Baptizing Christians into the Faith

Don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism to death, that just like Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

-Romans 6:3-4 

Baptism is the ceremonial act of being cleansed with water – either by being dipped into or sprinkled with water or by having it poured over you – and has the following purposes: 

Expresses the death of sin in your life (just as Christ died on the cross; see Matthew 27) and your resurrection into a new life in Christ (just as Christ was resurrected; see Matthew 28)

Expresses a person’s regeneration into a new creature in Christ

Publicly identifies an individual with Christ’s death and resurrection

Serves as the initiation rite of the new covenant

 

Just as water is a common symbol of cleansing, baptism expresses the purification that happens when a person commits his or her life to Jesus Christ. 

Christians have considerable differences in opinion on the role and practice of baptism in response to the following questions:

What exactly is the meaning of baptism?

Is baptism a requirement for salvation?

Who should be baptized?

How should people be baptized?

 

Been there, done that: Baptism before Christ came

Baptism is often considered a specifically Christian ceremony, but it actually has its roots in the Old Testament (which pre-dates Christ’s life on earth, and thus Christianity). Israel used baptism as a purification ceremony (Exodus 30:17-21). So, when John the Baptist (the prophet who was born shortly before Jesus was and helped get people ready for what Jesus was going to say) baptized people for repentance, the Hebrews already understood the significance of baptism as a rite. 

Considering the nature of baptism

Within the Christian Church, you find three major differences of belief about the nature of baptism. Read on to unravel the different ideas. 

Baptism is a turbo-powered act

The sacramental view, held by Catholics and Orthodox Christians, says that baptism is the primary means by which God gives grace. Baptism isn’t just a symbol; it’s a specific act that God uses to release his power to produce salvation. As a result, baptism produces an internal change (known as regeneration) in which the person being baptized receives forgiveness of sins, a new godly nature, and a stronger faith. To Catholics, the person’s faith as part of the saving and regenerating process is much less important compared to what God himself does through the act of baptism. Lutherans, of the Protestant tradition, hold a sacramental view as well, but emphasize faith of the person being baptized as an essential component to this process. 

The key verse that those who hold the sacramental view use to back up their stance is John 3:5:

Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into the Kingdom of God! 

Proponents of this view say that this verse indicates that Jesus is stressing the essential role that baptism plays: Unless a person is literally “born of water” – baptized – he or she can’t experience God’s salvation. 

Baptism is a committed act

The convenantal view, held by Presbyterians and other Reformed Protestant denominations (see Chapter 11), says that baptism isn’t the means of receiving salvation, but it’s a sign of God’s covenant with man and the way that Christians are initiated into that covenant relationship. The covenantal view sees baptism as the new way God ordained to express the covenant, replacing the act of circumcision in the Old Testament (find out about the Old Covenant in Genesis 11:17, Genesis 12:1-3, and Exodus 24:3-8). Christians with this view of baptism claim Colossians 2:11-12 as key verses: 

In (Christ) you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

In this passage, holders of the covenantal view point to the close relationship that Paul implies between “old style” circumcision and “new style” baptism.