Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Matthew 3:16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 3:16 After Jesus was baptized, He came up immediately out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he (John) saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him (Jesus), [John 1:32] |
Subject: baptism by emersion only? |
Bible Note: Dear Brother Hopalong, You're right, I tried to emphasize that it was implied, but I should have done a better job of qualifying my answer. Credobaptism is, indeed, a presupposition, but a considered one. (A lot of the traditional doctrines of the Church were re-scrutinized coming out of the Reformation.) We Baptists also tend to be a bit less strictly Covenantal in our hermeneutics. Consequently we don't quite agree with the perspective of baptism as an expression of the New Covenant equivalent in nature to circumcision in the Old Covenant. We deem that that particular Coventental sign was once external (Ephesians 2:11), but is now internal (Romans 2:29; Colossians 2:11). By the way, being a fan of Cornelius Van Till -- although still only a student -- I'm not greatly ashamed of my presuppositions. Didn't another Westminster Theological Seminary scholar, John Frame, call them "basic heart commitments?" :-) I've spent a lot of time working through the Biblical basis of the presuppositions I now hold. I keep working at it, but I'm pretty happy with them. Yet I don't deem this particular question to be a point at which fellowship should be broken. In accordance with my conscience, I worship with like-minded believers. However, I love my Presbyterian, Dutch Reformed, Lutheran, and other paedobaptistic (and monergistic) brethren. In Him, Doc |