Baptism
James Martin


"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." Matthew 28:19

When we consider how few final words the Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples before He ascended to glory, it is striking to consider that He included the topic of baptism. Clearly the baptism of new believers is of vital significance to the Lord Jesus, and if it is so important to Him, it must be important to those who would follow Him.

No doubt we all agree that it is important to practice baptism, but it is not just important that baptism is practiced, it is important how it is practiced. What can we learn from the Bible about what baptism is and how we should practice it?

What Is Baptism?

This question is of first importance. If we don’t have the answer to this straight in our minds, there is no use talking about the details that follow.

When Christ died on the cross, we (believers) died with Him (Rom 6:6, 7:4; etc.). When He was raised from the dead, we were raised with Him (Eph 2:5-6).

Romans 6:3-4 tells us simply that baptism is a picture of our death, burial and resurrection with the Lord Jesus. When a person goes under the water it is a picture of their having died and having been buried with the Lord Jesus. And when they come up out of the water it is a picture of their having been raised up with Him.

This is Christian water baptism. There are many other baptisms spoken of in the New Testament (e.g. John’s baptism, Spirit baptism, etc.) but for the rest of this tract we will be concerned only with Christian water baptism.

How Should a Person be Baptized?

There is no doubt that the Bible teaches that baptism is by immersion. In fact, since the Greek word used for "baptism" means "to immerse" (see Mk 7:4; Heb 6:2, 9:10), the phrase "baptism by immersion" is redundant. But, lest we have any doubts, the Bible tells us that people were "[baptized] by [John] in the Jordan River" (Matthew 3:6). You go into a river to get immersed, not sprinkled. Furthermore, we’re told in John 3:23 that "John was baptizing in Aenon ... because there was much water there." Finally, when Philip baptized the Ehtiopian eunuch they "went down into the water" and "came up out of the water" (Ac 8:38f).

Who Should be Baptized?

Only those who are believers in the Lord Jesus should be baptized. Any number of examples make this clear. We read that on the day of Pentecost "those who had received his word were baptized" (Ac 2:41). In Ac 8:12 we read that "when they believed ... they were being baptized". Lydia wasn’t baptized until after "the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul" (Ac 16:14f).

When we remember the meaning of baptism we realize that it would make no sense to baptize a person who wasn’t saved. If they’re not saved, they haven’t died or risen with Christ and the picture would be senseless.

Clearly this rules out infant baptism. But what about those who teach "household" baptism based on examples like the Philippian jailer (Ac 16:33)? All we can say is that there is no problem with household baptism if the entire household has just been saved. That was the case with the Philippian jailer since we read that he "believed in God with his whole household" (Ac 16:34).

See also Matthew 28:18; Ac 8:36, 10:47, 16:15, 18:8.

When Should they be Baptized?

In the New Testament, people were baptized as soon as they were saved. In Ac 2:41 we read that the new believers were baptized right away. In Ac 16:33 we read that when the Philippian jailer believed "immediately he was baptized". The same is true of the Samaritans (Ac 8:12), the Ethiopian eunuch (Ac 8:36), the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius (Ac 10:48), Lydia (Ac 16:15) and the Corinthians (Ac 18:8).

The only example we have of anyone waiting more than an hour or so is Saul (in Acts 9) and the only reason for that is that there were no Christians around to baptize him. As soon as one did arrive (Ananias) Saul was baptized.

Do You Need to be Baptized to be Saved?

The clear, consistent, repetitive teaching of Scripture is that works contribute nothing to saving anyone. "By grace you have been saved through faith ... not as a result of works" (Eph 2:8-9). "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy" (Tit 3:5).

Neither baptism nor any other work that we can do has any hope of saving or helping to save us. Salvation comes through faith alone.

But what of all the verses that link baptism so closely with believing? All of those verses become clear as soon as we remember the previous point: in the New Testament, people were baptized as soon as they believed. The New Testament knows nothing about an unbaptized believer. For this reason baptism is linked with believing: not because it is an addition to faith, but because it is the very first thing a new believer should do.

Baptism is simply a symbol of what happened to you when you were saved, just as a wedding ring is a symbol that a marriage has taken place. Refusing to be baptized doesn’t make one a non- Christian any more than removing a wedding ring ends a marriage. But of course, a faithful spouse is happy, even proud, to wear their wedding ring, just as a faithful Christian will be more than happy to be baptized.

Who Should Perform the Baptism?

Given that new believers were baptized right away, frequently the person who performed the baptism was the person who had just led the new believer to the Lord. This was the case with Philip and the eunuch (Acts 8:35-38) as well as with Paul, Silas and the jailer (Acts 16:33).

However it does not necessarily have to be the person who led them to the Lord (e.g. Acts 2:41 - it’s doubtful that Peter baptized all 3,000; 1 Cor 1:14).

Quite simply, as soon as a person was saved, one of the believers that was with them would baptize them.

Baptism and the Local Church

One of the most common errors with respect to baptism is the idea that it is a function of the local church. As we examine the New Testament we discover that baptism had nothing to do with the local church.

In Matthew 28:18 the Lord Jesus commanded individual disciples to baptize new believers. He didn’t command the church to do it - the church wasn’t even in existence yet. When the eunuch was saved and said to Philip, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?" (Acts 8:36) Philip didn’t say, "Well, first the elders have to interview you, then we’ve got to make a few weeks of announcements, then we’ve got to get the church together."

Not one of the baptisms recorded in the book of Acts has any connection with the local church. Not one of them occurs at a church meeting. No-one is interviewed by the elders in order to receive permission. The local church is not involved. It is the responsibility of the person who has just led someone to the Lord to see that they are baptized right away.

Whose Responsibility is Baptism?

The New Testament commands that when we lead someone to the Lord, we are to make sure they are baptized (Matthew 28:18). It is not the responsibility of the new believer to magically know about baptism. It is our responsibility to tell them about it. Peter commanded it in his gospel message in Acts 2:38. And again, when the Gentiles were saved in Acts 10, he ordered that they be baptized (v. 48).

Matthew 28:18 is not a command to those who should be baptized, but to those who should be baptizing. If we lead someone to the Lord and they aren’t baptized, then we are the ones who have disobeyed that verse, not them.

In Closing

Today we have added all of our human pomp and ceremony to a very simple practice. We require "candidates" to go through classes and/or interviews; we require them to wait for church meetings (usually after several weeks of announcements); and we set up a virtual baptism clergy (i.e. "special" Christians who are allowed to baptize). We have corrupted a simple and beautiful picture and there are countless believers who haven’t been baptized, not so much because they are unwilling, but because we have rejected the Bible’s pattern of baptism immediately after salvation.

Let us return to the Biblical pattern. Let us understand that believers are to be baptized (by immersion) as soon as they are saved and that it is not a function of the local church. Baptism is the first step of obedience in the Christian life, and there is no point in considering the next