Introduction: Churches practice all different kinds of baptisms, and entire denominations have split, and new denominations formed over these differences. It is no wonder that people find baptism confusing, because the Bible uses the word “baptism” to describe at least ten different things! Here they are, very briefly:

I. God baptized the Israelites (I Corinthians 10:2).

II. Moses baptized (with blood) the Israelites, Torah, the tabernacle and the tabernacle furniture (Hebrews 9:19-22), and these sprinklings are called “washings” in Hebrews 9:10, which in Greek is literally “baptisms.”

III. John the Baptist was baptizing the people of Israel with Jordan River water, as a symbol of their repentance (Matthew 3:1-8).

IV. John the Baptist baptized Jesus. This could not have had the same meaning as his baptism of the people, for Jesus had nothing to repent of. Rather, this was the prophetic annointing of the Messiah (literally the “annointed one.”) Kings and priests were always annointed at the beginning of their work (see Ex. 28:41 and I Kings 1:34).

V. Jesus baptized similarly to John the Baptist, a baptism of repentance (John 3:25-26).

VI. Jesus baptized with the Holy Ghost (and with fire) (Matthew 3:11-12). This was a prophecy that Jesus would purify Israel (already prophesied in the Old Testament in Malachi 3:1-4. We are a part of spiritual Israel. We have been purified by Jesus, and we worship Him in Spirit and in truth.

VII. The believer is baptized BY the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ at the time of his conversion (I Corinthians 12:13).

VIII. The Jews baptized their tables and their dishes (keeping a Kosher kitchen in today’s language) see (Mark 7:3-4 where the Greek word in verse 4 is literally “baptisms.” They had already begun to live by the Talmud (Judaism) and not by the Bible. It is important to understand that Judaism today is not the religion that God gave the Jews in the Bible. According to the Bible they should be going to the temple in Jerusalem. Priests should be sacrificing animals, and so on. The Synagogue system is not in the Bible, neither are their rules about many other religious things they do.

IX. Christian baptism as we usually think of it today is found in the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, where we baptize new believers in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

X. Infant baptism is also taught in the Bible. In the Old Testament God commanded Abraham to circumcize his children as a sign of his faith, and their membership in the Abrahamic Covenant. The New Testament tells us that believers today are still members of the Abrahamic Covenant (Galatians 3:26-29). The New Testament also tells us that Christian baptism is the spiritual equivalent of Abraham’s circumcision (Colossians 2:11-12 and read John MacArthur’s Study Bible comment). The sign of the Abrahamic Covenant was ordered by God to be given forever (Genesis 17:13-14). So, if Christians today are in the Abrahamic Covenant, and if the sign is to be given to our children forever, and if baptism now bears the same meaning as circumcision, what should Christians be doing to their children? Obviously, baptizing them.

Conclusion: Christians argue and fight and split into a variety of denominations, not because they are spiritual and standing for the truth, usually, but rather because most Christians don’t take the time and make the effort to do in-depth study in the Bible. As Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew 22:29: “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.” Study the Word. Learn what God says, and live by it. Amen.