The Meaning of Baptism
The sections are as follows:
- John the Baptist and Baptism
- The Emergency Decree
- Opening the Gates of the Kingdom of Heaven
- Baptism — The Community Pledge of Covenant Fidelity
- Claims for Baptismal Regeneration
- Back To Index Page
John the Baptist and Baptism
John the Baptist was sent by God to "baptize" (John 1:31-33). By the time of John, most Jews believed they were personally secure in the covenant of old because they were descended from Abraham (Matthew 3:9; Luke 3:8). But John preached that Jews had to personally repent from whatever sin they had or they would be removed from Israel in the coming Messianic Age (Matthew 3:7-12; Luke 3:7-17). The tree that did not bear fruit would be cut down and thrown into the fire. Unfaithfulness in Israel was a temporary condition permitted in this age. But false teachers in Israel were teaching that salvation depended upon having Jewish national status, and they tolerated the unfaithful, who took salvific comfort in their national status, without correcting them. Also, most at this time believed a non-Jew from the nations, if they were male, had to be circumcised. And a woman had to be socially integrated with the Jewish people and community, or married to a Jewish husband, to be saved. The vast bulk of the nation were trusting in their national status for a place in the world to come; they had put national status far ahead of personal repentance and faithfulness to the Most High. They were trusting in their national election, and overlooking the necessity of being personally chosen by the election of divine favor toward all who are truly loving God and keeping His commandments (Exodus 20:6). This was because their teachers were placing emphasis on covenant signs to guarantee covenant position, and not on personal repentance.
John's teaching did not say that birthright covenant status was nothing at all. But his teaching did point out that if anyone wanted to remain in the covenant that they would have to have more than the covenant signs. They would have to have personal repentance and faithfulness. The fruitless branches were going to be removed and cut off; even while being the chosen people, their personal election was not secure without individual faithfulness. John did not reject national chosenness, and neither did Yeshua or Paul later. But they did reject personal election based on national status. All the descendants of Israel are included in the national status and the national covenant. However, Scripture outlines covenant blessings and covenant curses. One receives one or the other based on whether they really love God or not and keep his commandments. Just as John said, those who do not bear fruit will be cut off. Scripture is full of examples of the chosen people reaping the blessings on one hand, and the curses on the other hand.
Therefore, John's baptism was a public acknowledgement that national election and personal election were two separate categories. It was a public confession of a personal commitment to repent and obey the commandments; by being baptised, the Jewish faithful were confirming that one's salvific status in the covenant depended on having more than national signs. John's baptism was specifically associated with proclaiming the need for repentance to retain the status necessary for election to salvation in the afterlife, termed in the Hebrew theology of the Evangelists as "the age to come." Whichever Jews did not repent and follow the Messiah when he came—because John proclaimed the Messiah was coming, and that they would have to listen to him—would only retain temporal covenant blessings in this age; they would be cut off in the afterlife.
John's baptism was definitively viewed by those following his teaching as proclaiming individual election in the sphere of the covenant of old, or building on national election in the covenant of old. National election in the covenant of old was viewed as being linked to this age. And personal election was viewed as belonging to the age to come and the resurrection of the righteous. The Most High had promised to give the land to Abraham, but Abraham died without receiving it, and only his descendants received it (Gen. 15:7; Deuteronomy 34:4; Acts 7:5; Matthew 22:31-32; Exodus 6:4, b. Sanhedrin 90b; Hebrews 11:13-16; Sifre Deuteronomy 357). Abraham would receive the land in the coming kingdom age because of his individual faithfulness. The baptism proclaimed that faithfulness was required to bridge the two ages. The baptism proclaimed that the promise was meant for the age to come; if it was left temporally unfulfilled in this age, the promise was not considered voided, because its true fulfillment was in the age to come. The temporal covenant blessings were viewed as a taste of the kingdom age. John's baptism was never viewed as outside the Torah or the national covenant; rather, it was viewed as signifying the position of the elect of the elect.
As we shall see, John's teaching of baptism completely informs us on the meaning of the ritual as extended to non-Jews in Matthew 28:18-20. But before going into this, we must cover some more ground with John.
The Emergency Decree
Baptism, as a proclamation of election for the age to come, was completely unknown before the Almighty sent John to proclaim it. Ritual immersions were practiced frequently, and indeed most assiduously by the Qumran sect, as a means of spiritual preparation, and even as a parallel aid to spiritual transformation. However close to John they may have been, it was inadequate and somewhat heretical. Qumran was also a compromised sect, rejecting the Temple and the Scriptural calendar. Qumran saw immersion as a continuative spiritual exercise to encourage the Spirit of God to overshadow them in conjunction with the ritual. As such it was an unauthorized and superstitious connection. Outside of actual faithfulness to God's commandments, no connection to the Spirit was formed. Furthermore, the notion that the Spirit especially influences one after immersion rather than just being faithful at all times puts the ritual into the superstitious category of a magical effect. One may say that Qumran anticipated the later corruption of baptism into the concept of spiritual regeneration, known as Baptismal Regeneration in the mainstream Church that emerged later in the 2nd century AD.
Under the established biblical precedent of the "emergency decree" (cf. b. Yevamot 90b and b. Sanhedrin 89b), John was instructed by the Most High to institute baptism as a commandment of God. This type of innovation was only allowed to an appointed prophet. The main precedent comes from Elijah and the prophets of Baal. On Mt. Carmel, Elijah, following God's commandment, built an altar to Yahweh, which for an ordinary Israelite was strictly forbidden (Deuteronomy 12:13–14; 12:32). The reason for this was that the corruption in Israel by the Baal priests was so extreme that Yahweh's presence in the northern kingdom was required to defeat them; a manifestation of His power was required. And so the public showdown with the 450 prophets of Baal took place (1 Kings 18:19–39).
Yeshua frames John as having the mandate of Elijah (Matthew 11:14; 17:10-13; Luke 1:17). The Messiah confirms that John had the authority. The scribes and Pharisees had sent their representatives to investigate John. They wanted to know if he was the Prophet or the Messiah or Elijah (John 1:19–25), because only these characters would be authorized to innovate. Adding to the Torah is innovation; this was ordinarily forbidden (Deuteronomy 12:32). John said he was not one of those allowed by the authorities of his day to make an emergency decree; however, he cited prophetic Scripture to establish his prophetic role (Isaiah 40:3) and divinely ordaided authority. They rejected his argument, but the people did not (cf. Luke 7:29-30). John had the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17). When Yeshua said he was Elijah, he was character-typing, like calling a modern warrior Joshua or a legislator Moses.
At a later date Judaism added baptism to its conversion procedures; unlike John, they had no authority to do this. There is no actual proof of the rite as a covenant initiation practice until we come to the 3rd to 5th century AD. There is a definite absence of it in Judaism prior ot AD 70. There is a brief reference in the Mishnah, compiled ca. AD 200, to a Gentile who is circumcised on the day before Passover (Mishnah Pesachim 8:8). But this immersion was only a debate about the time period required for purification in order to eat the Passover, whether it required until evening, or seven days. The immersion was just an ordinary requirement of the Torah for ritual purity. The same thing would be required of any other Jew who had contracted defilement before the Passover. But after this period it was added (in written form) as a covenant joining rite, although unofficially it may go back to ca. AD 200. It should be noted that belonging to the covenant was founded on the same mistaken errors that John the Baptist had addressed when he added baptism in the first place as an affirmation that one's place in the world to come depends on faithfulness, and not on national signs. When Judaism adopted convert baptism, it was trying to claw back the nationalistic salvation theology previously mentioned. This rabbinic baptism was an implicit denial of the need for John's baptism. Furthermore, the Rabbis only innovated their version after the pure John the Baptist sect had died out among Jews who did not listen to him and accept Messiah Yeshua. This tells us that the understanding surrounding John's baptism was strong enough to thwart the Rabbis' attempts to resurrect the very theology John came to combat in Israel.
Opening the Gates of the Kingdom of Heaven
John's instructions included the directive to hear and obey the one coming after him: the Messiah (Acts 19:4). This directive was understood by those coming to be immersed. In fact, John had said that Messiah's winnowing fork would cleanse the faithful with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11-12; Luke 3:16-17). So, upon this understanding, every Jew coming into the knowledge of Messiah Yeshua's arrival would not have to be rebaptized. They would just have to follow through on John's instructions and pledge faithfulness to Yeshua. The unfaithful would be purged with fire. John the Evangelist represents matters exactly this way. As soon as John identified the Messiah, "Behold the lamb of the Almighty who takes away the sin of the world," (John 1:29) then John's disciples began to follow Yeshua.
The instruction of John the Baptist to pledge loyalty to Yeshua does not just come from the divine word to John. It is in the Torah and the Prophets. Thus has said Yahweh, "Look for Me sending My messenger; he will have made being turned the way" (Malachi 3:1). To turn the way means to clear obstacles out of the path, to make the path straight again. John brought baptism as the necessary correction to show the way to the promised land, to show the bridge from this age to the Messianic age. "He will have made the way being prepared at My face," says Yahweh. "And suddenly," or "unexpectedly" (פִּתְאֹם), "the Lord whom ye are making being sought, even the Messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in—behold, he has come; Yahweh of hosts has spoken!" Who is he talking about? What messenger goes before the face of the Messenger? This one: "Behold, I am sending the Messenger at thy face (before Israel, at the face of Israel) to watch over thee in the way, and to cause thee to come unto the place which I will have prepared" (Exodus 23:20). And it is written, "In My Father's house are many dwellings. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go [before thee] to prepare a place for you? And if I shall have gone, and shall have prepared a place for you, I am coming again, and will receive you to myself, so that where I am you may also be. And where I am going, you have been knowing the way" (John 14:2–4).
"Keep watch from his face, and listen to his voice. Do not cause bitterness against him, because he will not forgive concerning your transgression, because My Name is inside him" (Exodus 23:21). The Evangelist explains, "The Almighty no one has ever been seeing. The only kindred Almighty, the one being in the embrace of the Father, that one reveals him" (John 1:18); "No one has been ascending into heaven, except he which descended from heaven, the Son of man, the one being in heaven" (John 3:13). Messiah Yeshua is the Messenger of the Covenant, and he is the Adonai that Israel sought after. He is the one showing the way to the promised land in this age and the age to come. He is the waymaker in the wilderness.
After his resurrection, Yeshua issued this commandment to his disciples: "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, immersing them into the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I myself commanded you, and lo, I am with you all the days until the end of the age" (Matthew 28:18–20). What did baptism proclaim originally? It proclaimed the inclusion of the nations in God's covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to inherit the land of Israel in the hereafter, according to the same promise to Abraham. It was John's baptism opened up to the nations. John's baptism was about affirming personal election through faithfulness on top of national election. To inherit the kingdom in the Messianic age means everlasting life; it means the resurrection of the righteous. This baptism proclaims a non-Jew who repents to be a full beneficiary of the covenant of old.
If being raised to everlasting life is proclaimed in baptism, signified by coming up out of the water, then this is the greatest covenant blessing. Indeed, Abraham himself did not receive the temporal blessing of the promised land, but he died without having received it. As pointed out, baptism proclaims the commitment necessary to inherit the land in the kingdom age. It was an emergency decree meant to specifically underline individual chosenness (election) over and above national election in this age; it was a sign of election in the age to come. If baptism signifies the greater election of the promised land in the age to come, then surely he who has the greater right will have the lesser right to inherit in the land in this age, if he should be so blessed—a blessing which Abraham did not receive. But even if it is not received in this age, the greater promise in the age to come must include the lesser right to receive an inheritance in this age also. In the covenant of the pieces, the land was promised to Abraham as well as to his seed. This promise was before he was circumcised because "he had been holding faithful through Yahweh" (Genesis 15:6). If Abraham was allowed to live in the land without being circumcised for over a decade, then surely those who have the faithfulness of Abraham have the same right, even if they only live in the land as a sojourner (ger) and do not inherit it. But like Abraham, they surely inherit it in the resurrection of the righteous.
Therefore, baptism is both a proclamation of inclusion in the covenant as well as a proclamation of the repentance necessary to remain in the covenant when the age to come arrives. Baptism was instituted because the teachers in Israel were shutting the kingdom in the face of the nations through their misinterpretation of circumcision and their emphasis that only national election matters. Baptism proclaims the non-Jew as raised to the status of a ger in Israel, who was not forced to be circumcised, yet was required to keep the Torah. To see why the adult male convert did not have to be circumcised, see my essay on Acts 15.
Baptism does not just proclaim inclusion in the covenant. It also proclaims one's intent to keep the commandments in the covenant of old, a renewed covenant for the house of Israel. And if one is not from the lost sheep of Israel, baptism proclaims adoption into the seed of Abraham: "For you all are becoming SONS OF THE ALMIGHTY through the faithfulness of the Anointed Yeshua. Because as many of you as have been immersed into the Anointed One—you clothe yourselves with the Anointed One. It does not consist in being Yehudi or Greek. It is not in being a slave or a free man, nor is it in being male or female, because you are all one through the Anointed Yeshua. And if you belong to the Anointed, then you are Avraham's seed, heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:26-29). Immersion (Baptism) in water proclaims the pledge of faithfulness to Messiah. Personal repentance and faithfulness are necessary to remain in the national covenant in the age to come. Baptism proclaims the pledge and intent to dress oneself with the righteous character of Messiah. Being elect of the elect is not automatically conferred by social status or birthright. Being elect of the elect is only through personally loving Messiah and keeping his commandments: "Because if listening thou will listen to His voice, and thou will have done all which I make being spoken, then I will have been an enemy to thy enemies. And I will have been adversary to thy adversaries" (Exodus 23:22).
Baptism — The Community Pledge of Covenant Fidelity
"Because it is better, if the Almighty should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. Because the Anointed also suffered because of sins at one time, the just on behalf of the unjust, in order that he might bring us to the Almighty, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit, by which [Spirit], also to the spirits in prison, as one who had been departed [in death], he proclaimed [victory], who formerly were unconvinced, while the Almighty was patiently waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the Ark, into which a few, that is, eight souls, were delivered through water, which figuratively now delivers you, a purifying immersion, not the removal of filth from the flesh, but the pledge to the Almighty of a good conscience, because of the resurrection of Yeshua the Anointed, who is at the right hand of the Almighty, having departed to heaven, where messengers and authorities and powers have been subjected to him" (1 Peter 3:17–22, GNM).
Peter gives a flood analogy. In this analogy, being in the Ark represents being united with Messiah; the Ark represents Yeshua in the figure. Noah's family was delivered through water to safety; likewise Messiah acts that "he might bring us to the Almighty." So Messiah is showing the way to deliverance. In this analogy the water represents death, and the Ark is the shield from death. Note that the Ark is getting baptized in water as the waves pour over it. Yeshua said, "I have come to cast fire upon the earth. And how I wish it were already kindled. But I have an immersion to undergo, and how distressed I am until whenever it may have been accomplished!" (Luke 12:49–50). He was speaking here of his suffering and death, and not water baptism. I say this to show that baptism (immersion) is an abstract concept, and was extended to immersion in certain environments. We even use it today, as in "language immersion," or "total immersion," "immersion programs," "immersed in thought," or "immersed in prayer." Greek writers used the word to mean "immersed in debt," like we use "drowning in debt." Similarly, Yeshua used it to mean immersed in suffering and death. Also, Paul draws this exact figure out of water baptism also (Romans 6:3–4). Messiah is our Ark who was immersed in the waves of death on our behalf, and he lives to purge us from sin, so that it will not kill us.
"Which figuratively now delivers you"; Which here refers to the whole preceding clause; we may break it down. It refers to Messiah who saves us in the midst of a flood of evil. But it also refers to the Spirit as the one who delivers us from evil, because the water buried the evil society and lifted the Ark out of the flood—so the water carries a positive figurative meaning of the Spirit's work. When Messiah came to be immersed by John, John wanted to prevent him because it was a baptism of repentance. But Yeshua reframed it as, "It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15; see Delitzsch: לְמַלֵּא, Piel infinitive of purpose, "to fill up completely")—turning the immersion into a public pledge that he would keep the Torah perfectly. Then John let him. And so the ritual cleansing of the water was a public proclamation that Messiah would be the perfect Son of God. When his blood with the divine life in it was subsequently shed on the cross, Messiah made it to be a sin offering, which is only possible if he himself kept his pledge to fulfill all righteousness perfectly. The water lifted the Ark out of the flood. So figuratively Messiah's keeping of his baptismal pledge supplied the righteousness necessary to merit the resurrection to life, and if we are in him, then we are in the Ark, and also get raised from the dead. To purge us from sin, the Spirit applies the cleansing power of Messiah's pure and undefiled life to us. In the figurative sense this is the "water" of the Spirit taking the life of Messiah from his shed blood and using it to purge us.
Peter adds the qualification, "not the removal of filth from the flesh." He is guarding against the idea of ascribing to baptism itself a regenerative effect linked to ritual cleansing. Baptism is technically a ritual cleansing, but it would only be so effective until the next time the person contracts a ritual defilement. Also, he has not actually used the term "immersion" in the sense of water baptism here, because he labels his literal water words as figurative. He has used "immersion" to stand for what the baptism is proclaiming. He denies that he means the ritual cleansing kind of baptism. Though water baptism does ritually cleanse—and also, for the faithful, proclaims spiritual cleansing and identification with Messiah—it is this latter idea that he is talking about. And many of the references to getting "immersed into the name of Yeshua" are like this. The ritual is a commandment for adults that proclaims the reality of immersion into Messiah. The ritual act should not be confused with what it proclaims. The ritual act does not cause the reality of what it proclaims, but only the faithfulness of the faithful working with the faithfulness of Messiah is the reality. Peter points us to this, "but the pledge to the Almighty of a good conscience" as the important point.
Claims for Baptismal Regeneration
The earliest that Reformed Protestant scholars can agree with Catholics that baptismal regeneration was explicitly taught outside claims from the NT is with Cyprian of Carthage (ca. AD 200–258). Earlier usage of the sacramental language in the Epistle of Barnabas (ca. AD 125–132) and the Shepherd of Hermas (ca. AD 100–140) shows a figurative usage of the term baptism relating to an inner work of the Spirit, not clearly related to the actual water ritual. Justin Martyr (ca. AD 155) reflects a transitional period where strong language about regeneration is still tied to prior repentance, personal faith, and an inner work of the Spirit rather than an automatic water ritual. The salvific teaching is first clear in Cyprian, and was fully systematized under Augustine of Hippo (AD 354–430). The misunderstanding of baptism is due to figurative usages of the word in a context of Hebrew idiom; also necessarily contributing to the misunderstanding is a rejection of Torah and the original understanding that baptism is a public proclamation that the nations are included in the Most High's covenant with Israel, on the same terms as Abraham. The teaching of baptismal regeneration is a direct rejection of the original reason for baptism in the first place. Israel thought they had a birthright ticket to salvation. The nations that did not listen that the Good News required repentance and personal faithfulness to Messiah, by loving him and keeping his commandments, wanted to transfer salvation to a ritual conducted by the authorities they trusted, because it was easier that way: it enabled the growing nominal majority to feel secure without true faithfulness. It allowed the Church to control the gates of heaven. Also, it kept Christians ignorant that their position with God depended on their loyalty to Messiah outside of any promises of security that the Church might make. Whenever anyone might object, they were dismissed as legalists because it was claimed they put too much emphasis on good works. But as I have explained elsewhere, Paul's objection to works was only as a means of paying for forgiveness or trying to merit an acquittal. Also, as I have explained, the Church's entire paradigm of salvation has been converted to legalism since Anselm. But we could call the early Church's corruption of the biblical ransom into a payment to the devil 'creeping legalism,' and certainly baptismal regeneration is now linked to legalistic salvation because the satisfaction theory of Anselm is presently bonded with it.
Therefore, once Christianity had gone four to six generations beyond the Apostles, sufficient rot had entered the Church to make baptismal regeneration popular. We should not be astonished that the Church submitted to such a corrupt doctrine. The scripture shows us that the Jews and ancient Israel before them also submitted to corrupt doctrines. Let us now turn to key texts.
Acts 2:38: "Repent, and let each one from you all be immersed in the name of Yeshua the Anointed, toward the release from the sins of you all. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, because the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as Yahweh our Almighty will have called to himself." First point here is that it says "immersed in the name" and not "immersed in water." Without a doubt being immersed in water is the commanded sign of being immersed in the "name." But the water is a sign of what they are being spiritually immersed in: the name of Messiah. Now most people stumble at 'name' because his name is not a pronunciation pronounced at the baptismal ritual. If that were all it was, then the baptismal regeneration teaching would be correct. The Hebrew idea of name is the essence of the person, their manifest character and reputation. Exodus 23:21, speaking of Messiah Yeshua, says "because My Name is inside him." We may put it another way, "My character is inside him." So, to be immersed in the Name means to gain an understanding of Messiah's mercy and forgiveness, which is the same as the Father's loving-kindness. Furthermore, immersion in the name is a process and not a one-time event that comes by hearing the word of the Almighty. The word combines with our faithfulness and the purging action of the life in Messiah's blood to cleanse us from sin. This is what getting immersed in the name of Yeshua means.
Moreover, some translations use the word "forgiveness" instead of "release." This is problematic because trusting that God forgives sin is only half the meaning of the Greek word ἄφεσιν. The word means "remission" or the lifting off of sin. It doesn't only just refer to removing the burden of guilt and fear of punishment. The actual sin corruption itself is getting lifted away. The old man is getting crucified with Messiah so that the renewed man may live in the resurrection of the righteous. This is a cooperative process, with Messiah's faithfulness interacting with our faithfulness. He cleanses us from sin, but we must also purify ourselves. Water baptism only proclaims this commitment. It is not the substance of getting immersed in the name of Messiah; it is only a community sign of covenant fidelity and inclusion in God's covenant with Israel in this age, and in the age to come. Paul designates the faithful as the seed of Abraham and heirs according to the promise.
Mark 16:16: "The one ... having been immersed will be rescued." The appendix in The Good News of Messiah explains why this passage is spurious. Mark 16 ends with verse 8, "...because they were in a state of awe." So we may dismiss this prooftext for baptismal regeneration.
John 3:5: "And Yeshua answered, 'Amen! amen! And I say unto you, unless a man may be birthed from water and Spirit, he is not able to enter into the kingdom of the Almighty!'" (GNM). Those teaching baptismal regeneration assume that "water" here means water baptism. However, the saying is explained by Ezekiel 36:25–29: "And I will have sprinkled upon ye clean water, and ye will have been cleansed from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols (גִּלּוּלֵיכֶם) I will make ye being cleansed. And I will have given to ye a renewed heart, and a renewed spirit I will put in the inside of ye. And I will have caused to turn aside the heart of the stone (אֶת־לֵב הָאֶבֶן) from your flesh. And I will have given to ye a heart of flesh. And My Spirit I will put in the inside of ye. And I will make it such that in My statutes ye will walk, and My judgments ye will watch over that ye will have accomplished. And ye will have dwelt in the land which I had given to the fathers of ye that ye will have been for Me for a people, and I will be for ye for an Almighty. And I will have caused to rescue ye from all the uncleannesses of ye."
In our John 3:5 passage, "water" corresponds to "I will have sprinkled upon ye clean water" from the Ezekiel passage. And "Spirit" corresponds to "My Spirit I will put in the inside of ye" from the same passage. The first figure refers to the removal of the uncleanness from idolatry, including the use of images and icons in the position of worship (kissing them, bowing to them, kneeling to them, praying toward them) in any kind of syncretistic use—that is, pagan forms rebranded by theological terms that attempt to make the behavior acceptable. Both overt idolatry and the sins of Jeroboam are prohibited by the law, and defile the land. The sprinkling of water is the image of getting cleansed from sins violating the second commandment. The second commandment is the "word" of the "ten words" specifically in the context of the John 3:5/Ezekiel 36:25 parallel. Paul connects this as follows: "The Anointed also loved the Assembly and gave himself up on her behalf, so that he might make her holy. And he cleanses by the washing of the water in the word..." (Ephesians 5:25–26, GNM). The word of the Most High is compared to rain, dew, snow, and flowing water. See Isa. 55:10–11; Deut. 32:2; Job 29:22–23; Psalm 1:2–3; Prov. 18:4; 13:14; especially John 7:37–39 and John 4:10–14; cf. 1 Peter 1:22–25. The "water" figure refers to decontamination by the word of Messiah.
And "the Spirit" inside us writes the positive commandments on the heart to do them. So after cleansing, we can do his commandments. The water removes the contamination, and the Spirit brings in the new heart to do the positives. This is the meaning of Yeshua's words, for he often uses figures explained in the Torah and the Prophets, which were misunderstood by those not wanting to receive the spirit of the matter. So Messiah said, "It is the Spirit who is giving life! The flesh is profiting nothing. The words that I have been speaking to you are spirit and are life" (John 6:63, GNM). He said this because those who stumbled at the word supposed he meant to literally drink his blood and eat his flesh. But by the same explanation, the blood is for our purging from sin by virtue of the divine life of Messiah in the blood, and the flesh is for the power of his divine life to positively obey the commandments.
To complete this section, I point out that the chief teachers of baptismal regeneration have not been cleansed of their image use, the first offender being the Roman Church, and the other offender being the Eastern Church. They have not put away the sins of Jeroboam. Therefore, their hearts have not been regenerated by water baptism. To this day, they are still offending the Messiah with pagan forms of worship. They have rebaptized the ancient forms in Christian theology, but the stench of their former idolatry still clings to them.
Titus 3:4–7 "But when kindness and generosity were shown by our Almighty Rescuer, he rescued us, not by [the customary] works, those which we had practiced for merit, but according to his mercy, through the washing of rebirth and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he pours out upon us richly through Yeshua the Anointed our Rescuer, so that having been administered favorable justice done by that one's loving-kindness, we shall have become heirs according to the hope of everlasting life" (GNM). This text runs parallel to John 3:5. The "washing of rebirth" refers to the same thing as the "water" there, and the "renewing by the Holy Spirit" refers to the giving of the Spirit. The washing is the figure that clears out the old uncleanness, and the Spirit renews our hearts (cf. Romans 12:2). This text reflects Yeshua's words. The parallels run deep. "Rebirth" corresponds to "born from above," as "born from water and Spirit" corresponds to "washing and renewing by the Holy Spirit." Both texts look back to Ezekiel 36:25–27. I included above additional words of that passage: "And My Spirit I will put in the inside of ye. And I will make it such that in My statutes ye will walk, and My judgments ye will watch over that ye will have accomplished. And ye will have dwelt in the land which I had given to the fathers of ye that ye will have been for Me for a people, and I will be for ye for an Almighty. And I will have caused to rescue ye from all the uncleannesses of ye." I did this to show that the context is completely in the covenant of old, as these words refer to the land promises in the covenant of the pieces (Genesis 15). The chief reason that Yahweh exiled Israel from the land was the sins of Jeroboam. This was syncretism and not overt pagan idolatry. Syncretism is the borrowing of the pagan forms in the name of the true God. Eventually, it leads also to an erosion of truth, and blurs the line with paganism. There were severe episodes of genuine paganism under the kings of Israel and Judah at times. Chiefly this was under Ahab and Jezebel, the end of Joash's reign, and Manasseh. The actual paganism was destroyed and forced into hiding while Israel and Judah were still in the land. But the sins of Jeroboam remained and infected both kingdoms. And this is why Israel was kicked out of the land, and when Judah was kicked out, it was falling into crypto-paganism, which was judged worse. And this is why the Church cannot have the blessings of the Covenant in this age so long as they continue the sins of Jeroboam. As pointed out before, claims for the legitimacy of baptismal regeneration fall flat on their face in view of the syncretism in the Churches promoting it. Eventually, the Church will fall into crypto-paganism and then be forced to choose overt paganism or martyrdom.
Acts 22:14–16: "And he said, 'The Almighty of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, and to see the righteous one, and to hear an utterance from his mouth, because you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have been seeing and have heard. And now why do you delay? Arise, and immerse yourself! And you yourself should wash away your sins, as one who has called upon his name'" (GNM). The first imperative is that he should make a public proclamation of his new loyalty through baptism. But hidden under this is also a figurative sense, and I think the real one. For it reads "immerse yourself," whereas in Acts 9:18 it says he "was immersed" (ἐβαπτίσθη), which is strictly passive. But in this passage it is middle (βάπτισαι), "immerse yourself." The hidden meaning here is that he should immerse himself into the Word of the Almighty. And this is exactly what he did. He even spent three years in Arabia learning what "his will" was. Also the washing away of sins is framed in the middle voice (ἀπόλουσαι) as if he himself is to wash away his sins. This means to make restitution, because of the damage that his sin had caused, because it was very great. Restitution is not paying off a punitive debt, like penance may be, but doing what one may do to reverse the damage itself.
Also, I point out that the immersion imperative is disconnected from the washing imperative. It is not a simultaneous sense, but a sequential sense. This is because Paul had to learn what to say before he could deploy it. Beyond himself, the damage could not be addressed until he learned the word. So Paul is describing his ministry as having two phases: first, an immersive learning experience for three years, and then he began to use it to wash away the damage he caused.
For the reasons noted above, this text does not teach baptismal regeneration. In fact, Paul's experience is the opposite. He had called on the name of Messiah, and he had been "dead" for three days, and the scales had fallen before he was immersed in water. The falling scales and the renewed light in his eyes speak of the resurrection of the righteous. Ananias had given Paul assurance before he was baptized in water! And further, in Acts 22, the imperatives are framed as what to do in light of the fact that he had already called on his name. For it is written, "Everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh will be rescued." Also the exceptional language used here "immerse yourself" and "wash yourself" proves the rule that it is the Spirit that does most of the washing and purification of the heart, but here Paul is told to immerse himself and himself wash away his sin by tearing down the false doctrines of the Rabbis.