Baptism FAQs
1. What is baptism?
Baptism is a deeply meaningful symbolic act that demonstrates a person’s decision to follow Jesus Christ. It involves a person being placed under water as a sign of forgiveness and new life in Christ.
We believe baptism is an ordinance or command of Jesus, and that it is symbolic of God’s gracious act of saving us and giving us a new, more meaningful life through Christ. The other ordinance given by Christ to the church is Communion or the Lord’s Supper. Some churches refer to baptism and communion as sacraments.
2. How do you baptize?
We baptize by immersion, which means to place under water. This is consistent with the earliest usage of the word “baptize,” which originally as a secular word meant “to plunge, dip, or submerge.” It was used in reference to washing clothes in a river or bathing an animal in a pond. It meant simply to place something under water.
While we believe baptism by immersion is most reflective of scripture, we recognize that some believers in other Christian churches have been baptized by sprinkling or pouring. While we respect and accept as fellow-Christians those who understand baptism differently than we do, it is our practice to baptize believers by immersion.
3. Whom do you baptize?
We baptize believers in Jesus Christ. This means we practice believers’ baptism – the baptism of those who have accepted Jesus Christ as savior from their sins and lord of their lives.
We believe the New Testament teaches that followers of Christ are conscious of their decision to follow him before they are baptized. We believe this because whenever a person is baptized in the early church, along with the word “baptize” there is always another word that requires a conscious decision – a word like “believe” or “repent” or “confess” or “turn.” (See Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 8:12-13; 22:16.) Such a linking of words indicates that baptism followed a conscious choice of confessing Christ as one’s Leader and Forgiver.
Many Christians who were baptized as infants ask: “If I was previously baptized as an infant, but am now a devoted Christ-follower, do I need to be baptized again?” Our answer is that one should follow the biblical order: first follow Christ, then be baptized as a follower of Christ. Baptism belongs on “this side” of one’s decision to follow Jesus.
4. Why do you baptize?
We baptize for several reasons, all of which derive from who Jesus is and what he taught.
1) We baptize because Jesus himself was baptized. The first public act of Jesus was his baptism at the hands of his cousin John the Baptizer.
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17)
If Jesus, who was without sin, was willing to be baptized in order to identify with the sinful human race he came to save, then we believe all followers of Jesus should be baptized.
2) We baptize because Jesus told us to do so. In his last recorded words on earth, he said to his disciples:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore 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. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
To be baptized is to obey a clear command of Jesus. Christ-followers are called to be obedient to their Lord’s teachings, including the one to baptize believers.
3) We baptize because the earliest followers of the resurrected Christ were baptized as a sign of their loyalty to his Kingdom. The Acts of the Apostles records the story of how the early church expanded from Jerusalem outward. As the message of Jesus entered new countries and cultures, new Christ-followers were baptized. Here are two examples that illustrate this pattern:
Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God – he and his whole family. (Acts 16:32-34)
Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized. (Acts 18:8)
Since Jesus’ earliest followers were baptized after turning to Christ, we practice the same pattern – first you choose to follow Christ, then you are baptized as his follower.
4) We baptize because it portrays in dramatic form the death and resurrection of Christ. Going down into the water re-presents Jesus’ death and burial; coming up out of the water re-presents Jesus’ resurrection. The Apostle Paul said it this way:
Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:3-4)
We believe baptism contains beautiful imagery of Jesus’ death and resurrection, as well as of a Christian’s own dying and rising with Christ. Therefore we believe every Christ-follower should identify with Christ in that way.
5) We baptize because we want to enter into community and covenant with other believers as a follower of Christ.
Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. … All the believers were together and had everything in common. (Acts 2:41, 44)
The common bond of baptism provides a visible sign of unity among God’s people.
6) We baptize because we want to share the joy of our new life with Christ. In baptism, a believer testifies to others of his or her new life in Christ and allegiance to Jesus as Lord. Jesus said:
If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels. (Mark 8:38)
Baptism is a simple but profound way of telling others about your new relationship with God through his Son, Jesus Christ.
If you have other questions about baptism, you may contact one of our senior pastors at info@prestontrail.org.