John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. - Mark 1:4-5
Good morning. What a joy it is to be in God’s house together for worship! Last Sunday we talked about the manner of salvation. Baptists, and some other like-minded denominations, believe that salvation comes by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Based on our understanding of Scripture, we reject the doctrine of baptismal regeneration. While baptism is vitally important, we do not believe it is necessary for salvation.
Now follow me here… if you believed that people were saved by water baptism, and that faith was either unnecessary or secondary, what would you do? The logical (and compassionate) answer would be to baptize them as soon as possible, in order to minimize the chance that they’d die before being saved. For this compelling reason, most churches who embrace baptismal regeneration also practice infant baptism.
During the message today we will consider another “Baptist Distinctive”. Using last week’s sermon as a backdrop we will ask: What do Baptists believe about baptism? What does the Bible teach about it? Why is the Baptist denomination named for and identified by it?
I. BELIEVER’S BAPTISM (Acts 2:41a, 8:12, 8:36-38, 16:31-33)
Baptists do not baptize babies. Instead, they hold to a practice known as believer’s baptism or credobaptism. They teach that baptism is only meaningful when undertaken by a believer. In other words, faith must precede baptism. This is always the order found in Scripture. The apostles and disciples in the New Testament never baptized unbelievers. Instead, water baptism always took place after an individual repented of their sins and placed their faith in Christ. First the person was saved by faith, then they were baptized.
Babies (and even young children) are unable to consciously, knowingly place their faith in Christ. They do not have a sufficient understanding of who Jesus is and the sacrificial atonement that He made for sinners. They don’t recognize their sinful depravity and need for salvation, thereby making true repentance impossible. Simply put, babies are not yet believers, and therefore should not be baptized. Infant baptism inverts the proper order laid out in scripture by placing baptism before faith. There are no examples of this practice in the Bible.
Baptists understand baptism to be a public declaration of one’s salvation. It is an act of obedience and one of the first steps of Christian discipleship and maturity. Jesus demonstrated this by being baptized before launching His earthly ministry. When an infant (or any unbeliever for that matter) is baptized, there is no saving faith to declare. Such baptisms are misleading and misrepresent the truth. However, in the case of a believer, baptism is a joyful announcement to all the world that the person being baptized has been born again and is beginning their walk with Jesus!
II. IMMERSION (Mark 1:10, Romans 6:3-4, Colossians 2:12)
The Greek word for baptize used in the New Testament is baptizo which means “to fully submerge in water”. This is also referred to as immersion. It is the only mode of baptism presented and practiced in the Bible. Over time however, churches that routinely baptized infants devised other forms of baptism such as sprinkling and pouring. At first these were used only in cases of necessity, but eventually were permitted and accepted in all instances. Ironically, these alternative methods of baptism don’t comply with the definition of the word!
Baptism is meant to be symbolic. It represents death to one’s old life of sin and resurrection to one’s new life in Christ. It pictures the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and identifies the new believer with Him. Baptism is a physical and visual depiction of a spiritual and invisible reality. It is important that the manner of baptism properly illustrate this truth. Immersion is the only mode that plainly and dramatically displays a death, burial, and resurrection. Therefore, Baptists recognize immersion as the only Biblical and acceptable form of water baptism.
III. CHURCH MEMBERSHIP (Acts 2:41b, Matthew 28:19-20, 1 Corinthians 12:13)
Not only does baptism identify the new Christian with Jesus, but it also identifies them with His church. Salvation involves many aspects, including both regeneration and reconciliation. Regeneration refers to one’s new life in Christ, while reconciliation concerns the restoration of one’s relationship with God. When a person trusts in Jesus for salvation, which is sometimes described in the Bible as the baptism of the Holy Spirit, they are placed in the Body of Christ or the universal church. This is a miraculous and unseen phenomenon. They are adopted into the family of God. Following this spiritual model, Baptists require water baptism for membership in the local church. Though never directly stated, this seems to be the New Testament pattern by which converts were “added to the church”.
One of the probable consequences of baptizing infants or others without respect to faith is a church filled with nonbelievers. Baptism is commanded in Scripture and should take place as soon as possible after one’s profession of faith. If a new believer is unwilling to be baptized in obedience to the Lord’s command or publicly identify themselves with the local congregation, why should the church trust that their salvation is genuine? Baptism provides evidence of true conversion, and therefore provides a safeguard against an unregenerate church membership.
CONCLUSION
Throughout much of the past 2,000 years, the prevailing practice of the dominant Western church was infant baptism. Therefore, most people were baptized and recognized as members of the church while they were still babies. However, in each passing generation there were those who opposed this custom and considered infant baptism to be invalid. If someone sought to break away from the official church and join them instead, they would first have to accept Jesus by faith for salvation and then be rebaptized by immersion. For centuries these dissidents were contemptuously referred to by the state church as “rebaptizers” or “anabaptists”. Eventually the prefixes were dropped, leaving these nonconformists to simply be called Baptists. They were the forerunners of our denomination.
In conclusion, Baptists are distinguished from many other denominations by their observance of believer’s baptism. Baptism is reserved for believers only, and is a public declaration of the salvation that one has already received by faith. Baptism in water symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of the new believer and identifies them with both Jesus and His church. Believer’s baptism is commanded in scripture, is one of the first acts of Christian obedience, and is required for membership in the local church.
If you have any questions about baptism, please let me know. I’d love to talk with you about them. Until next week, may God bless you.
Good morning. What a joy it is to be in God’s house together for worship! Last Sunday we talked about the manner of salvation. Baptists, and some other like-minded denominations, believe that salvation comes by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Based on our understanding of Scripture, we reject the doctrine of baptismal regeneration. While baptism is vitally important, we do not believe it is necessary for salvation.
Now follow me here… if you believed that people were saved by water baptism, and that faith was either unnecessary or secondary, what would you do? The logical (and compassionate) answer would be to baptize them as soon as possible, in order to minimize the chance that they’d die before being saved. For this compelling reason, most churches who embrace baptismal regeneration also practice infant baptism.
During the message today we will consider another “Baptist Distinctive”. Using last week’s sermon as a backdrop we will ask: What do Baptists believe about baptism? What does the Bible teach about it? Why is the Baptist denomination named for and identified by it?
I. BELIEVER’S BAPTISM (Acts 2:41a, 8:12, 8:36-38, 16:31-33)
Baptists do not baptize babies. Instead, they hold to a practice known as believer’s baptism or credobaptism. They teach that baptism is only meaningful when undertaken by a believer. In other words, faith must precede baptism. This is always the order found in Scripture. The apostles and disciples in the New Testament never baptized unbelievers. Instead, water baptism always took place after an individual repented of their sins and placed their faith in Christ. First the person was saved by faith, then they were baptized.
Babies (and even young children) are unable to consciously, knowingly place their faith in Christ. They do not have a sufficient understanding of who Jesus is and the sacrificial atonement that He made for sinners. They don’t recognize their sinful depravity and need for salvation, thereby making true repentance impossible. Simply put, babies are not yet believers, and therefore should not be baptized. Infant baptism inverts the proper order laid out in scripture by placing baptism before faith. There are no examples of this practice in the Bible.
Baptists understand baptism to be a public declaration of one’s salvation. It is an act of obedience and one of the first steps of Christian discipleship and maturity. Jesus demonstrated this by being baptized before launching His earthly ministry. When an infant (or any unbeliever for that matter) is baptized, there is no saving faith to declare. Such baptisms are misleading and misrepresent the truth. However, in the case of a believer, baptism is a joyful announcement to all the world that the person being baptized has been born again and is beginning their walk with Jesus!
II. IMMERSION (Mark 1:10, Romans 6:3-4, Colossians 2:12)
The Greek word for baptize used in the New Testament is baptizo which means “to fully submerge in water”. This is also referred to as immersion. It is the only mode of baptism presented and practiced in the Bible. Over time however, churches that routinely baptized infants devised other forms of baptism such as sprinkling and pouring. At first these were used only in cases of necessity, but eventually were permitted and accepted in all instances. Ironically, these alternative methods of baptism don’t comply with the definition of the word!
Baptism is meant to be symbolic. It represents death to one’s old life of sin and resurrection to one’s new life in Christ. It pictures the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and identifies the new believer with Him. Baptism is a physical and visual depiction of a spiritual and invisible reality. It is important that the manner of baptism properly illustrate this truth. Immersion is the only mode that plainly and dramatically displays a death, burial, and resurrection. Therefore, Baptists recognize immersion as the only Biblical and acceptable form of water baptism.
III. CHURCH MEMBERSHIP (Acts 2:41b, Matthew 28:19-20, 1 Corinthians 12:13)
Not only does baptism identify the new Christian with Jesus, but it also identifies them with His church. Salvation involves many aspects, including both regeneration and reconciliation. Regeneration refers to one’s new life in Christ, while reconciliation concerns the restoration of one’s relationship with God. When a person trusts in Jesus for salvation, which is sometimes described in the Bible as the baptism of the Holy Spirit, they are placed in the Body of Christ or the universal church. This is a miraculous and unseen phenomenon. They are adopted into the family of God. Following this spiritual model, Baptists require water baptism for membership in the local church. Though never directly stated, this seems to be the New Testament pattern by which converts were “added to the church”.
One of the probable consequences of baptizing infants or others without respect to faith is a church filled with nonbelievers. Baptism is commanded in Scripture and should take place as soon as possible after one’s profession of faith. If a new believer is unwilling to be baptized in obedience to the Lord’s command or publicly identify themselves with the local congregation, why should the church trust that their salvation is genuine? Baptism provides evidence of true conversion, and therefore provides a safeguard against an unregenerate church membership.
CONCLUSION
Throughout much of the past 2,000 years, the prevailing practice of the dominant Western church was infant baptism. Therefore, most people were baptized and recognized as members of the church while they were still babies. However, in each passing generation there were those who opposed this custom and considered infant baptism to be invalid. If someone sought to break away from the official church and join them instead, they would first have to accept Jesus by faith for salvation and then be rebaptized by immersion. For centuries these dissidents were contemptuously referred to by the state church as “rebaptizers” or “anabaptists”. Eventually the prefixes were dropped, leaving these nonconformists to simply be called Baptists. They were the forerunners of our denomination.
In conclusion, Baptists are distinguished from many other denominations by their observance of believer’s baptism. Baptism is reserved for believers only, and is a public declaration of the salvation that one has already received by faith. Baptism in water symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of the new believer and identifies them with both Jesus and His church. Believer’s baptism is commanded in scripture, is one of the first acts of Christian obedience, and is required for membership in the local church.
If you have any questions about baptism, please let me know. I’d love to talk with you about them. Until next week, may God bless you.