What is baptism?

Baptism is the washing with water, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, by which a person is publicly marked as belonging to Jesus Christ. The Greek verb baptizo means to immerse or submerge.¹ Christ commanded it, the apostles practised it from the first day of the church, and nearly every Christian tradition has kept it. Mack Tomlinson observed that "baptism is at the front and center of the New Testament record, both in the Gospels and the book of Acts".²

Christ's command

After his resurrection Jesus said, "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 all that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20). Baptism stands in the middle of his plan for making disciples. To be baptized in the name of the triune God is to be publicly identified as his.

A picture of death and resurrection

Paul explains the meaning: "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 walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:3-4). Peter Brandon said of the word itself, "it is taken from the idea of a white garment being dipped into a purple dye",³ so that the cloth takes on the colour of what it is plunged into. C. H. Spurgeon said, "Baptism is an acknowledgment of our own death in Christ."⁴ Harry Ironside put it in a line: "Baptism is the confession of burial with Him."⁵ Going under the water says the old life is over. Coming up says a new one has begun: "having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God" (Colossians 2:12).

Repentance and faith come first

In Acts baptism follows hearing and believing the gospel. At Pentecost Peter said, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins" (Acts 2:38), and "those who embraced his message were baptized" (Acts 2:41). In Samaria, "when they believed Philip as he preached the gospel of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women" (Acts 8:12). Zac Poonen described what the candidate is saying: "Repentance is that I've finished with my old life."⁶

Does baptism save?

The New Testament ties baptism closely to salvation. "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned" (Mark 16:16). Ananias told Saul, "Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on His name" (Acts 22:16). Peter writes of "the baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 3:21).

The preachers quoted here read these texts together with the rest of the New Testament. John Piper wrote, "The New Testament teaches very plainly that we are saved by faith."⁷ The condemnation in Mark falls on unbelief, and Peter himself says it is not the water on the body that saves. The dying thief was never baptized, and Jesus told him, "today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). John Wesley, who baptized infants, still insisted, "baptism is not the new birth: They are not one and the same thing."⁸ Some churches, including the Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Lutheran, teach that God ordinarily gives grace through baptism itself. All agree that it is Christ who saves and that baptism without faith is an empty form.

A public confession

Charles Stanley said, "Baptism is a public declaration that you have trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior."⁹ John R. Rice wrote, "New Testament Christians understood that when they were baptized, they were publicly putting on Christ before the world."¹⁰ Paul uses the same picture: "all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ" (Galatians 3:27). Piper called baptism an act of the whole person: "It is an expression with the whole body of the heart's acceptance of Christ's Lordship."⁷ William MacDonald said, "It's a pledge of allegiance to the Lord Jesus."¹¹

Who should be baptized?

The churches differ about who should be baptized. Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican and Methodist churches baptize the infant children of believers as well as adult converts, understanding baptism as the sign of the covenant in the way circumcision was. The Westminster Confession states: "Not only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience unto Christ, but also the infants of one or both believing parents are to be baptized."¹² Baptists and many others baptize only those who themselves profess faith, pointing to the order in Acts. Most of the preachers quoted on this page speak from the second position. Rice called baptism "the burial of the believer in water, as the first ceremony of his Christian life."¹⁰

How should it be done?

Here too practice differs. Churches that baptize infants usually pour or sprinkle. Those who baptize believers usually immerse, because the word means to dip and because immersion shows burial and rising. Rice argued, "And the word which is translated baptize is never translated sprinkle in the entire New Testament."¹³ Spurgeon said, "I am content to take the view that baptism signifies the burial of believers in water in the name of the Lord".⁴ The accounts in the Gospels and Acts fit this: "As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water" (Matthew 3:16), and "both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him" (Acts 8:38).

Without delay

In the New Testament baptism follows conversion quickly. The Ethiopian asked, "Look, here is water! What is there to prevent me from being baptized?" (Acts 8:36). The Philippian jailer believed in the night, and "without delay, he and all his household were baptized" (Acts 16:33). It is the first act of obedience for a new disciple.

Water baptism and the Spirit

Water baptism is distinct from the baptism in the Holy Spirit, though the two are linked. Peter promised those who repented and were baptized, "you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). G. W. North stressed that the outward act points to an inward one: "Water baptism is no substitute for the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, but is meant to represent it".¹⁴

Newness of life

Baptism is a beginning. MacDonald said, "It's a commitment to walk in newness of life."¹¹ Paul draws the conclusion from it: "Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?" (Romans 6:1-2). The baptized person has declared that the old life is buried. The rest of the Christian life is living as one who has been raised.