QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK…
Why do we get baptised? Why is baptism by full immersion necessary? HAVE YOU GOT A QUESTION? A crucial element in our journey into a new life of rest is water baptism. The deliberate action involved in full immersion is a profoundly important building block in our foundations.
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WATER FOR PURIFICATIONThe idea of washing with water for purification is common to a number of religions, and was explicitly commanded in the Torah, the Jewish book of Law.
According to these precepts, any ceremonial or ritual uncleanness separated people from the wider community until they became ‘clean’ again, and prevented them from worshipping in the temple, or in the case of priests, prevented them from carrying out their priestly duties. Uncleanness could come from a variety of sources, including contact with a dead person or animal, serious skin diseases, sexual relations at proscribed times, childbirth and contact with an unclean article or person. A state of uncleanness was therefore a regular experience in the normal course of everyday life. By the time of Jesus, both public and private purification baths, called ‘mikvahs’ were commonly used for cleansing. Mikvahs used running (known as ‘living’) water, and full immersion was required for the candidate to be properly cleansed. Some devout Jews used them daily in anticipation of the coming Messiah. |
"The proselyte who casts off the impurity of idolatry and turns to the God of life becomes a "new creature…….a proselyte is like a new-born child whose family relations are no longer the same as before his conversion." http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3321-birth-new
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John the BaptistJohn the Baptist came to the River Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance, for the forgiveness of sins. The word for repentance here means a change of thinking, coupled with contrition and submission to the Lord.
‘Change the way you think, align yourself with God’s ways and thoughts’, he challenged his hearers. It was said that the reason John baptised with water was that Jesus might be revealed to Israel [John 1:29-31]. |
A crucial element in our journey into a new life of rest is water baptism. The deliberate action involved in full immersion is a profoundly important building block in our foundations. www.rhythmsofgraceuk.org/the-grace-of-baptism Click to Tweet |
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