Glass Street church of Christ

site last modified
February 26, 2008

SPRINKLING OR BURIAL?

by Randy Meyer

Almost everyone professing to be a Christian has heard of baptism and yet very few understand what it truly is. An honest study of God’s Word will reveal what baptism is and how such is in God’s plan of salvation as revealed in His word.

A question we must consider is “What is the act of and required for a scriptural baptism?” To begin, in John 3:3 we find that John the Baptizer moved to a town called Aenon for the reason “there was much water”. From this single passage we find that not only is water needed but much water. We further see the necessity of much water in the conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch in Act 8:29-39. As Philip taught the gospel of Christ, the Eunuch notices a “body of water” and inquires “See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized?” (Acts 8:36) The Bible states “…they went down both into the water, both Philip and the Eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water,…” (Acts 8:39-40) It only make sense that for you to go “down...into” the water much water is needed. Furthermore, you cannot “come up out of” unless you first go down into the water.

Looking at this with very simple minded thinking, does it take “much water” to pour or sprinkle a little on ones head? Can you go down into or come up out of a pouring or sprinkling of water? We see from the passages above, the act of baptism as God requires necessitates much water so that one can go down and come up out of it. Sprinkling and pouring are insufficient, unauthorized and contrary to God’s standard as revealed in His word.

This is exactly what the apostle Paul was trying to get across when he penned “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Rom. 6:3-4) True baptism is exactly that; a burial/immersion in much water. Water that we enter completely into and are then raised up out of. This is God’s plan of salvation. A likeness to Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection; we die to sin, are buried with Him and raised a new being.

At the sake of being redundant, how would you like for the cemeteries to bury the physically dead the way many in the religious world “baptize/bury” individuals today? A light sprinkling of dirt over the body, pouring of a glass of dirt, even a large hand shovel of earth does not bury a corpse. NOR DOES SUCH PRACTICE BAPTIZE/ IMMERSE/BURY ONE IN A SPIRITUAL SENSE TODAY. It needs to be understood that the entire notion of sprinkling or pouring was NOT baptism in the first century NOR IS IT ACCEPTABLE TODAY. Such “innovation” came about by man altering the plan of God to their own purpose or convenience and thereby “teaching for doctrine the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7).

I understand that some questions herein are almost nonsense but this is what many in the religious world today teach. Understand, for us to be pleasing to God, we must follow His standard, His pattern. This applied to His people in the Old Testament (Ezek. 43:10, Hebr. 8:5), those in the first century (II Tim. 1:13), AND TO US TODAY (II Tim. 2:2).

If you haven’t been baptized as God has specified, then you are NOT truly baptized. If not, why not do so today.