Does the Bible tell us what it is? Yes. It is “for [in order to obtain] the remission of sins,” Acts 2:38. 1 Peter 3:21 says that “baptism doth also now save us.”And the Lord says in Mark 16:15 and 16, “he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.”

But somebody says, “Well, Jesus said, ‘He that believes not shall be damned.’ Why didn’t Jesus say, ‘He that believes not and is not baptized…’” He didn’t need to! You say, “He that eats and digests shall live.” You don’t need to say “He that eats not and digests not… . ” Just say, “He that eats not shall die,” because you’re not going to digest something you didn’t eat! You don’t always digest what you did eat! If a man doesn’t believe, it doesn’t matter what else he does. And yet baptism is said to be very important!

Does the Bible tell us how it’s defined? The very word itself is a transliterated word, and it really came from the original word into English. The old original [Greek] word is “baptiso.” It means to “immerse;” to “cover up.” It’s a “burial” by its very nature, and yet the Lord knew that some people wouldn’t know anything about Greek. The Lord knew that some people wouldn’t know anything about the original [Greek] language. He knew that most people are not going to be Bible scholars or not even good Bible students. So He took the liberty to tell us that, “Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should be raised to walk in newness of life,” Romans 6:3 and 4. In Colossians 2:12, He said about the same thing.

So the Bible mentions it; the Bible defines it; and the Bible gives several examples of baptism. For instance, on Pentecost, Acts 2:36 to 41; and then in Acts 8:12,the Samaritans; Acts 8:13, Simon the Sorcerer; Acts 8, verses 26 and following, the Ethiopian eunuch; Acts 9:18, Saul of Tarsus; Acts 10:44 and following, the people at the house of Cornelius; Acts 16, verses 14 and 15, Lydia and her household; and in the same chapter, Acts 16, verses 30 and following, the Philippian jailer. In Acts 18:8, the Corinthians; and in Acts 19, verses 1 to 6, those men from Ephesus.

So the Bible not only mentions it and not only defines it, and not only gives examples of it, and not only tells us what it’s for—it’s “for [in order to obtain] the remission of sins”—but the Bible also tells us what it does. In Acts 22:16, a man was told to “Arise and be baptized, and wash away his sins, calling on the Name of the Lord.” That’s Acts 22:16, but that tells us one thing and one thing only. It doesn’t say what washes sins away: It doesn’t say “the water”—it doesn’t say “the blood.” It doesn’t tell us what—it just tells us when sins are washed away.

But now Revelation 1:5, along with the passage in Acts 22:16, tells us it’s the “blood” that “washes sins away.” Now that passage tells you one thing and one thing only. It doesn’t say when sins are washed away: It doesn’t say “when we pray”—“when we commune”—“when we’re baptized.” It just tells us what washes sins away—[the blood of Christ contacted in baptism].

So you have one passage, Acts 22:16, that tells us when, but not what washes sins away; and then Revelation 1:5 tells us what, but not when sins are washed away. Well, you just put them together and it’s when man is baptized that sins are washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. Why can’t people just understand that? We don’t have to go into and through all kinds of explanations. It’s when people are baptized that sins are washed away in the blood of Christ! You see, that blood is “for the remissions of sins,” Matthew 26:28. It’s in that “blood” that we have “redemption,” Colossians 1:14 and Ephesians 1:7. Or 1 Peter 1:18 and 19. And being “justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him,” Romans 5, verse 9.

Does the Bible say how many baptisms there are? Yes. In Ephesians 4:5, there’s one baptism. Does the Bible give us any idea which one that one is? There was the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and we have only two examples of that: one on the Day of Pentecost, Acts 2, verses 40 and following; and the other at the house of Cornelius in Acts 10, verses 44 and following. But other than those two examples of being baptized with the Holy Spirit, then we have no other examples of it. Only the Lord could do that baptism! But the Lord, in the Great Commission, commissioned us. He commissioned us—John [Phillis, preacher at the Northeast church of Christ], me, and others. “You go teach; you go baptize.” But only the Lord Himself could do the other one [the baptism of the Holy Spirit]. But here’s one that we are to do, Matthew 28, verses 19 and 20. John baptized people in Matthew 3, and you think of all the others that are mentioned.

And so here is a baptism you and I can help with. It is the baptism in water. “Here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?” Acts 8, verse 36.Why did the Ethiopian say “water”? The Bible said that there was much water where John was baptizing. Why did the inspired writer [Luke] mention water? And then, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized,” Acts 10, verses 47 and 48. Or 1 Peter 3:20 and following, as “eight souls were saved” in the ark “through water.”And notice in “like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us,” [I Peter 3:21].

Well, it then becomes very plain that we are baptized in water. It’s not the water that cleanses—it’s the blood that cleanses. But it’s when we are baptized as the Lord teaches in water that that blood cleanses us of our sins. Now, don’t ask me to explain it—I can’t! I can’t explain how a black cow can eat green grass, and then produce white milk and yellow butter, but I believe it! I can’t understand electricity. There are more mysteries on the dining table than anywhere else, but we’re not going to refuse to eat because we don’t understand all of it! We’re not asked to understand it! We’re not asked to explain it! If the Lord said it, that ought to be enough! And He doesn’t have to tell us why He said it!