[GrowingPains]

Originally Posted by stasis

It's one baptism, with one element, the living water, which is the blood of Christ.

Blood was called 'living water' by the Jews. Remember when Christ told the woman about drinking the living water? Then told the disciples to drink of the cup which is his blood?

The Jews had a custom or tendency to speak in doubles which referred to the same thing, to solidify their point. "The water and the spirit" is one of many examples in scripture.

Spirit = Blood of Christ = Living Water = Truth

One baptism, one element.

The actual washing with literal water was the Jewish Proselyte Baptism, to be done along with offering of turtle doves and circumcision. This was an ordinance nailed to the cross by christ (a nullified contract), which Christ's disciples later figured out (some were still washing people in water early in their ministries), particularly Paul who stated later that he came not to baptize with water (being adamant that the New Jerusalem Church not be amalgamated into the old Judaism, but which the 'Jews' were constantly demanding), and Peter who (in the actual Greek text) said "The water, forbid!", not "Can any man forbid water?" (as in the poorly translated english passage), to the Egyptian Eunuch who was on the way to Jerusalem to undergo becoming a Jew (the proselyte baptism)

So what then was the significance of blood and water coming out of Christ's pierced side, or was it all one and the same?