Method of baptizing
While I understand the method we use to apply water in Baptism is not what makes it valid, it is God's Word connected with the water that makes it valid. There are some who believe only total submersion is valid. I've seen a list of scriptural references to sprinkling and pouring. Such a go-to reference would come in handy as I do outreach work. Thanks in advance for sharing if the reference is readily available.
In earlier usage —in the last centuries of the Old Testament era—the Greek word “baptizo” did mean to “immerse.” By the time the New Testament was written, that word described the application of water that included immersing, washing and pouring. This illustrates how the etymology and initial usage of a word is one thing, but current usage is another matter. (Consider how the same thing is true regarding English words.)
When the New Testament writers used the word “baptizo,” they were not using it in a way that always reflected its original meaning. Those writers used “baptizo” to describe the washing of hands (Mark 7:3; Luke 11:38) and kitchen utensils and furniture (Mark 7:4). When people claim that the word “baptizo” in the Greek New Testament always means “to immerse,” they are ignoring the other meanings of that word in context.
Many of those same people claim that the baptisms of Jesus and the Ethiopian eunuch prove the necessity of baptism by immersion. That claim is completely groundless. Matthew tells us that after Jesus was baptized, “he went up out of the water” (Matthew 3:16). Matthew does not tell us how far Jesus went into the water. He omits that information because it is not important. In the case of the Ethiopian eunuch we are told that “he went down into the water” (Acts 8:38) to be baptized and “came up out of the water” (Acts 8:39) after he was baptized. Luke does not tell us how far the eunuch went into the water. He omits that information because it is not important.
When Jesus gave the great commission, which included baptizing, he did not specify how water was to be applied to people. If the Lord really wanted Baptism to be done by immersion and immersion only, he could have used another Greek word – “bapto.” That word means “to dip” or “dip in something.” He did not use that word.
In your outreach work, do go beyond conversations with people about how water is applied in Baptism. Share the Bible’s teaching that Baptism is a means through which the Holy Spirit works to connect people to Jesus in saving faith (Titus 3:5-7; 1 Peter 3:20-21). God bless your efforts!