W-Five

“W-FIVE”

A Canadian documentary program is called “W-Five.” It recently celebrated its 50th anniversary on TV. Over two decades ago I developed a simple lesson on water baptism using the “W-Five” formula: The What, Who, Why, When, and the Where. Under the “What” I first noted that “Words are vehicles of thought.” Then I used the following Scripture text which really makes the point well: Leviticus 4:5-7

To show that the Bible uses distinct words to express certain actions I used Leviticus chapter 4.5-7. “The anointed priest shall take some of the bull’s blood and bring it to the tabernacle of meeting. The priest shall DIP his finger in the blood and SPRINKLE some of the blood seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil of the sanctuary. And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the alter of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of meeting; and he shall POUR the remaining blood of the bull at the base of the alter of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.”

Notice the three different words - Dip, Sprinkle, Pour. Each word conveys a totally different thought to our minds. They are not used interchangeably. Webster is wrong when he tells us, in a modern dictionary, that baptism can either be sprinkling, pouring or immersion (at least in regard to first century Bible baptism; the only kind we are interested in practicing today - Mt. 28:18-20; 2 Jn 9-10).

The Greek. In the Koine or common Greek language (the original language of the New Testament) the root word for baptism is “bapto” and it means to immerse (see Rom. 6:3-4); the word for sprinkling is rhaino (see Heb. 9:13. 19, 21) and the word for pour in cheo (see Mt. 26:7). These words cannot intelligently be used interchangeable. When Jesus said “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved” He did not mean “He that believes and is sprinkled, poured or immersed shall be saved.” No, only this: “He that believes and is immersed or dipped shall be saved” (Mark 16:16).

Question? Have you in faith been immersed in order to be “saved”? If not, let us help you very soon.