God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
Oh, without prayer what are the church’s agencies, but the stretching out of a dead man’s arm, or the lifting up of the lid of a blind man’s eye? Only when the Holy Spirit comes is there any life and force and power.
The Holy Spirit used four Greek words that are transliterated “baptism” or like derivatives in our English Bibles. In its context, each word gives the impression of immersion. Whether it is the baptism of trials or the baptism into the church or ceremonial washings or dipping bread into a bowl of oil, these words in the Bible and in other secular Greek writings of the time imply immersion. For instance, the verb Bapto in every usage means “to dip” or “to dye.” The word was used in common language when items were completely engulfed in a liquid to produce a change in color. Therefore, all Greek lexicons give the primary meanings of these 4 words as “dip,” “plunge” or “immerse.” As a matter of fact, the six Greek words that could be translated “pour” or “sprinkle” are never used in connection with water baptism.
