't mean that we're not Christians.

But what are we supposed to do with it? Well, we go to the Lord and you know what the Lord says to us? My strength is perfected in your weakness. When I am weak, then I am strong, Paul goes on to say.

And I think for each and every one of us, that's what we're called to. We go to the Lord in those moments of weakness, in those moments of fear, and we say, God, be merciful to me. Lord, help me because I am afraid. And so I pray that the Lord comforts you, that he gives you confidence in his word, and ultimately that you recognize that you don't have to question your salvation, whether or not you're a child of God, just because you have these very natural fears. Instead, take those fears and concerns to the Lord in prayer and let the Lord comfort you, and he will come for you.

Let the Lord comfort you and trust in him. You know, Adriel, I'm reminded of that passage in Philippians where Paul commands us not to be anxious, but to take everything to the Lord through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, and that the peace of Christ then will help us through the fearful, anxious times. You know what I love about that verse you just brought up from Paul, Bill, is that the peace of Christ, Paul says, surpasses all understanding. In other words, it doesn't come from us understanding our situation as perfectly as we might. No, the peace of Christ surpasses all understanding. We have confidence because of what God has done for us in his son Jesus, and because of that we can have a peace even in the midst of great difficulty.

That doesn't mean we're not always going to be afraid at times. No, but we have Jesus. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at CoreChristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar, or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833-THE-CORE. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program, and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.