The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Is water baptism to be practiced today?

1. Baptism "in the name of Jesus" is synonymous with "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt 28:19), which is indicative of water baptism.

2. Re: "baptism in the name of Jesus is something that has to be done in order to BELONG to Christ." This is has yet to be proven. I, for one, believe this to be a non-biblical statement. In order to BELONG to Christ, one must be regenerated and out of which flows repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Christ. Baptism is a sacrament which signifies, among other things, that a true believer HAS BEEN united with Christ and has been adopted as a son of God. Baptism is not essential to salvation, albeit it should be submitted to and administered unless there are mitigating circumstances which make it impossible. The passage used as reference, 1Cor 1:12,13, is not salient to your conclusion. The text is showing that baptism is a 'sign' of identity; the believer to the one whose name he/she is baptized in. It can be said to signify that the name used in the sacrament is the one who the recipient professes to be a disciple, follower.

1. The eunuch could have learned about baptism from various sources. Baptism was not unique to that time period. There are various "baptisms" to be seen in the OT. The spread of Christianity was initially rapid and it is therefore also possible that the eunuch witnessed other conversions and consequent baptisms. Or, it could be that Philip taught the eunuch about the sacrament of baptism as something CONSEQUENT TO conversion, but not an inherent and necessary part of the Gospel.

2. The phrase "to preach Jesus" is another one of those idiomatic forms, an abbreviation which refers to something larger than itself, e.g., the Gospel can and sometimes must include the existence and nature of God, the origin of man, the Fall, its consequences, Christ and His perfect life and atoning death and resurrection, the giving of the Holy Spirit, the return of Christ, and the final judgment. The meaning conveyed by water baptism is many-faceted, all of which are not to be found in one text but in the comparing of all the passages where baptism is mentioned... in BOTH the OT and the NT.

Not so... there are several instances which are often referred to as "spirit baptism", e.g., 1Cor 8 and 10, when there were Gentile converts and they were admitted into the Church.