In the Greek

Sometimes words in the Bible don't mean what they did when they were written. We don't understand them. They're not relevant. Sometimes, because our world is so different from life in the first century A.D., we miss a deeper, richer meaning.

Baptism is such a word. For most of us, baptism means getting wet one way or another, at one time or another, as an act of our faith. But not many people associate the word with some of the origins and customs of that day.

The Greek noun, baptisma, conveys a process rather than a single act. Although the root word means "to dip," the concept is one of immersion, submersion, and emergence. In Bible times the verb form, baptizo, often signified the dyeing of cloth.

That action creates bonds at the molecular level as the color permeates the fibers. The noun describes the afflictions and judgments that Jesus voluntarily endured on the cross when he "became sin." The verb indicates the relationship between a servant and master. The one who voluntarily surrenders becomes so closely bound to the other as to be identified with that person as his son or daughter.

Therefore, the act of being baptized results in a transformation that begins where no one can see and continues until we look nothing like we once did.

Baptism doesn't save us, but through the process God surely rescues us from ourselves.