The theif on the cross misconceptions

Water dunking is as effective at removing sin as circumcision was.

and yet under the New Covenant it's still something that was common practice. Why would they reject circumcision
and then turn around and water baptize people? I doubt they saw those two things as equal in effectiveness.

I wouldn't be so quick to assume the thief on the cross was not water baptized. Actually, I believe most people in Jerusalem and the Judean countryside were water baptized, during the time of John the Baptist's and Jesus' ministry, based off of what I've read in the New Testament.

I speculate that this fact may account for why water baptism isn't mentioned all that much in the gospels. People wrote things from their perspective and it may not have been necessary to mention water baptism too often if they knew the people they were talking to were already water baptized.

Hard to say and mostly just amounts to speculation. Conveying information through reading and writing is a rather limited medium. You're only going to know what I am telling you while the countless number of possible things occurring around me aren't even mentioned. That's typically why it's better to not "add to or take away" when talking about the Bible, or really anything in general.

It is prep for priesthood.


Ephesians 4:5-6

Therefore, if water baptism was required, it would have been mentioned.

I don't think water baptism is a prep for priesthood. I think the blood of the lamb,
the removal of sins, is a prep for priesthood. Water baptism is for something else.

What else? It was prep for service as a priest. The blood of the Lamb removes sin.

That is not the conclusion I was making. Quite the opposite.

Just because something isn't mentioned doesn't mean it isn't required.

Allow me to demonstrate. Believing in Jesus isn't mentioned everywhere so does that mean it isn't required? Of course not.

Can you post an example from scripture? Thanks! Btw, of course not all verses are dealing with salvation, but you'd think the ones that were would mention baptism.

Just going with what the Bible says. Jesus did all the work in making us a kingdom of priests. Water baptism would be stripping Christ of His ability to make us priests.

Revelation 1:5,6
5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood, 6who has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen.

Water dunking is as effective at removing sin as circumcision was. Or being born a great great great great great grandson of Jacob.

Tell that to the inspired writers as well as Jesus himself

Mark 16:15-16, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, 1Peter 3:21

Can you post an example from scripture? Thanks! Btw, of course not all verses are dealing with salvation, but you'd think the ones that were would mention baptism.

Yeah, and so...? That strips us of nothing. Water baptism is not what saves. Nor does our faith come from others.

So what else is it for? You gave nothing.

@Magenta @Runningman

In Hebrews chapter 6 this is written about 6 "elementary doctrines" (I numbered them):

"Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of 1) repentance from dead works and of 2) faith toward God, of the 3) doctrine of baptisms, of 4) laying on of hands, of 5) resurrection of the dead, and of 6) eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits."

Notice that there is a doctrine of baptisms; plural. Also, "baptism" has been made into a religious word but it was a very common word when the Bible was written. For example, if you wanted to dip a rag into water for cleaning you would "baptize" the rag into the water. The end result would be that the rag, because of the addition of the water, was now a more effective cleaning tool. So, baptize (baptismo) simply means "to immerse"

In my study there appears to be 4 baptisms. I've written about these before so I don't want to rehash it here. The types of baptisms are with fire, with water, by the Holy Spirit, and with the Holy Spirit.

There is one baptism that establishes our place within the Body of Christ: Baptism by the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12 records:

"For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many."

"By one Spirit" signifies that the Holy Spirit is the one completing the baptism. And the baptism is into "one body". It is given to the saints to discern the place of each member of the body (but that is another topic).

So, baptism by the Spirit is the one baptism that recharacterizes the individual parts into One complete Body of Christ. And this is independent of each member's background, race, status, sex, education, etc. The Spirit decides this.

This baptism, by the Holy Spirit, is the "one baptism" (of the 4 total baptisms) referenced in Ephesians 4:

"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."

The hint is that Paul is writing about "one body" and the diversity of gifts among the many parts. In the book he writes extensively about how the parts are to work together. The framework for this is that all parts, individuals within the Body of Christ, make up the one body and are to work together in coordination with the head, who is Christ.

The Spirit places us in the Body to make the one Body of Christ.

Blessings.

I gave you what the Bible says and a verse that proves that being a priest in God's kingdom isn't because of water baptism.

You just gave something about Christians being water baptized in preparation for service as a priest. That isn't in the Bible as far as I'm aware.

You gave nothing.

Water baptism is for something else.

The thief on the cross misconceptions

I continually encounter people trying to justify that baptism is not an absolute necessity for one's salvation by use (erroneously) of the thief on the cross as justification, as he was not baptized but yet saved by the Lord, which is true!