The 5 W’s of Baptism
Many of us have probably heard of the 5 W’s when we were in school. These 5 W’s are who, what, when, where and why, and at times include is how. These are the 5 questions in which we gather information for problem solving. Each question has a factual answer for a report to be considered complete. We will use the 5 W’s and how and look at baptism.
WHO?
The first question which we need to answer is who needs to be baptized? To find the factual answer to this question, let’s look at the Bible to see what the Word of God says:
Matthew 28:19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Mark 16:16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Luke 24:47
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Acts 2:38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of youin the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
From these scriptures, we can gather that the WHO is everyone. Baptism is for believers of every nation. Then, who should not be baptized would be those who don’t believe. In other words, all of humanity should be baptized, it’s not for a select few.
WHAT?
Now, answering the second W, we ask what is baptism? What does the word baptism even mean? The New Testament is originally written in the Greek language and the word baptism is the Greek word “baptizo” which means to make whelmed, fully wet, dip, immerse. Hence, baptism means to fully go under the water. Do we have any verses in the Bible that would show us this is what baptism means?
Matthew 3:16
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
John 3:23
23 And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.
Acts 8:38-39
38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
Romans 6:4
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 walk in newness of life.
Colossians 2:12
Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
The very definition of baptism is to immerse, and we see in the scripture it serves as a burial with Christ, implying to be fully covered, and that the scriptural evidence speaks of much water,went down into the water. We can conclude that baptism is to be administered by full going under water.
WHEN?
Acts 22:16
And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Acts 10:48
And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.
II Corinthians 6:2
(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
When should we be baptized? Now. The Bible records that Annanias told Saul, what are you waiting for? Peter commanded Cornelius and his house to be baptized. Today is the day of salvation, we are not guaranteed tomorrow.
Acts 8:36-39
36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
We see in the historical recording of Philip and the Eunuch that they came upon water and he was baptized. They both went down into the water and both came up out of the water. In answering the question of where should a person be baptized, we can say, anywhere there is watered to complete immersion for baptism.
WHY?
I Peter 3:20-21
20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us(not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Matthew 3:13-16
13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out ofthe water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Acts 22:16
16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Romans 6:3-5
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 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 walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Galatians 3:27
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Why should a person be baptized? According to scripture, it saves a person, it washes away sins, and Jesus, being our perfect example, was baptized.
HOW?
Acts 2:38
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 10:48
48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.
Acts 8:12
12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Acts 8:16
16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
Colossians 3:17
17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Acts 19:3-5
3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.
4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Acts 22:16
16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Acts 4:12
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
The last question we ask is how are we to be baptized? We find recorded in the Bible, the book of Acts, where we see the history of the early Church, that they baptized in Jesus’ name. They did thisfor there is no other name given among humanity to be saved by.
SUMMARY
What we just did is used the 5 W’s and how to make a factual conclusion regarding baptism. In answering the 5 W’s & how, we can know, according to the Bible that:
WHO: Everyone is to be baptized, believers of all nations.
WHAT: When they are baptized it should be fully immersed.
WHEN: We should not wait, but rather do it immediately.
WHERE: We need water, so if there is water, there should be no hindrance.
WHY: So that our sins may be washed away, and we can put on Christ.
HOW: Baptism should be administered in the name of Jesus.
