Why do Christians baptize?
Jesus commands his followers to ‘go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.’ (Mt 28:19). This is not a suggestion, but a command from Jesus which he gives as his last words before ascending into Heaven.
How did the early church baptize?
The book of Acts tells 9 stories of both believer and whole-family (including children, most likely) baptism as practiced by the early Christians:
2:14-42 3,000 people in Jerusalem on Pentecost
8:12-13 Simon and the people of Samaria
8:35-40 Ethiopian eunuch
9:1-19 Saul (eventually called Paul)
10:44-48 Gentiles in Caesarea
16:11-15 Lydia and her household
16:31-34 Jailer at Phillipi and his household
18:5-11 Crispus and his household
19:1-10 Ephesian disciples
22:6-16 Paul’s story retold
What can I learn about baptism from the Bible?
One very important learning is that the early Christian church baptized entire households, including women and Gentiles, both of whom were often overlooked by religious leaders of Jesus’ day). Acts offers no age, gender, or ethnic restrictions for those who are baptized. (Galatians 3:27-28) Baptism is a gift from God offered to all as a mark of faith in Jesus Christ.
Is that why Kaw Prairie practices both believer and infant baptism?
Yes, and there are other reasons, too. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” Mt 19:14
In the Bible, time and again, God initiates our relationship with Him. God chooses us first and then waits for our faithful response. The practice of circumcision offers such a model—eight-day old boys were brought to the temple for circumcision as a sign that God chose the male offspring of Abraham and Sarah (Gen. 17:10-12). An 8-day old cannot choose to believe in God or accept a personal Lord and Savior. Instead, God clearly chooses these infants to be included as part of His family. So it starts with God!
Isn’t faith a pre-requisite for baptism? How can an infant have faith?
In the book of Acts, adults are baptized after coming to faith. For unbaptized adults in the church today, this still holds true. Come to faith first (that is, repent and turn back to God), then be baptized to mark the conversion and to be cleansed of sin.
An infant certainly cannot deduce that Jesus is Savior and Lord, or believe in him. Yet for infants and children, a public statement of faith is not a requirement of baptism. So instead, parents, sponsors and the church speak on behalf of the infant regarding faith.
People who well-intentionedly but misguidedly use the rite of baptism as a non-spiritual family tradition or a secular rite of passage are, sadly, sowing the seeds of disdain for God’s grace in their child and in their family. Baptism is not a hoop to jump through, nor an insurance policy just in case—it is a covenant relationship of grace that God offers freely to His undeserving children, and begs us to accept! It is not an end in itself; it is a starting point to the life of faith.
What do Christians do when they become committed ‘believers’ if they’ve already been baptized?
No matter how old you are when it happens, baptism is a promise God gives you even though you’re not fully able to grasp its significance and fully accept it. So, along the way of discipleship, Christians are invited to ‘affirm their baptism’ in the middle of the community of disciples. For church-going teenagers, Confirmation is a rite that allows a young Christian to publicly acknowledge (ie, confirm) the faith in which they were baptized. For teenagers in the midst of age-appropriate identity-reformation, this public assent to faith amid peers gives them a non-familial tribe to bond with—a good gang, so to speak.
For older adults, there are times in our lives when God calls us more suddenly or completely into renewed obedience and reawakened celebration of His salvation. At Kaw Prairie, we offer baptized adult believers the chance to affirm their baptism at a public ceremony of immersion at least once a year.
If I was baptized as a child, or in a different denomination or tradition, can’t I just get re-baptized?
The Bible tells many stories of conversion but not a single one of re-baptism. If you’ve already been baptized, a second one won’t change God’s already incredible love for you. In fact, scripture assures us that “there is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism (Eph. 4:5).” Also, there’s no such thing as ‘Catholic baptism’ or ‘Baptist baptism’ or ‘non-denominational baptism.’ There is only Christian baptism, done anywhere among any Christians, in the name of the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
If someone hasn’t been baptized and they die, will they go to Hell?
Scripture does not say that we are saved by baptism, nor does it say that we are condemned if we don’t have it (it’s a lack of trusting belief in God that separates us eternally from God). Scripture clearly says that we are saved by the grace of God through our faith in Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8) but that baptism and belief should go together (Mark 16:16).
Why do some churches dunk the people who get baptized, and other churches don’t?
You might be surprised—the answer is a historical and climate-based one, not biblical. When the church originated in the warm climate of the middle east, immersion baptism was preferred. When Christianity began spreading into northern Europe, immersion became a summer-only event, so the practice of sprinkling emerged.
Symbolically, there are scriptural consistencies with both kinds of baptism—that we die through our baptism to sin, as a person drowning, and then we come alive again as we rise up again to new life, out of the water as Jesus did out of the grave:
Have you forgotten that when we became Christians and were baptized to become one with Christ Jesus, we died with him? 4For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised as he was. Romans 6:3-5
On the other hand, since the Jewish precursor to baptism were rites of cleansing, the washing-metaphor of sprinkling baptism is also valid:
Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love.. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. Psalm 51:1-2
Whichever method you choose, at whatever age you choose, you can be confident that God has already chosen you…and had you in mind when He died on the cross as Jesus the Christ. We look forward to accompanying you in your spiritual walk as you not only become baptized, but even more important, become a disciples of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.