“Go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything
I have commanded you.”

esus makes it very clear being baptized is very important.  What Jesus doesn’t make clear is how it should be done.  Unfortunately Jesus left that up to the church and sadly we have a made a mess of it.

The church has been arguing and disagreeing about the mode of baptism since the 2nd century.  Infant baptism or believers baptism.  Roman Catholic or Protestant baptism.  Sprinkling or immersion.  Necessary for salvation or not necessary.

When we were in Raleigh on our mission trip this past summer a wonderful woman gave us a tour of her Baptist church where we were working.  One of our youth, not accustomed to seeing a large hot tub looking baptistry in the front of the church inquired about it’s purpose.  As she explained how people were immersed when they were baptized in her church she said, “The only correct way to be baptized.”

I suppose we all have a tendency to believe that how people are baptized in our church is the only correct way.  Unfortunately the way baptism is administrated has become more important then the significance and meaning of baptism. What did Jesus mean when he said,

“Go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything
I have commanded you.”

The Bible does not specially address the mode of baptism. The different modes in the Bible come from various passages in Acts and in church history. When they were not near water they sprinkled, when they were near water they immersed and that transitioned into tradition for various groups.

The Bible neither explicitly commands the practice of baptizing infant children of believing parents or prohibits it. Most mainline churches practice infant baptism, only the Baptists and recently in the 20th century the Fundamental, Pentecostal and Evangelical churches have refused to do so.  

The Catholic Church teaches that infant baptism washes away original sin and is necessary for salvation, however nowhere does the Bible teach this! In Protestant and Reformed churches, infant baptism is not the bases of salvation.  Baptism is a sign of our covenantal relationship with God.  It is validated through the believing parent(s), and sealed only if the child accepts Christ as an adult. Infant baptism looks forward to the age when the person makes a public profession of their faith. 

There are no clear accounts of infant baptism in the Bible. However, it cannot be completely disqualified as a possibility given that entire households were baptized including children and infants. (Rom. 7:12-14 see carefully verse 14!) Although most baptisms in the NT and the early church were Adults only (Acts 16:15, 33; 18:8)! The early church practiced infant baptism without controversy until the second century. 

God is more concerned with the WHY of baptism rather than the HOW.

Baptism is not magical.  Baptism is NOT your “get into Heaven card.”  Baptism does not guarantee that you will receive His blessings and riches.  As a matter of fact scripture does not teach that we need baptism to be saved. It is a ceremony. People who say baptism is necessary for salvation are taking verse of  scripture out of context. IE: (Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom 6: 3-8; 2 Thes. 1:19; 1 Peter 3:21).

Baptism literally means to be immersed.  It also means to be identified as or committed too..  Baptism therefore means to be immersed in the identification and obedience of Christ.  

Baptism is:

     a sign that tells God that we have repented and seek His forgiveness and desire to accept a new life

       a symbol of our union and covenant with our Lord (1 John 5:11-12).

       a sign of our commitment to be His disciple (Matt. 28:19).

    a work of our Lord that we participate in by contributing our faith and obedience (Rom 6: 3-11; Col 2:9-13)! 

Believer’s baptism is the public profession that a changed has occurred in a person by the way of repentance! We cannot have salvation without repentance. This is not to suggest that salvation is earned by repentance.  Salvation/Grace is free, but grace cannot come in to a heart where it is not welcomed, and being unrepentant means we will not welcome His grace!  It means that Jesus stands at the door and knocks, and we fail to open the door. 

Salvation is from Christ through our faith, by His grace. Baptism is the sign and acknowledgement we do to show it.  

Marriage is also a ceremony that shows the marriage commitment to the public, but the ceremony does not marry you, it is the license from the court that does! Christ is our license, the baptism is the ceremony. We of course are commanded to obey and be baptized, but again baptism does in no way contribute to our salvation. 

Baptism means to be immersed in the identification and obedience of Christ.  How are you doing with that?  How immersed are you?

Amen