What is Baptism?
By Bro David Petersen
If they had 'Baptism' at Blockbuster, it would be in the Action Movie section of the store. Baptism is a symbolic action picture that the Lord Jesus placed in his church. In baptism, believers publicly identify themselves with the Lord's death, burial and resurrection. They are graphically picturing their own death, burial and resurrection by being immersed in water. Baptism pictures the believer's earnest expectation that just as Jesus rose from the dead, so will they at the last day.
Baptism does not get us into heaven. Instead it outwardly illustrates the salvation that has already taken place inwardly when the believer trusted Christ as their savior. By baptism we declare to the world that they we are walking in a new life in Christ. The apostle Paul explains this in his letter to the church at Rome.
Romans 6:3-5
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.
A Public Declaration
Baptism does not create the believer's new life. The new life comes first: through trusting in Jesus as one’s savior. In other words being saved is a prerequisite for baptism. (How To Go To Heaven). This new life is what Jesus referred to when he said "that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit". "You must be born again." (John 3:6-7).
So baptism is an outward, physical visible action picture of the salvation that has already taken place spiritually and invisibly inside the believer by the power of the Holy Spirit. If we go back to our Blockbuster analogy, you have to do the scene before you can show the movie.
When a believer is baptized they are symbolically telling the world that they now belong to Christ. They are declaring to the world that they are reckoning themselves dead to their sinful lives and that they have been raised to walk in newness of life. Baptism does not wash away sins; the blood of Christ does that. Sin is never completely removed from our hearts until we are resurrected in new glorified, sinless bodies. In the meantime we still have a sin nature after we are saved and baptized. However we are no longer willful, practicing sinners. The saved person then has two natures, one sinful (i.e. 'the flesh') and the other spiritual ('the spirit'). (See our discussion of the believer's 2 natures).
In coming up out of the water, baptism symbolizes the believer's hope of resurrection. In the Bible the word 'hope' always refers to an earnest expectation, a sure thing, not just unfounded desire.
So baptism also pictures the believer’s ultimate sure confidence that they will literally, physically be raised with Christ at the last day in an eternal, sinless body called a "glorified body".
Who should be baptized?
In every example of baptism given in the New Testament, the people being baptized are believers. In Acts chapter 2, the apostle Peter preached Christ to a large crowd. At the end of his message, it says “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.” Acts 2:41 Those who “received his word” were baptized.
Look at the example of Phillip and the Eunuch in Acts Chapter 8:
Acts 8:35-39:
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
The Eunuch asked Phillip the question: “what doth hinder me to be baptized?” Phillip’s reply was: “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.” Baptism is for believers.
What About Infant Baptism?
As we have shown, in every example of baptism in the Bible, the person being baptized is a believer. Babies cannot believe and therefore do not qualify for baptism. Do not think this means that if a baby dies it will go to hell. Remember that baptism does not save us from hell. Infants and other children under the age of accountability are automatically covered by the blood of Christ. In Matthew 19:14 Jesus said, "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." This shows that little children belong to Jesus and do not require baptism.
Sometimes people will cite 3 cases in the Book of Acts where it says that an entire household was baptized. These cases are the household of Cornelius in Acts 10, the Phillipian Jailer and Lydia in Acts 16. They use these scriptures to support infant baptism. In none of the 3 accounts does the scripture say that any infant was ever baptized. On the contrary, in 2 cases it does say that everyone in the house "heard the word". Babies cannot "hear" the word such that they respond positively to it and therefore cannot be believers who qualify for baptism. The truth is that infant baptism was a slick marketing tactic that the Catholic church started using in the 4th century to get pagans into the church at an early age. See our Church History page for details.
Can a person be saved without being baptized?
Yes. Salvation is “by grace through faith, not of works” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Baptism is not required in order to be saved. The thief on the cross said, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” (a believer). And Jesus said unto him, “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:42- 43). The thief would die on the cross that day and go to paradise without ever being baptized. Another good of example of salvation before baptism is the household of Cornelius in Acts 10: 44-48. It says that while Peter was yet speaking to them, the Holy Spirit fell on them. Then they were baptized. So you do not have to be baptized in order to be saved. But you do have to be saved in order to be baptized. However a saved believer will be led by the Holy Spirit to be baptized. Baptism is how believers publicly identify with Christ and become part of his body. It is the first act of obedience to the Lord Jesus. Jesus designed the Christian life to be lived in the local community of believers, the church. If a person claims to be saved, but never has a desire to be baptized, even years later it is questionable whether their salvation was authentic.
Is there a proper mode of baptism?
The word “baptize” is a transliteration of a Greek word “baptizo”, which means to dip or immerse. Notice that Jesus was baptized in the Jordan river:
Mark 1:9-11:
9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
It says that after he was baptized, “he came up out of the water”. In order for him to come up out of the water, he had to first go down into the water.
Immersion is always the mode of baptism used in the Bible. There are no examples of anyone ever having water poured or sprinkled on them to be baptized. In fact, if baptism referred to pouring or sprinkling, the New Testament writers could have selected another Greek word, “rantizo” to describe it which means to pour or sprinkle.
Another good example of immersion baptism is Phillip and the Eunuch given above (Acts 8: 36-39).It says that they both “went down into the water” and then they “came up out of the water”. Why didn’t Phillip just stand on the shoreline, get a flask of water and pour it on the Eunuch’s head? They could have avoided all the hassle of getting their clothes all wet and having smelly, sticky river water all over them. Well the answer is that immersion is the proper scriptural mode of baptism. Immersion is necessary in order to paint the correct picture: burial and resurrection. How can baptism be an accurate picture of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord if the subject is not “buried”?
Paul said “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Tim 3:16-4:1). The idea here is that the scripture is where we get equipped for our faith and practice including how we practice baptism. We need to follow what God tells us through his word and not follow man-made traditions.
Who can baptize?
According to the scriptures, baptism must be administered with the proper authority from God. John the Baptist had special authority to baptize for a time (John 1:33). He preached Jesus and baptized those who repented of their sins (John 1:15). But that authority was passed to the Lord’s church. The Lord gave the authority to baptize to his church in Matthew 28:19-20: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
The Lord told this group of disciples he was speaking to that he would be with them unto the end of the world. He could not have been speaking to them as individuals since all of these men died well before the end of the world. He was speaking to his church, which he promised would continue to the end of the world. So the authority to baptize is held by local churches, not individuals. A church can designate an individual to baptize by its authority.
Early Baptists were called "Ana-Baptists" which means "re-baptizers" by their detractors because they refused to accept sprinkling and infant baptism as valid. The Ana-baptists 're-baptized' any converts who had received these unscriptural rites. Eventually, the "Ana" was dropped and the name Baptist stuck.
Re-baptizing anyone who had unscriptural baptism is a sound Bible practice that was first done at the church at Corinth in Acts 19:3-5:
3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. 4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
The reason that John's baptism was not scriptural in this case is because only John had authority from God to administer his baptism. These people had apparently received "John's baptism" at the hands of Apollos.
Conclusion
Baptism symbolizes the believer’s identification with the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 6:4). Baptism is not necessary in order to be saved but it is the scriptural thing to do after one is saved. It is the first act of obedience to the Lord after salvation and joins us to his local assembly. When we are saved, we become children of God and part of God’s family. When we are baptized by the authority of a scriptural, New Testament church, we become part of Christ’s body which he has authorized to do his work on this earth (Matt 28:19).
Salvation is a personal relationship between a person and the Lord Jesus Christ. But once saved, the Lord designed the Christian life to be a team effort within the body of Christ, which is his church. No one is authorized to be a closet Christian. The Lord said “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” Matt 10:32-33. You "confess Christ" publicly by being baptized. That's where you come out of the Christian closet. That's where the proverbial rubber meets the road.
If a coal falls out of the pile of burning coals, it will quickly go out. Similarly, Christians are strengthened and encouraged by being part of the body of Christ. Baptism also marks the beginning of the believer’s kingdom service. Saved persons who want to follow the Lord cannot do it on their own. They should seek out a scriptural, New Testament church in which to serve the Lord.