Does the method of baptism really matter? And if so, what is the biblical method?
We should always strive to be Bible Christians. In other words, we should always choose God’s will and His Word over our own.
In the case of baptism, the Bible is clear on how we are to carry out this sacred rite. First, we should remember that Christ is our example and that the Bible counsels us to follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21). This means that it’s always safe to follow Jesus’ example in all aspects of Christian living and practices.
While Jesus never sinned, He was baptized, and we can read about it in Matthew 3:
“When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.” Matthew 3:16
When John baptized Jesus and others, it was always done as a full submersion under the water. This is why the text says, “Jesus came up immediately from the water.” He was completely under the water when John baptized Him, and this makes complete sense when we consider the original Greek meaning for baptism. The Greek word for baptized in Matthew 3 is baptize, which means “to immerse, submerge, or make fully wet.”
This is exactly what John and Jesus did in setting the proper example for baptism. Jesus was fully submerged under the water before coming up out of it. This makes even more sense in light of what the Bible teaches in regards to the significance of baptism. Consider the following passage from the book of Romans:
“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, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive in God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:3–11
Paul clearly communicates that baptism is a symbol of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. In the same way that He took the sins of the world, died and was buried, then resurrected to newness of life, when we go down into the watery grave of baptism, we make a public declaration that we’re burying our old life of sin and are being resurrected as newly committed servants of Christ. Full-submersion baptism—and full-submersion baptism alone—truly captures and communicates the significance and importance of burying the old man to be raised a new person in Christ Jesus.
This same powerful example is shown in Acts 8, with the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch:
“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 8:36–39
Notice how even the Ethiopian eunuch went completely down into the water and then “came up out of the water” (Acts 8:39). He was fully submerged when baptized. The biblical example is clear. We should only follow in faith. Some might suggest that other popular methods of baptism like sprinkling or pouring water over someone are sufficient; however, these methods are not biblical and should be avoided. The way in which we carry out such a sacred rite matters substantially because we have multiple biblical examples that teach us the correct way. Nowhere does the Bible give us authority to pick and choose whatever method of baptism is convenient or works best for us. In this case, the only safe and correct method is the way we see it done in Scripture—full-submersion baptism. Paul did not say, “One Lord, one faith, and twenty-seven baptisms.” But under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wrote “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” Ephesians 4:5. May we follow the Scriptures and remain faithful to the example that our Lord Jesus left for us.