“We believe . . . in baptism by immersion for the remission of sins” Articles of Faith 1:4.
Bapto and Baptizo
The Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived around 200 B.C. illustrated the distinction between dipping [bapto] and immersing [baptizo] in a recipe for making pickles. In his recipe, Nicander wrote that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be dipped [bapto] into boiling water to cleanse it, and then immersed [baptizo], in a vinegar solution to transform it.
New Testament Examples
63 times the word baptism appears in the New Testament, the Greek word used is baptizo, not the word bapto. Immersion is a better translation, instead of baptism, for the concept of baptizo.
A few examples:
Confessing their sins, they were baptised (baptizo) by him in the Jordan River. (Matthew 3:6)
I baptise (baptizo) you with (in) water, but he will baptize you with (in) the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:8)
For John baptised (baptizo) with (in) water, but in a few days you will be baptized (baptizo) with (in) the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:5)
Those who accepted his message were baptised (baptizo), and about three thousand were added to their number that day. (Acts 2:41)
So Paul asked, “Then what baptism (baptizo) did you receive?” (Acts 19:3)
Transforming Each of Us
Elder Bednar observed: “A pickle is a cucumber that has been transformed according to a specific recipe and series of steps. The first steps in the process of changing a cucumber into a pickle are preparing and cleaning. I remember many hours spent on the back porch of my home removing stems from and scrubbing dirt off of the cucumbers we had picked. My mom was very particular about the preparing and cleaning of the cucumbers. She had high standards of cleanliness and always inspected my work to make sure this important task was properly completed.
“The next steps in this process of change are immersing and saturating the cucumbers in salt brine for an extended period of time. To prepare the brine, my mom always used a recipe she learned from her mother—a recipe with special ingredients and precise procedures. Cucumbers can only become pickles if they are totally and completely immersed in the brine for the prescribed time period. The curing process gradually alters the composition of the cucumber and produces the transparent appearance and distinctive taste of a pickle. An occasional sprinkle of or dip in the brine cannot produce the necessary transformation. Rather, steady, sustained, and complete immersion is required for the desired change to occur.
“The final step in the process requires the sealing of the cured pickles in jars that have been sterilized and purified. The pickles are packed in canning jars, covered with boiling hot brine, and processed in a boiling-water-bath canner. All impurities must be removed from both the pickles and the bottles so the finished product can be protected and preserved. As this procedure is properly followed, the pickles can be stored and enjoyed for a long period of time.
“To summarize, a cucumber becomes a pickle as it is prepared and cleaned, immersed in and saturated with salt brine, and sealed in a sterilized container. This procedure requires time and cannot be hurried, and none of the essential steps can be ignored or avoided. . .
“ A cucumber only becomes a pickle through steady, sustained, and complete immersion in salt brine. Significantly, salt is the key ingredient in the recipe. Salt frequently is used in the scriptures as a symbol both of a covenant and of a covenant people. And just as salt is essential in transforming a cucumber into a pickle, so covenants are central to our spiritual rebirth.
“We begin the process of being born again through exercising faith in Christ, repenting of our sins, and being baptized by immersion for the remission of sins by one having priesthood authority.
“‘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’ (Romans 6:4).
“And after we come out of the waters of baptism, our souls need to be continuously immersed in and saturated with the truth and the light of the Savior’s gospel. Sporadic and shallow dipping in the doctrine of Christ and partial participation in His restored Church cannot produce the spiritual transformation that enables us to walk in a newness of life. Rather, fidelity to covenants, constancy of commitment, and offering our whole soul unto God are required if we are to receive the blessings of eternity” (“Ye Must Be Born Again,” Ensign, May 2007, 19,21).
