John 3:25
[About then] a dispute arose between John's disciples and a Jew over ceremonial cleansing.
John 2:6
Now there were six clay water jars there, used by the Jews for ceremonial washings [i.e., for hands, utensils, etc.]. Each one held from
Matthew 3:11
"I certainly am immersing you in water following [your] repentance, but the One who follows my [ministry], whose sandals I do not deserve to remove [as His slave], will immerse you people with the Holy Spirit and with fire [i.e., the punishment in hell. See verses
Mark 7:2-5
They had observed some of His disciples eating their food with contaminated, that is, [ceremonially] unwashed hands.
Mark 7:8
You disregard the commandment of God and [yet] hang onto the traditions of men."
Hebrews 6:2
and of teaching about immersions [Note: The use of the plural word here suggests teaching on the distinctions between Jewish washings and John's and Christian immersion, whether in water or the Holy Spirit. See Acts 19:1-7], and about placing hands on people [Note: This act was practiced in the appointment of church leaders, in healing sick people and to impart supernatural gifts], and about people being raised from the dead and about never ending judgment.
Hebrews 9:10
since, with foods and drinks and various [ceremonial] washings, they are only outward regulations imposed until the time when everything would be made right [i.e., under the New Agreement].
Hebrews 9:13-14
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and a [burnt] heifer's ashes sprinkled on people who had been [ceremonially] defiled, could purify them so as to make them [ceremonially] clean on the outside,
Hebrews 9:23
Therefore, it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things [i.e., the Tabernacle, its furniture and utensils, etc.] to be [ceremonially] cleansed by these things [i.e., the blood of animal sacrifices], but the heavenly things themselves [i.e., the church, both on earth and in heaven] require better sacrifices than these [i.e., the sacrifice of Christ].
1 Peter 3:21
This water prefigured immersion [into Christ], which now also saves you, not by removing dirt from the [physical] body, but [by serving] as an appeal [or, "pledge"] to God for a clear conscience through the raising of Jesus Christ from the dead.