Understanding Bible Mysteries by Ira Milligan

Author:Ira Milligan [Milligan, Ira]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780768487930
Publisher: Destiny Image Publishers

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace (Romans 6:4,14).

One can see, then, that water baptism isn’t symbolic; it is an actual burial. This is the reason that baptism in Scripture was always practiced by immersion, never by sprinkling. In fact, the Bible says, “Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there…” (John 3:23). It doesn’t take “much water” to sprinkle someone, but it does to bury the person’s body in obedience to the gospel.

Our hearts are purified and our sins are remitted through faith and repentance. (“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”—1 John 1:9; see also Acts 15:9). However, the human carnal mind cannot be subject to God’s Law, and the human physical body cannot believe and repent—it must be delivered from the Law’s dominion through burial to be free from the power and penalty of sin.

The necessity of being buried with Christ to escape the power of sin also explains why the apostles all baptized in Jesus’ name. Paul said, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17; see Acts 2:38; 4:12; 10:43; 19:5).

In response to this you may be asking, “If we are supposed to baptize in Jesus’ name, why did Jesus Himself say, ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’ (Matthew 28:19)?”

First, we need to pay close attention to what Christ actually said. We are to baptize them “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” not baptize them using the titles Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So, what is the Father’s name?

Jesus said, “I am come in My Father’s name” (John 5:43). Likewise, when speaking of the promise of the Holy Spirit, He said, “Whom the Father will send in My name” (John 14:26). And, as we all know, the Son’s name is Jesus. Because the disciples understood that Jesus spoke in a parable (“All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables…”—Matthew 13:34), they properly interpreted and obeyed His command and baptized only in His name.

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