One of the great blessings of being in ministry is to watch people come to faith, be sensitive to God’s calling, and respond in obedience. This week I have the privilege of doing just that as two young people are coming to obey the Lord in baptism. According to my records, this makes about 20 people baptized at our church in just over four years of ministry here. Considering the size of our congregation, this is significant and a wonderful sign of how God is at work in our midst. However, over the years of church history the waters of baptism have become somewhat muddled. Some argue for infant baptism, some divide over which names of God we are to be baptized “under”, some say that the person should go under the water three times, and others believe that pouring or sprinkling serves the same purpose. While I can’t begin to resolve all the debates around these issues in a short blog like this, I’d like to share some simple observations from the Bible that will get us thinking along the right path.

1. Baptism EQUALS Immersion - the Greek word for baptize (baptizō) simply means “to immerse or submerge”. It never refers to an action of pouring or sprinkling. So, when we think about the Bible’s idea of how baptism should be carried out, it is always with the idea of dipping a person under the water. While these other “modes” of baptism arose early in church history, they never reflected the biblical pattern or intent.


2. Baptism FOLLOWS Faith – Starting on the first day of the church (at Pentecost) when the people were moved by Peter’s sermon and asked “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37), Peter told them to “Repent and be baptized” (Acts 2:38). Every instance of baptism described after that time was a response of obedience to a person’s faith. This was true of the people of Samaria, Simon, and the Ethiopian eunuch when they responded to Philip’s preaching (Acts 8). It was true of Saul’s conversion in Acts 9. It was true of the family and friends of Cornelius as they responded to Peter’s preaching in Acts 10. It was true of Lydia and her family under the preaching of Paul in Acts 16 – and the list goes on. Since baptism is something that people do after they repent and turn to Jesus Christ for salvation, why would we consider baptizing a baby? There is no record of any babies being baptized in Scripture.


3. There’s no MAGIC Formula – In all of the arguments, debates, and divisions about baptism today, there seems be an underlying premise that God has a magic set of words or a specific procedure that is required in order to make a baptism valid in His eyes. While we have already noted that the Bible DOES give us some guidance and patterns on how baptisms are to be conducted, there is also a lot that it doesn’t say. Did Peter baptize three times? Did Paul always invoke a particular phrase? Did Philip use a pond or a stream to baptize the eunuch? We simply don’t know all the details and if the Bible does not offer specifics we shouldn’t try to insert our own practices. According to an early church document known as the Didache (which was written in the late first or early second century just decades after the death of John the Apostle), the early church believed there was some latitude when it came to baptism practices. While noting that people should be baptized in the name of “the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” and that people should fast in preparation for baptism, it then suggests that baptism should be done in “living” or flowing water (like a river or stream). However, if this living water was unavailable, baptisms could be done with other water which could be cold or hot and could even be poured over the person if there was no place for them to be immersed. Outside of the biblical requirements, it sounds like the early church didn’t view the actual procedures as important as the heart of intention and devotion that was behind the practice.

While I try to keep records of the baptisms I have done, apparently Paul didn’t even remember those whom he baptized, noting in 1 Corinthians 1:16 that “I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.” What is worth remembering about Baptism is that it is the first act of obedience that we are called to offer AFTER our salvation through Jesus Christ. It does nothing to gain more favor with God or make us "more" saved, but it is a public expression of our identification with Jesus Christ and our desire to walk with Him. With that in mind, no matter how muddled the baptism debate has become, may this proclamation always be your desire to live for the Lord. Make sure it is crystal clear for the rest of your life!