River, Lake, Pond to Baptize?

River, Lake, Pond to Baptize?

Question

Good day brother, I just want to share some issue I face.

Some of brethren believed the the baptism in the bible that we must follow is in the river only.. like Jesus did He baptized in a river..

What is the bible says about this issue?

[[Joh 3:5]] KJV Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Note: Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,

Not only a river have a water but in every place having alot of amount of water, it can be use in baptism..

Baptized
Transliteration: baptizō
Phonetic: bap-tid’-zo
Definition:
to dip , to immerse, to submerge

what is the command?
Baptized or not?

[[Act 8:36]] KJV And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

Did the verse say- it is a river?
Or did the verse say- it is a sea?
Or did the verse say- it is a Pool?
Or did the verse say- it is a lake?

But you read in the very verse say- into water!

A person must be baptized in to water that is the command,

Did Jesus say- a river only?
But the baptism in river is an incedental, because there is a water, and not because it is a fresh!
Do you know that the Jordan river is a worst river and have not fresh water?

And the baptism in water is the essential.

Note:here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? Acts8:36.

that all baptism in the bible is in the river?

How about:
Acts 2:41 the 3000 souls
Acst 8:36 the the eunuch

Are WE sure that the baptism above is in the river? Did WE read the river on that verse?

How about the description of Baptism?
[[1Pe 3:21]] KJV The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

Did the verse say- in river only?

We need to understand the incedental things and issential things.

Baptism on a river is an incedental.

But the baptism in water is issential.
It is not a washing of physical flesh. The burial and resurection w/ a clean soul like a new born.

[[Rom 6:3-5/KJV]] %v 3% Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? %v 4% Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. %v 5% For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Answer

Dear friend<

It is a blessing to see that you are a real Bible student and that you are seeking to determine what God wants in regard to this subject as well as other subjects.

As for whether we must immerse someone in a river or some other place, we can only look at the New Testament evidence. As you know, the word “baptize” (baptizo) simply means to immerse. It could refer to any element.

Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River and John baptized in the same River (Matthew 3:6, 13-17). But on the day of Pentecost, there would not have been any river nearby. Jerusalem had no major sources of water in itself. In New Testament times, there would have been a large aqueduct that the Romans built, from Bethlehem to the capital city of Jerusalem. But there would have been many pools in the city, such as the Pool of Siloam (John 9:7) and the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:2). This would have offered still water, not running water. There were also many dozens of small pools of water where the Jews could carry on their ceremonial washings (called “Mikveh”) as well as “proselyte baptisms.”

On the day of Pentecost, it may have been that the apostles used some of these pools for the baptizing/immersing of 3,000 people (Acts 2:41). And what about the baptizing in Samaria (Acts 8:5, 12-13) or the baptizing of the Ethiopian on the road toward Gaza (Acts 8:36-39)? Pools of water may have been used for these baptisms since there would not have been rivers or streams nearby. It is good to know that there was not rain all 12 months of the year, but only at certain seasons. When it would rain, there would be plenty of water in the wadis, but at other times the wadis would be dry. They would regularly need to depend on local wells of water, like what we find at Sychar (cf. John 4:5-6).

Paul may have been immersed in a river there in Damascus (Acts 9:18; 22:16; cf. 2 Kings 5:12). Cornelius and his family may have been immersed in the Mediterranean Sea (Acts 10:1, 47-48). Lydia may have been immersed in the river near Philippi (Acts 16:12-15) and we just don’t know where the jailer was baptized, although it may have been a pool of some kind, near the jail (vv. 30-34).

The evidence leads us to think that natural bodies of water were used for baptisms (immersions) in New Testament times (such as the Jordan or the Mediterranean). But surely man-made pools of water were often employed in such baptisms. The point would be that any body of water (whether natural or man-made) would have been used for baptisms. There just needed to be sufficient water for a baptism (an immersion). (This would rule out substitutes, such as pouring and sprinkling.) The source of the water would have been incidental.

The focus on the New Testament would be on the meaning and purpose of the baptism, not the source of the water used in a baptism. Let’s major on this ourselves.

–Richard Hollerman