About Baptism
Recorded on Sunday, January 30, 2011
Listen to the recording here:
About Baptism – This recording is a brief overview of the Bible’s teaching and Wawasee Bible’s position on baptism and was recorded on Sunday, January 30, 2011. The “who what when why how” as we see it. There’s a lot of varying views on baptism between different denominations and with the wide variety of backgrounds in our church, we take some time every now and then before baptisms to make sure everyone is on the same page. We recorded it this time and are posting it for you online.
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About Baptism…
At Wawasee Bible we hold that the sacrament of baptism is an outward expression of an inward reality. It expresses visibly and publicly what has taken place invisibly and privately in the life of someone who has repented of their sin and trusted Jesus Christ as Savior. Outwardly, baptism identifies a new believer with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Romans 6:1-10; Colossians 2:12) and with the triune God (Matthew 28:19). Baptism also outwardly symbolizes the cleansing of sin that has taken place in the life of the believer (originally symbolized in Jewish Mikvah) and their escape from the punishment of sin (Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:20-21).
Both Jesus and the apostles command that believers be baptized (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38). For this and other reasons, some have wrongly concluded that baptism is necessary for salvation and/or that the act itself effects salvation. Scripture is clear, however, that salvation comes from faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, and that baptism is not necessary for salvation. Yet being a direct command of Jesus himself, it is an important matter of obedience that every believer should pursue quickly after coming to faith.
We hold to credobaptism through the mode of immersion. Credobaptism simply refers to the fact that we will only baptize those who have first confessed faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. This is often referred to as a believer’s baptism. The clear pattern of Scripture is that faith in Jesus Christ always preceded baptism (Acts 2:38-41; 8:12; 9:18-19; 10:44-48; 16:14-15, 29-36; 18:8; 19:1-7; 22:16; Galatians 3:27). Therefore we do not baptize infants or children who have not first confessed saving faith in Jesus Christ. We would encourage all believers to be baptized as a believer after coming to faith
The other clear pattern of Scripture is that baptism was done by immersion (Acts 8:36-39; Mark 1:15; John 3:22-23; Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10), yet some churches have adopted a mode of pouring or sprinkling water over those being baptized. Immersion, however, is the mode taught by Scripture, which can be seen even in the word used for baptism. In the Greek text, the word used for baptism is baptizo which literally means “to immerse” or “to dip”. In fact, in some Dutch translations of Scripture, John the Baptizer is referred to as “John the Dipper”. Because immersion is the normative mode of baptism in Scripture, we are compelled to hold to baptism by immersion.
If you have other questions concerning baptism or desire to get baptized, be sure to contact the church office.