Sunday we’ll baptize Michelle Clarkson. Here is her story.

I like plans. If you walk into my room, you’ll see post its everywhere with lists and schedules because I like to feel I have control of what I am doing. However, coming to Florida was never part of my plan. When people ask me why I came from New York to Gainesville for school, I always feel like they are expecting a really good answer, but the truth is I don’t have one. The only reason I can think of as of why I ended up in this emptiness of a city at a school dominated by football is that God put me here to find Him.

When I was eleven I figured that God had simply forgotten about me because I was not good enough for any father to love. I hid from Him because to me this seemed easier than accepting that He had allowed my life to turn into what it had become. I was angry not because of the pain I was feeling, but because of how much my family was suffering and I refused to believe it had any purpose. When my Grandmother died a week after my younger sister was diagnosed with cancer, any bit of faith I did have was lost. No one in my family is saved, so it was not hard to exile God from my life. For years I lived just trying to make it to the next day, simply existing and pushing forward. Part of me never thought I would make it to college, and the other part of me knew that if I did, I would need to stay home so I could continue to raise my younger siblings. They were the light in my life and the only ones that kept me going when all I wanted to do was give up.

When it came time to apply to colleges, my grandparents who live in Florida told me I had to apply to one in the same state at them. Because I never imagined going that far from home, I googled “universities in Florida” and picked the first one that appeared. I spent a total of thirty minutes working on the application, not even rereading my essay, and hit submit. I really do not know what happened in between that moment and the day I agreed to come here; I know there were pro and cons lists involved and multiple panic attacks but through it all, the only school I saw myself going to was the one that was two miles from my house.

As cliché as it is coming from a freshman, my first weeks here were miserable. Every minute all I thought about was how much of a mistake I made and how badly I needed to be home. The first time my brother called and begged me to come back to him, I started packing my boxes. During the midst of my packing frenzy, Brooke, who lived two doors down from me came into my room and asked me if I wanted to go to RUF that night with her. Although we had talked about it before I said no because I thought that I was too much of a mess and not enough of a Christian. I guess that wasn’t a good enough answer for her as she got my shoes from the closet and pulled me out the door with her. As we reached the building where it was held I panicked, there were too many people and too many opportunities for them to judge me. Although I cried throughout most of the message, the words touched my soul and changed everything about me. I do not know any way to describe how much my life changed since that night, all I know is that for the first time I kind of understand a tiny part of God’s plan, and see why I needed to be here in Gainesville; for finding Him literally saved my life.

I could sit here and ramble about how good God is, but the truth is, I am still discovering that for myself each day. As I read through the Bible, each story is new and each verse embeds itself in my heart in a different way. While there are days where my faith may waiver I know with every fiber of my being that Jesus Christ is my savior and it is for Him that I want to live my life. Without Him, I would be nothing, nor would I have made it through those years when every day seemed like a struggle. Although it was impossible to see at the time, I know now that I had to be as broken as I was so that He could put me back together the right way and make me the person I am today, and for that I owe every part of my life.

(Sunday we celebrate God’s glorious covenant love for His people.  During the 11:15 service we’ll be baptizing two people.  Here is an article I’ve amended from an article by my friend Mark Bates.)
While the Bible is not explicit in regard to the mode, leading to many arguments and divisions in the church, there are reasons for preferring sprinkling and pouring over immersion.

Many people point to the root meaning the Greek word for baptism (baptizw – baptizo to dip) as proof positive that baptism must only be done by immersion. However, a word’s meaning must not be determined by only its root meaning, but by its historical development and its usage at the time of the writing in question. All of that is to say that in order to understand what baptizo means, one must look at how it has been used historically up to its occurrence in the New Testament as well as how it was used in the New Testament itself.

Hebrews 9:10 speaks of “various ceremonial washings.” The word translated “ceremonial washings is a word for baptism (baptismos). The ceremonial washings, or baptisms, that follow are rites of purification in the Old Testament (cf. Heb. 9:13-21). In all of these ceremonial washings, the method of application was sprinkling. In fact all Old Testaments purifications or washings were by sprinkling (Numbers 8:7; 19:19; Leviticus 14:7, Exodus 319:16-21). Clearly then, in at least Hebrews, baptism can mean sprinkling.

The Use of Sprinkling in the Bible

The word “sprinkle” or some form of it occurs 84 times in the Old Testament and seven times in the New. Of the New Testament occurrences, six are in Hebrews and one in 1 Peter. Most of the Old Testament examples are connected with ceremonial rites (sprinkling the altar, sprinkling the mercy seat, the sprinkling bowls, or cleansing by sprinkling).

Many people argue that immersion is a better symbol of baptism because it symbolizes cleansing in a way that sprinkling cannot. While that may be true in our cultural context, it ignores the context of the Scripture where all ceremonial cleansings were either by pouring or sprinkling.

Below are a few of the instances of sprinkling in the Bible

Old Testament

Exodus 24:6-8, ff – Moses sprinkles the people with blood, initiating the covenant and purifying them before God.

Exodus 29:21 – The blood is sprinkled on Aaron and his sons, consecrating them as priests.

Leviticus 8:11ff—Oil is sprinkled on the altar, and then poured on Aaron, to consecrate him.

Leviticus 8:30 –Blood and oil are sprinkled on Aaron and his sons to consecrate them.

Leviticus 14:7 –Someone is to be sprinkled to be cleansed from an infectious disease.

Leviticus 14:51 – Blood and water are sprinkled on a house for its purification.

Numbers 8:7 – The Levites are made ceremonially clean by the sprinkling of water.

Numbers 19:13 – Speaks of the importance of the water of cleansing being sprinkled on someone before they enter the Tabernacle.

Isaiah 52:15 – The Messiah sprinkles many nations.

Ezekiel 36:24ff – In a discussion of the New Covenant, we read that God will sprinkle Israel with clean water and they will be clean.

New Testament

Hebrews 9:13-14– Christians are cleansed because they have been sprinkled clean with the blood of Christ.

Hebrews 9:19, 21, and others – Sprinkling clean with blood.

Hebrews 10:22– We can draw near because our hearts have been sprinkled clean.

1 Peter 1:2 – We are sanctified by the sprinkling of Christ’s blood.

Baptism in the New Testament

Often times, people say that they want to be baptized the way they were in the New Testament. Because so many pictures and movies depict the baptism of Jesus and other baptisms as immersions, people often assume that this is the way that it was done. However, in every case of baptism in the New Testament, nowhere is it required to believe that the baptism had to be immersion. Yet, in several of the cases, baptism could not have been by immersion. It had to have been sprinkling or pouring.

When John the Baptist was baptizing, the Pharisees thought that his baptism was a sign that he was the Messiah (see John 1:25). Why did they expect the Messiah to baptize? Because Isaiah 52:15 and Ezekiel 36:25 led them to believe that the Messiah would sprinkle the people. If John had been immersing people, then this would not have made sense.

Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch in a desert (Acts 8:36). If there had been a river nearby, it would not have been a desert. It must have been a small oasis with a spring.

Paul’s baptism in Acts 9:18 seems to indicate that he stood up and was baptized on the spot. If so, he could not have been immersed since he was inside a house. Apparently, Cornelius was baptized indoors (Acts 10:48). The Philippian Jailer was baptized indoors at night (Acts 16:33). Remember, this was a time before swimming pools and Jacuzzi tubs. The only water a family would have had in a house would have been in jars and pots.

Besides water baptism, two other types are mentioned in Scripture. Man baptizes with water, but God baptizes with fire and with the Spirit. When God baptized with fire, the fire sat upon their heads (Acts 2:3). When God baptized with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit “fell upon” (acts 10:44, 11:15-16) or “descended upon” (Luke 3:22; John 1:32), or was poured out upon (Acts 2:17; 10:45-46), or came upon (Acts 19:6). Baptism by sprinkling or pouring fits all of these descriptions much better than immersion.

Christians have disagreed about baptism for centuries and this debate will probably continue until the end of time. While this certainly is not a fundamental issue of the faith, nor is it an issue over which Christians should break fellowship, hopefully, you have seen that there are many sound reasons why many churches sprinkle rather than immerse when baptizing members.

On Sunday I posed the question for you to ponder this week:
“What would you give up in order to help your church effectively host dozens of new guests on Easter morning?  What are you willing to sacrifice to help ensure that our communication of Christ’s resurrection is fruitful? 

And what are you not willing to part with?  Think about those things about which you say—“Don’t go there.”

This Sunday, March 18, you’ll hear some of the simple things you can sacrifice that will go a long way towards shaping the vibe on Easter Sunday into one that reflects the character of our Risen King.

Sunday we have the joy of baptizing two people into church membership.  One is a college student who has recently been converted to faith in Jesus Christ.  The other is the child of believers in Jesus Christ.  This provides not only an opportunity to celebrate the faithfulness and grace of God, but to dwell upon this sacrament He’s given us—baptism.

From the Westminster Larger Catechism:
Q. 165. What is baptism?
A. Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, wherein Christ hath ordained the washing with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, to be a sign and seal of ingrafting into himself, of remission of sins by his blood, and regeneration by his Spirit; of adoption, and resurrection unto everlasting life; and whereby the parties baptized are solemnly admitted into the visible church, and enter into an open and professed engagement to be wholly and only the Lord’s.

Q. 166. Unto whom is baptism to be administered?
A. Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible church, and so strangers from the covenant of promise, till they profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to him, but infants descending from parents, either both, or but one of them, professing faith in Christ, and obedience to him, are in that respect within the covenant, and to be baptized.

Q. 167. How is baptism to be improved by us?
A. The needful but much neglected duty of improving our baptism, is to be performed by us all our life long, especially in the time of temptation, and when we are present at the administration of it to others; by serious and thankful consideration of the nature of it, and of the ends for which Christ instituted it, the privileges and benefits conferred and sealed thereby, and our solemn vow made therein; by being humbled for our sinful defilement, our falling short of, and walking contrary to, the grace of baptism, and our engagements; by growing up to assurance of pardon of sin, and of all other blessings sealed to us in that sacrament; by drawing strength from the death and resurrection of Christ, into whom we are baptized, for the mortifying of sin, and quickening of grace; and by endeavoring to live by faith, to have our conversation in holiness and righteousness, as those that have therein given up their names to Christ; and to walk in brotherly love, as being baptized by the same Spirit into one body.

Sunday we will welcome several new folks into the family. This is a big deal. In a world of isolation—we come together. In a world of autonomy—we have authority and submission. All purchased, governed, and powered by Jesus Christ.

The vows:

1. Do you acknowledge yourselves to be sinners in the sight of God, justly deserving His displeasure, and without hope save in [i.e., except for] His sovereign mercy?

2. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and Savior of sinners, and do you receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered in the gospel?

3. Do you now resolve and promise, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ?

4. Do you promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of your ability?

5. Do you submit yourselves to the government and discipline of the Church, and promise to study its purity and peace?