Why did John Baptize with water?

Our standard is to allow the words of the Bible speak for themselves, and without church tradition or preconceived ideas.

Acts 1:4

And being assembled together with them (Christ) commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he (The Father ) ye have heard of me.

Acts 1:5  For John truly baptized with water (This is Jesus speaking) 

Sorry that we do not hear these things preached today as a whole. But it is Bible.  That is about as far as most will go with Baptizing.

Why did John or why did Israel have to be baptized in the Kingdom message being preached and at Jesus ministry? 

Turn to Exodus 19: 5-6 and we find there the Lord commanded Moses to tell the nation Israel:

 

5. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine;

6.  And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.  These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. 

Refer to 1 Peter 2:9 and this is why believing Jews are call "priests"

Study will show that the Priesthood was given to the Levites in  Exodus 28:1 and all because of unbelief.  Reference Revelation 1:6 and Revelation 5:10

The standard required by God was when the sons of Aaron, the Levitical priests of Israel, were ordained into the priesthood, they had to first wash with water.

The Mosaic Law said in Exodus 29: 1,4 

1.  And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto me in the priest's office: Take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish,.....

4.  And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, "and shalt wash them with water"

Another witness is Leviticus 8:6 and reads, "And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water."

Water baptism was necessary to prepare believing Jews to become a Kingdom of Priests.

Each Jew must wash with water like the Old Testament priests washed with water before entering their ministry.  The Jews must be water baptized, or they cannot be a kingdom of priests:  thus, water baptism is necessary for preparation to minister in Israel's program.

Speaking of Israel's salvation and restoration, the Lord said to the nation Israel, "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you

Ezekial 36:25

Israel needed spiritual cleansing, and water baptism was a sign to them that they needed that cleansing.

Evidently, water baptism is the sign of the Davidic Covenant, God’s promise to establish an earthly kingdom using a descendant of King David—the King, Jesus Christ—and the nation Israel 

(2 Samuel 7:12-17; 1 Chronicles 17:11-15). 

Going back now to Acts 1:5

ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."

Let's go back to Matthew Chapter 3. Drop down to verse 11 where we are dealing with John the Baptist. Matthew is quoting what John the Baptist says.

Matthew 3:11

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance:

but (there's going to be a change)

He (speaking of Christ) that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:"

Now, again, who is John the Baptist addressing? 

Jews, there are no Gentiles in his crowd. Jesus, The Christ, he says is going to baptize you with, or into, the Holy Spirit.  

You now see or find Jesus is going to be the baptizer. And He's going to baptize the Jews into the Holy Spirit. 

When did Jesus do that? 

It was fulfilled at Pentecost. That was a Jewish feast day. The Nation of Israel was gathered and down came the Holy Spirit with power. I know that will not go over good.  Who was gathered? Devout Jews from all the regions. 

This is the Messiah's valid offer for the Jews, to experience that power of the Holy Spirit to a power they needed to perform miracles, signs, and wonders as Jesus has done for His ministry and carry on in His absence to do what He did, and carry on to the Salvation of the earth.

So this was the Nation's prospect that they could just literally carry on as individual believing Jews what Christ had been doing for three years. 

And how would He manifest it? By placing them into the very power of the Holy Spirit.   When we get to verse 8, when He said, "You will receive power."

So that was the whole concept that Jesus would be the baptizer, and Israel would be the one being baptized. 

Turn to I Corinthians Chapter 12 and we will start with verse 12. Here Paul is writing to the Gentile Church at Corinth. And here he comes up with a term that is strictly Pauline. (Yep I am one of them, more on that later)

Jesus or the Twelve never spoke of the Body of Christ. 

So here in verse 12 Paul is using our human body as an picture to get those to understand this concept.

I Corinthians 12:12

"For as the body (our human body) is one, and hath many members (your hands, feet and so forth), and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ."

He's making the allusion to the Body of Christ, the Church. We've got all these different people who are making up the Body of Christ. We have rich and poor, black and white, whatever from all around the world, they have come into the Body of Christ. They all have different cultures, different ways. 

But if they have all been saved by the same power and Gospel, then what are we? 

We are "one" in Christ.

Because we are one in Christ. How did we get there? Here is the crucial question. How did we get into this unique living organism that we call the Body of Christ? Now verse 13:

I Corinthians 12:13

"For by one Spirit (The Holy Spirit) are we all baptized into (not the local Church, but) one body (the Body of Christ, the Church),"

Remember, no unbeliever can go into the Body of Christ. 

You can baptize many people and make them members of the local church, but they can be totally lost. Hang on, Baptizing in water saves no one. They're baptized, but they're not in the Body of Christ. 

But the true child of God, the moment he believes, is saved by the work of the Spirit, He is baptized by the Holy Spirit into that Body. And that is the one that counts for eternity. 

And it doesn't matter what way you have been baptized, by Jordan River water company, or a country pond, or a Church baptistry, it makes no difference. 

But when you have been baptized into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit you are His. You are safe.  

Remember, Paul is the only one that uses that terminology. He will say the Church, which is His Body, or the Body of Christ which is the Church.

Now remember early on, as we come out of the Four Gospels and into the Book of Acts with God dealing with the Nation of Israel, Christ is the Baptizer. He is placing the Jews, as they believe, into the power of the Holy Spirit to perform the signs and miracles that would continue Christ's earthly ministry. 

But when that fell apart, when Israel rejected it completely, God turned to the Gentiles through the Apostle Paul - and now we find the Holy Spirit has become the Baptizer and He places us into Christ. 

This is not the only verse where you find this, there are many verses Paul uses. For example, in the Book of Colossians it says, "You are hid in Christ in God." Well, how did you get in Christ? Not with water baptism, but when the Holy Spirit baptized you into Him.

So to cap it all off, John baptized in water, Jesus baptized in the Holy Ghost, and we are baptized by the Holy Ghost into Him. How simple. But what a mighty God we serve.