church of Christ at 26th and Connecticut
Joplin, Missouri

Phone
417-781-2326
Fax
417-781-2326

   Worship Schedule

Sunday
    Bible Class              9 am
    Morning Worship    10 am
    Evening Worship      6 pm

Wednesday
     Devotional & Class   7 pm

Upcoming Activities

 IMMERSIONS

The Bible speaks of "immersions" in the plural (Hebrews 6:2 TLO). Indeed, the Bible speaks of several immersions:

The immersion of the Great Commission

Jesus said, "go and make disciples of all nations, immersing them" (Matt 28:19 FHV), and "He who believes and is immersed shall be saved" (Mark 16:16 FHV).

The immersion of John the immerser

"John came, immersing in the wilderness, preaching an immersion of a change of heart to obtain the forgiveness of sins" (Mark 1:4 FHV), and many people "obeyed God’s righteous demands, being immersed in the immersion of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s counsel against themselves, not submitting to his immersion" (Luke 7:29-30 FHV).

The immersion of suffering

After being "immersed by John" (Mark 1:9 FHV; Luke 3:21) Jesus still said, "I have an immersion to undergo, and what stress I am under till it is accomplished!" (12:49 FHV), and told James and John, "You will drink the cup that I drink, and the immersion that submerges me will overwhelm you" (Mark 10:39 FHV). Since the cup refers to suffering (14:36; John 18:11), surely so does the immersion.

The immersion of hands

Jews wouldn't "eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water" (Mark 7:4 NLT)"the tradition of the elders required them to wash their hands before eating, and, if they had been in a crowd where their bodies might have been touched by some unclean person, they washed their whole bodies" (The Fourfold Gospel).

The immersion of cups

Jews also had a tradition of "immersions of cups and pots, and brazen vessels and beds" (Mark 7:4 TLO) - "The law of Moses required purifications in certain cases (Lev. 12:1-5), but the rabbis had perverted the spirit of Leviticus in this as in other things, for they taught that food and drink could not be taken with a good conscience when there was the possibility of ceremonial defilement. If every conceivable precaution had not been taken, the person or the vessel used might have contracted impurity, which would thus be conveyed to the food, and through the food to the body, and by it to the soul. Hence it had been long a custom, and latterly a strict law, that before every meal not only the hands, but even the dishes, couches, and tables, should be scrupulously washed" (Geikie, quoted in Johnson’s Notes).

The immersion in the Holy Spirit

The apostles "were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4 ESV). Later, this same thing happened to Cornelius and others (10:44-46 ESV). And Peter's comment on these events is: "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning, and I remembered the Lord’s statement, 'John, indeed, immersed in water, but you will be immersed in the Holy Spirit'" (11:15-16 FHV).

The immersion in fire

Matthew 3:11 says Jesus would "immerse you in ... fire" (FHV). What "fire"? Well, the verse right before and the verse right after both seem to speak of hell-fire: "Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire" and "the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire" (ESV).

The immersion in the cloud and sea

The Israelites had walked on dry land through the middle of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-22), and had the Lord going before them in a cloud (13:21). Thus, Paul told the church in Corinth: "all of our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were immersed into Moses in the cloud and in the sea" (1 Cor. 10:1-2 FHV).

The immersion for the dead

Paul also told the church in Corinth, "Otherwhise, what will they do who are being immersed for the dead? If the dead are not raised, why are they being immersed for the dead?" (1 Cor. 15:29 FHV). It seems to me that Paul is showing here that the false teachers in Corinth were inconsistent in saying that the dead are not resurrected, but then being immersed on their behalf. Paul wasn’t endorsing immersion for the dead. Rather, he taught that you will be judged for what you do (2 Cor 5:10), not for what someone does for you.