ANSWER: Sprinkling and pouring in the place of immersion (a burial) was not generally practiced until early in the thirteenth century. The word “baptism” in the New Testament comes from the Greek word “baptizo.” This word means to dip, immerse, submerge, plunge, sink, or overwhelm. In Mark 16:16 our Lord literally specified and authorized only the following: “He that believeth and is immersed (baptismos) shall be saved.” The command to be buried in water relates to a single specific action, which excludes all other actions. Pouring (from the Greek word cheo) and sprinkling (from the Greek word rhantizo) are totally unrelated actions. Had our Lord authorized either of these, He would have used the words describing these actions. He did not! Those who teach and practice sprinkling and pouring in the place of a burial are guilty of presumptuous sin (Psalms 19:13; II Peter 2:10) and are, therefore, without God (Isaiah 59:1-2). The people upon whom they sprinkle or pour water are still in their sins, because they have not obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which frees from sin (Romans 6:16-18).

Every account of water baptism in the New Testament was an immersion (burial) in water for the remission of sins, and into the one body of our Lord; that is, the church of Christ ! There is no other baptism that will save!