Is Our Understanding Of Baptism All Wet? -- By: Brad Doskocil

Journal: Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society
Volume: JOTGES 28:55 (Autumn 2015)
Article: Is Our Understanding Of Baptism All Wet?
Author: Brad Doskocil


Is Our Understanding Of Baptism All Wet?

Brad Doskocil

Board Member
Grace Evangelical Society
Long Beach, CA

I. Introduction

Recently, Bob Wilkin wrote a book that looked at how many words in the Bible are misunderstood.1 Perhaps another Bible word that is often misunderstood is baptism and its cognates: baptize and baptist. We will look at the use and meaning of this word group. The discussion will begin with a review of the meaning of the underlying Greek words and examine their usage. Afterward, I will classify and examine the various kinds of baptisms presented in the New Testament (NT). Finally, some of the more difficult passages in the NT which contain these words will be considered.

II. The Baptism Word Group

As the title of this article suggests, when many people think of baptism they immediately consider it to be a reference to water baptism. However, the NT presents a somewhat different and more varied picture. While many consider the word baptism only in reference to a rite or ritual using water, the NT presents the subject in a much broader manner.

There are five words in this word group and each one requires discussion.

A. Baptō (And Embaptō)

First, is the verb baptō, which means to dip, to dip into dye, to dye, to color or to stain.2 It is used only three times in the NT. In each case it refers to dipping something in a liquid. In Luke 16:24, the rich man who is in Hades cries out to Father Abraham begging him to have Lazarus dip his finger in water to cool his tongue because of the agony he was experiencing in the fire. In John 13:26, Jesus identifies his betrayer as the one whom he gives a morsel that was dipped in oil or drippings from the meal. In Rev 19:13, Jesus’ robe is dipped in blood indicating the robe had been dyed or colored red. In each of these instances, baptō is used to describe something that was dipped briefly into something. Despite being part of the word group, baptō does not have much bearing on the subject of baptisms in the NT.

B. Baptizō

The second verb is baptizō, which has generally been transliterated (i.e., baptiz...

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