Believer's baptism

Fewer issues have been a major cause of church divisions and denomination splits throughout the centuries than baptism. It is worth noting, however, that this doctrine is called an elementary teaching and we are encouraged to move on to perfection. We may be very familiar, however, with churches that have placed a major emphasis on baptism and have minimized, even to the point of ignoring, more important matters, such as loving people and extending mercy. If the Scriptures encourage us to move forward in our understanding of Christ, how could we even begin to understand baptism?

Why would baptism be so important? The word is first used in the New Testament, with John the Baptist. He preached to the people of Israel that they must repent from their sins and be baptized as a sign of their repentance. Those who accepted his message did not count this act as strange, as this was nothing other than a purification. The Jews were very familiar with the various baptisms commanded in the Law. There were ceremonial washings for the body, for clothes, for the temple altar and for other buildings.1

When Christ finally arrived, he commissioned his followers to preach the gospel of the kingdom and baptize the believers in the name of the Three-in-One God. As the last purification in history, this external act would initiate the believer's entrance in the New Covenant. Just like the water in the Old Testament ceremonial sprinklings did not purify in itself, the water of the New Testament baptism does not have special saving powers. However, there is a preponderance of evidence in Scripture that God would convey his saving grace through the waters of baptism. As a way of physically responding to the message, the believer was to be baptized with water.

The Bible does not command believers
to repeat a prayer, but it does
command baptism.

Today, many churches encourage other forms of external response. Many pastors ask the repentant to bow their heads and raise their hands, to walk down a church aisle, to come to an imaginary altar, to sign a decision card, or to repeat a prayer after them. The Scriptures, however, simply ask them to repent and be baptized. The Holy Spirit works internally in a person's heart, drawing them to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. As a physical sign of this change of mind, the believer receives baptism, the water of which does not save in and of itself. Just as modern pastors would doubt the conversion of someone who claims to have repented but refuses to pray a "sinner's prayer," we can doubt the conversion of someone who claims to have believed but is not ready for the commitment of baptism. Following Christ is a commitment to be made. Refusing to be baptized proves that this commitment has not been made.


1. Leviticus 14:1; 15:7; 16:14-19; 19:1