John Chapter 3

"13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven."


"23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized."


Since we will start our Doctrinal Studies soon, these two verses might come in handy in answering some questions.

Vs. 13 can be used to answer questions regarding trinity. That God and Jesus is actually one being, not two. One who came down from heaven, and IS in heaven. This being is in 2 places at the same time.

Vs. 23 can be used in answering questions regarding baptism in living water. It can be said that there is no verse that directly points out that baptism must be in living water. We can only explain from the examples and teachings given in the Bible. Here the reason John was in that particular place was explained, it is because there was MUCH WATER. Therefore, John baptized there. Looking further 'Aenon', we realize that the word derived from the Hebrew term meaning "spring" or "natural fountain". The location of Aenon is said to be at an upper source of a valley extending from Mount Ebal to Jordan River which is full of springs. So once again, baptism has occured at a natural body of water. Full immersion may be a bit more difficult to explain. However, using common sense and logic, perhaps it can help to explain the significance of 'much water'. If only drops of water were needed for baptism (e.g. sprinkling), then only a little bit of water would be necessary for baptism, which would make 'much water' none significant. Perhaps it can be used to explain baptism by sprinkling/aspersion. However, this does not explain fully regarding pouring of water over the head while the person stands in the body of water (baptism by immersion). Many times, 'immersion' is confused with 'submersion'. FULL immersion is 'submersion', however, 'immersion' alone does not necessarily equate 'submersion' even though people may use the terms interchangeably. TJC along with Biblical support, practices baptism by submersion in a natural body of water.