Baptism - What is Biblical?
Is baptism necessary for salvation? What are the conditions for baptism? Should baptism be performed by immersion or by sprinkling? This article should help toclear up some of these common questions.
Is baptism necessary for one to be saved?
It is obvious from the scripture that baptism is not necessary for salvation:
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.(Romans 10:9)
Notice the verse does not say one has to be baptizedto be saved, but that one must "confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and ...believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead". There is no scriptureto support the idea that one must be baptized to be saved.
Why should one be baptized?
Once you have accepted Jesus, here are some verses that show you should be baptized, as it is commanded in scripture:
...Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world... (Matthew 28:18-20)
Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized inthe name of the Lord... (Acts 10:47,48) ...why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, callingon the name of the Lord. (Acts 22:16)
Furthermore, baptism is exercised throughout the New Testament:
...when they believed ... they were baptized... (Acts 8:12)
...believed also: and ... he was baptized... (Acts 8:13)
And he ... was baptized, he and all his, straightway ... believing in God with all his house. (Acts 16:33,34)
...and many ... believed, and were baptized. (Acts 18:8)
What conditions must be met before one should be baptized?
The main condition is that you believe, as you likely took note in the previous verses. One must believe in Jesus before getting baptized, as Philip said to the eunuch: "...If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest...". Since baptism is a symbol of one's death to his sinful nature, and also of the fact that one's sin has been washed away and become a new creation, it is useless if performed before one is saved. Baptism is also a false profession for one who has not accepted Christ, because it signifies to the world that he is dead to sin, and has had a new start, which one obviously has not had if he has not been saved.
Since one must believe before one is baptized, this eliminates infant baptism, as an infant cannot believe in Christ. An infantbaptism means nothing , because such a baptism has no meaning.
In what name are Christians to be baptized in?
The an
swer is clear: "...in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" (Matthew 28:19)
What is the correct method of baptism?
The method of baptism is often argued, but it is clearfrom the scripture that the Biblical method is immersion. As one can see, Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch by immersion:
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart , thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God ... and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water ... (Acts 8:36-39)
We can also see that Jesus was baptized by immersion:
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: (Matthew 3:16) And straightway coming up out of the water ... (Mark 1:10)
We can also see that John was baptizing by immersion:
And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized. (John 3:23)
One can see that the method was immersion, or why would John need much water for "baptizing" by sprinkling or pouring? It is also obvious that one doesn't come up from out of the water when the method being used is sprinkling or pouring. These scriptures ought to eliminate the philosophy that favours sprinkling or pouring from the mind of one who is searching for the true Biblical method of baptism.
Conclusion:
The Bible lays out the conditions for our lives, andwe must accept them. What one personally may think or speculate doesn't signify much, unless he takes the Bible at its word.
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)
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