RELIGION

Baptism in the Acts

Baptism in the Acts

Introduction

The question of baptism in the New Testament we encounter two statements apparently different from each other in the course of the centuries have determined positions theological and exegetical different. The whole question plays on the missionary command of Matthew 28:19 "Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit" and the 4 citations of Acts where the Baptism is administered in the "Name of Jesus." It is interesting to address the issue of Christian baptism as it is defined by scholars, from a point of view exegetical, theological and historical. The believer's life is characterized by the fact that receives salvation in Jesus Christ. Baptism is part of this process of salvation, and not merely in a ritual and symbolic, but something much deeper, as it has to do with the conversion and the choices you make in the Christian follow Christ. To receive this type of baptism for first were the Jews, but a few years later even the Gentiles, thus opening the grace to all people. This paper has discussed the occurrence of Baptism in the Bible while referring to its kinds, its history, significance and baptism of Christ.

Baptism

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”(Matthew 28:19).Christian baptism is an ordinance established by the Lord Jesus Christ to all believers. Therefore, being a divine command, not a personal "option". The Meaning of the word "baptism" in the original Greek means: submerge or sink. The New Testament identifies the baptism with three figures or symbols: the flood (1 Peter 3:21), and the crossing the Red Sea (1Cor 10.1-2), the water and the blood that flowed from Christ's side in Cross.

The word baptism comes from the Greek word BAPTIZO indicating the complete immersion, submerge. This term is used 80 times in the NT and appears in all the gospels in the story John's baptism and in reference to the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 28:19 as a commandment to baptize. The Apostle Paul presenting the deeper meaning of baptism says that it represents the death and burial of Christ. But baptism is also communion in his resurrection (Col. 2.11) and marks a break with the past.

The Old Testament mentions the ritual ablutions of the Jews and speaks of purification through water: Ez 36.24; Zech 13.1. At the beginning of the Christian era, who went to the Jewish religion, had to undergo circumcision and ritual bath. These ritual ablutions were performed regularly by the Pharisees and the Essenes of Qumran sect. The latter always used to describe the practice of diving and these douches rituals used the word RAKHATS which means WASH, as demonstrated in their written (1 QS 3.8 ss), going back to the history of Israel where these acts were connected with the purification of sins and impurity contamination. The water was always a symbol of inner purification ...