BQ: The correlations between the Old Testament and New Testament are incredibly beautiful: prophecies became realities, and physical laws became spiritual ones. The Old Testament is chock-full of physical examples that are "our tutor to lead us to Christ." (Gal 3:24) One thing that I find interesting to explore is baptism and circumcision. Lots of people overlook the importance of immersion, but I'd like to look at an interesting correlation between the Old and New Covenants. 

Genesis 17:10-14 describes the use of physical circumcision and its purpose, saying in part, "This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among...shall be circumcised in the flesh...And the uncircumcised male child...shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant" (Genesis 17:10-14)

So, under the New Testament, how does a person enter into the covenant of Christ? God explains circumcision was nothing more than a shadow of the spiritual reality of baptism. :) "In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead."  (Col 2:11-12)




BQ: Yesterday, we started looking at baptism and how it was foreshadowed as being unique and important in the The Old Testament, and we noted that the OT is "our tutor to lead us to Christ." (Gal 3:24)  It's also quite interesting to note that, just a few lines later, God identifies the important of immersion again, saying, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." (Galatians 3:27)

Under the Old Covenant, priests were required to wash themselves with water to be in God's presence.  "When they go into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to the Lord, they shall wash with water, lest they die." (Exodus 30:19-20)  Tomorrow we'll look more at being washed! 





BQ: Continuing the look at how washing with water was required in the Old Testament, and is a foreshadow God's implementation of immersion in water, I find it cool that David prayed that God would, "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin." (Psa 51:2)
 

God often uses the concept of "washing" to get rid of uncleanness and sin, and not just in the Old Testament with priests and a laver. In the NT, there is "the washing of regeneration" (Titus 3:5). Saul was commanded by God to, "Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord." (Acts 22:16).

Why is baptism often disregarded? Tomorrow we'll look at more examples of how water was important in the OT, and how it's still considered important by God today.





BQ:  We've seen a lot on how the Old Testament indicated long ago how important water would be, and how God would use it. Today let's look at 1 Pet 3:20-21, where water is described as being important to God both then and now

"...while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

Notice that God saved through water with Noah, and uses immersion in water today as part of the mechanism of spiritual circumcision. 






BQ: Acts 2:38 tells us that, "Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Often Christians today dismiss baptism as being really not all that important, but we've seen that God used the Old Covenant to indicate that it would be vital.  

It is very interesting that Christians are said to receive the Holy Spirit through immersion in water. Although we're not told why, in the creation account, we see that once again the Spirit was associated with water. "The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." (Gen 1:2) Tomorrow we'll look at a way that this is illustrated in the NT.





BQ: Yesterday we saw an image of water being associated with the Spirit, and of contact with the Spirit being made through burial and subsequent resurrection, so to speak, from a watery grave. Imagine coming out of the waters and coming into contact with the Holy Spirit, much as the Spirit was over the water in Genesis. The same illustration exists in the New Testament:  "Most assuredly, I say unto you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." (John 3:5) 

Although modern theologies have made this seem muddled and unnecessary, we can read the Bible and see that it made perfect sense to the original Christians.  In Acts 8:36, we see a person that says, "See here is water, what hinders me from being baptized?" Why would he want this so bad? The Bible answers this repeatedly, but consider the following:

 "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:3-4).  It's to walk in the newness of life.





BQ: We've seen that God has always associated Himself with water, and has often chosen it to be an "operating table" of sorts to remove uncleanness; in our case, namely sin. Does it seem odd, though, to you? If so, you're not alone. In the old testament, we see an example of water being used by God to make someone clean, and the reaction of the person to be made clean was one of confusion and indignation. Let's look at a section of 2 Kings 5:9-14:

Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.”  But Naaman became furious, and went away and said..."Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 

Much like some Christians today, Naaman rejected that God would possibly use water to cure him of his uncleanness. Luckily for Naaman, he had some people to help him put things in perspective: 

And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. 

Sometimes people will tell you, "That doesn't make any sense, that you'd need to be dunked in some water." Don't let the Naamans of the world discourage you, though. Be baptized and made clean. :)