What Is the Appropriate Method of Water Baptism?

Some churches prefer sprinkling (christening), some prefer pouring (effusion), and others insist on dunking (immersion), while others may endorse all three methods. What does the Bible say about the actual method baptism?

As you probably know, the New Testament was not originally written in English, but in Greek. In the New Testament, the word “baptize” is translated from the Greek word baptizo (pronounced "bopp-teet-so"). In Jesus' culture, that term most frequently referred to an act of immersion (submersion or dunking), but seldom to pouring or sprinkling.

The gospel accounts imply that Jesus was immersed at His baptism. Matthew 3:16 states, “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water” (NIV italics added). Mark 1:10 states, “As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open.” Sprinklers and pourers have argued that Jesus could have been sprinkled or poured, and then the Holy Spirit descended as He got out of the water to dry off, but the clear terminology of those passages makes that a weak interpretation at best. See also Acts 8:38-39.

In Romans 6:4 the apostle Paul wrote, “We were therefore buried with him [Christ] through baptism” (Italics added). Immersion is the only baptismal method that fits Paul’s metaphorical use of burial. If I was an undertaker, and you hired me to bury your deceased mother, how would you feel if I just threw a cup of dirt over her casket, then went home? I believe you would be very upset with me, because I obviously did not do my job!

Christeners (sprinklers) have missed the mark, but they are not guilty of heresy in that respect. I consider the method of water baptism to be a peripheral Christian debate. I may vigorously debate in favor of immersion, but I do not divide over it. God does not condemn people to hell for being baptized incorrectly. (If He did, then for over five centuries there must have been no true Christians anywhere on earth!) However, I would urge every sprinkled or effused believer to be immersed, so he can be in God’s perfect will.

However, I believe effusion (pouring) is acceptable whenever immersion might severely threaten the life of a person with certain severe health problems or disabilities. That is how effusion first began in the Church. The early Church decided that effusion would be administered only under those unusual circumstances.