The Seven Baptisms: Introduction-Part 1 of 8
Posted: Sunday, May 18, 2008
by Teresa Ortiz
Freelance writer/Speaker
What comes to mind when you hear the word baptism? The first thought most people have is water. However, the Bible speaks of other baptisms--in fact, there are seven specifically mentioned.
Many people never give this much thought. There was a time when I didn't. However, over the years, God has opened my eyes to these treasures of truth. Since then, I continue to study them. I am of the opinion that each of these baptisms play a significant role in increasing our understanding of God's plan for humanity and they serve as explanations for the whys are wherefores of life. For this reason, I am sharing what I have gleaned thus far in hopes that it will clarify some of the misnomers on baptism.
Many people never give this much thought. There was a time when I didn't. However, over the years, God has opened my eyes to these treasures of truth. Since then, I continue to study them. I am of the opinion that each of these baptisms play a significant role in increasing our understanding of God's plan for humanity and they serve as explanations for the whys are wherefores of life. For this reason, I am sharing what I have gleaned thus far in hopes that it will clarify some of the misnomers on baptism.
The Seven Baptisms of the Bible:
1. The Baptism of Israel.
2. The Baptism of John (Water for the Jew).
3. The Baptism by water (For the Gentile).
4. The Baptism Into Jesus Christ.
5. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
6. The Baptism of Suffering.
7. The Baptism of Fire.
It is important to note that the word baptism means, "to be completely submerged in". In this respect, you can baptize just about anything in just about anything.
The Old Testament is full of examples of articles being "baptized". There were strict ceremonial cleansing laws; not only for themselves, but also for their clothing and cooking utensils. The Jews were very aware of the importance of preparation by cleansing. This becomes important when we get to the baptism of John, or what I like to call the baptism of the Jews. This helps me to keep things straight as I study the difference between the baptism of the Jew and the baptism of the Gentile.
As we study, we will see that there are times when baptism is literal and when it is metaphorical or "spiritual", or both--meaning, the literal act of baptism has a spiritual application.
Baptism is also a well-known concept outside of the Christian world; Egyptians, potters, fabricators and the like use this term. I say this to remind us that there is more to baptism than we tend to think.
I have three goals that I pray will be reached by the end of this series:
1. We will see that biblical baptism will always represent the truth as it relates to salvation, which is that we become a child of God by surrendering our will to his and placing ourselves completely in Christ, thus being born-again.
2. That we will slow down and read the Bible as if reading for the first time (or maybe start reading), so that we will not miss out on the little phrases, realizing that each story has a purpose.
3. That the body of Christ will not put so much emphasis on water baptism and apply the lessons found in all of the other baptisms to our lives so that we will be able to "give an answer for the hope that lies within" and encourage others in the faith.
I hope you will join me on this journey through baptism. I ask for forgiveness up front, as I know I will fall short in explaining all that this perspective has to offer. I will post each study in the order listed above. I look forward to your participation--as the word of God says, "Iron sharpens Iron".
Soon to follow, The Baptism of Israel: What can we learn - Part 2 of 8.
I'm praying for you, please pray for me. © Teresa Ortiz Part 2
This Article has been viewed 415 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)Teresa, another really great article. Could you expand on Baptism? Being Catholic we understand that total emersion means spiritual not necessarily total emersion under water? The act of pouring water at baptism signifying that emersion? I really am interested in this concept because it is a difference between varied denominations. Best wishes. Robert.Hi Robert, its so good to hear from you! Yes, there is a big difference in meaning and application of baptism from the Catholic Church and pretty much all the other denominations. As with any doctrine, we must stick to Scripture for our answers and basis for practice. This is where the division begins because the Roman Catholic church changed the purpose for and means of baptism. I know that you know I am not bashing Catholics, you know my heart. But what I am going to do is point out some differences between what the bible says and what the Catholic church has said. I only do this so that you will understand why there is a difference. Baptism, as I mentioned is total submersion--all the baptisms we will look at in this study reveal a complete submersion or "hiding" or "burial". Baptism is an outward sign of something already done on the inside. When Jesus was baptized, he was completely submerged. When Paul talked about being buried in baptism, it speaks of being completely underground. ie, someone is not buried if he is not completely underground and covered up. Here's were the problem lies: The Catholic church teaches that baptism is a requirement for salvation, it teaches that infants should be baptized. The problem with this is that the Bible does not teach that baptism is required for salvation (I know I am ruffling feathers with this statement), nor does it teach that infants should be baptized. Now for the Jew, yes, baptism was a requirement for preparation to receive the Holy Spirit -thus being saved. However, the Gentile was baptized after they were saved as a show of faith. (Cornelius received the Holy Spirit before he was baptized). I know I am going into some of the other studies, but I hope I am helping you. Now, I believe (I have not been able to pin-point where sprinkling came in) that a baby could not have been submerged in water, so they instituted sprinkling the infant. Now the problem with an infant being baptized is that they do not know their need of salvation. They have not made their own decision for Christ. Sprinking was a method brought in by the Catholic Church during Constantine's reign, it is not Biblical, nor is sprinking true biblical baptism. Unfortunately, man cannot spiritualize a ritual that is not grounded on God's word, no matter how good their intentions are. Water baptism must be complete submersion and it must be literal in order to be biblical baptism. I hope this will become clearer as we go through the other baptisms taught in Scripture. It is not my intent to offend anyone, but my perspective from what I have studied and what I have been taught comes from Biblical doctrine only. I think as long as we stick to the Bible as our plumb-line for truth, we will agree. The problem always lies in outside sources of materials written by denominational leadership, whether Catholic or Protestant. I appreciate your openness to this and other issues and I love our conversations regarding them. And please, correct me if I miss quote or miss construe a Catholic doctrine, I have studied it in great detail, but it is not something I keep fresh in my mind, so most of it is memory. May I suggest to you a most excellent book? It is called "The doctrines that Divide" by Erwin Lutzer. He does a wonderful job explaining the big differences in Catholism and Protestantism. He spends a great deal of time on baptism. I hope this helps. Or did or just stir the pot a litter faster :-) Blessings to you dear friend and brother in Christ. I look forward to hearing back from you.A truly great response, intelligent and backed by solid information. I have been pondering this for sometime now. With what you have stated I will investigate. Your knowledge on the topic is awesome. Keep up the good work. Best regards, Robert.
hi t, very well written and easy to follow article. "...by surrendering our will to his and placing ourselves completely in Christ, thus being born-again...." i just did this last night. (and in worked) this is also one of the twleve steps in a twelve step program, of which i live my life by (sometimes) on a good day, but more and more as i am baptized over and over, or, as i was looking at it, getting rid of all my past bad karma. 2. That we will slow down and read the Bible as if reading for the first time (or maybe start reading), so that we will not miss out on the little phrases, realizing that each story has a purpose. NO :) :)Hi Sue, you crack me up! I have never met anyone who professes such a strong faith in God, yet does not have hunger for His word. Jesus said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. If you have surrended to His will, how do you know what his will is, if you don't read? He told us his will is that we read and study his word. ((smiles)) I am not giving up on you, girlfriend :-) :-) Thanks for reading and commenting. Love and Hugs, T
Hi there, you are such an inspirational writer and you write feel good newsHi Kathy! Did you get my e-mail a few days ago? Anway, thanks for reading I am glad you are inspired. I pray this series will be an encouragement to you and others. God bless you! Teresayes i received it, i never got a chance to sit down and write you a long letter...Hi Kathy, no problem. I was just hoping that I actually sent you one and didn't just think I did. :-) Love you.
Teresa,
Just a suggestion.. could you place a link in each of these studies leading to the next one so we don't have to search through all your articles? Guess I am being lazy, but I think you would get more readers that way too. Bless you for your teachings!Hi Jay, I think that is a great suggestion, but I must confess, I am not hip on adding links. I will give it a try. :-) Glad you are interesting--even if a bit lazy :-)God bless you! I am enjoying your articles as well!I would love to help you if I can.. Hope this helps.
Open each of your articles in separate tabs.
In the edit box for the first article, down at the bottom write something like: Article #2
highlight that and click on the little chain link in the top near the insert picture link.
Go to the page for Article 2, highlight the url in the web address, copy it and go back and place it in the insert link box, I usually click open in new page also. Then click OK.. keep doing that for each article. I hope that helps. I may be a bit cloudy, but if you play around you can get it. Don't worry about it if it takes up too much time,,, it was just a suggestion.Thanks Jay, I'll do that later on tonight. I get little breaks in between my phone calls here at work, but that would take me time than I should take here at work.I appreciate it!
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.