Why
should a person be baptised?
Before he returned to heaven Our Lord gave a command to his disciples
- "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising 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."
(Matthew 28:19,20)
This was a divine order (so we call "baptism" an "ordinance")
and as we read through the Acts of the Apostles we can see how
carefully this order was obeyed by the early church. Acts 2:38
and 41 is just the first of many examples.
We baptise because the Lord Jesus Christ commanded it.
Who
should be baptised?
Our Lord’s command makes that very clear - "Go and
make disciples ... baptising them ... and teaching them."
Discipleship comes first, then baptism - and that order is always
the same in the New Testament. A person becomes a believer first
and is then baptised. That is why we talk about "believer’s
baptism". In the New Testament a person was not brought to
baptism. A person came to baptism.
Baptism
is for those who profess repentance towards God and faith in Jesus
Christ.
What does baptism mean ?
Baptism is "the outward and visible sign of an inward and
spiritual grace". That is a formal, concise way of saying
that when believers are baptised they are declaring to everybody
that they know their sins have been forgiven and that they are
now living a new life. Our faith in Jesus Christ is not something
that other people can see directly. In baptism we confess, in
a visible way, that we are his. Everybody can see where we stand
because we identify ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Baptism
is a demonstration of belonging to Christ and identifying with
him.
How
should a person be baptised ?
The word "baptism" comes from a Greek word (baptiso)
which means "to dip in or under water, to immerse or submerge".
So the origin of the word gives a clue to how a person should
be baptised.
Baptism is by immersion.
In
being baptised believers are identified with the Lord Jesus
Christ in what he did to bring about our salvation. The Apostle
Paul tells us "that Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on
the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Corinthians
15:3,4). These great facts are clearly demonstrated in the ceremony
of baptism. Going down into the water symbolises death. Going
under the water shows that we have been "buried with him
through baptism into death". Coming up out of the water
is a picture of resurrection, "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 6:4).
Baptism
is by immersion, given the meaning of the word and the symbolism
being portrayed.
Where should a person be baptised ?
Christians have used rivers, lakes, the sea - anywhere, so long
as there is enough water!
Remember
the story of the Ethiopian official in Acts chapter 8? Beside
the desert road was a "some water". "Then both
Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptised
him. When they came up out of the water...". For convenience,
( and because of our Irish weather!) we have a purpose-built baptistry
in the church. The place should be public and the ceremony carried
out before a congregation who can join in the rejoicing and witness
the candidate’s confession.
Baptism
may take place anywhere there is enough water to make immersion
possible.
Is Baptism essential ?
The real question, of course, is - "essential for what?"
Certainly, baptism is not essential for salvation. The Bible makes
it clear that only faith in Jesus Christ brings forgiveness of
sins - see, for example, Ephesians 2:8,9.
Baptism
is a witness to salvation, not a means of bringing it about.
In
another sense, however, baptism is essential - for two reasons.
First,
it is essential to be obedient to Our Lord’s command in
Matthew 28:19,20.
Secondly,
baptism is essential to proper discipleship. Our confession in
baptism is that we are "counting ourselves to be dead to
sin." It is our public resolve to live as those who are "alive
to God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:11).
Baptism
is an act of obedience to Christ and a commitment to live for
God.
I
encourage you to read a very powerful sermon on Baptism by
CH Spurgeon
