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Water - God’s Dividing Line
Water - God’s Dividing Line
It’s fascinating how God uses water in Scripture as a dividing line between bad and good. In the days of Noah, the earth was filled with violence. God promised, “Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life…” (Gen. 6:13). God used water to wipe away the sinfulness of the earth and start fresh. It was the dividing line between corruption and cleansing, between old sinful life and a new beginning. When the Israelites came out of Egypt, God used the waters of the Red Sea to destroy their captors. The Israelites rejoiced over their enemies in song, “You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters.” (Ex. 15:10). Water was the dividing line between bondage and freedom.
Under the Law of Moses system, priests used water for ceremonial cleansing. Before entering the tabernacle, priests had to wash at the bronze laver. “They shall wash with water, so that they will not die.” (Ex. 30:20). Water was the dividing line between unacceptable and acceptable before God. When Aaron and his sons were consecrated as priests, they had to wash their whole body and clothes in water (Numbers 8:7). Water was the dividing line between unconsecrated and consecrated, between un-commissioned and commissioned. Whenever an Israelite was defiled by something unclean, they had to wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water before being cleansed (Lev. 15:5; 17:15). It was the dividing line between unclean and clean.
When the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, water was the dividing line between wandering and rest (Deut. 12:10). Naaman, a pagan Gentile, was cleansed of his leprosy in the waters of the Jordan River (2 Kings 5:14). Water was the dividing line between sickness and health. Even in the New Testament, Jesus told a blind man to “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam. So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.” (John 9:7). Water was the dividing line between blindness and sight.
When you understand how God uses water in Scripture, it helps us see why God requires baptism for salvation. Many people think it’s outrageous to think God expects us to be dunked in water for salvation, but it makes perfect sense in light of how God uses water. The New Testament says baptism is the dividing line between lost and saved (Mark 16:16; 1 Peter 3:21), between spiritual death and spiritual life (John 3:5; Romans 6:4), between spiritually uncircumcised and circumcised (Colossians 2:11-12), between unforgiven and forgiven (Acts 2:38), between being out of Christ and in Christ (Galatians 3:27), between being unwashed and washed (Acts 22:16), between bondage and freedom (1 Corinthians 10:2). To be clear, there’s no power or salvation in the water itself. The power and salvation are from God, in whom we have faith. But it shouldn’t surprise us to see God use the waters of baptism as the dividing line between unsaved and saved.
