Baptism - Who, Why, When, and How?

What is Baptism?

Baptism is universally recognised and practised throughout the Christian world as the God-ordained ceremony of initiation into the Christian life.

Before the Lord Jesus entered upon His public ministry of preaching, healing, discipling, and challenging the religious status quo, He was preceded by a leather-clad prophet known as John the Baptist, whose two-fold commission from God was to prepare the way before the coming Messiah (Matthew 3:1-3), and to make Him known to Israel when He came (John 1:29-34).

Jesus Himself was baptised by John “in order to fulfil all righteousness”, upon which He was commended by God the Father (Matthew 3:13-17), and His disciples continued where John had left off by baptising those who came to Jesus to be saved (John 3:22-30).

‘Baptism’ is a Greek word [‘baptisma’, number G908 in Strong’s Bible Dictionary] which literally means ‘immersion’.

In Hebrews 6:2 the word used is the slightly different ‘baptismos’ [number G909 in Strong’s], which is used to convey the idea of washing or cleansing. In the RSV this word is rendered as ‘ablutions’, meaning ceremonial washings.

If we bear in mind that the people to whom the letter to the Hebrews was written had been devout Jews to whom ceremonial purity was of high importance, we can understand why in this case this special term is employed.

The verb ‘to baptise’ (or ‘baptize’) is a transliteration of the Greek verb ‘baptizo’ [G907 in Strong’s, pronounced ‘bap-TID-zo’], which literally means ‘to immerse or submerge’. It is derived from the verb ‘bapto’ [G911 – ‘BAP-to’] meaning ‘to dip’.

The distinction between the two words ‘bapto’ and ‘baptizo’ is illustrated for us by their uses in a text from about 200 B.C. by a gentleman by the name of Nicander, who was not only both a poet and a physician, but was also a maker of pickles. In his pickle recipe, he instructs that the vegetable should first be dipped (temporarily - bapto) into boiling water before being immersed (permanently - baptizo) in the vinegar solution.

Now, it should go without saying that it was never God’s intention that the candidate for baptism should physically remain permanently in the water, but it is also self-evident that God intended the spiritual effects of baptism in the candidate’s life to be permanent.

The verb ‘baptizo’ was also commonly used in reference to cleansing or washing by means of immersion in water, which Peter alludes to in 1 Peter 3:21.

Why Is It Controversial?

Whereas all Christian churches and denominations believe in and practise baptism, there are different understandings of what baptism means, how it should be administered, who should undergo it, and when it should be done.

Broadly speaking, there are two distinct schools of thought, which are commonly known as:

• a) Infant baptism
• b) Believer’s baptism

Those who would advocate INFANT BAPTISM see baptism as a ceremonial acceptance of the infant, whose parents are already members of the religious community, as being a member in principle of that community, who will be treated as such and brought up within, and with the help of, the community until such times as he or she is mature enough to make their own commitment to God and to the community, and may then undergo a further rite of passage, known in English-speaking communities as CONFIRMATION.

Infant baptism is normally administered by an ordained priest or minister of the Gospel by means of sprinkling some water on the baby’s forehead. Commitments are taken from the child’s parents and, in some traditions, two God Parents, to bring up the child in accordance with the teachings of God and the traditions of the community.

This is also seen as the opportunity to officially give the child his or her name, so in Christian communities, a person’s given name is traditionally referred to as their Christian name.

Those who would advocate BELIEVER’S BAPTISM see baptism as a simple act of obedience, which serves as a public confession of faith and intent, required by God of those who have committed their hearts to following Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour. It is entered into voluntarily and deliberately, normally accompanied by a confession of faith, and perhaps a word of testimony, from the candidate, who is submerged under the water by the baptiser, who may be any disciple of Christ who is in good standing within the Christian community.

The baptism ceremony may be preceded by a period of preparation, which would include instruction on the purpose and meaning of baptism, accompanied by some measures of sanctification such as prayer with fasting. However, this is not a necessity from God’s perspective, though it may be deemed prudent from the point of view of the community.

In pagan or other non-Christian societies, the candidate may choose a new name – a Christian name – to replace his or her given name, which may well have had pagan or other ungodly connotations.

There is evidence of Infant Baptism having been practised by the official church from the early third century. It is referred to by Tertullian circa A.D. 220, and by A.D. 400 Augustine was able to cite the universal practice of infant baptism as evidence of the need to deal with Original Sin.

In fact, there appears to be a strong ‘chicken-and-egg’ link between the belief in Original Sin and the practice of Infant Baptism, the former being the reason for the necessity of the latter, and the necessity of the latter being evidence of the former.

The Roman Catholic church, the Orthodox churches, and the mainstream Protestant churches all practice Infant Baptism. Although the practice was carried over into the Reformation, there was a branch of the Reformation, led by Ulrich Zwingli, which seems to have had its origins in Zurich, Switzerland in the 1520s, who practised Believer’s Baptism. They were pejoratively called ‘Anabaptists’, where the Greek prefix ‘ana’ means ‘again’ – that is, they were accused of requiring people to be baptised again, or a second time – firstly as infants and then subsequently as adults.

Today, Believer’s Baptism is practised widely, by the Baptist movement, the Brethren movement, and all of the sundry Pentecostal movements. During the Charismatic Renewal of the 1960s and 1970s it was even practised in some traditional churches, both Catholic and Protestant.

What Does the Bible Say?

We are introduced to baptism at the very beginning of the Gospel story (e.g. Mark 1:1-8).

John the Baptist emerges from the desert, where he has been waiting upon God for many years, studying the scriptures, praying, and preparing himself physically, mentally, and spiritually for his ministry as the fore-runner of the Messiah, the Anointed One, the King of Israel who will “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

John’s message is a straightforward call to repentance – to leave behind selfish and ungodly ways and to embrace a life of righteousness, holiness, and justice in accordance with the Law of Moses (Matthew 3:1-12; Luke 3:1-20; John 1:19-31).

For the people of Israel, the symbolism of John’s baptism would have been very clear.

When their forefathers had come into the Promised Land as free men, having been rescued by God through the agency of Moses from slavery to the Egyptians, it was by crossing over the Jordan that they had come.

But before God allowed them to cross over, He required that all of the men be circumcised, because none of those who had been born during the forty-year journey through the wilderness had been circumcised yet (Joshua 5:2-9), and circumcision was a condition of the covenant that God had made with Abraham.

Only those who were circumcised might participate in the Lord’s covenant blessings (Genesis 17:7-14), so John’s baptism in the river Jordan spoke of ‘circumcising their hearts’ (Deuteronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 4:4), returning to God and coming back into ‘the promised land’ of His blessing.

They might also very well have been reminded of the case of Naaman, the Syrian general who came to the prophet Elisha hoping that he would cure him of his leprosy (2 Kings 5:1-4, 9), only to find that Elisha’s remedy was to “go and wash in the Jordan seven times” (2 Kings 5:10).

After a struggle with his pride, Naaman eventually humbled himself and followed Elisha’s instructions, with the result that he was totally healed and his skin restored to the condition that it had been in when he was a boy (2 Kings 5:14).

Just as Naaman knew that his leprosy would at some stage force him into isolation and expulsion from normal society, the people of Israel in the days of John the Baptist were aware that God had, in a sense, isolated and expelled them (Amos 8:7-12), having not spoken to them by the voice of a prophet for some four hundred years, since the days of the prophet Malachi, because He was angry with them and had turned away from them for a season, as He had done to Miriam, Moses’s sister, when she had sinned against Him (Numbers 12:9-15).

However, in John they saw that God was once again speaking to them, reaching out to them as a nation and as individuals, and offering them a way back into His presence. As Naaman had washed away his physical leprosy in the Jordan river, so Israel now could wash away their ‘spiritual leprosy’ and be reconciled to God.

The association of baptism with victory over sin is spoken of elsewhere in the New Testament. Saul of Tarsus, who became Paul the Apostle, was introduced to baptism, shortly after his life-changing encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, by the words of Ananias (Acts 22:12-16):

Paul himself, in chapter six of his letter to the Romans, emphasises the power of baptism to bring victory over sin in the life of every Christian:

However, we must not think that baptism is some kind of magic formula that suddenly transforms us from sinners into saints, as Paul goes on to say:

But what does Paul mean when he talks about ‘considering yourself to be dead to sin and alive to God’?

Here are three things that are involved in this continual and ongoing exercise:

1. the mental discipline of meditating on the word of God, which tells us that, by the grace of God, we are new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), that in Him we have the victory (Romans 8:37; 1 Corinthians 15:57), that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13);

2. the spiritual discipline of believing it;

3. the physical discipline of refusing to do what is wrong and choosing to do what is right.

Why Be Baptised?

So what is the purpose of baptism if we still have to discipline ourselves to do what is right after being baptised?

The FIRST Reason:

In this, as in everything else, we need to follow Jesus’s example. If there was ever anyone who did not need to be baptised, surely it would have been Jesus. However:

Jesus said elsewhere, “I have come not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me.” (John 5:30; John 6:38). He knew that His Father’s will for Him was that the first thing he needed to do before He could enter into His ministry was to be baptised by John. Not until that had happened did He hear the voice from heaven saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased”.

For Jesus, being baptised was a simple act of obedience to the Father’s will – and it is exactly the same for us. In Mark 16:16 Jesus says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved”.

In 1 Peter 3:18-21 the apostle Peter also makes clear to us that baptism is a vital step in our journey of salvation.

Anyone who is no longer an infant whenever they become a Christian has a number of years of disobedience behind them, and it is disobedience that has separated us from God in the first place.

So our first act of obedience to God is to repent. This is an act of the heart, an inward act. No-one except the one who is repenting, and God Himself, knows what is taking place and how genuine it is.

Baptism, on the other hand, is an outward act; it is a public declaration of that private decision to turn from sin and follow Christ. It is a God-given opportunity to perform an act of pure obedience.

Although it is preferable that the person being baptised should have an understanding of what baptism means, it is not essential. What is essential is that it should be done in an attitude of faith in and obedience to God. As Peter says, it is “an appeal to God for a good conscience”. The understanding of it can come later.

Anyone can be baptised. You don’t have to be young, strong, fit, or healthy. You don’t have to be clever or well educated. You don’t have to have a particular cultural background, or even a knowledge of the Bible. All you have to be able to do is get into the water – and even if you cannot do this by yourself, then someone else can carry you in.

God has provided us with an act of obedience that is open to everyone, no matter who they are or what condition they may be in. All you need is someone to baptise you, and as many people as possible to witness it being done.

You will not be able to remember all of the sins that you committed before becoming a Christian, and so you will not be able to ask forgiveness for all of them, one at a time. However, you can perform this one simple act of obedience as an earnest of your repentance and of your determination to live from this day forward in obedience to the will of God rather than in rebellion against it.

The SECOND Reason:

Being baptised is our public declaration of intent to follow Christ.

Just as a wedding is the public declaration by the couple of their intent to be true to one another “till death us do part”, so the Christian being baptised is declaring that they will be true to Christ for the rest of their days; that they have died with Christ, been buried with Him, and have risen again with Him into “newness of life” (Romans 6:4); that the ‘old man’ is now dead and buried, and that the ‘new man’ has come to life and will live the rest of his time on this earth for God (Romans 6:6-7).

Of course, as with every act of obedience, God pours out grace upon us when we obey Him in this way. He requires us to “consider ourselves dead to sin”, and He gives us the grace to be able to do it. He requires us to “yield our members to God as instruments of righteousness”, and He gives us the grace to be able to do it.

However, if we do not perform the act of obedience, we cannot expect to receive the divine assistance. If we want to have victory over sin, and over the lusts of our own flesh, without yielding ourselves in obedience to God’s express command, we will find ourselves struggling in our own strength, and ultimately failing.

God has provided the means for attaining victory, and we should be eager to avail ourselves of it.

Who Should Be Baptised?

After Jesus had risen from the dead and prior to His ascension to heaven, He spent forty days giving His disciples final instructions. These are summarised by both Matthew and Mark in what is known as ‘the Great Commission’:

From these passages it is clear that baptism is for DISCIPLES of Christ (Matthew 28:19), and for those who BELIEVE in Him (Mark 16:16).

In Acts chapter 8, the evangelist Philip came across a man called Simon the Sorcerer (also known as Simon Magus), who appeared to give his heart to Christ and was baptised, but was found later on to be a fraud (Acts 8:9-24). Philip learned a valuable lesson from this, so that afterwards, while he was witnessing to an Ethiopian official in the desert, the following exchange took place:

With Simon the Sorcerer, Philip had taken his protestation of faith at face value. With the Ethiopian eunuch he wanted to be certain that the man really was a believer, and that there was a definite change in his heart.

Simon had adopted Christianity as a ‘flag of convenience’, and thereby made a mockery of baptism.

The Ethiopian, however, was genuine. He had become a true disciple of Christ. His baptism was valid.

What does the Bible have to say about the baptism of infants?

There is no evidence anywhere in the scripture of the baptism of infants or children who are not old enough to know what they are doing.

In the two passages that deal with household salvation (Cornelius in Acts 10:44-48 and the Philippian jailor in Acts 16:29-34) it is clear that those who were baptised were those who had heard the message, believed it, and, in Acts 10, received the Holy Spirit as a result.

Someone might object that this is an argument from silence, as there is no indication in either of these passage that infants belonging to the household were NOT baptised.

However, since every other record of baptism in the Bible is of consenting adults or adolescents, there would be no reason for Luke to tell us that no infants were baptised on these occasions, as no-one would have expected that there would be.

On the other hand, if infants HAD been baptised on either of these occasions, Luke, who paid great attention to detail in his narrative, would certainly have made reference to such a significant departure from normal practice.

How to be Baptised?

The Bible does not prescribe any particular technique for baptism. However, there are certain pointers that we should pay attention to:

1. The medium used for baptism is always water. There is no indication anywhere in the New Testament that anyone ever used anything other than water.

2. To be baptised means to be put under the water, not just sprinkled with water. As we have seen, the basic meaning of the Greek word ‘baptisma’ is ‘immersion’. This is borne out by a number of passages referring to people going down into the water and coming up out of the water (Matthew 3:16a; Mark 1:10a; Acts 8:38-39a). We also see that John the Baptist chose a particular place to baptise because “there was much water there” (John 3:23).

3. In Romans 6, Paul uses the symbolism of death and resurrection – being buried and then rising from the grave. For this reason, it is common to lower the candidate backwards into the water, as if they were being buried, and then lift them out again face upwards, as if they were rising again to a new life.

4. It is also common that at some point during the baptism ceremony, the candidate should be given the opportunity to give a word of testimony and to declare their repentance and their faith in God.

5. The form of words used by those baptising the candidate would commonly be based on the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:19 – i.e. “baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”.

The technique, of course, is of secondary importance. The vital part is “the pledge of a clear conscience toward God” (1 Peter 3:21 NIV).

When to be Baptised?

From some of the passages already quoted, it is clear that in the early church the new converts were baptised immediately after their conversion. There may, however, be practical reasons for not doing so.

Most churches would organise a baptismal service when there are a number of candidates, as it takes time to fill the baptismal pool, and people normally want to have their family and friends present to witness the baptism.

It is also common today for candidates to receive instruction before being baptised so that they have a good understanding of what baptism means, and it gives the church leadership the opportunity to satisfy themselves that the candidates are genuine.

However, no such delay is necessary. As one preacher pronounced at a meeting that I attended, “Get it done!”

Where to be Baptised?

There are those whose dream is to be baptised in the River Jordan, where Jesus was baptised by John. While it would be wonderful to be able to do this, should one have the opportunity, it is entirely unnecessary to go to such lengths.

In the New Testament, people were baptised wherever there was water. Today, many churches have their own baptismal pool; others use the public swimming pool; others use the sea. I have witnessed people being baptised in the bath.

The important question is not, “Where is the baptism taking place?”, but “Where is the heart of the person being baptised?”.

Summary

Every baptism that has been recorded for us in the Bible involves BELIEVERS – people who are mature enough to have made a voluntary personal decision to become a DISCIPLE of Jesus Christ, repenting of their sins, and committing themselves to a life of obedience to Christ as Lord. There is no indication anywhere in Scripture that an infant ever was or should be baptised.

In Colossians 2:11-12, Paul suggests a correspondence between CIRCUMCISION and BAPTISM, referring to Baptism as ‘the circumcision of Christ’, and I have heard this correspondence being put forward as a justification for Infant Baptism, since God ordained that circumcision should take place on the child’s eighth day.

However, the context of the passage does not permit such an interpretation. The gentile Colossian believers were being pressured by the Jewish believers to be circumcised if they wanted to follow Christ since, in their view, to become a Christian one must first become a Jew. But Paul counters this by arguing that, whereas circumcision removes a small piece of the body, baptism removes the old sinful body as a whole, enabling us to walk in newness of life and in victory over the sinfulness of the natural flesh, which circumcision is not able to do.

In light of the foregoing, then, our conclusion must be that Infant Baptism is unscriptural and irrelevant to our walk with God.

Does it Really Matter?

How much it matters to you, personally, will depend entirely on what it is that is important to you.

If your goal is to be accepted into a Christian community, and that Christian community sees Infant Baptism, or its equivalent for an adult who was not baptised as a child, as an essential ‘rite of passage’ of community membership, then this form of baptism will matter to you.

However, if your goal is to be a faithful disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ and an obedient child of God, then what will matter to you is that you are baptised according to the will of God as it is revealed to us in the Bible.

What matters to God is that we believe Him, obey Him, and walk with Him in an attitude of humility and faith; that, along with Jesus, we are ready and willing to do whatever we need to do in order to fulfil all righteousness.

Let me ask you this question: if the Bible (and therefore God Himself) teaches Believer’s Baptism, what possible justification could there be for anyone to reject Believer’s Baptism and embrace Infant Baptism instead?

So, what shall we do?

To answer that question, I will leave you with the words of Peter, as recorded by Luke: