When John the Baptist walked into the Jordan River, he wasn’t inventing something out of the blue. He was stepping into a world with a long, deep history of water and purification. In this episode, Bob Baulch goes back before John and Jesus to the Old Testament and first-century Jewish world.
Bob starts with a quick correction from Episode 4, adding embaptō (“to dip into”), used at the Last Supper (Matthew 26:23; Mark 14:20). Then he introduces four Hebrew words that shape everything the Old Testament does with water: tabal (dip), rachats (wash the body), kabas (wash clothes), and taher (be clean). He walks through the Levitical purity system (Leviticus 11–15; Numbers 19), where water moved people and things from unclean to clean, and from separated to restored.
He also visits the mikvah, the ritual immersion pools archaeologists have found by the hundreds in first-century Israel, and explains the debated practice of proselyte baptism and why its timing matters for reading Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in John 3.
Are you trusting something to save you, or are you trusting the Savior?
Chapters00:00 A correction from Episode 4: embaptō01:54 Stepping into the Hebrew world03:56 Four Hebrew words: dip, wash, launder, be clean07:11 The Levitical purity system11:40 The mikvah: ritual immersion pools13:35 Proselyte baptism and Nicodemus16:28 Pulling it together18:16 Closing prayer and what’s next
 
 
 
 
 
 

After looking at baptō and baptizō, Bob Baulch finishes the Greek word family with three more words built on the same root.
Baptistēs means “the one who baptizes,” and in the New Testament it is used only for John the Baptist. Bob also looks at why Mark sometimes calls John “the baptizing one” instead (Mark 6:14). Baptismos means a washing done by dipping, and the New Testament uses it for Jewish ceremonial washings of hands, cups, and pots (Mark 7:3–4; Hebrews 6:2; 9:10). Baptisma is the big one: the noun for the baptism event itself, used for John’s baptism, Jesus’ baptism of suffering, and Christian baptism.
The key takeaway: the New Testament doesn’t use the same word for washing cups and for being baptized into Christ. Same family, same root, but different contexts and different words. With the Greek foundation complete, the series moves next into the Old Testament and Jewish background.
Are you trusting something to save you, or are you trusting the Savior?
Chapters00:00 Recap: baptō and baptizō01:09 Baptistēs: the baptizer03:06 Baptismos: Jewish ceremonial washings05:55 Baptisma: the baptism event itself09:31 The whole word family together11:32 Closing prayer

ast time, Bob Baulch looked at baptō, the root word meaning to dip. Today he turns to the word the New Testament actually uses for baptism, baptizō, which appears as a verb more than 75 times. The simple difference: baptō dips something in and pulls it out, while baptizō puts something in and leaves it there long enough to change it. That’s a tendency, not a rigid rule, but the pattern matters.
Bob shows that baptizō wasn’t originally a religious word at all. Non-Christian writers used it for ships swamped by waves (Polybius), a man overcome by wine (Plato), a young priest drowned in a pool (Josephus), and objects in the Dead Sea (Strabo). He also corrects a popular sermon illustration, the “pickle recipe,” by looking at what Nicander of Colophon actually wrote about preparing turnips.
Then he turns to two non-ritual New Testament uses, the Pharisee’s washing in Luke 11:38 and Jesus’ “baptism” of suffering in Mark 10:38–39, and asks why the early Christians chose this stronger word for their practice.
Are you trusting something to save you, or are you trusting the Savior?
Chapters00:00 Recap: baptō00:30 Baptō vs. baptizō: the difference01:52 Not a religious word: how ancient writers used baptizō05:46 The “pickle recipe,” corrected09:11 Baptizō in the New Testament: Luke 11:38 and Mark 10:38–3911:57 Why the early Christians chose baptizō14:17 Closing prayer

Here’s something most English-speaking Christians don’t know: “baptize” isn’t a translation. It’s a transliteration. The letters were carried over from Greek, but the meaning was left behind. In this episode, Bob Baulch starts digging into the root of the whole baptism word family, the Greek verb baptō.
Baptō simply means to dip or immerse something in a liquid. Sometimes it’s a quick dip, and sometimes it’s an immersion that stains or dyes what goes in. Bob traces the word through classical Greek, its three New Testament uses (Luke 16:24, John 13:26, Revelation 19:13), and examples from the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament used in Jesus’ day, including 2 Kings 8:15 and Job 9:31.
Along the way, he sets up the key distinction for the next episode: baptō is the root, but the New Testament uses a related word, baptizō, for baptism. Why that word was chosen matters for everything that follows.
Are you trusting something to save you, or are you trusting the Savior?
Chapters00:00 “Baptize” is a transliteration, not a translation01:24 The root word baptō: dip, dye, stain03:23 Baptō in the New Testament05:20 Baptō in the Septuagint07:23 Why it matters: baptō and baptizō08:39 Closing prayer and what’s next

Two Christians who share the same Jesus, the same faith, and the same love for Scripture can still hit a wall when one tries to join the other’s church, and that wall is water. In this opening episode of a new series on baptism, Bob Baulch looks at how big the divide really is: roughly 2.5 billion Christians, thousands of denominations, and deep disagreement over who should be baptized, how, and what baptism actually does.
Through real-life stories, like a Catholic-raised young woman told her baptism doesn’t count, Bob shows how this issue affects real people. He also lays out the seven-phase roadmap for the series: the Greek words behind “baptize,” Jewish washings and the mikvah, the New Testament texts, the central question of what baptism does, 2,000 years of history, mode and subjects, and modern movements. Throughout, the evidence will be kept separate from his own position.
Paul asked, “Is Christ divided?” (1 Corinthians 1:13) and wrote of “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5). This series asks what that really means.
Are you trusting something to save you, or are you trusting the Savior?
Chapters00:00 Two Christians and a wall of water01:01 How big the divide really is02:47 Real people, real stories04:06 “Is Christ divided?”04:45 The seven phases of this study07:13 Why Bob’s own journey matters09:14 Closing prayer and what’s next

Welcome to a two-year journey through one of the most debated subjects in the Christian faith: baptism. In this preview episode, Bob Baulch lays out the whole road map, so you can decide how you want to follow along.
The series runs about 80 to 90 main episodes in seven parts: Foundations (the Greek words, Jewish washings and the mikvah, John the Baptist, and Jesus’ own baptism), New Testament Theology (Acts 2:38, Romans 6, Galatians 3, 1 Peter 3:21, Colossians 2), The Central Question (does baptism cause transformation or signify it?), Historical Development (from the Didache through Augustine and beyond), Mode and Subjects, Post-Reformation and Special Topics, and finally Bob’s own conclusions, clearly labeled as his.
After the main series come at least two dozen weeks of bonus content: dramatic baptisms from church history, modern testimonies from the mission field, conversations with representatives of major traditions, and practical resources.
Three commitments guide the series. It will be comprehensive. Every tradition will be presented so that its own people would recognize it. And it will be transparent about sources, keeping evidence and interpretation clearly separate.
“One Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5). Let’s find out what it means.
Are you trusting something to save you, or are you trusting Jesus the Savior?
Chapters00:00 Welcome: the series at a glance01:32 Part 1: Foundations02:56 Part 2: New Testament theology04:09 Part 3: The central question05:28 Part 4: Historical development06:36 Parts 5–7 and the bonus content11:28 What makes this series different13:25 Launch details and closing prayer