ALL ABOUT BAPTISM
Today, baptism is both overemphasized and underemphasized. Some make baptism necessary (and sufficient) for salvation. Others, in response to this overemphasis, make light of baptism. Likewise, some put no barrier around baptism, letting anyone who wants to dive in. Still others, who want to only baptize “true Christians,” make it overly hard to be baptized. To be balanced, Arise aims to affirm the evident faith of all who believe and are made alive as soon as possible by baptizing them (lit. immersing underwater) in the name of the God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit as commanded by Jesus in Matt 28:19.
For some, like the Philippians jailer we’ll see later, it will not take long to observe new life (belief) or to join him or her in affirming their faith with baptism. For others, such as children or those who are still unclear about the gospel, the decision to baptize may take longer.
While not essential for salvation, it is essential for the health and witness of the church, thus Arise takes baptism seriously and seeks to serve individuals well by stressing both the seriousness of baptism and the joy it is to be baptized in accordance with our statement of faith:
Baptism serves as the identifying entry sign of the Church where His people align publicly with Jesus Christ, marking them as members of the Church. Taken from https://www.ariseventura.com/whatwebelieve
3 Truths About Baptism
The three truths outlined below are meant to be helpful in reminding us of the importance of baptism and what it entails.
1. Baptism identifies us with Jesus.
If you want to publicly identify with Jesus, water baptism is the way.
As Jesus taught in Matthew 28:19 (“make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”), baptism identifies believers with Christ, as it is administered by his church. In this way, baptism is the way Jesus gave his disciples to publicly identify with him. He could have said build an ark or move to Israel, or stop cutting your hair etc. In the Old Testament he commanded some of his people to do these things. However, in the New Testament, baptism is the initiation of every follower of Jesus.
Baptism is what marks out Christians and divides them from the world. It symbolizes our spiritual union with Christ and brings visible union to Christ’s church.
2. Baptism doesn’t save; it announces salvation.
1 Corinthians 1:14 is a fascinating verse because of the way it downplays baptism. Paul says, “I thank God that I baptized none of you . . .” And to paraphrase, “Oh well, except for a few like Crispus and Gaius. And, oh yes, the household of Stephanas too. I don’t remember anyone else” (vv. 14–16). These verses reveal something about baptism.
Paul’s words reveal that baptism is not salvific—i.e., baptism does not grant or guarantee salvation; it announces salvation. If baptism affected salvation he would not be able to say: “I’m glad I baptized only a few.” He can only say this if baptism symbolizes the real thing.
Therefore, we conclude from this verse (and the rest of the New Testament), baptism doesn’t confer or complete salvation; it announces the prior, already-present gift of salvation; that God through repentance and belief in His Son makes believers alive in Him and dead to sin. In fact, baptism makes two such announcements, one by the individual and one by the church:
I. Baptism is an individual announcement.
Most familiar to us in baptism is the reality that baptism gives the individual an opportunity to pledge themselves to Jesus. In Acts, when individuals repented and believed, they “publicized” their new life by baptism. The same is true today.
In every baptism, the individual makes a public confession of their sin and their need for a savior. In some cases there is literal “sharing,” where those being baptized tell their salvation story. For this reason, it is vital to know how baptism symbolizes the gospel you believe—i.e., death and resurrection with Jesus (Rom 6:3–6).
II. Baptism is also a church announcement.
The church has the responsibility in baptism to testify to a person’s faith.
It is the local church that baptizes believers—unless, of course, no local church exists. In which case still, someone belonging to the “Church” like Paul in Corinth or Philip with the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8) baptizes a new believer in hopes that he or she will be part of a local church as more people are added to the faith or they return home.
The Church has the delegated authority to baptize believers in Christ based on their profession of faith in Jesus and new life, which leads to a final consideration: the relationship between belief and baptism.
3. Baptism follows belief.
Throughout the New Testament, baptism comes after belief, not the other way around.
Arise practices believer’s baptism, defined as baptism following belief, following in the pattern of the Acts of the Apostles. Acts 18:8 says, “And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.” This agrees with the regular pattern in Acts: the gospel is preached > people believe > and they are baptized.
Acts 2 & Acts 16 detail this out well.
I. Acts 2
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
II. Acts 16
When Paul was in Philippi, the jailer asks, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul responds: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (v. 31). In short, this shows that it is not baptism that saves, it is faith in Jesus Christ. However, because baptism is the means by which individuals make their faith public, and the way churches affirm their profession, Luke continues the baptism story of the jailer:
32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.
Notice the stress on the preaching of the Word (v. 32) and the joy of receiving that Word in faith (v. 34). Significantly, it wasn’t just the jailer who rejoiced in faith at the gospel; it was the whole family/household.
In this way baptism, as an outward expression following belief, is given to affirm the faith of all those who believe the gospel, no matter the age, gender, culture or ethnicity.