In John 3:22 and John 4:2, it says that the disciples of Jesus were baptising. What kind of baptism was this? In Romans 6:1-7, the scriptures say Jesus had to die, be buried and then be resurrected in order for baptism to take effect. If it was John's baptism, then why were Jesus' disciples following John's teaching when Jesus was there with them? -- Raja (India)
This was John's baptism, which brought the Jews back to a right relationship with God, and with their fellow man (see Luke 3 and Malachi 4). A few facts about John's baptism:
* It brought forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4).
* It did not confer the Spirit (John 7:39).
* It in no way plugged those baptized into Christ (Romans 6), since the key events of the Gospel had not yet taken place (death, burial, resurrection -- see 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
* Thus the baptism administered by Jesus' disciples was not baptism in Jesus' name (Acts 2:38), but something different. This we call John's baptism.
* Finally, it is true that the nucleus of Jesus' original movement came from the ranks of John. John's movement and Jesus' movement, at least before Jesus' death, were not mutually exclusive. See Acts 19:1-6 for an illustration of how this would change once the church of Christ had been established.
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