Is Baptism Sprinkling, Pouring, or Immersion? | An Unbiased View

Nov 4

Is it okay to be baptized by sprinkling or pouring, or do you have to be immersed in water? I mean, sprinkling vs immersion baptism, what’s the big deal? Well, let’s see what the Bible says.

What Does “Baptism” Mean?

Let’s start by looking at what the word “baptism” actually means.

Webster’s Dictionary defines baptism as “a Christian sacrament marked by ritual use of water and admitting the recipient to the Christian community.” That is how most people use the word today, but there are a few things we need to understand to have a complete picture of the word “baptism.”

“Baptism” has become a specialized religious word that first appeared in English in the 14th century. But it is not really an English word at all.

The New Testament was originally written in Koine Greek, not English. The word baptism, or βάπτισμα in Greek, was a commonly used word that everyone understood. It was not a special religious word like it is today.

When the Bible was translated from Koine Greek into English, the translators decided to transliterate several words into English rather than translate them. Baptism was one of those words.

The word “baptism” in our Bibles is not a translation. It is a transliteration from the Greek word βάπτισμα (baptisma), and the word baptize was transliterated from the Greek word βαπτίζω (baptizo).

Transliterating is very different from translating. Transliterating means to give the letters of a word there English equivalents so that the new word sounds very similar to the original. Translating means that you choose a word in English that has the same meaning as the original word.

Let me give you an example. We worked in Indonesia for many years and learned the language. Many English words have been transliterated into Indonesian, like “transportation”. It can be transliterated as “transportasi,” but if you translate the word into Indonesian you would get “angkutan," which means transportation.

The same is true for baptism. If we translate the words βάπτισμα and βαπτίζω, you would get the words immersion and immerse.

Here are two examples:

“Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized [immersed] in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins’” (Acts 2:38a | NKJV)
“There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism [immersion]” (1 Peter 3:21a | NKJV)

In fact, not one standard Greek-English dictionary defines “baptizo” as sprinkling or pouring; the Greek words for “pour” and “sprinkle” come from entirely different Greek words. Not one Greek speaker in the 1st century when the New Testament was written would have even thought of asking the question, “Is baptism pouring, sprinkling, or immersion?” That’s like asking, “Is immersion pouring, sprinkling, or immersion?”

The answer is obvious, and it is only confusing today because Bible translators don’t want to offend those who falsely practice pouring and sprinkling as a form of baptism.

Baptism as a Burial

But, let’s also consider one of the figures of speech Paul used when describing baptism. He wrote,

“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death…” (Romans 6:3–4a | NKJV)

Here we see Paul describe baptism as a burial. We also see him describe it this way in Colossians. They were “buried with Him in baptism” (Colossians 2:12a | NKJV).

This may sound silly, but what does the word “bury” mean? If you went to a graveside funeral service and when it was time to bury the casket, someone just sprinkled some dirt on top of it, would you call that buried? Of course not. What if they poured a cup of dirt on it? Would you call that buried? No. Not until the casket is completely covered with dirt can you say it is buried.

The same is true with baptism; not until a person is immersed in water can you truly say that have been baptized.

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

Let’s look at a very interesting example of a baptism in Acts.

“Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, ‘See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?’ Then Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’ So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.” (Acts 8:35–39 | NKJV)

Did you notice these key phrases?

"both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water"
"he baptized (immersed) him"
"they came up out of the water"

Only immersion would require both Philip and the Eunuch to get in the water; sprinkling or pouring would not require either of them to get into the water.

But What About Sprinkling and Pouring as Beloved Church Traditions?

Many churches sprinkle or pour water on people and call it baptism, but that is not what the Lord commands. He said,

“‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing [immersing] them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” (Matthew 28:18–20 | NKJV)

I understand that sprinkling and pouring are long-standing traditions in many churches, but it is simply not what our Lord commanded. Do you know what Jesus said about following our traditions rather than God’s commands?

“Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, ‘Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.’ He answered and said to them, ‘Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, saying, “Honor your father and your mother”; and, “He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.” But you say, “Whoever says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God’—then he need not honor his father or mother.” Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”’” (Matthew 15:1–9 | NKJV)

The same could be true about baptism. Church traditions of sprinkling or pouring cause the command of God to immerse to be of no effect.

What’s the Big Deal?

Back to our original question: sprinkling vs immersion baptism, what’s the big deal? Well, it is a very big deal!

If you have not been baptized (immersed) as commanded by Jesus and His apostles...

You have not been buried with Christ = Romans 6:3-4
You are still in your sins = Acts 2:38; 22:16
You have not yet put on Christ and become His disciple = Galatians 3:27; Matthew 28:18-20

As Ananias asked Paul I ask you,